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Mark Sanders

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Beck - Red Rocks - August 15, 2014

By Mark Sanders
Aug 18, 2014

You might have thought that Beck's Red Rocks set would be a slowpoke, folksy affair akin to his latest studio album, Morning Phase. Nope. The night was a twenty-plus year retrospective, covering everything from 1994 mega-hit "Loser" to his recent foray into Nick Drake territory...
Teachers played backup for In the Whale and other Showcase Pre-Party highlights

By Mark Sanders
Jun 10, 2014

The budding blossoms of summer were on full display at Stoney's last Friday evening. 'Twas a night for banishing the wintertime sads and celebrating the upcoming Westword Music Showcase. If you weren't there, here's the cool stuff you missed:...
Meet the muralists of SnowBall Music Festival

By Mark Sanders
Apr 7, 2014

Some of SnowBall's best artists weren't even on stage. Among the young and the variably sober in the crowd on Saturday was a small group of artists, busily painting murals. They were situated between the two main stages, putting the eight-by-twelve feet wooden canvases at maximum visibility. The goal was...
...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead on medical research and classic records

By Mark Sanders
Apr 3, 2014

There are albums you love and albums that alter the way you listen to music. ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead's 2002 masterpiece, Source Tags & Codes, fits squarely in the latter category. Damn near everyone loved this thing; Source Tags was like a long-lost Led...
Is Lez Zeppelin's appeal limited to men?

By Mark Sanders
Mar 26, 2014

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...
Here's what my cat thinks of the new War on Drugs album, with photos and video

By Mark Sanders
Mar 18, 2014

The War on Drugs released its new album Lost in the Dream today. The band also plays the Bluebird on March 26. Here's what's going to happen now: I'm going to listen to the new War on Drugs album with my cat, Kitten and we're going to review it track-by-track...
Denver fans explain why De La Soul still matters

By Mark Sanders
Mar 17, 2014

De La Soul, the iconic Long Island hip-hop trio, performed last Saturday to a capacity crowd at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom. It was "nuts-to-butts crowded," as my Tennessee friends like to say. Consider now the fact that the group hasn't released a proper album in five years (2009's obscure Are You...
After-parties at Lost Lake Lounge feature DJ sets by more and more Bluebird headliners

By Mark Sanders
Mar 10, 2014

For national acts touring through Denver, "the party doesn't have to stop at the encore," says Lipgloss co-founder Michael Trundle (boyhollow). Instead, bands can walk across the street from the Bluebird, fresh from playing to a packed crowd, and deejay at Lost Lake Lounge. They did twice last weekend: On...
The ten best alt-country acts of all time

By Mark Sanders
Feb 7, 2014

Alt-country is the stepchild of the traditional country scene. Born, arguably, when Gram Parsons plugged in his guitar and sang the finest ode to infidelity, "At the Dark End of the Street," or maybe when the Rolling Stones recorded "Dead Flowers," the sub-genre came to be characterized by its decidedly...
Review: Bill Callahan at the Oriental, 11/25/13

By Mark Sanders
Nov 26, 2013

BILL CALLAHAN at ORIENTAL THEATER | 11/25/12 If you show up to a Bill Callahan show expecting a whiskey-soaked rager, you shall be disappointed. Last night's gig at the Oriental was proof positive of that. The audience took their seats, and Callahan -- standing near the back of the stage,...
Review: Alejandro Escovedo & the Sensitive Boys at Soiled Dove Underground, 11/22/13

By Mark Sanders
Nov 25, 2013

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO at SOILED DOVE UNDERGROUND | 11/22/13 One big takeaway from Alejandro Escovedo's show at the Soiled Dove Underground: The man lives the songs he writes. On stage, he spun tale after tale, at times foraying into extended monologues, to describe the backstory of each song. When millionaire rockers...
Naked and Famous at the Fillmore, 10/18/13

