Lotus at Red Rocks, 10/4/13

LOTUS @ RED ROCKS | 10/4/13 Despite predictions of snow all week, the weather stayed calm but frigid at Red Rocks as Lotus performed its show, which had been rescheduled due to the flooding a couple weeks ago. Even though it was cold, all quickly warmed up dancing to the…

The Eagles at the Pepsi Center, 10/5/13

EAGLES @ PEPSI CENTER | 10/5/13 The Eagles’ current tour is titled “The History of the Eagles,” and this performance at the Pepsi Center did a great job of living up to that title with side lessons about Linda Ronstadt’s old touring band, the country-rock stylings of Poco in the…

The best concerts to see in Denver this week

WEDS | FRANK TURNER at OGDEN THEATRE | 10/9/13 Before striking out on his own, Frank Turner spent some time in London’s Million Dead, one of the better post-hardcore bands of the early 2000s. Rather than singing with nuance, as he does now, Turner screamed and yelled in that band,…

The best concerts to see in Denver this weekend

FRI | LOTUS at RED ROCKS | 10/4/13 The jazzy electronic quintet Lotus, known for its precisely timed improvisations during live shows, is celebrating its fourteenth year as a group. From incorporating video-game music to performing David Bowie tribute shows and playing Black Sabbath covers, Lotus has figured out how…

The best EDM in Denver this weekend

FRI | MOSCA at NORAD | 10/4/13 Many DJs who start off on the drum-and-bass/jungle end of things tend to stay toward the bass-oriented end of spectrum. But while Mosca still incorporates a hefty amount of dub/dancehall/reggae into his sets, he’s primarily known for his underground house and techno sets,…

Today is the first day of the rest of Justin Furstenfeld’s life

Justin Furstenfeld, the frontman for Texas rockers Blue October, has turned a corner, both musically and in his personal life. His band’s new album, Sway, is a far cry from 2011’s angst-ridden Any Man in America, which was written while the 37-year-old singer was going through a divorce and a…

Saskatoon

The debut album from Saskatoon, which features Paul DeHaven (Paper Bird, Eye and the Arrow) and Jess Webb, has an almost utilitarian quality — and that’s not a bad thing. The tranquil sentimentality and subtle psychedelia of these stretched-out instrumentals would be a nice accompaniment to a languid yoga session…

Space in Time

There’s a bit of stylistic time travel happening on Rock and Roll, Space in Time’s newest release. The keyboards and guitar, for instance, play off one another in a clear nod to the likes of Captain Beyond and Uriah Heep. But instead of merely mining the usual classic-hard-rock territory, these…

The Patti Fiasco

On the title track of the Patti Fiasco’s Small Town Lights, which also serves as the album’s opener, the Fort Collins-based quintet starts off fairly tame, with strumming acoustic guitars and a slide resonator guitar that sounds almost like a pedal steel. It’s a bit twangy at first, but in…

Sole

For WHITENOISE, his newest release, Sole takes a surprising turn away from his usual far-left political-theory rhymes and gangster-chic production, offering instead a lo-fi, left-field, all-instrumental album. No longer spitting about Paris communes or the prison-industrial complex, he nonetheless gets his point across through overlaid vocal samples and song titles…

The best EDM shows in Denver in October

FRI | LOTUS at RED ROCKS | 10/4/13 The jazzy electronic quintet Lotus, known for its precisely timed improvisations during live shows, is celebrating its fourteenth year as a group. From incorporating video-game music to performing David Bowie tribute shows and playing Black Sabbath covers, Lotus has figured out how…

The best DIY shows in Denver in October

DUSTIN WONG & TAKAO MINEKAWA at RHINOCEROPOLIS | 10/23/13 Dustin Wong first gained notice as a member of Baltimore’s passionately exuberant post-punk band Ponytail. In that outfit, Wong’s guitar work gave the band a wiry sonic detail that made its songs even more exciting. When Ponytail split in 2011, Wong…

DJ Cavem featured in October issue of O

It’s always a thrilling for artists to see themselves written up in the pages of a magazine, even more so if that publication happens to be national. Needless to say, DJ Cavem is totally hyped right now. The MC and Westword MasterMind recipient is featured prominently in the October issue…

The best rap shows in Denver in October

TUES | FLATBUSH ZOMBIES at CERVANTES’ OTHER SIDE | 10/22/13 As if torn out of the pages of a graphic novel, Flatbush Zombies are intense and ultra-stylized to an extent that is at once cartoonish and darkly gritty. Sometimes, in the case of very exciting music such as theirs, substance…

The best metal shows in Denver in October

SUN | DEICIDE at GOTHIC THEATER | 10/13/13 While many metal bands flirt with concepts and perceived aesthetics of Satanism, Deicide has championed a very anti-Christian stance. Deicide, formed in Tampa in 1987, has long been one of the pillars of death metal since releasing its self-titled 1990 debut album…

The best punk shows in Denver in October

SUN | GUITAR WOLF at MARQUIS THEATER | 10/6/13 Founded in the Harajuku district of Tokyo in 1987, Guitar Wolf was inspired in part by guitarist Seiji’s encounter with Link Wray’s monumental classic, “Rumble.” Hashing together bits of old time rock and roll with punk, garage rock and noise, Guitar…

The best jazz shows to see in Denver in October

SAT | DENVER JAZZFEST at NATIONAL WESTERN | 10/5/13 The inaugural Denver Jazz Fest includes contemporary jazz stars like keyboardist Brian Culbertson, Hiroshima, who formed almost three decades ago, Horns of Plenty (featuring saxophonist Darren Rahn and flutist Althea Rene) as well as R&B singer Kenny Lattimore and the legendary…

Peter Hook at Gothic Theatre, 9/28/13

PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT @ GOTHIC THEATRE | 9/28/12 Peter Hook’s 33-song set at the Gothic was split into three distinct sections representing three periods of his early career as a musician. The first set was comprised of Joy Division songs and not really everything expected. Beginning with the…

The best concerts to see in Denver this week

FRI | LOTUS at RED ROCKS | 10/4/13 The jazzy electronic quintet Lotus, known for its precisely timed improvisations during live shows, is celebrating its fourteenth year together. From incorporating video-game music to performing David Bowie tribute shows and playing Black Sabbath covers, Lotus has figured out how to evolve…