The Best Concerts in Denver This Week

Bono’s son Elijah Hewson plays Summit Music Hall with a band that’s kind of a better U2 on Monday, March 21, while D.C. post-hardcore outfit Jawbox takes the stage at the Marquis Theater the next evening. The Tallest Man on Earth towers over the Gothic Theatre on Tuesday, March 22, but he’s probably not as tall as Brian Posehn. Three indie-rock outfits, Alt-J, Portugal. the Man and Cherry Glazerr, storm the 1STBANK Center this week, and we’ve also got jazz, minimalist art punk and doom metal for your concert-going pleasure. Here are the best concerts in Denver this week:

Inhaler
Monday, March 21, 7 p.m.
Summit, 1902 Blake Street
$25
Dublin band Inhaler features Elijah Hewson on vocals. Hewson is the son of U2’s Bono. Yes, he kind of sounds like his dad, and the band’s music is akin to U2’s early output, with a little bit of south London post-punk band the Sound and some early-2000s Killers tossed in. It’s really quite good, and might be better than the Irishman responsible for spawning the singer. You can leave now, Bono.

Jazz Night
Monday, March 21, 8 p.m.
Meadowlark, 2701 Larimer Street
Free
Get your jazz fix early in the week at the Meadowlark’s weekly free event dedicated to the often misunderstood, sometimes maligned but undeniably influential genre of pure American music. The Meadowlark bills itself as Denver’s most intimate venue. It’s a good way to start your musical week.

Jawbox
Tuesday, March 22, 7 p.m.
Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer Street
$32
D.C. post hardcore outfit Jawbox put out two records with Ian MacKaye’s Dischord Records, then released two more on Atlantic Records before breaking up in 1997. The band got back together a couple years back and is now touring. With this show, you also get the shoegazing, Cure-saluting sounds of Denver’s own supergroup despAIR Jordan.

The Tallest Man on Earth
Tuesday, March 22, 8 p.m.
Gothic Theatre, 3263 South Broadway, Englewood
$35
The Tallest Man on Earth is the moniker of Kristian Matsson, a Swedish singer-songwriter. Since he’s Swedish, odds are that he’s a tall fellow relative to the rest of the world’s population; whether he’s the tallest remains to be seen. His somber, low-key music garners comparisons to Bob Dylan. If we’re being totally honest, Matsson has a much more pleasant voice.

Ed Schrader’s Music Beat
Wednesday, March 23, 8 p.m.
hi-dive, 7 South Broadway
$12-$15
This minimalist, post-punk/art rock duo from Baltimore careens wildly between styles. Most listeners probably discover Ed Schrader’s Music Beat from its song “Sermon,” which appears on a terrifying episode of Adult Swim’s “Infomercials” show called “Unedited Footage of a Bear,” on which a woman takes an allergy pill and reality as she knows it ceases to exist. Get ready to declare your disinterest in the better interest.

Alt-J
Wednesday, March 23, 7 p.m.
1STBANK Center, 11450 Broomfield Lane, Broomfield
$49.95-$99.50
Leeds, England, indie rockers Alt-J play the 1STBANK Center, an enormous venue that recently used to dole out COVID shots in an incredibly bleak near-future kind of scene. It also does high school graduations. Alt-J is joined by Portland, Oregon, psych-rock outfit Portugal. the Man and Los Angeles noise pop/garage rock band Cherry Glazerr for a diverse lineup of sounds.

Yob
Thursday, March 24, 7 p.m.
Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer Street
$23.50
Doom metal is the answer to the question “How long can I hold one chord on the guitar?” or, alternately, “Can I make an album that clocks in at an hour and 15 minutes and only has seven songs on it?” Yob, a three-piece from Eugene, Oregon, will serve up a full portion of doom, enough to last this week at least.

Brian Posehn
Thursday, March 24, 8 p.m.
Comedy Works Downtown, 1226 15th Street
$20-$29
The world was first blessed with Brian Posehn when he was one of the mutants at table 9 in The Wedding Singer, Adam Sandler’s only good comedy. (Okay, Airheads, too.) He’s also very tall, and although we’ve not been afforded the opportunity to stand him back to back with the Tallest Man on Earth, we’d wager good money he towers over that Swede.

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