By Mark Sanders
Oct 21, 2013

THE NAKED AND FAMOUS at FILLMORE AUDITORIUM | 10/18/13 Naked and Famous was in total control at the Fillmore. From the first chords of "A Stillness," every string pluck and cymbal crash had been calculated, presumably in some sort of rock laboratory. Frontwoman Alisa Xayalith appeared onstage, clad in black,...
Jason Isbell at the Bluebird, 9/4/13

By Mark Sanders
Sep 5, 2013

JASON ISBELL @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 9/4/13 Jason Isbell didn't demand respect last night, but he certainly commanded it with his music. As he played a blistering set at the Bluebird that spanned two hours, the crowd sang along, hooted and hollered out requests, but on multiple occasions the talkers...
Kurt Vile at the Bluebird, 8/15/13

By Mark Sanders
Aug 16, 2013

KURT VILE @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 8/15/13 Kurt Vile strolled into the Bluebird last night carrying a stack of his CDs. He's a small man, maybe 5' 3" and weighing 130, with shaggy brown hair. Looked awkward. Very awkward. Was he about to steal my wife's heart with his songs,...
The xx at the Fillmore Auditorium, 6/3/13

By Mark Sanders
Jun 4, 2013

THE XX @ FILLMORE AUDITORIUM | 6/3/13 Clad in black and appearing every bit as mysterious and guarded as their music implies, the xx stepped on stage, strapped on its gear and began playing "Try" from its sophomore album, Coexist. The siren-like drone from Jamie Smith's synthesizer set the tone...
Zac Brown Band at Red Rocks, 5/8/13

By Mark Sanders
May 9, 2013

ZAC BROWN BAND @ RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE | 5/8/13 "We're gonna warm it up!" Zac Brown said just before he launched into "Toes," one of the handful of Jimmy Buffettized country-rock tunes his band played at Red Rocks last night. That song ("Toes in the water/Ass in the sand"... don't...
Devendra Banhart at the Gothic Theatre, 5/5/13

By Mark Sanders
May 6, 2013

DEVENDRA BANHART @ GOTHIC THEATRE | 5/5/13 Devendra Banhart marches to the funkiest army ever, a fact that was prominently in evidence during his abbreviated set at the Gothic Theatre last night. The man does not know how to keep still. By turns joking and serious, Banhart showcased an array...
Twenty fabled moments in Denver music, #6: Black Crowes spitting incident at 7-Eleven

By Mark Sanders
Apr 24, 2013

Backbeat is continuing to count down the twenty most fabled moments in Denver music history. Today we take a look back at the time when Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson spit on a woman at 7-Eleven because she had the audacity not to recognize him. Two months after getting kicked...
How to Destroy Angels at Paramount, 4/21/13

By Mark Sanders
Apr 22, 2013

HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS @ PARAMOUNT THEATRE | 4/21/13 If you came into the Paramount Theatre last night halfway through How to Destroy Angels' first show in Denver, don't worry: It was the same as the first half. Trent Reznor's new post-industrial-electro-goth-whatever project, expertly executed and so chill as to...
Twenty fabled moments in Denver music, #7: DJ Quik show at Mammoth turns into melee

By Mark Sanders
Apr 2, 2013

Backbeat is continuing to count down the twenty most fabled moments in Denver music history. Today we take a look back at when an early-'90s DJ Quik show at Mammoth Events Center turned into a bit of a melee. "But still my story ain't over cause I got one more...
Churchill at Ogden Theatre, 3/08/13, with Ha Ha Tonka, the Autumn Film (review, photos)

By Mark Sanders
Mar 9, 2013

CHURCHILL @ OGDEN THEATRE | 3/8/13 Outside of its stint at KTCL's Not So Silent Night back in December, Churchill has kept a rather low profile locally since its pair of headlining shows at the Bluebird back in September. That was right after the band had been picked up by...
Ty Segall at the hi-dive, 2/12/13

By Mark Sanders
Feb 13, 2013

TY SEGALL @ HI DIVE | 2/12/13 Ty Segall and his band must have been feeling nostalgic as they performed the final set of what looks like a monster tour. Over the past three months, they've been going nonstop between enviable European destinations to the West and East coasts and...