Tonight: Aloe Blacc at City Hall

In an age where “vintage polaroid” is considered a look, Aloe Blacc’s throwback style isn’t much to write home about. But its not Blacc’s retro-cool appearance that makes him stand out — its his stunning, soulful voice and desire to mobilize social change through his music that deserves the time…

Light Travels Faster calls it a day

Sad news: We’ve received word that Light Travels Faster has reached its natural conclusion, a lot sooner than many around here would have liked. Those who caught the band at last month’s Gathering of the Clouds should count themselves lucky, as that gig unfortunately appears to have been its last…

Disco Biscuits, Girl Talk, Korn shows announced

After selling out shows at Red Rocks and the Ogden Theatre this past summer, Philadelphia’s Disco Biscuits is slated to return to the area for back-to-back nights at the Boulder Theater on Thursday, January 13 and Friday, January 14, followed by two more nights at the Ogden Theatre on Saturday,…

Tonight: Eisley at the Bluebird Theater

The Dupree sisters — and brother, and a cousin — have been playing music since elementary school, starting with performances in their parents’ Christian coffeehouse in Texas over a decade ago. As Eisley (, due tonight at the Bluebird Theater with Ives the Band, Christie DuPree and Politic), the band…

Nickelback’s “Rockstar” inspires the concept behind the new Rock Star Lounge

When half-brothers Patrick Wilson and Nicholas Blake were looking for a concept for their new club, Rock Star Lounge (940 Lincoln Street), they found inspiration in Nickelback’s “Rockstar” video. “It appeals to every single person,” Blake explains. “You’ve got construction workers, valets, policemen, supermodels and Playboy bunnies. And everybody just…

Small Black

Before he spent time in a cabin on Long Island writing what would become the debut EP by Small Black, Josh Kolenik was in a rock band called Slowlands that played around New York to some acclaim. But when Kolenik moved on to writing his synth-centric material as Small Black,…

The Moondoggies

Lately, Seattle has become known for lush folk rock in the vein of Fleet Foxes or hammer-headed, Band of Horses-style dreamscapes that caress the soul but punish the ears with shimmering noise. The Moondoggies, however, look the lumberjack part but hit a bluesy guilty-pleasure spot with chugging lo-fi AM rock…

Arsonists Get All the Girls

Supposedly started as a joke band of sorts, Arsonists Get All the Girls became more popular than its members’ more serious projects. A sampling of songs from the group’s catalogue doesn’t make the joke immediately obvious, because these guys sound like a serious death-metal band, with electronic sounds stitching everything…

J. Cole

In 2010, it’s a good time to be a rapper who doesn’t fit the usual narrative. Needless to say, J. Cole is off to an excellent start. Born in Frankfurt, Germany, and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole took an academic scholarship to go to St. John’s in New York…

Musketeer Gripweed

All the pieces are here for this band to be the next Fillmore-filler birthed from the jam-friendly loins of the Centennial State. While the act’s sound is clearly organic, a natural byproduct of its members’ influences — Robert Johnson, Sonny Boy Williamson, Allman Brothers, Otis Redding, and Black Crowes, according…

Meantoad

There’s plenty here: ’70s AM gold, big band, new wave, piano ballad, funk. But in forty minutes of run time, nothing especially coherent emerges. The album feels a lot like a room full of shouting people. The standout tracks, by a mile, are a pair of covers for which Meantoad…

Ghostface at Summit Music Hall, 11/06/10

GHOSTFACE With Sheek Louch • Frank Dukes • Black Pegasus • Liquid Assassin 11.06.10 | Summit Music Hall Ghostface swooped through Denver over the weekend for a performance at Summit Music Hall with Sheek Louch, Black Pegasus and Liquid Assassin. The venue, with its blue lights and dark interior, created…

Lotus at the Fillmore, 11/06/10

LOTUS With Infected Mushroom 11.06.10 | Fillmore Auditorium I arrived at the Fillmore a little early to make sure I didn’t miss a beat of Infected Mushroom, an act whose shows I’ve damaged many pairs of dancing shoes at over the years. Founders Erez Eizen and Amit Duvdevani began as…

Tonight: ¡Chale Vato! at The Squire Lounge

As host of ¡Chale Vato!, Laru Loud — better known to some as Raul San Miguel, the nightlife photographer who’s shot your band, your fashion show and probably your epic party — brings the bass to the Squire Lounge tonight. This once-a-month gathering is a must for dubstep fans and…

Doomtree at Marquis Theater, 11/05/10

DOOMTREE With Yonnas Abraham 11.05.10 | Marquis Theater Doomtree, the hip-hop consortium out of Minneapolis, rocked the house for a sold out crowd on Friday at the Marquis. There’s seven members of the rap crew (nine, including producers), so what began as individual displays of rap endowment sectioned off in…

Brokencyde at Summit Music Hall, 11/07/10

BROKENCYDE With Millionaires, Kill Paradise, and The Hit 11.07.10 | Summit Music Hall, Denver View full slideshow from Brokencyde Last night’s Brokencyde show is the sort of package tour common in the world of teenager-targeted internet music, and the formula is simple: Stick a bunch of similar-sounding (and looking) bands…

Yoda’s House at Rhinoceropolis, 11/06/10

YODA’S HOUSE With Married in Berdichev • Hot White • Hideous Men 11.06.10 | Rhinoceropolis Things got started fashionably late at Rhino with Married in Berdichev. The first song sounded for all the world like a Brittany Gould original, with all the gorgeously lush and delicately textured grandeur enveloping you…

Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! at 1STBANK, 11/07/10

YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE 11.07.10 | 1STBANK Center, Broomfield See the full slideshow It would kind of rule if all concerts were split into two half-hour sets with a twenty-minute break between — but unfortunately, not all shows are geared toward four-year-olds. Yesterday’s Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! was, however, and…

Kate Nash at the Ogden, 11/06/10

KATE NASH With Peggy Sue 11.06.10 | Ogden Theatre Kate Nash, it turns out, is fucking punk rock. Yes, the Kate Nash with a single called “Merry Happy,” the one with the dress-up music videos and glossy studio singles. An understandable first glance might lead you to believe she is…