How Sub.Mission Helped Put Denver on the Dubstep Map

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…

Photos: Pretty Lights and Fans at Red Rocks

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…

Denver Public Library to Host Shows for the Homeless

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…

Nathaniel Rateliff and the War On Drugs Treat Boulder to a Mid-Summer Classic

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…

A Weekend Show Featuring Goats, Lightning and Reverend Dead Eye

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…

Kelly Clarkson Brings Authenticity to the Pepsi Center

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…

How the Gin Blossoms Escaped the Grunge Generation

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…

Chet Faker Gets People to Put Away Their Cell Phones

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 the Most Interesting Band in the World

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…

This Ain’t No Cowtown’s Latest Volume Remembers Chris Haney

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…

Soul Asylum’s Music Takes Note of the Absurdities of Life

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…

The Centennial Day Party Comes to an End After Five Years

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…

Photos: Leftapalooza Gave Tribute Bands Their Due

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),…

Quantum Creep Keeps Rolling With the Punches

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 on Bauhaus and His Unexpected Bob Dylan Fandom

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…

Vomitstep Is a Thing Now, Thanks to DJ Snails

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…

Revolvr Is Building a Database to Connect Colorado Bands to Fans

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,…

Bob Drake Helped Put Denver on the Experimental Music Map

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…