There are some new regulations in place for Red Rocks Amphitheatre this season, which you can read about here. Because there has been some controversy surrounding these changes, we asked Denver Arts and Venues Marketing and Communication Director Brian Kitts to talk about how these changes will (or won’t) affect…
While some of the more recent output from Lloyd Cole, known for his work in the ’80s with his group the Commotions, has been acoustically driven, he realized early on in the writing songs for his most recent effort, Standards, that he wanted to steer the album in more of…
The bar and restaurant at 3014 East Colfax Avenue had been previously going under three monikers: 3014, Odelay and the Beetle Bar. But when new owners Dave Cleland, John Elliott and Toby Waters took over the space last summer, they also wanted to consolidate the name and image of the…
Cursive’s 2003 Album, The Ugly Organ, has been described as a masterpiece, a benchmark and a career jumping off point for an already highly touted band. The album contains elements of song-writing and musical mastery and sold over 170,00 copies. But it can also be viewed as merely one of…
By Jim Louvau The post-Cobain era of alternative rock was very kind to Gavin Rossdale and his band, Bush. The band’s multi-platinum debut record, Sixteen Stone, thrust them into mainstream and made Rossdale the crush of sixteen-year-old girls around the world. But let’s face it, Bush happened to be in…
Legendary Denver bluesman Otis Taylor, chilling in the hall outside the hectic Leslie Hindman auction room at the Denver Design Center late last month, scoffed when asked whether he was bidding on any of the nearly 500 pieces of memorabilia up for auction from the Caribou Ranch recording studio. “Everything…
[jump] Editor’s note: Each week, illustrator Noah Van Sciver shares his ongoing story of an ’80s rocker on a road trip through his past with the readers of Backbeat. You can see more of Van Sciver’s work in his new book YOUTH IS WASTED. Last Week’s episode!!…
Linh England is currently in the running to win the Miss Viva Las Vegas Pin-Up Contest, part of a rockabilly celebration this April. Voting ended over the weekend, and now the Colorado native is waiting to hear the results. England has been involved in the local pinup-model world for the…
Wilco, who celebrated twenty years together last year, will headline Red Rocks on Tuesday, July 14. Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Steve Gunn opens. General admission and reserved tickets ($45.50-$65) go on sale on Friday, February 6 at 10 a.m. Darius Rucker, who slated to release his fourth studio album in March, brings…
There are certain nights when Denver seems to reach out and touch perfection, when wandering over to a small venue and seeing some local bands feels like more than that. Instead, it feels like witnessing a moment in movement that will be talked about decades in the future. Friday night…
During a break in between songs at the Ogden Theatre last night, Run the Jewels’ Killer Mike joked about someone who ran out of the building during the previous song, clearly out of her comfort zone. This is not music for the uninitiated: Two dudes screaming on stage over beats…
Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley is set to perform at Red Rocks for Icelantic’s Winter On the Rocks on Friday, January 30 with Major Lazer. Though the son of an influential music legend, Bob “Tuff Gong” Marley, like Sean Lennon, Damian Marley has firmly established himself as a noteworthy musician in…
Billy Joel will return to Denver on September 16 for a show at the Pepsi Center. This will be his first show here in five years and one of only ten non-New York shows scheduled in 2015. Tickets go on sale Friday, February 6, at 10 a.m. through Altitude Tickets…
On Friday, January 16, before a show scheduled for that night at Casselman’s, Puddle of Mudd frontman Wes Scantlin arrived at Denver International Airport, where he promptly hopped on a baggage carousel. That did not end well. “Evidentlyn someone in their group was egging him on to do it,” says…
Winter on the Rocks, featuring Major Lazer and Damien Marley, is just one day away, and that means it’s time to pick out what to wear. Many Red Rocks shows involve a lot of bare stomachs, bright colors and flower crowns. But Winter on the Rocks is, obviously, in January…
Eck’s Saloon, long a haven for both local and national hard rock acts like Warrant, Quiet Riot, and Skid Row, recently closed. The Lakewood-based music venue and bar, once owned by Mike Bruno (who also used to own Iliff Park Saloon and Bruno’s Saloon) and which changed hands twice over…
Now in its fifth incarnation, the running Wet Pizza compilation series is a perfect representation of Denver’s just-under-the-radar music scene. But Wet Pizza V (Wet It Be) — a collection of of 32 tracks by 32 artists — isn’t merely a snapshot of this city’s vibrant DIY-minded music community; it…
Until recently, Sunday nights in Pueblo meant everything to kids who were into the city’s music scene. Phil’s Radiator was the only all-ages venue within a thirty-mile radius, and the old mechanic’s shop would fill up with teenagers displaying Xs on their hands and band names on their Converse All…
Today is the last day to purchase a line of clothing designed by the electronic music producer Derek Vincent Smith, a.k.a Pretty Lights. He is paying homage to his home state and to his alma mater, the University of Colorado in Boulder, with the Colorado-based merchandise. The collection is called…
The Mishawaka Amphitheatre, one of Colorado’s oldest music venues, announced last week that Z2 Entertainment, which operates the Boulder and Fox theaters, will take over booking duties starting with the 2015 season.”We’re really excited, because Z2 can bring the shows the Mish is used to, like the jam bands and…
The Westword Music Showcase will return this summer. We’ll celebrate the broad and vibrant Colorado music scene with a day-long festival featuring some of the area’s most interesting bands, DJs, groups and solo artists. Finalists for the Westword Music Awards will, as always, make up the vast majority of the…
“My doctor told me to drop everything I was doing and check myself into the ER immediately. They would be expecting me,” Jason Hornyak writes in his equally hilarious and sincere blog CancerTrolling. Hornyak went to the ER last week. He went from normal to making a new home in…
