“Heh, heh. Nice John Wayne pin,” says Don from behind the counter at the Holiday gas station on State Street in Salt Lake City. He’s responding to the sight of my tourmate Alex Edgeworth — who is the drummer and one half of Lust-Cats of the Gutters — and her…
The latest installment in the nascent Red Bull Sound Select Series probably could have happened at a venue three times the size of 3 Kings. And The Joy Formidable kicked up a glorious racket that was big enough for a stadium rock event. Before getting on stage, the trio seems…
OutKast is back. You knew that already — the Atlanta hip-hop duo’s return has been somewhat well documented. So much so, in fact, that there’s a risk that you have come to underestimate this event. We want to first take a second to emphasize what’s happening here. Let’s simplify the…
You have to hand it to Lez Zeppelin — they have an awesome gimmick to go along with their awesome name. This is a long-running four-piece band whose website tagline reads “All Girls. All Zeppelin.” They made headlines worldwide in 2008 after media outlets began erroneously reporting that LED Zeppelin…
Jena ArdellParamore is back and busier than ever. The band just completed its first destination cruise with fans (cleverly dubbed Parahoy!), which included four days and nights aboard the Norwegian Pearl, sailing from Miami to Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas. Fans enjoyed two outdoor shows by Paramore, a Q&A…
The past is all the rage and it has been for some time, including in music, where certain sounds can instantly transport the listener to a different place and time. Particularly during childhood and adolescence, these tunes make up the soundtracks to our lives. To some, myself included, such powerful…
Lady Gaga went high-concept on her last album and found mostly apathy among her desensitized fan base. But! The concerts have always been the best part — last time around she gave birth to herself onstage and that was literally her entrance. So her upcoming show at the Pepsi Center…
Looks like the pop radio hits of yesteryear just aren’t cutting it anymore for the folks at 107.1 FM, known until very recently as Jack FM. The station launched a complete overhaul of its format and its content yesterday, unveiling a new brand name, a new musical niche and a…
Dave Brockie, better known as Gwar frontman/front-alien Oderus Urungus, passed away this morning. He was just fifty years old. His death follows that of guitarist Cory Smoot, aka Flattus Maximus, in 2011, while the band was on tour. Having formed the band of terrifying alien creatures in 1984, Brockie had…
A full crowd, mostly comprising young women, pilled into Cervantes’ last night to support their new idol: Snow tha Product. The buzz the rapper has generated in a short time was evident: The energy at the sold-out show was vibrant. Many people have identified with the rising star, who raps…
When Lorde became widely known following the release of her hit single “Royals,” the term “goth” was quickly attached to her music, and even more to her visual style. Vanity Fair referred her as the Queen of Darkness. Well, the goths didn’t get that memo, and Lorde’s sold-out show over…
Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop doing it wrong. Send your problems to her –…
Novelty had its moment in hip-hop; vision had its moment; abstraction had its moment. But thanks in no small part to Top Dawg Entertainment and its star, Kendrick Lamar, good old fashioned high-quality rapping is once again the standard of the day. And now, K.Dot’s longtime running mate Schoolboy Q…
At last night’s Science Lounge at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, I asked a grown woman what drew her into a fishbowl full of craft supplies to make her own mini diorama, and this is what she said: “I was like, ooh! There’s glue sticks in there!” Hot…
FRI | MARK FARINA at BAR STANDARD | 3/21/14 Mark Farina plays mushroom jazz, and that’s just the way it is. Seamlessly fusing funk, soul, jazz, and hip-hop into a fluid soundtrack, Farina has grown into a household name at Bar Standard where he regularly plays sets in what could…
Lorde and Robin Thicke are playing the Fillmore this weekend. Oh! Not together. No, it’s a Saturday/Sunday situation. But do you know who would make one exceedingly odd twerking couple? Those two. Elsewhere, the great Tower of Power hits our neighbor to the south, D.R.I. will be yelling at Englewood…
It has happened to me a million times. I walk into a bar with the intention of sitting down for a relaxing beverage, and in between the time that I’ve paid and my first sip of beer, I realize that some 22-year-old is having a birthday party. And that all…
Editor: Kalyn Heffernan is a familiar voice to many regular readers of Backbeat. We’ve written about her band several times over the years. And this week, she’s been sending us commentary on her third trip to Austin for SXSW. Read about why she still thinks it’s worth it to go,…
In March 2013, Spike Network featured Zanzibar Billiards on Larimer Street on its popular reality series Bar Rescue. During the episode, owner Ami Benari and the show’s host, Jon Taffer, nearly got into a full-on brawl. “It was hairy for a few moments, because he made me mad,” Benari says…
Speedy Ortiz (due Saturday, March 22, at Moe’s Original Bar B Que) from Northampton, Massachusetts came out of the solo side-project of singer-guitarist Sadie Dupuis when she was a member of the rock band Quilty. Taking the project’s moniker from a story in the influential underground comic series, Love and…
Gary Caspa, or simply Caspa as he’s known in the music world, has just transplanted himself, along with his wife, in Denver, Colorado. Could it be because Denver is the mecca of dance music and progressive thinking — two things that seem to go hand in hand these days? Or…
The question feels like a no-brainer, especially considering the fact that Brian Nelson is addressing a group of toddlers. “You guys, we have this big, giant drum over here. You think we should play it?” Nelson has just wrapped up a performance of a song about hot pots and silly…
