Ten Highlights of the Hudson Gardens Summer 2016 Concert Series

We know summer’s here when the festival bills and outdoor series lineups start to get announced, and as is the norm, the Hudson Garden Series is offering some wonderful bills for those partial to nostalgia-based classic rock and soul. Here are ten of the highlights. 10. Jefferson Starship Sunday, June…

BØRNS’ Sold-Out Performance at the Gothic Was Dope-amine

If it was necessary to describe BØRNS’ show last night at the Gothic Theatre in just three words, they’d be: Best Case Scenario. As the first of two back-to-back sold-out shows in Denver, BØRNS put on a performance that rivaled the energy of a Super Bowl half-time show. The show, however, was free…

Denver Band Iwakura Expands the Identity of Hardcore

Iwakura is definitely a hardcore band, but it’s changing the face of the genre, exemplifying an individual vision of what it’s like today. What sets Iwakura apart on first impression is that the act’s performances lack the tough-guy persona that many hardcore bands adopt, even for the purpose of mocking…

Plume Varia Remembers Prince Before Tribute at Red Rocks

The sold-out tribute to Prince at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Thursday, May 12 will start at 7 p.m. (doors at 6:15 p.m.). The event, in addition to the screening of Purple Rain, will feature a poetry performance, ten bands performing one or two Prince songs each, plus a finale including Heavy…

Tortoise Continues to Defy Classification

Not long after Tortoise wrapped up its tour for 2009’s Beacon of Ancestorship, the post-rock quintet was commissioned by the its hometown of Chicago to write music inspired by the city’s jazz and improvised music communities. In 2010, Tortoise’s twentieth anniversary, the group performed the piece in Chicago’s Millennium Park…

Monday-Night Menagerie Offers a Hangout for Local Artists

Any city worth its salt has an amazing art scene, and any art scene worth taking notice of has a tight-knit artistic community. Taking that logic up another notch, an artistic community that wants to be taken seriously needs a place to meet, to exchange ideas and to bounce off…

Kacey Musgraves, Chris Stapleton, Progressive Country and Pot

Last weekend, troubadour Chris Stapleton was pandering to the crowd. “We should get some Colorado weed,” he said before the stage was blasted with green light and the band launched into “Might As Well Get Stoned.” He didn’t need to pander, considering that the new country heavyweight more than sold…

Good Vibrations: Denver’s Only Resonance Massage Table

It’s safe to say we all deal with varying levels of distraction in 2016. This is how distracted I was when I walked into my appointment at Infinite Space Bodywork and Resonance Therapy: After the owner/operator let me in the door, I fell down the stairs and skinned my knee…

Eight Jam Bands Playing Red Rocks This Summer

Jam bands. Historically, Coloradan music fans just can’t get enough of them. Whether it’s the groups who approach the genre from the past through the lenses of bluegrass or roots, or the contemporary and experimenting with electronica, there’s a good chance that their skills will find welcoming audiences here. Red…

Best Coast Will Replace Courtney Barnett at Project Pabst

Courtney Barnett has cancelled her scheduled appearance at the Project Pabst music festival, happening  Saturday, May 21, in the RiNo district. The Grammy- and Brit-Award-nominated Australian rock musician was one of the most anticipated acts on the announced lineup for the one-day festival, but Barnett recently received an offer she…

Denver Tool Library Launches Concert Series and Bazaar

Where you see lawnmower storage space, John Baxter sees a stage. The man behind ZetaKaye House and This Ain’t No Cowtown Compilation was in search of a home for his next event somewhere in the Arts District on Santa Fe — unsure at the time what it might become —…

Progressive Rock Legends Jon Anderson and Jean-Luc Ponty Join Forces

AndersonPonty Band is the musical partnership of two giants of progressive rock: Jon Anderson the former singer for Yes and Jean-Luc Ponty, the legendary violinist who played with Mahavishnu Orchestra and Frank Zappa. The two men met more than thirty years ago and discussed working together for years, but it…

The 1975 Proved Sexy, Wild and Poignant Pop Still Exists

Pop. That’s a word that seems to inadvertently water down the expected quality of music because it implies its entrance into the mainstream. I’m here to say, wild and poignant pop still exists, and the 1975 personifies it. These talented musicians from Wilmslow, Cheshire, England have accrued a cult fanbase…