Concerts

Some unlikely VIPs rolled into the back gate of Riot Fest on Friday, driven in a chartered bus from their high school in Byers, Colorado. In addition to the easy entrance and free ride, the young music fans, all teenagers, got free passes to the entire weekend-long festival courtesy of…

It’s one thing to brave I-25 traffic to get to Riot Fest, or even to make the hour-long drive from the Byers (the original site of the festival), but a lot of people made a real trip out of this year’s festival. Walking around the parking lots at Sports Authority…

“I was excited to someone in the hip-hop genre who is progressive,” explained Brittany Fitzgerald in the outdoor space behind Rhinoceropolis over the weekend. “It’s good to see somebody with a strong voice.” She was talking about Mykki Blanco, the stage name of rapper and performance artist Michael Quattlebaum Jr…

At noon on Saturday, Riot Fest officially begins for the day, and fans come streaming through the gates. Inside, carny Robert sits at his booth with his back to the entering crowd, enjoying a breakfast of pierogi and cigarettes. His feet up on a stool next to him, his plate…

Maybe it’s the punk rock origins of Riot Fest that brought out the funny and the ridiculous in various performers and attendees at Riot Fest. It was mostly the usual self-deprecating and/or sarcastic commentary one expects out of musicians but there were a handful of gems both inspired and just…

“Punk rockers are nice,” says Owen Clark, who, at five years old, is one of the younger attendees at Riot Fest in Denver. His mother, Tyanne Clark, says she wrestled with the decision to bring Owen and his brother, two-year-old Noah, from Colorado Springs to see the festival. “It was…

From its rough-hewn exterior, it’s hard to tell if the Aztlan Theater is still up and running. It is, technically, but the once-notable building that has been a part of the fabric of Santa Fe for decades is in dire need of some help. There’s a lot of love and…

While Colin Bricker, owner of Mighty Fine Productions, is one of the area’s best sound engineers, he’s also played in the cover band Peter, Paul & Gary since he and some buddies formed the band they were in high school in Greeley. Over the years, some of the band members…

Riot Fest isn’t just for the punks anymore. This festival, coming to Denver’s Sports Authority Field at Mile High this weekend, is bringing an eclectic, loud lineup, and there will surely be a diverse crowd roaming the Byers-themed parking lot. To help you prepare, and maybe even dress, we’ve rounded…

Last month, Dorchester Social Eatery opened in part of the space that was formerly Lavish. On Friday, October 3, Privé Social Club, a late-night extension of the Dorchester, will celebrate its grand opening on the other side of the space (with the entrance on 15th Street) with a performance by…

Earlier this month. Swallow Hill Music announced that CEO and Executive Director Tom Scharf was resigning after seven years of running the Denver-based nonprofit organization that runs music education programs and organizes many concerts in the area. Scharf last day is September 30, and the organization is hoping to have…

The poster and fliers for Rubedo’s show over the weekend at the hi-dive featured the trio as comic-strip space explorers, holding laser guns. The fliers came with bags of crystals, and the Facebook page for the event encouraged people to bring the crystals to the show. They were both part…

As usual, the pamphlet for Goldrush was a work of art in itself, printed on quality paper with a thick, textured cover bearing a mountain landscape and a stylized G. The band profiles, written by people who clearly get the music and have a personal connection to it, were laid…

The best new band in town at the best new bar in town. That’s a bold statement, but it’s that statement that lingered as Miss America by Wheary, a new project featuring Joseph Pope III, Julie Davis, Nathaniel Rateliff, James Han and Patrick Meese finished its set at Syntax Physic…

[jump] Editor’s note: Each week, illustrator Noah Van Sciver shares his ongoing story of an 80’s 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. Rufus Baxter: Part Ten Rufus Baxter:…

Another solid weekend of shows in Denver, with some rockabilly at the Skylark, some jazz at Dazzle and some beats at Red Rocks. We particularly recommend twelve shows this weekend: Here they are…

Beginning September 27, Colorado music lovers can get a listen and look at some of the state’s best musicians as they come through Colorado Public Radio’s OpenAir Studios via a new television show, OpenAir Live & Local. A collaboration with the team behind local television station CPT12’s Sounds on 29th,…

First of all, whoever decided to present Drake and Lil Wayne in a staged performance competition was fucking brilliant. Taking two radio hip hop stars and giving them equal stage time by weaving their sets together meant the energy during a two-hour set last night at Red Rocks never dissipated;…

Coloradoans will have the chance to watch Governor Hickenlooper play banjo with the Infamous Stringdusters, drink beer, and celebrate a year of rebuilding and volunteer efforts this Saturday at Viva Lyons, a fundraiser hosted by Oskar Blues. The fundraiser and party, which is about more than just Hickenlooper showing off…

Goldrush Music Festival has always featured a meticulous lineup of local and national artists working with unusual sounds and approaches. This year is the biggest in the four-year history of Goldrush, with headliner Wolf Eyes joining a slew of other exceptional noisemakers on three stages at Larimer Lounge and the…

Yesterday, Linkin Park headlined Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater. That band has aged surprisingly well, as rap-rock goes, but it brought a mighty opener in AFI. No one’s following that band and coming out looking good. Photographer Aaron Thackeray, however, was able to capture some incredible shots of AFI, particularly front man…