Foster the People

Crazy the difference a year and a half can make. In the spring of 2011, Foster the People was a little-known quantity making its first trek to Denver for an intimate show at the Walnut Room. The band returned to the Mile High City for a notably larger gig at…

Fitz and the Tantrums

Fitz and the Tantrums appear to have absorbed whatever was in the water during the time Daryl Hall was rubbing shoulders with R&B legends of the late ’60s. In fact, according to an interview with Rolling Stone in 2010, singer Michael Fitzpatrick was told he sounded like Hall by none…

Iconocaust

It’s a good thing metalcore isn’t the metal genre no one wants to admit they like anymore. Metalheads are okay with the subgenre because so few popular bands play it anymore; now deathcore is the object of derision. This is good news for Iconocaust, whose new four-song EP has metalcore…

Manifest

Despite clocking in at a hefty eighteen tracks, The Owner’s Manual, the new joint from Manifest, makes for easy listening. Working with numerous soul samples and dope beats, Manifest does well with the space and time he has, and his voice is pleasing to the ear, especially when he’s spitting…

Joe Sampson

If Bad Weather California’s Sunkissed is the summer jam of 2012, then bassist Joe Sampson’s solo debut, Kill Our Friends, will be the model soundtrack for this fall, when your summer fling ends and you stay in while all your friends have fun without you. Not that you should wait…

Safe Boating Is No Accident

This album marks a complete reinvention of Safe Boating Is No Accident, starting with opening track “Her New Man.” It’s as though these guys ditched the Americana/crypto-avant-garde songwriting of the past in favor of an unrefined sincerity — like their irony and incisive humor have come full circle to a…

Celebrate the Fourth with Blues Traveler at Red Rocks

The drama of high school, the heady elation of a recording contract with a major label, the premature death of a childhood friend from a drug overdose — all of these elements have figured into the music of Brendan Hill, who’s served as the drummer for Blues Traveler since the…

Ten great #WMS tweets from Westword Music Showcase 2012

Westword Music Showcase 2012 was a long, sweaty day of awesome music, people and partying. Endangering the battery life of their cellphones under the hot sun, tons of fans and musicians shared the highs (and lows) of their Showcase experience in the Twitterverse and on Instagram using #WMS. Read on…

#WMS 2012 recap: La Rumba

Every year, for the Westword Music Showcase, we enlist our army of Backbeat wordsmiths to host various stages, and, in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty (or triple-duty in some cases) and also write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Dutch…

#WMS 2012 recap: Curious Theatre

Every year, for the Westword Music Showcase, we enlist our army of Backbeat wordsmiths to host various stages, and, in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty (or triple-duty in some cases) and also write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Kelsey…

#WMS 2012 recap: Rooster & Moon

Every year, for the Westword Music Showcase, we enlist our army of Backbeat wordsmiths to host various stages, and, in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty (or triple-duty in some cases) and also write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Mark…

#WMS 2012 recap: City Hall Upstairs

Every year, for the Westword Music Showcase, we enlist our army of Backbeat wordsmiths to host various stages, and, in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty (or triple-duty in some cases) and also write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Nicole…

#WMS 2012 recap: Vinyl Rooftop

Every year, for the Westword Music Showcase, we enlist our army of Backbeat wordsmiths to host various stages, and, in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty (or triple-duty in some cases) and also write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Kyle…

#WMS 2012 recap: Vinyl Main

Every year, for the Westword Music Showcase, we enlist our army of Backbeat wordsmiths to host various stages, and, in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty (or triple-duty in some cases) and also write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Josiah…

#WMS 2012 recap: City Hall Street Level

Every year, for the Westword Music Showcase, we enlist our army of Backbeat wordsmiths to host various stages, and, in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty (or triple-duty in some cases) and also write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Noah…

#WMS 2012 recap: Stoney’s Bar & Grille

Every year, for the Westword Music Showcase, we enlist our army of Backbeat wordsmiths to host various stages, and, in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty (or triple-duty in some cases) and also write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Due…

#WMS 2012 recap: City Hall Amphitheatre

Every year, for the Westword Music Showcase, we enlist our army of Backbeat wordsmiths to host various stages, and, in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty (or triple-duty in some cases) and also write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Britt…

#WMS 2012 recap: Bar Standard

Every year, for the Westword Music Showcase, we enlist our army of Backbeat wordsmiths to host various stages, and, in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty (or triple-duty in some cases) and also write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Tom…

2012 Westword Music Showcase schedule

Alright, it’s here! Finally! The waiting is over! The eighteenth annual Westword Music Showcase. You’ve probably already printed it out, cut it out, copied and highlighted the schedule, but just in case you haven’t, here’s the most up-to-date version of today’s lineup for the Showcase. All of the TBAs are,…