Nate “Igor” SmithNebraska, a personable and modest 22-year-old dishwasher from Lincoln, Nebraska, takes a punch.As our nation’s culture and economy continues to deteriorate, more and more people are taking an interest in watching people beat the shit out of each other. While, under normal circumstances, these events are highly promoted…
Another Gathering of the Juggalos has come and gone, and with it thousands of face-painted, fun-loving freaks and misfits to and from the event’s first year in Thornville, Ohio. While the move from the deep wilderness of Cave-In-Rock, Illinois, to this year’s decidedly more inhabited location did make the experience…
There was a lot going on all the time at this year’s Underground Music Showcase (UMS). Bands were setting up and breaking down to keep to the festival’s tight schedule, fans clogged the sidewalks for blocks on both sides of the street, and food trucks and other purveyors of trinkets…
There were no gimmicks over the weekend at the Buffalo Rose, beyond some rock theater, and none were needed. Great White, of all bands, gave us a startlingly strong rock and roll show, the likes of which isn’t often seen these days. When the band came on stage, it looked…
Life sucks. There is a multitude of reasons why, and no one has come to terms with this inescapable truth better than juggalos. Zen masters of nihilism and partying, they have become unquestionable experts at finding creative ways to cope with the unrelenting pain of reality. See also: Our complete…
Juggalo fashion generally involves great big pants and T-shirts that were possibly purchased at truck stops. Hair is best when it is braided and aloft in the style of Coolio, and everything looks better coated in a thin layer of sticky-delicious Faygo, of course. See also: Our complete coverage of…
Yesterday, TMZ posted a video of a juggalo stripper giving a lap dance to the belly button of an enormously fat man here at the Gathering — a short film actually shot by DJ Paul of Three 6 Mafia/Da Mafia 6ix fame. The video quickly went viral. We know what…
“Please, we ask you to hold your Faygo until the wedding begins,” a woman with electric green braids instructs the crowd. Standing anxiously nearby is the groom, outfitted in a Jack Skellington top hat. His big day has arrived — he is about to be wed to the love of…
The Underground Music Showcase is underway. Last night’s kickoff of the 400+ band festival featured standout sets from the likes of Jux County and Homebody. But there’s plenty more to see and hear. We’ve picked out eleven of the sets we’re most excited about. See also: Denver musicians talk about…
Great White is due to play at the Buffalo Rose this Saturday, July 26th. The veteran blues rock band got its start in 1977 during the early days of the Los Angeles Hard Rock scene, when Van Halen was in its ascendancy and the glam metal with which it later…
While the Gathering of the Juggalos is generally known as a peaceful event filled with unity and togetherness, there are still occasional scuffles. One such incident took the form of a melee early Thursday morning when Hed PE rapper/singer Jared Gomes launched himself into the crowd to confront a rambunctious…
Those in the outside world tend to view the Gathering of the Juggalos as a lawless festival of debauchery, with apparently violent clowns — “gang members,” even, if you ask the U.S. government — running rampant and chaos ruling the day. In actuality, this notion is far from the truth…
I thought I would have to wait until the 20th anniversary of Sublime’s 1996 self-titled mainstream breakout album to write about how fundamentally misunderstood and judged Sublime is. I have so many feelings, too many probably, about a band whose legacy is beaten up almost as much as Insane Clown…
Enrique Jimenez is a man about town — if you’ve been to more than a handful of local shows over the last several years, chances are you’ve crossed paths with him. His own band Altas (formerly Panal S.A. de C.V.) is an experimental instrumental rock band par excellence and can…
Jason Isbell shared the billing with Hard Working Americans at the Ogden last night. Isbell took the stage promptly at 8 p.m., and that seemed to throw almost everyone for a loop. At about 8:10, with the club only at three-quarters capacity, Isbell was already into his second song, “Go…
Denver’s Tim Gerak is in love with sound. So much so that, on Monday, July 28 , he will launch his own line of boutique audio gear under the name Mammoth Cave Audio. This isn’t Gerak’s first foray into sound, though. While growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, he started making…
Recently, my enemies have been accusing me of having a problem with hats. Maybe it’s because I am (predictably) a bald, pale music critic, and wearing a hat makes me look like a Nosferatu vampire-creature. But personally, I think someone’s choice of headwear can tell a lot about a person…
Jux County is playing a rare show this Thursday, July 24th, at 9 p.m. at the Eslinger Gallery for the UMS. Since forming in December 1986, Jux County has become a fixture in the local music scene. Within the first few years of the band’s existence it had released its…
What’s different about this year’s Gathering of the Juggalos in Thornville, Ohio? Well, the cops for one thing. During last year’s coverage of the event, set in Cave-In-Rock, Illinois, we encountered minimal security. The gatekeepers and patrol staff, which were seemingly just exceptionally large juggalos in “SECURITY” shirts, peered into…
Nine months ago, the worst flood in Colorado’s history had a particularly devastating impact on Lyons and its surprisingly robust music scene. The town owes its artistic revolution in part to Planet Bluegrass, which hosts two of the state’s three major music festivals on a twenty-acre ranch in Lyons. In…
Planes Mistaken for Stars was one of Denver’s most beloved punk bands, as respected around the country as it was here at home. After a seven-year hiatus, the band returned with a West Coast tour. In this week’s music feature, now posted on the Backbeat blog, Oakland Childers explains why…
This week’s cover story is about how Lyons developed a music community and how that community has been impacted by the flooding last fall. Much of the story focuses on Planet Bluegrass, an organization that three music festivals, including two at its ranch in Lyons. This weekend, it will be…
