Seven Denver Side Projects You Should Be Listening To

Denver is a haven for musicians. It has a plethora of venues, a governor that can be a bit over-excited about the banjo, and a veritable sea of musicians to collaborate with. The sheer size of the musician population has led to more bands then we could name here, and…

Autechre’s Electronic Music Has Its Roots in Hip-Hop and B-Boy Culture

Legendary experimental electronic duo Autechre performs at the Bluebird Theater this Saturday, October 16. Rob Brown and Sean Booth formed the project in 1987 out of a shared interest in electronic music and the hip-hop world in Manchester UK. “Looking back, as a kid, it appears it was everywhere,” says…

The Darkness Almost Didn’t Happen Because of South American Bees

The Darkness return to Denver to perform this Friday, October 16, at the Summit Music Hall. The U.K.-based rock band made a big splash with its 2003 debut album, I Believe In a Thing Called Love. Its brash and theatrical performance style and music sounded like it could have existed…

How the Latino EcoFestival is Using Music to Inspire Conservation

The third annual Americas Latino EcoFestival is ongoing in Denver, and it’s using music to inspire conservation efforts. The downtown festival, which features over 400 presenters and takes place now through Saturday at the Denver Art Museum, History Colorado and Denver Public Library, features presentations by advocates and experts designed…

Celebrate Tapes With Cassette Store Day 2015

You remember cassettes? The cases always broke after you accidentally stepped on them. The actual tape caused you mental anguish as you attempted to manually rewind it with a pencil. Loading it in a tape deck made the best analog sounds known to mankind. Well, good news lovers of both…

Z2 Takes Over as Promoter for the Chautauqua Summer Concert Series

A Boulder-based concert promotion powerhouse just got a little bigger. The Colorado Chautauqua Association has just announced that Z2 Entertainment will become the exclusive promoter of the long-running Chautauqua Summer Concert Series. The South Boulder music venue is over a hundred years old and is a National Historic Landmark. Z2…

The Yawpers’ Bloody New Video Gets a Big Debut

Denver-based band the Yawpers are back with a new album (American Man) and a brand new music video for their single “Doing It Right.”  Premiering on Nerdist.com, the video is as menacing as the band. With a mustachioed main character that can kill wrong doers with a stare, this video…

Every New Colorado Concert Announcement

Fall Out Boy brings its Wintour is Coming tour the Broadmoor World Arena on Wednesday, March 23 with AWOLNATION and PVRIS opening. Tickets ($44.50-$59.50) go on sale on Saturday, October 17 at 10 a.m.  Railroad Earth hit the Fillmore Auditorium for a two-night stand on Friday, February 12 and Saturday, February 13…

Jazz Pianist Tamir Hendelman on Adapting International Influences

Tamir Hendelman discovered jazz while growing up in Tel Aviv, but after moving to Los Angeles when he was thirteen years old, the pianist, who had already had seven years of keyboard studies under his belt, took his musicianship to another level. Hendelman, who performs with his trio at Nocturne…

Lara Ruggles’s Debut Full-Length Was Worth the Wait

“Fighting Time” is one of the standout tracks on Cynics & Saints, the debut full-length from singer-songwriter Lara Ruggles. It’s brooding, poetic, and angry as hell. Ruggles hurls threats with her impressive vocal range: “It’s fighting time, and I need to see blood on the floor/Whether it’s mine or yours.”…

Six Must-Read Books Written by Musicians

For most musicians, making music is a way of venting their inner frustrations and putting their feelings out into the world in a relatively positive way. Sometimes, though, it’s just not enough. For these overflowing creatives, there’s a story they feel needs telling without being shrouded in the cryptic poetics…

The Zombies’ Colin Blunstone on the Beatles and Writing New Material

The Zombies were one of the most popular bands of the British Invasion in the mid-1960s. Their vocal harmonies and simple but sophisticated songwriting on hits like “She’s Not There” and “Time of the Season” struck a chord with audiences. In 1967, the Zombies recorded the classic album Odessey and…

Scenes From a Denver Punk Reunion at Mutiny Information Cafe

Saturday’s release party for Bob Rob Medina’s illustrated memoir chronicling the ’80s Denver punk scene packed Mutiny Information Cafe — and that was before most attendees found out The Frantix were going to play.  The Frantic, who played their last show in 1983, said they  got in a mere two…

An Illustrated History of the Oriental Theater

Editor’s Note: The Denver Bootleg is a series chronicling the history of local music venues by longtime Denver cartoonist Karl Christian Krumpholz. This week, he talked to Oriental Theatre owner Scott Labarbera and talent buyer Mark Sundermeier about one of the last independent theatres in town. Visit Karl Christian’s website…

The Seven Best Concerts in Denver This Week

MONDAY, OCTOBER 12 Muscle Beach $8 7 p.m. The Moon Room at Summit Music Hall TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13 KBCO Harvest Ball $35-$49.50 7 p.m. 1STBANK Center Don Henley $49.50-$129.50 7:30 p.m. Bellco Theatre Gregg Allman $45-$79.50 8 p.m. Boulder Theater Destroyer $20 8 p.m. Bluebird Theater WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14 Lyrics…

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Is a Scam

It never fails. I write something, someone doesn’t like it, and they feel the need to seek me out and tell me about it. It’s never really surprising, even if I don’t understand it. I can barely muster the energy to tell people I know personally how much I disagree…

Youth Lagoon’s Trevor Powers: “I Could Never Do the Same Thing Twice”

Trevor Powers debuted as Youth Lagoon in 2011 with the gorgeous indie-pop minimalism of The Year of Hibernation, a calm, poetic and endearing trip through the anxiety, curiosity and lament of the then-21-year-old Boise State University student. Powers, who looked even younger than 21 in press photos surrounding The Year…

The Nine Best Concerts in Colorado This Weekend

This weekend’s live music calendar includes a couple good ones, including Josh Ritter’s appearance with the Boulder Philharmonic on Saturday. Elsewhere, the great Josh Abbot Band plays the Grizzly Rose and Frank Turner has a handful of shows planned. See the full list of our picks below.  FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9…