The best hip-hop shows in Denver this March

THU | SCHOOLBOY Q at OGDEN THEATRE | 3/27 Schoolboy Q just released Oxymoron, his latest album, to general acclaim. He has embraced a style that is dark and creative, using unique but effective beats and a persona that is difficult to put a finger on. He has definitely carved…

The 8 best jam-band shows in Denver this March

American Babies at the 1Up Colfax 3/4/14 In 2007, Philly-based Brothers Past frontman Tom Hamilton went back to his roots and started American Babies, a band that focuses on songcraft and takes influences from everyone from Lou Reed to the Grateful Dead. The Babies’ live shows are high-energy, with surprise…

The 10 best punk and DIY shows in Denver this March

Sat | Propagandhi at Summit Music Hall | 3/8/14 In an era where many punk bands form and release their first album less than a year after starting, Propagandhi’s development seems remarkably long. Formed in 1986, playing its first live shows in 1989, the band released its early demos a…

The 12 best EDM shows in Denver this March

THU-SUN | DENVER WINTER SHOWCASE @ BAR STANDARD & NORAD | 3/6 to 3/9 When Andy Roberts moved to Colorado a few years ago, he immediately recognized the scene here as something he wanted to be a part of, which ultimately birthed the idea for the Denver Winter Showcase. Now…

A shining hope for pop music: Hall & Oates at the 1STBANK Center

Hall & Oates @ 1STBANK Center | 3/3/14 With no opening act, Daryl Hall and John Oates took the stage with their six backing musicians. Parts of this band have been together for a long time, including sax player Charles DeChant and veteran studio and touring guitarist Paul Pesco. It…

The 12 best concerts in Denver this week: March 3 to March 7

Editor’s note: Hall & Oates are now going as Daryl Hall & John Oates, because apparently that’s the way you add gravitas to a catalogue that will turn your pants pastel and put shoulder pads in whatever shirt you’re wearing if you listen long enough. Here’s the thing: They needn’t…

Pentagram at Summit Music Hall, 2/28/14: Review and Photos

Pentagram @ Summit Music Hall |2/28/14 Pentagram took the stage with a spooky soundscape coming through the PA, Bobby Liebling looking like a puppet woken up from a nap and blinking. He was all but twitching to life, pulled along by invisible strings. But when Liebling took the mic, an…

The best EDM in Denver this weekend

FRI | ICHISAN at BAR STANDARD | 2/28/14 It’s not often that artists like Ichisan get a chance to play in this part of the world, so dance lovers in Denver should be stoked that he’s headed here. The Slovenian musician began his musical career on stringed instruments — specifically,…

The best concerts in Denver this weekend

FRI | PENTAGRAM at SUMMIT MUSIC HALL | 2/28/14 If you’ve seen Last Days Here, you’re familiar with the frustrating tale of Pentagram. Formed in Virginia in the early ’70s, the pioneering psychedelic metal band should have, by all accounts, realized massive worldwide fame. Instead, success evaded the outfit, thanks…

Ronnie Weberg sees no end to Unlimited Gravity

I feel like simplicity is being strived for in the mainstream,” says Ronnie Weberg, “but we are seeing a progression into more intricate and intelligent music.” Weberg, who makes music under the name Unlimited Gravity, got his start producing hip-hop beats in high school. A shared interest in bass-driven music…

Bianca Mikahn

Surprisingly, spoken word is not often successfully combined with rap. On Nightdreams & Daymares, however, Bianca Mikahn does a flawless job of bridging the two. Pulling from deep wells of assonance, consonance and rhyme, Mikahn dances in the ebb and flow of Dile’s dreamy production, her free association finding and…

We’s Us

It’s clear that the members of We’s Us put a lot of care, attention and craft into their self-titled full-length. The evidence lies in the complex melodies, nuanced effects and layered sounds that mark each of the album’s fourteen tracks. A lengthy stretch of effects-laden guitar lines and augmented chords…

The Railsplitters

It’s fairly evident from “Jackson Town,” the opening cut on the Railsplitters’ twelve-song, self-titled debut, and tunes like “Lonesome Feeling” and “Blue Moon” that the Boulder-based quartet has a respectable handle on traditional bluegrass. But elsewhere on the disc, it’s clear that bluegrass and roots are also something of a…

Man Mantis

On his new EP, Man Mantis demonstrates how a year or two of experimentation across a handful of singles has sharpened his creative output. Compared to the material on his last album, Cities Without Houses, the rhythm palette has been expanded, and the sense of space within arrangements has improved…

Denver Winter Showcase full lineup and venues

When Andy Roberts moved to Colorado a few years ago, he immediately recognized the scene here as something he wanted to be a part of, which ultimately birthed the idea for the Denver Winter Showcase. Now in its sophomore year as a techno/house music party, the festival is totally geared…

Skinny Puppy at Ogden Theatre, 2/24/14

SKINNY PUPPY at OGDEN THEATRE | 2/24/14 The outrageous outfit Ogre is seen wearing above is just one of many he donned during his band’s show last night at the Ogden Theatre. Over the course of the show, the Skinny Puppy vocalist changed costumes at fairly regular intervals, the most…

JJ Grey & Mofro at the Fillmore, 2/21/14

JJ GREY & MOFRO at FILLMORE AUDITORIUM | 2/21/14 This show at the Fillmore offered a full night of funk in various forms, from the cowfunk stomp of Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers to the slick and polished Motown meets Shel Silverstein funk of Keller Williams, culminating with JJ Grey…

Lord Huron at Ogden Theatre, with Superhumanoids, 2/21/14

LORD HURON at OGDEN THEATRE | 2/21/14 When the members of Lord Huron took the stage, they looked snappy, as though each member had actually taken the time to look like he was in a band but without hitting us over the head with a visual representation. The band’s music,…