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…
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…
Governor John Hickenlooper has always been a supporter of Colorado’s music scene in both words and action. His passion meets his willingness to laugh at himself in a new video created by his campaign wherein OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder (a Colorado native and resident) tries to teach him “Counting Stars.” It…
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…
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…
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…
All told, the entire incident was more embarrassing than scary. In 2006, Rick Roberts, songwriter and singer of the country-rock-blues sensation Firefall and the Flying Burrito Brothers, stumbled on a rug in his home, sending him head-first into a kitchen island…
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…
MF Ruckus, due at SummerGrind this Saturday, August 16, at the Gothic Theatre and Moe’s Original BBQ & Bowl, has more outrageous and humorous stories than most bands. The band started in 1997 as Forth Yeer Freshman when singer and sole original member Aaron Howell was, indeed, still in high…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
Headphone shopping can be a chore. The options (and price range) have no limit, and it can be hard to tell whether you’re paying for the brand or the quality. So we decided to ask an expert: Rick Ramirez, who works as a live-sound engineer, primarily at the Larimer Lounge…
Best known as the leader of the legendary ’80s alternative band the Dream Syndicate, Steve Wynn has found surprising success in channeling his love of baseball into his songwriting. A few years back, Wynn found another baseball junkie, Scott McCaughey (best known for his work with the Young Fresh Fellows),…
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…
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…
It’s a well-known fact that in order to be a true Coloradan, a yearly prescription of outdoor adventure must be filled. This weekend, I went to Buena Vista to do just that: kayaking, rafting, rock climbing, mountain biking, etc. But when I loaded the car and set off on the…
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…
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…
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…
