Last Call for New Year’s Eve Information!

What are you doing New Year’s Eve? Our annual New Year’s Guide, coming in the December 18 issue of Westword, will be full of suggestions for how to ring in the new year with style — and, with any luck, some great music. This is our last call for information…

VIE Nightclub Opening Tonight in Former Suite Two Hundred Space

After running Suite Two Hundred at 1427 Larimer Street in Larimer Square for six years, Lotus Clubs, which also runs Chloe and View House, has completely remodeled the space and is opening it as Vie tonight, December 5, with DJ Mike Magic and the VIE dancers. While the new club…

The Eighteen Best Shows in Denver This Weekend

It’s an excellent weekend for live music in Denver — Houston rap firebrand Snow Tha Product plays Cerventes’, our Open Media Sessions continue with Sorcha Richardson and Miss America by Wheary and there are plenty more. Our picks follow. See also: 50 Photos That Prove Red Rocks Is the Most…

Jenny Lewis Brought Sex and Regret to Denver Last Night

If Jenny Lewis were to be considered the voice of any certain slice of this generation, it would be those steeped in rock culture. Her set last night at The Ogden Theatre (her third Denver show this year) gave those in attendance the opportunity to experience her recently released The…

Usher Was Ridiculous and Perfect Last Night in Broomfield

The screaming was almost unbearable, but absolutely warranted. Last night at 1STBANK Center, Usher used the crowd’s unrelenting wails to his advantage, standing on stage in his own silence many times during the night, letting the crowd fill space in the arena with vocal adoration. He just flirted with every…

Quickly Rising Colorado Band You, Me & Apollo Is Breaking Up

It has been a big year for You, Me & Apollo. The Fort Collins-based group released its second full-length album Sweet Honey to acclaim and set off on a successful national tour. What should be a joyous homecoming show at Hodi’s Half Note at the end of the month will…

The Old Rocker and the Cat Lady

[jump] Editor’s note: Each week, illustrator Noah Van Sciver shares his ongoing story of an ’80s rocker on a road trip through his past with the readers of Backbeat. You can see more of Van Sciver’s work in his new book YOUTH IS WASTED. Last Week’s episode • BACKBEAT’S GREATEST…

Pizza Underground Played in Denver, and Nobody Cared

Halfway through the Pizza Underground’s set at the packed Marquis Theater, something strange happened. Most of the band departed the stage and flannel-clad one member stepped up, and started playing straight Nirvana covers. The songs might have contained some wordplay or puns, like all The Pizza Underground songs do (which…

The Five Shows Grandma Will Most Disapprove of Tonight in Denver

Thanksgiving. A holiday full of food, football, family fights about politics and awkward run-ins with high-school exes. It’s a wonderful American tradition. But this year, instead of waiting until midday Thursday to bond and drink and eventually argue with your relatives, take your great aunt, step-uncle and second cousin to…

RIP, KL Tha General: Friends and Fellow Artists Pay Tribute

Kevie Durham (aka KL Tha General) was making strides in Denver’s hip-hop scene. This week, in fact, he was headed to Atlanta to work with some artists and industry people there. But that’s a trip he’ll never take: Durham’s life was cut short Saturday night in a shooting outsideThe Beach…

How Respectful Crowds Affect Performances

When bands take to the road to tour in support of a new album, they play a lot of shows in a lot of different venues –some small, some cavernous, all of them unique. The trick is to adapt to the room, so that the songs connect with the audience…

How Not to Casually Hook Up With Old Crushes

[jump] Editor’s note: Each week, illustrator Noah Van Sciver shares his ongoing story of an ’80s rocker on a road trip through his past with the readers of Backbeat. You can see more of Van Sciver’s work in his new book YOUTH IS WASTED. Last Week’s episode! • BACKBEAT’S GREATEST…

The First Professional Rehearsal Space in Fort Collins Is Now Open

Higher Ground Rehearsal Studios opened its doors for the first time last week to the public. The company is the first rehearsal studio space in Fort Collins, yet two more are planned to open within the next few months, including CohereBandwith and a Bohemian Foundation-sponsored space. See Also: Fort Collins…

Photos: The Shirts Are Disappearing Again at Adventure Club

You may remember the shirt-disappearing epidemic we reported on toward the end of the summer. We have, of course, been monitoring the situation, but it appeared to be contained in Morrison. Canadian “ClubStep” duo Adventure Club made a stop at the 1STBANK Center over the weekend. AND GUESS WHAT HAPPENED?…

The Twelve Best Concerts in Denver This Weekend

Solid weekend of shows here in town, with legends like Death From Above 1979 playing in Boulder and Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis playing a pair of nights at Larmier Lounge. The rest of our picks follow. See also: 50 Photos That Prove Red Rocks Is the Most Beautiful Venue on…

Illegal Pete’s

Illegal Pete’s has always been passionate about the Colorado music industry. It runs a label, Greater Than Collective, the Starving Artist program and hosts free shows at all of their restaurants. So it makes sense that the restaurant would open a proper music venue. That will happen this spring in…