Since its founding in 2008, Electric Forest has split the difference between jam bands and EDM. On Friday night Skrillex, playing a guitar, joined String Cheese for a medley of Doors’ songs “Break on Through (To the Other Side)” and “L.A. Woman.” It wasn’t as bad as it sounds! Though…
At big music festivals like Electric Forest, totems are critical for meeting up with your friends — just stick ’em in the sky and your people will stop wandering in circles. These decorated placards-on-sticks have become tremendously popular in recent years, and Electric Forest attendees had some definite winners. For…
We all know kids die at raves. It happens all the time, including most recently at EDC last weekend in Las Vegas. Usually, the cause is drugs. But not everyone who takes drugs die; those who know what they’re actually taking, stay hydrated and take other precautions have a better…
The organizers of Electric Forest set their sights this year on breaking the record for the world’s largest group hug. This is a real thing, certified by Guinness: 10,554 folks in Ottawa, Ontario held each other in 2010, setting the standard. Since Electric Forest draws more than 30,000 attendees —…
If you’re headed to Electric Forest this weekend, you might not want to advertise it by decorating your car. Police are profiling the shit out of anyone driving in the greater Michigan area who looks like they might enjoy bass in their face. Police representing numerous small Michigan municipalities —…
The recent Soundscapes of Japan performance at Lone Tree Arts Center featured a rare performance by Kakizakai Kaoru, who is a master of the shakuhachi — a wooden flute that dates back to the seventh century. Back then, Zen priests used the instrument as a path to enlightenment. For the…
When Wesley Davis decided to reboot his Textures: Ambient Music Showcase in 2013, after its 2009 to 2012 run at Gypsy House Café, he wanted it to take place at a venue that might expose that music to people who weren’t necessarily seeking it out. He found the perfect venue…
Chastity Belt, due to perform this Friday, June 26, at Dryer Plug Studios, is now based in Seattle. But the band got started at Whitman College in Walla Walla. There, the fledgling group played impromptu street performances, before going on to play house shows. Without a music scene that the…
The massive music festivals throwing down in Colorado this summer need no introduction — big bashes like Riot Fest and the Underground Music Showcase are well-known, promising great line-ups and fun times. So what about the little guys? There’s a statewide network of smaller scale but equally vibrant and viable…
Electric Ladyland: Women In Electronic Music Night debuts this Thursday, June 25th, at the Walnut Street location of The Walnut Room. The event showcases the talents of some of the women in the local music world and beyond that produce and perform electronic music. Dream Council is a dream pop…
Last weekend’s Westword Music Showcase, along with the Westword Music Awards, serve as our annual celebration of our state’s vibrant music scene. Colorado is home to internationally renowned experimental bands, pioneering folk artists, Grammy winners and much, much more. On most nights in Denver, you can see just about any…
Niquasia Waddles (aka Koo Qua) is no rookie when it comes to the Westword Music Showcase. She started her career a decade ago, when she was in her early twenties, living in Aurora, and she made her first appearance at the June festival four years ago. On Vinyl’s rooftop over the…
The best concert Diane Rabson ever attended was held in her own living room. A Bosnian opera singer and an accordionist from St. Louis were performing. They took a request from Rabson’s mother, then brought her mother up on stage, singing the song she had requested — one she used…
Riot Fest will return for its third year in Colorado from August 28 to 30 at the National Western Complex. The Chicago-born punk rock carnival has quickly established itself as one of the largest music festivals here, drawing thousands for an array of bands best described as “loud.” The fest…
The party hadn’t gestated yet for MTHDS’ early set, and that was too bad: the band jounced through cheerful dance-rock tunes like it was playing for thousands, though it was more like tens, and the little crowd bobbed listlessly, sluggish and not yet primed. A dude in purple pants chugged…
Electric Daisy Carnival is such a massive assault on the senses that, after the dust has settled (mostly in one’s lungs), it can be hard to pick out the highlights and lowlights. We’re still processing everything we heard and saw out there on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but here…
It’s easy to make friends when you wear pasties at EDC. I would know. I did it over the weekend. I didn’t plan for this to happen. When I packed for the festival, I chose regular clothes—shorts, tank tops, a sundress. You see, I’m not a raver and I’d never…
Most artists performing at Red Rocks comment on the elevation, but not Ben Folds. Instead, he grumbled over the weekend about the unusual humidity and how it made his hair horrible. “I need to go back down and get some oxygen on it,” he added with a grin, earning quite…
This year we’re covering Electric Forest for the first time. Why? Because it’s quietly become the most beloved electronic-music festival in the country, that’s why. Starting on Thursday and running through Sunday, the fest is relatively small and off the beaten path, located in a little-known part of the country…
Over 100 of the best Colorado bands and artists (plus a few notable out-of-towners) crowded onto fifteen stages in the Golden Triangle on June 20 for the 21st Westword Music Showcase: our annual celebration of Denver’s music scene. To mark the occasion of our festival reaching drinking age, we asked…
A few hours before Electric Daisy Carnival opens on Friday, Carl Cox sits near the pool at the Flamingo Hotel, ready to explain why he has remained so interested in electronic music after decades of DJing, producing and remixing. He pauses mid-sentence and motions towards the DJ booth in the…
This year’s Westword Music Showcase brought thousands of Denver music fans to the Golden Triangle, and they did a remarkable job documenting the 100-plus bands. There probably isn’t a better way to relive the chaos than by scrolling through the #westwordshow entries on social media — we picked out a…
