It was a wild night last night in Denver, though we’re sure no one needs to tell you that. You’re probably just barely recovering from spending an hour this morning washing off the grease paint and chugging your coffee trying to shake off that hangover. Amirite? A trio of our…
Update, 4:40 p.m. 11/1/13: Congrats to Minimalizedesign, the winner of our Curtis Club contest. Check your email for details on how to claim your $50 tab and table this evening. Thanks to everybody else for the entries. Keep it locked on Backbeat for more great giveaways. Next week, we’ve got…
SAT | MICHAL MENERT at FILLMORE AUDITORIUM | 11/16/13 Since his debut solo album Dreaming of Something Bigger, Michal Menert has been steadily touring the country building a grassroots following in the same way Derek Vincent Smith of Pretty Lights did when first hit the scene. Menert has one fans…
DEVOTCHKA at GOTHIC THEATRE | 10/31/12 Nick Urata was quite engaging throughout last night’s show, but one of the most compelling moments came when he introduced a song as one written by one of the band’s heroes. The tune wasn’t immediately recognizable, as the band had expertly reworked the song…
SUN | OF MONTREAL at MARQUIS THEATER | 11/3/13 Among the most popular and successful of the bands associated with the Elephant 6 collective, Of Montreal started off as a sort of indie pop band with an experimental edge. The band evolved dramatically across several records, fearlessly exploring lyrical themes…
FRI | BONOBO at FILLMORE AUDITORIUM | 11/1/13 Simon Green’s Bonobo project has taken chilled-out downtempo on a meandering journey through complex syncopation, sweeping strings and heavy bass lines since 1999, when he released the single “Terrapin” on the Tru Thoughts label. Since then, Green has created four full-length albums…
Last night at the ViewHouse Eatery Bar & Rooftop, which opened in LoDo this past March at 2015 Market, a man reportedly fell from the rooftop balcony deck onto another roof below. According to initial reports, the unnamed man was in stable condition at a local hospital after being treated…
Happy Halloween! What are you doing tonight? Have you decided where to strut your get up yet? If not, lucky you; we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of everything going down tonight and this weekend. Keep reading to see what’s good, and of course, feel free to let us know if…
FRI | NEGATIVE APPROACH at MARQUIS THEATER | 11/23/13 In a just world, John Brannon would be as hallowed a punk icon as anyone out of early ’80s and D.C. Hardcore. As the frontman for the Detroit-based Negative Approach, Brannon was involved in making some of the most confrontational and…
SAT | RETOX at 7TH CIRCLE MUSIC COLLECTIVE | 11/2/13 Retox’s Justin Pearson has been in a handful of the most respected punk and experimental bands for more than twenty years. He helped found hardcore band Struggle when he was fifteen. By 1994, that project was through, and Pearson was…
Prime Element began as 3 the Hardway, three hip-hop heads — an MC, a producer and a DJ — devoted to celebrating a culture they love through positivity, hard work and great music. Their name has obviously since changed, as has their label affiliation since Set in Stone, their last…
We’re back with another batch of fresh local hip-hop. We’ve got a new tune from Turner Jackson’s new project Black Electric Love and a new cut from Mr. Midas’s forthcoming project, Red Card and Green Bottles. Kruza Kid, meanwhile, channels his inner Doors, and Young Doe drops a powerful track…
No matter what you do in life,” declares Brandon Bordeaux, better known musically as H*Wood, “you’re going to trip, you’re going to fall, you’re going to make errors. But in the grand scheme of things, the grand scheme of the goals, the errors are the lessons.” Bordeaux speaks from experience…
Chris Steele got the nickname “Time” while playing basketball in elementary school. Like time itself, evidently, he fancied himself unstoppable. Steele still plays basketball regularly, but since his school days, he’s also become one of the most eloquent and literate rappers out there. He grew up in northwest Denver and…
A richly melodic yet hushed set of songs, this self-titled debut by Distant Correspondent is reminiscent of Sarah Records bands like the Field Mice, but with less jangle and darker dream-pop sensibilities. The album also makes some daring sonic choices — more like what you’d expect from an experimental post-punk…
Progressive metal is a demanding genre, but Dissonance in Design exceeds expectations on its latest full-length, Sentient. A concept album about god-like aliens from another dimension who are unleashed upon Earth as the result of a scientific experiment gone wrong, the record is filled with lyrics that read like an…
It’s evident from “A Fence of Colorado Stone,” the opening track on Two Billion Acres of Salt, that vocalist Hezekiah Goode has a strong affinity for old-time folk and country — and pedal-steel player Glenn Taylor, banjoist Keith Reed and fiddle player Greg Buergler help him drive this point home…
On the title track of Honky Tonk Bastard World, Casey James Prestwood offers imagery straight from the best country-and-Western tradition: The tune is all about gettin’ high, fightin’ with the missus and drinkin’ whiskey on the weekends. The rest of the album maintains that vintage C&W charm. Anchored by top-notch…
Okay, just got some good news/bad news. First, the bad news: Deer Tick’s show at the Bluebird tonight has been canceled. The band — or at least part of it — is dealing with an unspecified medical emergency preventing him/them from performing tonight. Sucks, but there’s good news: Tomorrow night’s…
SAT & SUN | HOUSTON PERSON at DAZZLE | 11/30-12/1 While tenor saxophonist Houston Person, who turns 78 on November 10, has recorded a number of soul-jazz albums under his own name since the mid-’60s, he’s also played on platters by Horace Silver, Eddie Harris, Cedar Walton, Charles Brown and…
While studying trumpet performance at St. Olaf College in Minnesota two decades ago, Jason Harrelson, owner of Harrelson Trumpets, became consumed with learning how the trumpet works and understanding the physics of playing one. In 1993, he began experimenting with trumpet mouthpieces, enlarging throats, backbores and adding mass, and before…
Death Angel was formed in 1982 by four cousins who were inspired by the new wave of British heavy metal. After releasing a demo called Heavy Metal Insanity, the band enlisted its roadie, another cousin, Mark Osegueda, to be its singer — just in time to open for the then-up-and-coming…
