Last call for Music Bar and Gabor’s

Two legendary bars went dark the first week of 2012. Music Bar, which has been around since the late 1940s and most recently was known for its karaoke nights, closed its doors at 4586 Tennyson Street at the end of 2011. And a week later, Gabor’s, a classic Capitol Hill…

Review: Nurses at the hi-dive, 1/15/12

NURSES @ THE HI-DIVE | 1/15/12 This was one of those Sunday shows where a lot of people showed up and everybody seemed to be very into all of the artists on the bill, from the opening set from The Don’ts and Be Carefuls all the way to the end,…

Review: Fitz & The Tantrums at the Ogden Theatre, 1/15/12

FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS @ THE OGDEN THEATRE | 1/15/12 Fitz & The Tantrums put on a show that was magnetic, engaging and inspiring. Boasting an impressive presence unable to be captured by its recordings, the Los Angeles act absolutely set the stage on fucking fire with an undeniable chemistry…

Review: Game 7 at Quixote’s True Blue, 1/13/12

GAME SEVEN at QUIXOTE’S TRUE BLUE | 1/13/12When the bases were loaded last night after the monumental kickoff of the Great Cycles Spectacles tour at the Fillmore, the party was still rolling at Quixote’s True Blue with the miracle that is Game 7. Music Marauders started its celebration of its…

Review: Sound Tribe Sector 9 at the Fillmore Auditorium, 1/13/11

SOUND TRIBE SECTOR 9 at the FILLMORE | 1/13/12Somewhere toward the end of the first set, STS9’s Zack Velmer and Jeffree Lerner took the reigns on drums and percussion for a monumental, LED temple-constructing percussive solo that left the auditorium in complete disarray. If the crowd left on that note,…

Oak Tavern launches weekly live music series

Next Friday, January 20, Oak Tavern is launching All Access Fridays, a new weekly live music series in which bands will be filmed for PBS/Free Speech TV’s show 303 All Access. The show will focus on up-and-coming rock, reggae, hip-hop, alt-rock and acoustic acts, who will each be interviewed and…

Weekend’s best live bets: Fitz & the Tantrums, Machine Head and more

For whatever reason, you’ll notice that this Saturday night, aside from the second night of STS9’s two-night stand at the Fillmore, there aren’t too many must-see shows. This is mere speculation on our part, but we’re guessing that might have something to do with a certain sporting event taking place…

John Parr turns “St. Elmo’s Fire” into “Tim Tebow’s Fire”

Okay, I know we’re all a little Tebow crazed around here these days and with good reason, but is anybody else here befuddled by the retooled version of John Parr’s mid ’80s tune “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion),” in which England’s elder mullet ambassador has inexplicably revised the original…

Big Gigantic climbing iTunes charts despite free download

Whoa! If you check the electronic iTunes Top 10 chart right now, you’ll notice that Big Gigantic’s latest album has jumped to the second spot on the chart. While that in itself is noteworthy, what makes it more so is that the outfit made Nocturnal available for free download on…

How to avoid screaming yourself hoarse this weekend for the Horse

Based upon the number of hoarse voices we encountered after the game this past Sunday, we’ve reached the following conclusions: Nobody in this town seems to know how to express his enthusiasm without damaging his voice. And with another big game on tap this weekend and the way the season’s…

Nickelback in Denver on June 10 at Pepsi Center

By early June, Denver will long be in the rearview for the Black Keys dudes, who’ll play here on Monday, April 30. Too bad. It would’ve been sweet-ass sweet to witness a good old-fashioned battle royale for ultimate supremacy between them and the Nickelback dudes to settle this whole “rock…

Red Hot Chili Peppers postpone Denver date to 9/27

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have postponed their upcoming tour to allow time for frontman Anthony Kiedis to recuperate from the recent surgery on his foot to remove a bone and repair a detached flexor tendon. The band, which was originally due at the Pepsi Center on Sunday, March 4,…

Artopia tickets go on sale this Monday!

Are you ready to party? What are we saying? Of course you are. You were born to rage! Good thing: Artopia, one of our most eagerly anticipated parties of the year next to the Westword Music Showcase, is upon us once again. The lineup has been finalized, and we’ve got…

Mid-Winter Punk Film Festival kicks off on 2/4

Those looking for a little rowdy cinema to warm up those dreary final months of the season should look no further than Growler Distro’s Mid-Winter Punk Film Festival, which features only the most hard-core selection of underground punk-rock movies of the ’70s and ’80s through today. The series is a…

Patrick Dethlefs plays January 12 at the Walnut Room

It’s fairly obvious that Patrick Dethlefs — a transplant from Tacoma, Washington, who now makes his home in Kittredge, Colorado, of all places — is no stranger to the kind of focused introspection that yields the mature songwriting style he has cultivated at a relatively young age. Folk? Americana? Sure,…

Mansions on the Moon

Mansions on the Moon holds the rare distinction of being able to say that it’s been backed by the likes of Pharrell Williams and Shay Haley and also opened for Wiz Khalifa. Few indie acts can make that kind of claim. Such opportunities undoubtedly came about because of Mansions on…

STS9

Inspired by the Mayan calendar’s succession, STS9 has developed a one-of-a-kind musical experience in the form of a tour dubbed the Great Cycle Spectacles, a presentation of art, imagination and music performed by one of the most sought-after psychedelic jam-rock bands going right now. After a successful tour following bassist…

Fitz & the Tantrums

Formed in 2008 around music already written by bandleader Michael Fitzpatrick, Fitz & the Tantrums came together within a week, just in time to play their first show. The chemistry was perfect, and the group’s brand of rhythm and blues with a shiny modern radio style was cemented. While there’s an…