Concerts

KARL DENSON’S TINY UNIVERSE @ THE OGDEN THEATRE |10/31/12 Things witnessed last night at the Ogden Theatre, in no particular order: Rosie the Riveter breakdancing with a samurai; a priest making out with Little Orphan Annie; Milli Vanilli’s Rob and Fab sharing a smoke outside; and a drunk monk. On…

Until this past January, Josh Tillman was the drummer for Fleet Foxes. When I meet him at Good Luck Bar in Los Angeles, it’s two weeks after the announcement of his departure from the band. Slumped over the bar, beer in hand, the bearded, 6′ 4″ singer-songwriter stands out; through…

Doo Crowder (due at West Side Books on Sunday, November 4) first gained renown as a member of indie-pop outfit the Dinnermints. But he’s most well known for his tenure as frontman of the anarcho-orchestra Pee Pee. Since Pee Pee went on indefinite hiatus a few years ago, Crowder has…

Sera Cahoone grew up in Colorado — Littleton, to be exact. By the time she was in middle school, she was playing drums for gigging bands, and in the early ’90s, she formed the experimental-rock band Idle Mind with her friend Roger Green. Although one of the more promising local…

Considered the originator of minimal techno, Robert Hood is also regarded as one of the style’s most influential producers and is a highly accomplished album artist. As an early member of the staunchly anti-mainstream Underground Resistance musicians’ collective and record label (founded by Jeff Mills and Mad Mike Banks in…

If Matt and Kim had never made it as a musical duo, they probably could’ve found success as therapists. The indie-punk band is sickeningly sweet and happy, putting just as much emphasis on their perma-smiles and interaction with fans as on the music they play. They dance on their instruments,…

Heidi is one of the few acts in recent years to rise to the upper echelon of the dance-music world through deejaying alone. While most DJs today initially make their names producing original tracks, Heidi secured her reputation as a top-notch jock with her infectious energy and obvious talent. She…

Momentarily abandoning her rock roots, former Ghost Buffalo singer Marie Litton leads her dark-folk three-piece PrettyMouth on its debut album, Satan in Clothes. Here Litton lays bare the personal gloom she’s endured over the years, packaging all of it in songs with a ’90s acoustic simplicity wrapped in musically rich…

Kicking off with the bubbling and feisty “Bigger,” this EP finds the mostly instrumental Bizarre Learning Center channeling the distorted, glittery melodies of the Pastels or Black Tambourine, only at double speed. Robin Walker’s soothing vocals are mixed at a level comparable to the rest of the instrumentation, resulting in…

Not yet in her teens, Boulder-based singer-songwriter Jaden Carlson already has three albums under her belt. Even more impressive, the gal started playing guitar at age six; since then, she’s developed some fine picking and songwriting chops and has shared the stage with major acts such as Michael Franti and…

It’s still a bit early to start engaging in any album-of-the-year type of discussion. Just the same, Steady by Your Side, which offers one of the most exhilarating listening experiences of the year by far, warrants inclusion in any such conversation. Yes, Andy Schneider’s burnished vocals and the band’s blend…

When Scott Uhl first formed Forgotten Serenade about five years ago, everyone hated the name, so it was changed to Glass Delirium, after one of the act’s earliest songs. Now, following a handful of lineup changes and as many stylistic evolutions, the band has arrived at a style that’s informed…

Damian Lazarus has plenty of experience in the music industry — not just as an artist, but also as a writer and an A&R executive on the City Rockers label, where he helped sign some major talent. Lazarus, who’s been searing dance floors around the world since he was invited to…

While a lot of people began celebrating Halloween this past weekend, there are still a ton of parties to check out, where you can show off whatever clever costume you dreamed up this year (we’re going as either King Diamond — or one of the baseball furies, depending how our…

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year already since Open Air 1340 launched, but it has been. This time last year — on Halloween, to be specific — the station aired its first broadcast, and to celebrate this momentous occasion, the station has enlisted some of the scene’s…

THE AFGHAN WHIGS @ OGDEN THEATRE |10/30/12 Probably the biggest surprise of the Afghan Whigs show last night at the Ogden came right before the end of the set when Greg Dulli revealed that his band had a Colorado connection. He told us how more than two decades ago, the…

Lest it get lost in all the hubub of Halloween, be advised: Tomorrow night marks a significant and bittersweet moment in the Denver music scene. It’s the last call for Bender’s Tavern, which is slated to change hands in the next few weeks and become the new home of Quixote’s…

RYAN ADAMS @ BOULDER THEATER Half of the fun of seeing Ryan Adams live, apparently, is getting to hear all his banter. He has a fascinating duality: One minute he’s completely enthralling the crowd with a heartfelt ballad, and then he bookends the tune by casually offering up a hilarious…

The genius part of the Church’s Friday-night party theme — Naughty Tricks and Sexy Treats — is that the majority of Halloween costumes can be adapted to fit it. And they did: Hundreds of costumed party people flocked to the nightclub to dance, drink and enter the Church’s $1,000 costume…

Triad Dragons know how to throw a party. Over the weekend, they threw a small country. The massive annual costume party that is HallowFreak’nWeen took over the National Western Complex on Saturday with more than forty electronic acts and thousands of dressed-up (and dressed-down) ravers celebrating both sin and salvation…