Once upon a time, 2 Chainz and Diplo were working toward fame in the traditional lanes of the music industry. But that was before they learned the lucrative art of making the Internet laugh. 2 Chainz gave Skip Bayless one of his chains on ESPN2. You can order Diplo-ordained weed…
Your new favorite band is from Denver — you just have to find it! No small task in a city with thousands of artists and hundreds of venues, we know — but you can start this weekend at the Westword Music Showcase. More than 140 of our favorite local artists…
Editor: This Saturday’s Westword Music Showcase features over 150 bands on 17 stages. That’s a lot to navigate — you can see the full schedule here. But while the venues aren’t completely divided by genre, there is a certain type of music you can generally expect in some of these…
Update: Winner number one is mini-d. A schedule-maker after our hearts in that he or she will never be able to see all that stuff. We’re giving away a couple more pairs of tickets, so keep your schedules coming in the comments or on social media. The Westword Music Showcase…
There are successful, vibrant music scenes in every corner of the world. So what makes ours different? We asked several bands playing this year’s Westword Music Showcase to tell us: What is, in your opinions, the best thing about playing music in Colorado? Their set times for this Saturday are…
Here’s the thing: When you let a bunch of people into a field where there are several dozen very high quality beers in limitless supply, and then you close with a ’90s cover band, people will sing every word and hug strangers and generally head out of there with smiles…
There’s plenty to keep you busy this week. James Taylor brings his musical featherbed to Red Rocks for a couple nights, and Nas and Flying Lotus will headline Feed the Rocks right after that. The outdoor activities continue with the kickoff of both Sonic Bloom and Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Note…
Summer was underway. It was. But just in case you were waiting to roll down the windows and put away your sweaters, the Ink Monstr pool party series kicks off on Sunday. There are shows for those of us no interested in thigh exposure as well — Reckless Kelly is…
While Ruby Hill Park is a popular sledding spot during the winter months, starting June 2016 the park (near South Platte River Drive and West Florida Avenue) will be home to fifty free concerts a year. Work will begin on the 7,500-person Levitt Pavilion next spring. “Our entire mission is…
Lionel Richie is real, there’s no question. His star was born decades ago and solidified through so many hits that I had even forgotten some of them were his (and the Commodores’, of course.) It was refreshing to see someone so real perform; the last time I was at Red…
By Jack Spencer In my years attending punk and metal shows, often as the only one with a pen and pad in the middle, I’ve noticed that there are a few unwritten rules when participating in a mosh pit. The seemingly amorphous fits of aggression that explode from the center…
This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. To commemorate the occasion, organizer Planet Bluegrass is releasingTelluride Bluegrass Festival: 40 Years of Festivation, a book full of photos and essays by various artists who’ve performed there. We’ve reprinted the introduction, written by Telluride’s longtime master of ceremonies,…
Travel agencies may be dying off, but 420 EDM Tours has found a niche that even websites like Orbitz and Priceline just aren’t privy to yet: raging. The company has planned a series of bus-based tours that include stops at Colorado landmarks, tickets to concerts and, of course, a very…
The Westword Music Showcase is next Saturday, June 21. It’s our annual love letter to Denver music, with over 140 local bands playing. All of them are nominees for Westword Music Awards, and together we hope the two efforts will help a few people discover some new things about the…
The reach of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival extends down the mountains, across the country and around the globe. The weekend-long celebration of acoustic instruments, immaculate songwriting and untamed nature has brought big-name artists from around the world to its stage. Next weekend, Telluride Bluegrass will celebrate its fortieth anniversary, with…
It may not be unusual for a metal show to push the Ogden Theatre to full capacity, but any promoter is facing an uphill task in selling a Monday-night show. Still, Denver metal fans rallied together for Meshuggah and Between the Buried and Me with no concern for work, bedtimes…
The budding blossoms of summer were on full display at Stoney’s last Friday evening. ‘Twas a night for banishing the wintertime sads and celebrating the upcoming Westword Music Showcase. If you weren’t there, here’s the cool stuff you missed:…
Performers in all spheres often discuss the importance of ritual — but especially in music, where a pre-concert ordinance may be more significant to the band than we ever know as observers. One might think that rituals are reserved for witches and baseball players, but we have evidence that musicians…
The Global Glow music festival premiered over the weekend in Evergreen. The festival was created to showcase the CU Denver’s music program and give faculty a space to showcase their musical and artistic work. Todd Reid, Percussion Area Coordinator at the University of Colorado Denver played his iPad alongside the…
It’s the kind of week where we’ve got fourteen recommendations below and we’ll be spending this introduction talking about the ones we had to leave off: Tech N9ne is in town again/still in town, playing in Colorado Springs. Greater Than Collective’s Social Club at Lannie’s Clocktower has its June installment…
Not too long after the Hard Rock Café opened in 1998 on the 16th Street Mall, the Fray played one of its first gigs there. John Lindsay, Hard Rock Denver’s senior sales and marketing manager, said the guys in the band walked up the mall begging people to come to…
It is, as even casual observers of this section and/or billboards in the vicinity of the Golden Triangle will be aware, Westword Music Showcase season. I say season because it’s not just the festival itself (but: June 21 on that). It’s also about the related Westword Music Awards, which give…
