The best EDM in Denver this weekend

MOON BOOTS @ NORAD | FRI, 5/24/13 Moon Boots maintains a mysterious persona appropriate for a being who’s allegedly imbued with sentience in a top-secret NASA experiment, but here’s what we know about him: He’s based out of Chicago, he’s signed on the French Express label, and he has a…

Dawn Safari

With its refreshing take on percussion and production, the music on Dawn Safari’s Mask isn’t what you’d expect during the height of bass’s fame. Rather than building up to massive drops, this chilled-out drum-and-bass relies on samples and loops, with nods to hip-hop — but even those are subtle and…

Farmington Hill

Durango’s self-proclaimed country-fried indie-rock act Farmington Hill sums up Road to Nowhere as “music suitable for both a raucous Saturday night and the accompanying Sunday hangover.” Sure enough, some of the five-piece’s twangy alt-country tunes — “Oh Yeah,” “Pass Me the Bottle,” “Pass Out” — could be the ideal soundtrack…

Justin Francoeur

It’s fairly clear from the opening cut of Justin Francoeur’s debut, Moving Through Universes, what an ambitious undertaking the disc was: “Gravity” starts off with a rock groove and gradually works in various worldly elements such as the erhu, a Chinese stringed instrument played here by Brian Mullins. Francoeur clearly…

The Seven Hats

There is something otherworldly and old-worldly about the songs on the Seven Hats’ Scientific American; they’d be right at home on a Guy Maddin soundtrack. Julie Davis’s voice, while in the foreground, sounds like it was captured on film and then played until the film stock was worn to the…

Turbonegro at the Ogden Theatre, 5/20/13

TURBONEGRO @ OGDEN THEATRE | 5/20/13 The familiar feedback leading to the down-strumming guitar intro of “Get It On” drew people to come from the upper areas of the Ogden to join in the pit down front last night. Turbonegro’s new lead singer Tony Sylvester, dressed up like some bizarre…

Vampire Weekend at Red Rocks, 5/20/13

VAMPIRE WEEKEND @ RED ROCKS | 5/20/13 Last night at Red Rocks, Vampire Weekend showed all the strength that has made it so compelling since the release of its first record five years ago. From Ezra Koenig’s effortless falsetto and drummer Chris Tomson’s rollicking drum rolls that eerily echo old…

Tavern 13 closed after less than a year

Seven months after Tavern 13 relocated a few blocks south from its previous location at 1312 South Broadway to the former Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli spot at 1643 South Broadway, the venue shut its doors the first week in May. When we stopped by to confirm the bar’s closure, a sign…

R.I.P., Ray Manzarek: The Doors’ keyboardist dies at 74

Possibly the most famous and influential keyboardist in the history of rock, Doors co-founder Ray Manzarek, died yesterday at age 74 from complications due to bile-duct cancer. Known as the lanky professor crouched off to the left of Jim Morrison, Manzarek was an erudite multi-instrumentalist who delivered a complex and…

Black Moth Super Rainbow at Bluebird, 5/17/13

BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 5/17/13 Near the end of its set, Black Moth Super Rainbow performed “Sun Lips,” one of its signature older songs. While some people sang along a bit earlier in the show, it seemed like everyone up front knew the words to this…

3 Loco at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, 5/17/13

3 LOCO @ CERVANTES’ MASTERPIECE BALLROOM | 5/17/13 First there was silence. Then there was hysterical screaming, as Andy Milonakis walked on stage. “Pussy, pussy, pussy, marijuana,” he rapped over and over again. Yup. This was definitely a 3 Loco show. What a curse 3 Loco faces; they’re completely average…

The ten best concerts to see in Denver this week

TURBONEGRO @ OGDEN THEATRE | MON, 5/20/13 In 1989, when Norwegian band Turbonegro got together, it was clearly fueled by a love of Alice Cooper and acts like Hanoi Rocks and the Stooges. You can hear the influence in songs like “Sell Your Body (To the Night),” which features an…

Jammin Joe’s in Arvada closed

In 2011, Jammin Joe’s moved from Wheat Ridge to its current location in Arvada, a strip-mall spot that was previously home to the Brickhouse Nightclub and the very short-lived Mind Bender’s. Since relocating, Jammin’ Joe’s has brought in a steady parade of local hard-rock acts, as well as ’80s hair-metal…

Imagine Dragons at Red Rocks, 5/16/13

IMAGINE DRAGONS @ RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE | 5/16/13 On stage at Red Rocks last night, Dan Reynolds couldn’t get over the emotional weight of the moment. “This may be the greatest night of our lives,” Reynolds declared after “Round and Round,” the band’s energetic opener. Later, he marveled, “This is…

The best EDM in Denver this weekend

GLOBAL DUB FESTIVAL @ RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE | FRI, 5/17/13 The music of Excision (due at Red Rocks this weekend with Flux Pavilion, Zomboy, Dirtyphonics and Designer Drugs) is a fitting soundtrack to the desolate, gritty, apocalyptic landscape of a future ruled by homicidal machines. His tunes are warped, stuttering…

Ten best concerts to see in Denver this weekend

NATHANIEL RATELIFF & NIGHT SWEATS @ BOULDER THEATER | 5/17 At this stage of his career, particularly in Denver, Nathaniel Rateliff is a man who requires absolutely no preamble. Nonetheless, the limited-edition two-song seven-inch he produced for Record Store Day feels like a fresh and glorious reintroduction to a songwriter…

Clear Creek Rapidgrass Music Festival lineup

Dig your bluegrass? Banjos and mandolins make your heart swell? Great. You’re gonna love this shindig: two days of banjo goodness up in the hills. Clear Creek Rapidgrass is slated to go down on the first weekend of July at the Shelly/ Quinn Baseball Fields in Idaho Springs on Friday,…