KID CUDI & TYLER, THE CREATOR @ RED ROCKS | MON, 9/16/13 Kid Cudi headlines this all-star lineup fresh off the release of his most recent, polarizing release, Indicud. Though his decision to self-produce has rubbed some the wrong way, he remains one of the premier hookmen in the rap…
RIOT FEST @ MAY FARMS | SAT & SUN, 9/21-9/22 When your band can be said to be a direct and obvious influence on the Ramones, the Sex Pistols and countless punk bands since, it’s fair to say you’ve made an impact on punk rock. But the Stooges didn’t look…
ONEREPUBLIC / SARA BAREILLES @ RED ROCKS | 8/29/13 “Fuckin’ Coloradans really love their music,” marveled OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder last night at Red Rocks, summing up a windswept evening of music from his band and co-headliner Sara Bareilles. Though Tedder’s outfit was last to take the stage, the group…
MIM0SA @ FOX THEATRE | SAT, 8/31/13 In just one short year, Tigran Mimosa went from bass-bombing Cervantes’ and playing free shows at Boulder record stores to headlining the Fillmore. His album 58 Degrees showcases his drum-and-bass influences while hinting at his progression into a finer, more complex realm of…
PHISH @ DICK’S SPORTING GOODS | FRI-SUN, 8/29/13-9/1/13 Phish is playing at Dick’s this weekend. You know what that means, right? Yep –the end of summer. Bye-bye, barbecues and basking in the sun. Besides signifying the conclusion of the iconic Vermont band’s summer tour, the now-annual three-day extravaganza represents the…
BIG GIGANTIC @ RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE | 9/28/13 Last year, Big Gigantic’s show at Red Rocks was the best EDM show of the year, and that speaks volumes considering how many other shows there were to choose from. Their feeling of hometown pride was simply unmistakable as the outfit went…
PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND @ BOULDER THEATER | THU, 9/12 The Preservation Hall Jazz Band got its start at the legendary New Orleans venue that it’s named after over five decades ago. The group has gone through many line-up changes over the last fifty years with some of the group’s…
NO AGE @ GLOB | 8/28/13 When No Age kicked into “Fever Dreaming,” during a show that had already maintained a hyperkinetic momentum from jump, the title of the song was such a metaphor for the entire performance that you had to wonder if its placement was intentional. The song…
When we were starting,” recalls Dango Rose of Elephant Revival, “there was a back-and-forth on the actual name of the band. For a short period of time, we had the idea of the name It’s Evolving.” Seven years later, Rose, who sings and plays double bass, mandolin and banjo in…
Since releasing its debut seven-inch in August 2012, the Blue Rider has not refined its sound so much as honed its edge a bit. A chaotic energy marked its earliest efforts; the band has since found a way to maintain that level of excitement while channeling its vigor more directly…
As Late Night Radio, producer Alex Medellin combines the sensibilities of big beat with a distinctive crate-digger twist. He seamlessly blends traditional hip-hop samples like funk guitars, horn stabs and heartbroken vocal strands with such contemporary flourishes as thick, crisp saw basses and bleeping arpeggiation. “To the Moon” is anchored…
Founded more than a decade ago, the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts is a mentoring program founded for high-school and middle-school students to learn more about jazz performance, history and language. Hang Time features two groups of CCJA musicians headed up by local pianist Eric Gunnison (Group Gunn) and…
PIKE, a local rapper, and Mumblebee, a Bay Area producer, describe their new five-track project as “an acid trip on a space shuttle.” Future Sounds may not be that awe-inspiring, but the two musicians have definitely found a winning combination in each other. Mumblebee’s rich beatmaking, textured with a wide…
The vocals on Monday Surgeons’ Spirited Awasteland // Desperate Living are so blurred by delay that they almost resemble a repeating phantasm accompanied by spectral keyboards. The first side of this release sounds like someone took an old electronic score for a dystopian science-fiction film, put it to tape, left…
BRONCHO @ LARIMER LOUNGE | 8/27/13 Broncho hit the stage last night like a great, long lost band from several eras. With its catchy melodies, and its infectious exuberance and aggression, Broncho recalled the Buzzcocks by way of the Stooges, except the guitar sweep and atmospherics were more like some…
Opiuo, New Zealand’s liaison to funk, has built quite a following in this country with his Down Under sound. Residing primarily in Australia nowadays, the DJ-turned-producer is healing up from a recent surgery on his ear canal and turning his attention to hitting the road before returning to the studio…
THE OUTFIT @ LARIMER LOUNGE | 8/24/13 The Outfit saved one of its best songs for late in the set, and the sparkling urgency at the beginning of “What Happened To You?” perfectly framed the song’s poignant lyrics, which were inspired by a chance encounter Eric Johnston had at a…
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND @ DICK’S SPORTING GOODS PARK | 8/23/13 The skies were dark over Commerce City on Friday night as fans tailgated in the parking lots outside of Dick’s, cracking beers and playing their favorite Dave Matthews Band tunes. But the threatening clouds didn’t dampen the excitement for this…
PHISH @ DICK’S SPORTING GOODS PARK | 8/30/13-9/1/13 Phish is playing at Dick’s this weekend. You know what that means, right? Yep –the end of summer. Bye-bye, barbecues and basking in the sun. Besides signifying the conclusion of the iconic Vermont band’s summer tour, the now-annual three-day extravaganza represents the…
When I think back on the first time I heard Dave Matthews (no, I mean, really heard Dave Matthews), I think of a collection of balmy summer nights in my hometown of Boston — bare feet in wet grass, a Natural Ice buzz, the beautiful, frightening uncertainty of youth. Me…
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND @ DICK’S SPORTING GOODS | 8/23-8/24 Twenty years ago, the Dave Matthews Band played Red Rocks for the first time, opening for the Tragically Hip and the Samples, and went on to build a loyal following with early shows at the Fox Theatre in Boulder. In the…
DERRICK CARTER @ NORAD | FRI, 8/23/13 When fans of house music talk about Derrick Carter, they use words that might seem hyperbolic to those not in the know — words like “legendary.” But the truth is, every superlative that’s used to describe the man is wholly appropriate. At age…
