Jonathan Bitz says the process of opening Syntax Physic Opera has been heavy, it’s been emotional and it’s been by far the hardest thing he’s ever done. He was hoping to have his music venue and eatery at 554 South Broadway (which most recently housed the Bar and the Atrium)…
All good bands must come to an end. And when they do, it can be rather bittersweet. It certainly is for Tyler Ludwick. On Tuesday, he announced via Facebook that his longtime experimental chamber pop project, Princess Music, will be breaking up after one last show on August 28 at…
Stopped clocks are right twice a day. Geoffrey Arend is married to Christina Hendricks. Performance artists get federal funding. Canada is south of Detroit. People wear Google Glass and think they look awesome. Some things you just can’t explain, like how really shitty bands occasionally luck into recording splendid songs…
Thirty years after the release of Prince’s most famous album, it can still only be heard in the original mastering, which sounds terrible. In this week’s music feature, now posted on the Backbeat blog, Alan Scherstuhl discusses what makes Purple Rain’s music so powerful and why it never got the…
On stage, the vocalist for local metal-core band As the Sky Darkens is the definition of intimidating. Jon Vela isn’t very tall and has an affinity for cuffed jeans and black TOMS that contrast with a stage presence resembling that of an angry, caged animal. Shoulders hunched, he stalks across…
When the Elk Meadow Lodge requested a reunion performance by the Elktones this summer, it was to reunite all four members of the Estes Park folk band. But when the band plays on Spur 66 next week, there will only be three members on stage. Dick Orleans, Elktones bandmember and…
Your copy of Purple Rain sounds terrible.That’s no knock against the music, that urgent, neon, bug-funk zeitgeist bomb Prince straddled and launched and screamed on as it blew up the world — kind of like what Slim Pickens did to that nuke in Dr. Strangelove, but with more cream. The…
Before he moved to Colorado in the late ’90s to help open the Whole Foods store on Pearl Street in Boulder, Louis Karp opened Waterloo Records in Austin, a spot that went on to become one of the most successful independent record stores in the nation. Karp also had a…
Shaley Scott’s performance was the one of the last on the Road 34 stage, and she didn’t even know it. The Fort Collins singer-songwriter played for the first time at the venue on June 6, and at the time it didn’t seem like it would be the last. “The door…
In his tongue-in-cheek rock-philosophy book, Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock ‘n’ Roll Group, Chain and the Gang’s Ian Svenonius argues that band names must appear mystically in a musician’s dream or revelation, and he offers such strategies as eating mold and running from the police until exhausted for helping…
British synth pop trio London Grammar, who opened for Coldplay last May, headline the Gothic Theatre on Tuesday, November 25, and general admission tickets ($22) go on sale on Saturday, July 12 at 10 a.m. Ambient musician and producer Tycho will be at the Boulder Theater with Christopher Willits opening…
This summer’s Vans Warped Tour will boast some impressive and eclectic artists to draw fans of punk, hip-hop and hardcore right alongside the inevitable Hot Topic zombies. The venerable festival, hasn’t always evolved smoothly, but this year’s Denver lineup — the last stop on the tour — is particularly impressive…
OK, so there has been somewhat more weed smoked in the vicinity of Red Rocks this season. Not inside, mind you. That would still be illegal and no one’s breaking that law — never have. But the parking lot is a different story. And we have seen some impressive displays…
Mainstream country music gets an unfair rap as being universally over-polished and formulaic, a notion that artists like Kacey Musgraves and Eric Church obliterate every time they strap on their guitars. But there’s a granule of truth to the stereotype, and a particularly damaging subgenre — known as “bro-country” — is lending it far…
The Rock and Roll Marathon series returns to Denver for the fifth time this October. Today, organizers announced a new route with a much larger footprint and a few new neighborhoods. Instead of a quick loop through downtown before a tangle out by City Park, this year’s race will head…
Welcome back, Americans. We ardently hope you return to us full of leftover barbecue and slightly sunburned. There are a few good shows this week, starting with legendary jazz drummer Tootie Heath with his new backing band (two-thirds of the Bad Plus). They’ll play Dazzle a couple nights this week…
[jump] Editor’s note: Each week, illustrator Noah Van Sciver shares his sunny outlook with the readers of Backbeat. You can see more of Van Sciver’s work and even buy it on his website. • BACKBEAT’S GREATEST HITS • – The fifty best rap lyrics of all time – The ten…
The Fourth of July might mean fireworks, hot dogs and apple pie to some folks, around the parts music will be a big part of that. If you’re down with a 90-minute drive, there’s the South Park Music Festival, which kicks off today and runs through Saturday while Umphrey’s McGee…
Starring an outraged Adele, an EU lawsuit and social media’s tendency to distort information, the “YouTube vs. Independent Labels” fiasco that’s played out over the past several weeks highlights most of what’s wrong with the Internet these days. In case you missed the brouhaha, here’s a quick recap: YouTube is…
It’s summer in Colorado which means it’s time to enjoy the outdoors before winter arrives again and the beautiful green fades to a snowy white. Summer also means the Denver-area concert calendar is packed, and thankfully, you can enjoy both mother nature and music in the same place this summer…
Every red-blooded American with the day off will agree: the 4th of July is one of our nation’s finest holidays. While the historic significance is a no-brainer for our country, more importantly, it’s a day of excess and celebration as we’re expected to dutifully cram grilled meat and cheap beer…
Now that we’ve wrapped up the 2014 Westword Music Showcase and awards ceremony, we’re looking forward to spending the next twelve months getting our hands – and ears – on as much Colorado music as possible. We asked a number of local artists to talk about the peers they admire…
