Review: Sleep at Gothic Theatre, 1/3/14

SLEEP at THE GOTHIC THEATRE | 1/3/14 Cannabis is legalized here in the same week Sleep comes back to Colorado to play a show. Coincidence? Whatever the case, this show surpassed the last time the outfit played at the Gothic in September 2010. Something just seemed more coherent and focused…

The best concerts in Denver this week

FRI & SAT | ADVENTURE CLUB at OGDEN THEATRE | 1/10-1/11 The Montreal-based Adventure Club is a duo that started as a pop-punk act. Quickly outgrowing that hybrid, Christian Srigley and Leighton James started making electronic music, their first foray into it being a remix of Brand New’s “Daisy.” Adventure…

The best jam-band shows in January

DISCO BISCUITS at OGDEN THEATRE / 1STBANK CENTER | 1/23-25 Pioneers of the jamtronica genre, Philly’s Disco Biscuits build interesting set lists; they invert portions of jams into each other, surprising the crowd again and again while shining a mega ton of lasers in your face for an overstimulation extravaganza…

The best EDM in Denver this weekend

FRI | ILL.GATES at BETA | 1/3/14 With more than two decades in the electronic-music scene under his belt, ill.Gates is now helping to inspire a wave of new-school producers via his ill.Methodology online courses and the events he hosts, which cater to those interested in stepping up their game…

The best concerts to see in Denver this weekend

FRI | SLEEP at GOTHIC THEATRE | 1/3/14 Stoner rock and doom metal gained mainstream popularity over the past decade thanks to acts like Queens of the Stone Age and High on Fire, whose reach expanded beyond metal fans. Before playing in the latter band, guitarist Matt Pike had been…

The best jazz shows in Denver in January

THURS | CHICK COREA & BELA FLECK at NEWMAN CENTER | 1/16/14 Over the last five decades, the virtuosic pianist Chick Corea has delved into quite a few variations of jazz, as well as classical, and on his latest effort, The Vigil, he’s reinvented himself again. His new band, also…

Review: Itchy-O at 3 Kings Tavern, 12/31/13

ITCHY-O at 3 KINGS TAVERN | 12/31/13 It only took moments to lose a sense of context. Less than five minutes into Itchy-O’s New Year’s Eve set at 3 Kings Tavern, any normal sense of time and place had already started to melt away. No, it wasn’t because of too…

Review: Wu-Year’s Eve at Cervantes, 12/31/13

WU-YEAR’S EVE at CERVANTES’ | 12/31/13 The last night of 2013 was spent with the three most recognizable faces of the Wu-tang Clan: Ghostface, Method Man and Raekwon. The three demonstrated virtuosity and vibrance, delivering a memorable performance in front of a capacity crowd. Much of the evening was dedicated…

2013 Voice Media Group Music Writing Awards

The eleven alternative weeklies of Voice Media Group are responsible for a tremendous amount of music writing: This year, we produced thousands of pages of printed stories and tens of thousands of blog posts. We’re proud to present the very best of that work in the second annual Voice Media…

The A-OKs: “We’re a ska punk band, and we’re here to throw down”

The A-OKs met on the Internet. As frontman Mark Swan notes, “We’re pretty much the billboard band for the success of finding people on Craigslist.” But while the players linked up essentially sight unseen, you’d hardly know it, watching the natural chemistry and sense of camaraderie among them. The initial…

Denver, New Year’s Eve 2013: What’s going on

While there are a number of high profile jam-centric New Year’s Eve shows this year, including dates with Yonder Mountain String Band, String Cheese Incident and Umphrey’s McGee, there are also a ton of other concerts and club events on NYE. We’ve put together a comprehensive list of ways for…

The top ten Backbeat posts of 2013

Welp, we’ve reached the end of another year, and what a year it was here at Backbeat. From delving into extensive Phish analysis and listing the best Swedish Metal bands to running down the best light shows and rap lyrics of all time to offering up a field guide of…

Win a ticket to Decadence NYE night one tonight

Update: Contest is over. We’ve picked a winner. Congrats to @fjscar0319. Check your email for details on how to claim your ticket, and thanks to everybody else for the other entries — and for reading Backbeat! Night one of Decadence kicks off tonight at the Colorado Convention Center with performances…