The folks at 3 Kings Tavern are in the process of updating their jukebox and they need your help. They’re creating a couple of mix CDs based around the timeless subjects of weed and pinball, and they’re soliciting input on what to include. The request includes the plea to, “Please…
Warped Tour Invesco Field at Mile High August 9, 2009 Fifteen years down the line, the Warped Tour, which took over the asphalt surrounding Invesco Field on Sunday, has a well-established formula: lots of bands (around seventy in Denver), most of them falling into the pop-punk or post-punk categories, on…
Houses, Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, Joseph Pope III Friday, August 7, 2009 Meadowlark Better than: The other performances I’ve seen from the same three acts. Houses’ schedule has been demanding lately. The group’s ambitious goal for the year — to release four separate EPs, each bearing the name of a…
Kings of Leon, The Whigs Sunday, August 9, 2009 Red Rocks Better than: Listening to generic music on the radio. I had no problems with the delivery. The Kings of Leon’s set at Red Rocks on Sunday didn’t suffer from any bum notes, off chords or flubbed lyrics. The quartet…
Although Mardi Gras festivities usually happen in February or March in New Orleans, there’s a chance Red Rocks might get soaked in a Bourbon Street vibe when some of the Crescent City’s finest musicians take over the venue tomorrow, August 8 as part of the Mountainside Mardi Gras Music Festival…
All right, as if there wasn’t already enough going on this weekend to entertain you, what with the Dancin’ In the Streets Festival, the Warped Tour, the Mile High Blues Festival, the Mardi Gras Music Festival, Kings of Leon at the Rocks and the Houses EP release party tonight, here’s…
Rock the Bells 2009 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Thursday, August 6, 2009 Better than: ringtone rap, anything associated with Auto-Tune or listening to the self-proclaimed newly anointed “King of Pop,” Kanye West, talk about himself endlessly. Since 2003, Rock the Bells has been the premier hip-hop festival to showcase rap music…
After four albums, extensive touring and a decade together, Zebra Junction, who just took home honors at this year’s Westword Music Showcase awards, will be playing its last show tonight in Golden at Parfet Park. Although the members intend to continue to collaborate and record music with one another, there’s…
Apparently, it’s never too early to be thinking about Christmas. At least, not if you’re in boozy, hard-rocking outfits such as HOSS or Supersuckers. Those two bands just dropped a limited-edition, split 10″ vinyl on July 30 to celebrate Christmas in July. The record features two songs each from the…
After rocking with folks like Nas, Reflection Eternal, Damian Marley and a host of other legendary hip-hop artists at the Rock the Bells concert tonight, be sure to make a stop at Mario’s Double Daughter Salotto (1632 Market Street) for the Beat Cave, an event showcasing the state’s hottest hip-hop…
Last time we checked, there’s still a good four months left until the end of the year. Regardless, that hasn’t stopped Bob Boilen and company from NPR’s All Songs Considered from weighing in on the best music of 2009 (so far). Actually, check that — the results, which were posted…
We’d just grabbed a table in the back of BJ’s Carousel (1380 South Broadway) when a drag queen sitting right in front of us and wearing a lot of turquoise-and-silver jewelry turned around in her seat and asked, “Are you here for the show, or did you just stumble in…
Whether on the world stage or local stages, having been in a moderately popular band can have its disadvantages. Some will immediately discount what you do as a clone of your other projects, while others will expect you to stick to your so-called roots. That’s why the heady, dark and…
In recent years, major U.S. labels haven’t figured out how to sell dance music — and Interscope’s experience with Simian Mobile Disco won’t convince many imprints to take another shot. SMD, an English duo made up of Jas Shaw and James Ford, a producer who’s overseen projects by Klaxons and…
Syd Barrett and Carly Simon never had much in common — that is, until last month, when Trashcan Sinatras released their fifth full-length, In the Music. On the disc, the veteran Scottish indie-rock group included the single “Oranges and Apples,” a tenderly strummed tribute to the late Pink Floyd founder,…
Gomez has always been something of an anomaly in the world of non-mainstream music — partly because its layered pop songs are immediately accessible to a wide audience and partly because the band never followed any big trends in music. While this has resulted in a bit of a roller-coaster…
Anyone trying to make challenging music that pushes the boundaries of what can still be considered music is going to have to do more than just hash together established genres. That’s what makes New York’s Drunkdriver stand out. Not only does this band piece together elements of punk, noise and…
Leather, lawsuits, on-stage motorcycle accidents, the infamous Heavy Metal Parking Lot documentary and frontman Rob Halford’s homosexuality have often overshadowed the music of Judas Priest. But since releasing its 1974 debut, Rocka Rolla, the group has proven to be among the most innovative and influential bunch of dudes to ever…
The members of Arcanium are technically skilled and plenty passionate — but when it comes to distinctiveness and originality, they’ve still got a ways to go. Most of the cuts here use a template exemplified by “Trapped in the Niche” and “The Knife”: The vocals of frontman Sinn and backing…
You want the rock? The Outta Controllers bring the rock. All kinds — garage, metal, punk, maybe even a little bit of post-punk and hardcore. And while this omnivorous appreciation of all things loud and fast is both admirable and functional, a little bit of focus could go a long…
Few rock compilations anymore come with mission statements. But Fivecore Records’ Mile High Low Life isn’t afraid to wear its puke on its collar: The disc full of Denver punk was recorded in ten-hour bursts by engineer Bart McCrorey at his Motaland Productions and includes a few paragraphs outlining the…
For the most part, the weather in New York is made up of extremes. But for Denver-based bassist Lelah Simon, who studied at the New School with legendary jazz bassists Buster Williams and Reggie Workman, there were two times a year when the weather in New York was perfect —…
