Underground genres rarely make the transition to the mainstream with their original ideas intact. Punk started in back alleys and small pubs as an original form of expression, but is so often seen as the overpriced, heavily marketed phenomenon that is pop punk. Death metal recently became popular through the…
Pretty Lights played a pair of packed shows at Red Rocks over the weekend. It’s been a short trip to huge crowds for the DJ/producer born Derek Vincent Smit, who was playing relatively small opening slots just five years ago. Now, he’s got a worldwide fan base, his own label…
The homeless folk who amass at the doors of the Denver Public Library at 14th and Broadway will have something besides books and air conditioning to look forward to the morning of Tuesday, September 8. That’s the date the DPL plans to roll out what it’s calling “Sunrise Concerts,” a…
At Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats’ free concert Friday night on The Hill in Boulder, amid the annual Triple-A radio-industry conference and a general welcoming of University of Colorado students, Albums On the Hill owner Andy Schneidkraut argued that calling Rateliff’s incredible, game-changing performance on The Tonight Show two days…
Henderson, Colorado is not exactly the place where you’d expect to see live music, much less from a known figure like Reverend Dead Eye. North of Commerce City, Henderson isn’t necessarily easy to get to or find despite its proximity to the city. Broken Shovels Farm, the venue for this…
When we have experiences with famous people outside of just observing them in culture, though our various electronic devices, it feels like we’re always supposed to gauge how “real” they really are. Are they famous and down-to-earth? Do they seem like the kind of person we would want to hang out…
Back in 1992 the music world could not have been more myopic. Over the preceding few years, grunge had all but taken over the airwaves and youth culture in general. Grunge was a sound, a look and attitude, as well as a marketing tool that everyone wanted to exploit. Bands without…
Despite appearances, this isn’t just another hipster white guy with a beard and a synthesizer. It’s Chet Faker. And the Australian-born electronica artist just sold out two nights at the Gothic Theatre in Englewood for good reason. As I watch the man enter the packed Gothic stage to screams from adoring…
Unknown Mortal Orchestra is by no means the greatest band touring today. Its music isn’t the most accessible; at times it’s even trying. The group was Ruban Nielson’s basement project and he tours with a new backup band every go-around, so live the act’s stage presence could use a bit…
The Seventh Circle Music Collective has hosted hundreds of shows since its inception at the end of September 2012. Over the past three years, it has provided a much-needed service for the local music community: It’s a place where like-minded teenagers can meet and fledgling bands that aren’t old enough…
The night they shot and killed Chris Haney, the Bernal brothers went out to celebrate: Robert Bernal, the elder brother, was going to be a dad. Months later, during sentencing, witnesses for the defense lamented that he’d only get to see his daughter through bulletproof glass. Haney’s friend Kayla Premack…
The first time I saw Florence + The Machine, four or so years ago, I cried. It was at Austin City Limits, the sun was starting to set, and the woman with the most powerful voice on the planet was giving it her all, and then some. I didn’t mean…
Soul Asylum is set to perform on Thursday, August 6 at Summit Music Hall with Meat Puppets. These days, casual fans know Soul Asylum more as a soft-rock band because of its 1992 hit, “Runaway Train.” But Soul Asylum, like many other Minneapolis-based bands then and now, has always resisted easy classification…
Right at the end of Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats’ set, the power went out. But instead of letting out sighs or boos, the hundreds of people in Nate and Patrick Meese’s back yard — packed together, sitting on each other’s shoulders, standing on tree limbs or on the…
You liked the original, but maybe you love the cover even more! Left Hand Brewing in Longmont brought back its fifth annual Leftapalooza and Mile High Tribute Band Competition last weekend, featuring cover acts from all over the country. They included Paradise Theater (Styx), Dirty Femmes (Violent Femmes), REMember (REM),…
Since he started recording and touring with Frank Zappa in the early ’80s, Steve Vai has shown that he’s one of the world’s great guitarists. But he also really enjoys is teaching, giving master classes around the globe. And last year, Vai launched the Vai Academy in Vail, which drew…
Had you walked into Bardo Coffee House last Sunday afternoon, you would have seen four dudes — one wearing a shirt with cats on it — crammed onto a couch, trying not to spill tea on themselves or the one female member of their group, who perched comfortably in the…
David J is scheduled to DJ at Lipgloss on Friday, July 31. Born David J. Haskins, David J is perhaps best-known to music fans as the bassist and sometime singer in influential post-punk bands Bauhaus and Love and Rockets. Haskins is also an accomplished author whose plays have garnered critical…
Yes, vomitstep is a thing. The dubstep world has outdone itself with this gross new form of music that’s like dubstep, but “wobblier.” To politely vomitstep, make sure you are near a toilet or have a barf bag on hand. EDM music is known for its bizarre off-set of genres…
Hunting hot new local music takes commitment – many of us devote our otherwise worthless lives to it — but not everyone has that kind of time. Now, as it turns out, there’s an app for that. Or at least there will be. “We’re very, very new,” says Matt Cannata,…
Atlanta-based jam-band pioneers Col. Bruce Hampton & the Aquarium Rescue Unit spent a lot of time on the road in the early ’90s, and plenty of it was in Colorado. “I guess we played about thirty cities in Colorado,” says Bruce Hampton. “We covered it. We would stay up there…
Bob Drake is playing his first-ever all-solo show in nearly four decades of performing music internationally. Hardly a pop star, Drake is nevertheless a legend in Denver avant-garde music circles and an accomplished sound engineer whose production flourishes grace the work of mainstream artists. He grew up in Ohio and…
