ACTION BRONSON @ CERVANTES’ | 11/29/12 The building wasn’t full, but it certainly wasn’t empty either when Action Bronson stepped onto stage. The crowd was a little cold. Clouds of ganja smoke floated across the room. Everyone was a little subdued. When Bronsolino started rhyming, there was that requisite anticipatory…
About three years ago, Scooter James was at a point where he’d done a few shows with Pinhead Circus, the well-regarded punk band he formed in 1988, but wasn’t really set on pursuing music full-time anymore. Then he saw his friends in Tin Horn Prayer, and the band just completely…
Despite having yet to play a single show, Wanker graced the cover of the December 23, 1987, issue of Westword, looking like a mash-up of the New York Dolls and Adam and the Ants. The group, which started as an idea for a cable-access comedy skit, proved to be too…
Whereas many rappers quantify their lavish lives in terms of drank and weed, Action Bronson’s primary vice has been and probably always will be food. Before he gained notoriety as an MC with his 2011 studio debut, Dr. Lecter, he was well respected as a New York chef (his lyrics…
Writing blindingly sincere songs about insecurity and desire since 1995, Tegan and Sara Quin have transcended the limitations of twee heartbreak and grown into songwriters of impressive depth, clarity and style. The twin sisters were born in Alberta, Canada, and began writing songs together at the age of fifteen, recording…
Formed in Springfield, Massachusetts, in the mid-’90s, Shadows Fall began as a melodic death-metal band with some roots in hardcore. But around the turn of the century, the outfit took decisive steps to escape a genre rut, and the result was 2002’s The Art of Balance, which served as a…
Kreayshawn (aka Natassia Zolot) got a video camera at age ten and started making and editing her own videos for several years before formally trying her hand at music. Although she’s a high school dropout, Kreayshawn landed a scholarship to study film at the Berkeley Digital Film Institute. During that…
Mega Gem’s debut album credits more than twenty performers, who contributed a variety of sounds, from saxophone and cellphone to hand bells and “wiggling noises,” all of which are featured alongside a rock band and a small orchestra. The results are as eclectic as you’d expect from such a sizable…
Ben Makinen, who’s been a professional drummer for close to three decades, says the inspiration for his solo electronic album came from a dream he had in which he was visited by an ancient butterfly that told him a story of love between a gruff Goliath beetle and a beautiful…
Demonstrating considerable growth since releasing his previous pair of EPs, Benny Loco covers a surprising stylistic and emotional range on Rise. The title cut is like a cross between the soundtrack to a John Carpenter movie and Dead Ringer-era RJD2, with Loco mixing thick analog synth lines and crisp percussion…
Like a harder version of early Skinny Puppy, the songs on Built Better by Betrayal, the latest release from Invisible ASPS, bear out the title well. If these tunes weren’t born out of anger and bitterness and a desire to purge those feelings, it would be surprising, because even the…
Thee Dang Dangs got going this past summer when Broox Pulford of Wombmates, Shawn Butzin and Ray Koren of Dead Rollers and Rebecca Williams of Call Me Dolly decided to start a new band, united by a mutual love of rock that’s still rough around the edges. The outfit has…
With the alleged end of the world approaching, it seems apropos to throw an End of Time party with a headliner such as Traversable Wormhole. The artist is probably better known as Adam X (the brother of Frankie Bones, one of the instigators of the infamous Sonic Groove Records shop)…
PAUL BANKS @ BLUEBIRD THEATER |11/27/12 When Paul Banks and his band walked on stage last night, with no preamble of any kind, the four musicians took up their positions, and as drifts of fog floated gently by, the guitar sparkle and low-end bass slides introduced one of Banks’s best…
ASKING ALEXANDRIA @ OGDEN THEATRE | 11/27/12 Last night at the Ogden Theatre, the fist-pumping, black-shirted, skinny jeans-wearing contingent was out in full force. As the England-via-Dubai outfit Asking Alexandria performed for a capacity crowd, mosh pits formed and quickly disappeared. Kids were throwing devil horns in the pit or…
Although an official announcement from Arts & Venues Denver is due later this week, motorists and pedestrians passing on Speer Boulevard right now have no doubt noticed that the signage on the Colorado Convention Center theater is changing. Five years after acquiring the naming rights to the 5,000-seat venue, which…
When the class requirements are away, the students will play. This past weekend was a busy one for nightlife on Boulder’s Pearl Street. Our roving photographer Brandon Marshall spent Saturday evening capturing scenes at Boulder’s hotspots, including Press Play, Pearl Street Pub & Cellar and more. Keep reading for some…
Schooooool’s out! For. Winter. Or at least it was when Alice Cooper visited the Paramount Theatre this past Friday for a spectacularly spine-chilling show. Onstage, the never-aging (seriously, what gives?) rock icon navigated a series of tricky costumes including a skull suit, a ringleader uniform and a straight jacket, while…
Happy Monday! Another week, another great batch of shows on tap: After canceling a highly anticipated date this past spring, Action Bronson is more than making up for it with a pair of Colorado shows, one on Wednesday night at the Fox Theatre in Boulder, followed by another at Cervantes’…
DEATH GRIPS @ LARIMER LOUNGE | 11/23/12 Most bands that get hyped rarely live up to it. Death Grips was better than any hype could convey. Zach Hill and MC Ride put the amount of energy into this less than hour-long performance equaling what you’d have to sustain for a…
We hope you’re not too sleepy after all that food and shopping, because it’s time to hit the streets and dance your face off until the sun comes up and Monday rolls around. As always, some great music to soundtrack your weekend, including Danny Howells, Bro Safari, Torro Torro, Tin…
Welcome to the weekend — excuse us, make that the holiday weekend! Whoo hoo! If all is going according to plan right now, hopefully you’re reading this right now in your jammies — or better yet, you won’t be reading this for a few hours because you’re taking advantage of…
