The ten best concerts to see in Denver this week

ALICE COOPER & MARILYN MANSON @ RED ROCKS | MON, 6/3/13 Alice Cooper and Marilyn Manson at Red Rocks. Sweet Jesus! How this totally obvious and sure-to-be-awesome pairing has not happened before now is anybody’s guess. The music world’s O.G. shock rocker and his direct artistic descendent are slated to…

Taylor Swift at the Pepsi Center, 6/2/13

TAYLOR SWIFT @ PEPSI CENTER | 6/2/13 Taylor Swift knows what people say about her. She’s heard it all — the rumors, the criticism, the constant derision. She knows, as she acknowledged a few times during her performance at the Pepsi Center last night, but she doesn’t care. Why should…

The ten best hip-hop shows in Denver in June

GETO BOYS @ SUMMIT MUSIC HALL | SAT, 6/22/13 When it comes to the history of hip-hop in the Dirty South, it begins with Geto Boys and their self-titled, Rick Rubin-produced debut. The group had existed, though with a different cast, since ’86, but it wasn’t until the turn of…

The Postal Service at Red Rocks, 5/30/13

THE POSTAL SERVICE @ RED ROCKS | 5/30 “We had to cancel last night because I lost my voice, but I’ve got it back, kinda sorta,” Ben Gibbard told a packed house last night at Red Rocks, referring to scrapping the previous night’s gig in Salt Lake City. “And by…

The ten best concerts in Denver this weekend

ALABAMA SHAKES @ RED ROCKS | SUN, 6/2/13 Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes has a powerful and mesmerizing voice and she sings with an impassioned believability that sounds like she has experienced a fuller life than her young years could hope to contain. Her earthy vocals and the band’s solid,…

The best EDM in Denver this weekend

BASSNECTAR @ RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE | FRI & SAT 5/31-6/1 “When I first got going,” recalls Lorin Ashton, “I was into fuckin’ brutal, satanic death metal.” Even with all of his hair, it’s hard to imagine that Ashton, better known as Bassnectar, was once enthralled with extreme metal. After all,…

The Indulgers

On Whiskey Tonight, their seventh album, the Indulgers, led by vocalist/multi-instrumentalists Damien McCarron and Mike Nile, step things up a bit, injecting a considerable amount of vigor into many of the fourteen original cuts, particularly the buoyant “It’s You” and “Doin’ Fine,” an instrumental. Drummer Francesco Mannone’s tom-heavy tribal beats…

Benjamin Banks

On the Dizzo Drizz Dotta EP, Benjamin Banks deserves credit not only for his selection of musical ingredients, which are as diverse and unconventional as hymnal chants and telephone rings, but also for his contextualization of those ingredients into consumable entrees. Banks has broken out of the box of traditional…

MDZ

On Million Dollar Mixtape, MDZ affects a king-from-the-gutter persona. In rap and beyond, it’s a classic, always viable story. The challenge is telling the story in a way that’s fresh and new. While the opening track, “STRONG,” includes some personal moments that help explain MDZ’s character, most of the tape…

Pizza Time

It’s rare to find a free CD in the front of an independent record store that’s worth more than a casual listen. Greasy Demos, by Pizza Time, was crudely recorded, it sounds blown out, and the music is raw, primitive stuff. There are no track titles on the cover or…

Arctic Monkeys stop by Rockmount…again

Rockmount Ranch Wear has a slew of regular and returning customers. Among the latest: the Arctic Monkeys! In town this week for a show last night at the Ogden Theatre, the band stopped by Rockmount. Again. Last time the guys were in town a year ago warming up for the…

Soundgarden at 1STBANK Center, 5/28/13

SOUNDGARDEN @ 1STBANK CENTER | 5/28/13 Five songs into its set last night at 1STBANK Center, with the stage bathed in emerald light and Chris Cornell appearing sans guitar for the first time in the set, Soundgarden performed “Outshined,” one of its first radio hits. Cornell put his mic toward…

Arctic Monkeys at the Ogden Theatre, 5/28/13

ARCTIC MONKEYS @ THE OGDEN THEATRE, 5/28/13 During the decade Arctic Monkeys have been together and the seven years of space since their debut album, the guys have exchanged their polos for panache. While their lyrics continue to question their lives and loves, the stage is reserved for charm. They…

Juicy J at Cervantes’, 5/28/13

JUICY J @ CERVANTES’ MASTERPIECE BALLROOM | 5/28/13 Juicy J is like the frying pan that you don’t wash. You’d never show your guests you’re cooking with him, but he is just so damned flavorful. With the crowd at Cervantes’ already in his hand, and the energy fading somewhat, Juicy…

MusicFest at Magness Arena, 5/25/13

MUSICFEST @ MAGNESS ARENA | 5/25/13 The Head and the Heart took the Magness stage at around 10 p.m., after the outdoor acts played earlier in the day and the three other groups played the main stage off and on for about three hours. At that point, folks seemed far…

The ten best concerts to see in Denver this week

ZZ WARD @ GOTHIC THEATRE | WEDS, 5/29/13 While riding the bus to school as a child, Zsuzsanna Ward spent her time in headphones, thinking about just how much she wanted to become a singer. As an adult better known as ZZ Ward, she reached the crux of that dream…

Denver’s ten best Memorial Day weekend shows

THE HEAD AND THE HEART @ MAGNESS ARENA | SAT, 5/25/13 Formed in Seattle in 2009, this project started out playing open mics and within a year after playing countless shows, the Head and the Heart independently released its debut album. The band, whose self-titled album came out on Sub…