The Colorado Music Hall of Fame Now Open at Red Rocks

The trading post at Red Rocks Amphitheatre just made room for a lot of history, as the new home of the Colorado Music Hall of Fame. In the five years since it’s creation, 7 classes have been inducted into the Hall of Fame, all of which represent a varying yet…

Rhinoceropolis and Glob In Photos: The Current Era

When Trevor Yawner moved into Rhinoceropolis in 2012 he brought some of his connections in the then on the rise garage rock underground movement to Rhino and along with John Gross’s long-running involvement in noise locally and far beyond, Rhinoceropolis had some of the key elements needed to bring something…

Mark Patterson Records the Musicians of the 16th Street Mall

One summer evening in 2012, the 16th Street Mall was filled with tourists and shoppers dining on outdoor patios and reveling in the agreeable weather. Mark Patterson had a different mission. The street musician was searching for a spot along the promenade to play his guitar. The plan was to…

Remembering Havok Guitarist Shawn Tyler Chavez

Shock waves rippled through the tight-knit Denver metal community late last month when the news came that Shawn Tyler Chavez had passed away in Las Vegas. A Denver native, Chavez played a fundamental role in the formation of legendary local thrash-metal band Havok.“Next to me, he was in the band…

Rhino and Glob in Photos: The Lost Years

For a few years around 2011, it seemed like not as many touring bands were coming through on the DIY venues circuit as there had been. Many bands were going through booking agents at that time and most DIY venues aren’t likely to give a guarantee even though certain bands would…

Hear the Official Springsteen Dance Remixes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=129kuDCQtHsFact: Bruce Springsteen is an American hero. Also, a genius. Some people don’t put him in the same category as Bob Dylan and Neil Young, just because he looks good in jeans. That certainly shouldn’t be held against him, and admittedly we’re into that part, but mainly he’s the best…

The Ten Commandments of Freestyle Rap

If you’ve ever caught freestyle rap action in person, there’s a chance you’ve been curious to try it out. The bigger names in indie rap, like New York’s Homeboy Sandman, Slug of Atmosphere, and Los Angeles’ Open Mike Eagle, have made freestyling a regular part of their live shows. It’s…

Remembering Guitarist Josh Ogzewalla

Charles Joshua Ogzewalla, who went by Josh, died on the evening of April 10 from a combination of colon cancer and liver failure. Doctors originally told him he wouldn’t make it to February. “He had that tattoo on his arm that is the Dylan Thomas quote — ‘Do not go…

Laibach on the Danger of Comfort and the Power of Science Fiction

Slovenian industrial band Laibach return to the Gothic Theatre this Saturday, May 23rd for its first show in Denver in over a decade. The group, comprising  cultural provocateur and multi-media artists will share the bill with Ministry. Whereas the latter came up in a relatively free cultural climate in Denver and Chicago,…

Diarrhea Planet on the Best Steely Dan Record and Admiring Hendrix

Widely considered one of the best live rock and roll bands going now because of its joyously exuberant shows, Diarrhea Planet does one better on the modern reinvention of classic rock without sounding like a specific band from the 1970s. Think more like Thin Lizzy impossibly influenced by modern garage…

A Collection of the Late Kyle King’s Rhinoceropolis Photos

Kyle King was a guy you’d see at several Denver shows up through his untimely death on August 24th, 2009. As a student at Green Mountain High School, King was an avid music fan whose unmistakable, loud, silly and infectious laughter is something everyone remembers about the King. That and…

Bob Domonkos and the Making of an Unlikely Booty Rap

Bob Domonkos’s plan was hazy, at best, but he knew one thing for sure: He needed rappers. So he posted an ad on Craigslist. “Need rappers for booty-centric rap,” it read. “I have a song I’d like to see get out there…I think this little ditty has great potential. It’s…

194 Photos From the Heyday of Rhinoceropolis

From 2008 through 2010, the DIY space Rhinoceropolis and its sister venue Glob experienced their most active periods. The DIY touring circuit was still in full swing and many of the buzz bands in the underground made Rhino a stop along their route across America. I went to Rhino and…

Patrick McGuire Starts Over with Straight White Teeth

Early this year, roughly a month after the members of Denver band Flashbulb Fires announced their breakup, former vocalist Patrick McGuire found himself back on stage, this time alone with an acoustic guitar and a new project: Straight White Teeth. He knew, despite being in an emotional place, that he…

Rhinoceropolis in Photos: The Early Years

When Rhinoceropolis opened its doors to the public for the first time in May of 2005 for an art show, it represented a continuation of Denver’s long tradition of DIY venues. From warehouses and the like for punk shows in the 80s, the Greenhaus of early alternative rock band The…

A History of DIY Landmark Rhinoceropolis

Rhinoceropolis opened to the public with an art show the first week of May 2005. It was founded by Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design students Harry C. Walters and Jeremiah Teutsch and musicians/artists Milton Melvin Croissant III (aka “Buddy”) and Warren Bedell. The four had spent plenty of…

See Ian Cooke’s New Evolution-Themed Music Video

Denver’s Ian Cooke spent the weekend in Fort Collins, armed only with his cello, his effects pedal and his voice, ready to convert new fans and meet with old ones. On Thursday night, he played a solo set on the roof of the months-old Illegal Pete’s. “That’s an honor, and…