Concerts

There’s a sign posted near the front door of the hi-dive that lists Esme Patterson as the headliner. The opener is listed simply as “Friends of Esme.” There have been rumors and even informal announcements about which friends those might be, but all the crowd filling the dark room on…

Ivory Circle’s five-song debut EP, Entropy, was a poignant and heartfelt effort that showcased Connie Hong’s strong songwriting skills while also demonstrating the dynamism of her vocals, which can be wispy and delicate at times and quite powerful at others. Equilateral, the first of a three-EP series to be released,…

It’s evident from the start on Euforquestra’s fourteen-track LP, Fire, that the cats in this sextet are serious about the funk. The Fort Collins-by-way-of-Iowa City act kicks into gear on the up-tempo, groove-heavy opening cut, “The Price Is Right,” and follows up with the sticky funk of the title track…

If IDM artists like Plaid and Squarepusher had access to less complicated equipment and were born in the 1990s, they might come up with something like Lockbox’s Prince Soul Grenade. Is it composition? Cut-and-paste? Sound collage? It sounds like all of the above, with each song constantly shifting in texture,…

Deep Dreams can be viewed as a semi-transitional album for Sara Century, as it was written in part after she started incorporating keyboards and samples into her songwriting. Still intact, however, are the imaginative, demented stories that recall early-’80s Residents records. “iveknownyouforsolonggg” has a somber, spacious quality, like that of…

When Kava Lounge opens at 1915 Broadway in Boulder near the end of April, it will be the first of its kind in Denver’s northwest neighbor. It will be open seven days per week and until 5 a.m. on Thursday through Saturday night (Sunday morning, really). Anyone over 18 years…

I love electronic music. I love the sound, the artists, the parties, the people, the scene — in fact, I’m into pretty much everything about this particular genre of music. But there’s one thing about electronica that I’m really, really not into. At all. It’s the term “EDM.” I hate…

So news is spreading quickly about this year’s Mad Decent Block Party, a fledgling festival tour heretofore specializing in the kinds of hip-hop and dance acts whose members were likely to be wearing floral print hats. It was mostly found in large clubs with outdoor spaces, that sort of thing…

Some of SnowBall’s best artists weren’t even on stage. Among the young and the variably sober in the crowd on Saturday was a small group of artists, busily painting murals. They were situated between the two main stages, putting the eight-by-twelve feet wooden canvases at maximum visibility. The goal was…

The shoe is black and has a four-inch heel. It entered Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom on Friday for the SnowBall After Party as a piece of clothing. Late in the night, it became a weapon. And soon, it will return to Cervantes’ covered in paint, thanks to Nerf gun artist and…

This isn’t the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The list of upcoming artists beaming on a nearby screen includes artists like Nothing But Saxes, billed as “a smooth jazz experience.” The menu includes items that feel more a propos to a Chili’s than a rock venue. You can nibble…

At music festivals, weird kind of comes with the territory. But there’s something a little extra wacky about EDM festivals. When I walked through the gates at Snowball 2014, the first thing I saw was a woman wearing Moon Boots with glow sticks stuffed in them. “Pretty rad,” I thought,…

Hoo, boy, it’s SnowBall weekend, here in Denver for the first time in the festival’s young history. The dance-heavy lineup features reliable names like Pretty Lights and Griz as well as some curveballs, like Earl Sweatshirt and Warpaint. There’s more: In the Whale will spend two nights celebrating its new…

Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival announced its lineup earlier this week, but there was some controversy about the truncated roster for the July 14 show at Red Rocks. Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Asking Alexandria, Trivium and Body Count (Ice-T’s metal band) were announced for Denver, but those are the only bands…

Colorado’s musical legacy is about to find some permanence. Officials from the Colorado Music Hall of Fame and the Denver-based Blue Goose design firm have unveiled final plans for the permanent exhibition space set to open at Red Rocks Amphitheater later this year. Based at the current Trading Post gift…

Michal Menert’s path of success is a winding road of glorious sunrises and fraught sunsets. His third solo album, Elements, is set for official release on April 12, with a kick-off party in Detroit, Michigan, at the Shelter. Menert, as well as Denver’s Mikey Thunder and Mux Mool and Chris…

Sports Authority Field at Mile High is often filled with fans who provide unfaltering support for their home team, who come out in droves and weather malicious snowstorms, biting wind and blinding sun to be a part of something special. With the silhouette of the Rocky Mountains to the west…

Intentionally recorded in super-lo-fi mode, Already Dead’s I Want to See You Rot delivers the kind of sound that will never be fully appropriated by the mainstream. Though musically different from early black-metal efforts such as Mayhem’s Deathcrush EP, Already Dead’s project rivals that one in its rawness. On “Joke,”…

As guitarist and pedal-steel player for 4H Royalty, Jamie Mitchell undoubtedly knows his way around the alt-country. That fact is also in evidence early on his seven-song disc Love Songs of the Profane, which kicks off with “Hotel Room” and is similar to A.M.-era Wilco. Mitchell injects twangy guitar into…

The four tracks on the Friends From the Bar EP actually do sound like an attempt to capture a meeting at a bar somewhere — in Berlin, maybe. If there is an overarching style here, it seems to be one that synthesizes house, ambient and downtempo. Kaster Cordalis’s “Soul Romance”…