Record Store Chain Reaction Opens Today in Lakewood

Somewhere on West Colfax in Lakewood is a strip mall, virtually indistinguishable from all the others on any given stretch of the meandering 26-mile boulevard. The only thing that differentiates this particular strip mall — for music fans, anyhow — is that it is now the home of Chain Reaction…

The Sixteen Best Concerts in Denver This Weekend

Rodrigo y Gabriela will headline Red Rocks on Sunday, but it’s the undercard we’re most excited for: Namely, Nathaniel Rateliff, who hasn’t played his own stuff around here in a while. We’d also like to make sure you’re aware of Vail Rocks, which supports the exceedingly worthy Love Hope Strength…

Can You Guess the Real Music Genre?

If there is one thing you can always blame music writers for, it’s the utterly useless proliferation of genre tags into modern cultural dialogue. The construction of a genre can serve as hot branding for certain publications — it’s why a site like Pitchfork was totally happy to nurture an…

Video: Inside Dragondeer’s Powerful Single “Let it Ride”

Ed. Open Music Sessions is an ongoing collaboration between Open Media Foundation, Greater Than Collective and Westword to create videos based on regular live tapings of exceptional bands from Colorado and beyond. In our debut Open Music Session, blues-rock band Dragondeer played a sinewy set in the Denver Open Media…

Why Almost Every Song About Baseball Is Terrible

Baseball fans will wear their favorite player’s name across their back, as adults, before and after Halloween. They will fill their bookshelves with histories and biographies and fantasy guides the size of the yellow pages, and they will keep them long after the actual yellow pages have been recycled or…

Ranking the 2014 Wu-Tang Clan From Worst to Best

A week ago all nine of the surviving members of the Wu-Tang Clan returned on The Daily Show to premiere a new song from their upcoming album A Better Tomorrow. This was a bona fide, anti-cynicism Good Thing. We all love the Wu-Tang Clan, and any time they collectively decide…

Chive Fest Could Set the Tone for Future Events in Denver Parks

Chive Fest will bring two stages and eight bands to City Park this weekend. It’s one of the first conventional music festivals to use the space, although other concert promoters have tried and failed in the past. In this week’s music feature, now posted on the Backbeat blog, Gina Tron…

Paramore and Fall Out Boy Are the Ultimate Monsters of Rock

Summers are made for big name band package tours, bills sold to audiences as pairings meant to fill outdoor venues by combining fan base forces. These tours are also usually made up of bands consisting of old rock dudes. (For examples, see the 2014 summer tour package circuit: Rod Stewart/Santana,…

Chive Fest Could Set the Tone for Future Events in Denver Parks

Denver’s City Park will host one of its first conventional music festivals this weekend. Chive Fest will bring two stages and eight artists, including Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes and Talib Kweli, to the city’s largest park this Saturday, August 16. But the first-year festival hasn’t been welcomed by…

Weird Al Is My Hero

I first heard Weird Al when I was around ten years old. I was in it for the fart noises and puns at first. Today, I admire him for other reasons; he has set an example for anyone who comments on music. His devotion to pop doesn’t prevent him from…

Ancient Elk Is One of Denver’s Most Unpredictable Bands

Founded by Anna Smith, Megan Crooks, Cody Coffey and Derrick Bozich in the summer of 2013, Ancient Elk is actually only a little over a year old. Smith and Crooks had played together before in Birds of a Feather, a kind of avant-garde band with roots in bluegrass, folk and…

The Secrets to Getting People to a Concert on Wednesday Night

When it comes to launching a new weekly event, conventional wisdom would argue that choosing Wednesdays — a wasteland that is neither almost the weekend nor service industry reprieve — for a late-night showcase of electronic music would be a terrible mistake. But where many would fear to tread, Euphonic…

Skrillex, Robert Plant, Dillon Francis Shows on Sale This Week

As part of his 27-date 2014 American fall tour, Skrillex headlines CU’s Balch Fieldhouse on Wednesday, October 15 with GTA, Nadastrom and Alesia on the bill as well. Early bird tickets ($40, available while supplies last) and general admission seats ($50) go on sale Friday, August 15 at 10 a.m…

Celebrating Shroom Fest During the Super Moon

The largest and brightest moon of the year shone down on Earth this weekend. The phenomenon, called the Super Moon, occurs when the moon is full on the same day as its perigee — the point when its orbit is the closest to the our planet, resulting in a moon…

The Eleven Best Concerts in Denver This Week

This week brings the surprising and powerful pop-punk revival to Englewood with a double-bill featuring Fall Out Boy and Paramore (whose leader recently skipped two dates on doctor’s orders). Elsewhere, guitar hero Eric Johnson stops through, Sheryl Crow finishes off the Chatfield portion of the Botanic Gardens concert series and…

How Pretty Lights Started Collaborating With the Colorado Symphony

Although Derek Vincent Smith, also known as Pretty Lights has played Red Rocks five times before, this weekend’s show was different. The unique set up, featuring not only live band but also thirteen members of the Colorado Symphony, was the first time Smith has included a full string section in…