Jason Isbell, Mudhoney and the Best Concerts in Denver This Week

Beach Bunny takes on the Ogden tonight, while A Prairie Home Companion Revival comes to Red Rocks.

The lords of fuzz in Mudhoney play HQ on Tuesday, May 3, while Interpol takes over the Mission Ballroom. R&B/soul/funk singer Omar Apollo will be at the Ogden, and Jason Isbell starts a two-night run at Red Rocks.

Round out the week with Swallow Hill Music's Ukefest 2022 starting on Thursday, May 5, or go see MC Magic and Jay Roxxx at Herman's Hideaway.



Beach Bunny
Monday, May 2, 8 p.m.
Ogden Theatre, 935 East Colfax Avenue
$27-$85
Chicago's Beach Bunny sounds similar to the Pixies but with power-pop undertones. Honeymoon, its first full-length, was produced at Steve Albini's Chicago studio and received positive critical notice. The band has another project due out this summer, so expect to hear some new material.

A Prairie Home Companion American Revival
Monday, May 2, 7 p.m.
Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison
$55-$89.50
The Minnesota Public Radio variety show A Prairie Home Companion ran for forty years before morphing into a different setup around 2016. Garrison Keillor, the controversial longtime host of the original radio show, heads up the "revival" with appearances by country star Brad Paisley, blues musician Elvin Bishop and his Big Fun Trio, Ellie Dehn, Heather Masse, Sue Scott, Tim Russell, Fred Newman, Rich Dworsky and Guy's All-Star Shoe Band (Pat Donohue, Stuart Duncan and Gary Raynor).



Mudhoney
Tuesday, May 3, 8 p.m.
HQ, 60 South Broadway
$23-$175
Long ago, a Seattle band called Green River made fuzzy music that would one day be called grunge. The band broke up, and two of its members formed Mudhoney. And grunge is mostly what Mudhoney still plays, with an occasional pensive side trip.

Interpol
Tuesday, May 3, 7:30 p.m.
Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop Street
$35.50-$75
New York's Interpol was one of several bands to emerge in the post-punk revival, which technically makes the band post-post-punk. It has a new record, The Other Side of Make-Believe, dropping in July, so expect some new tunes.

Omar Apollo
Tuesday, May 3, 8 p.m.
Ogden Theatre, 935 East Colfax Avenue
$25-$27
Omar Apollo plays a mix of rhythm and blues, soul and funk. His tenor vocals, sung in English and Spanish, are captivating, to say the least, and he brings his own take on choreography to his live performances. Apollo is definitely someone we want to hear and see more from.



Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit
Tuesday, May 3 and Wednesday, May 4, 7:30 p.m.
Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison
$47-$99
Jason Isbell got his big break playing with the Drive By Truckers before striking out on a successful solo career. His band, the 400 Unit, is made up mostly of musicians from around Muscle Shoals, and their seventh album, Georgia Blue, is a fun listen that covers everyone from R.E.M. to Cat Power. With this bill, you'll also get Waxahatchee, the solo indie-rock project of singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield, formerly a member of Alabama pop-punk band P.S. Eliot.

Denver Ukefest 2022
Thursday May 5, Friday, May 6, and Saturday, May 7
Swallow Hill Music, 71 East Yale Avenue
$31-$145
Love ’em or hate ’em (and if you're one of those people who can't stand ukuleles, maybe sit this one out), the ukulele has left an indelible mark on music. Ukuleles are cute, fun, and the Zooey Deschanel of instruments. Denver's venerable Swallow Hill Music is dedicating three days to the tiny guitar-like things — born in Portugal but made legendary in Hawaii — with three days of concerts and workshops. The whole affair begins on Thursday at 7 p.m. with an open jam at Grandma's House.



MC Magic and Jay Roxxx
Thursday, May 5, 9 p.m.
Herman's Hideaway, 1578 South Broadway
$30-$500
The song "Princesa" somehow manages to mix Jay Roxxx's striking vocals and MC Magic's gruffly delivered rhymes with mariachi music, and it actually works. It's a real banger of a song, and an excellent example of hip-hop's ingenuity — taking something pre-existing and transforming it into something completely new. And the show is on Cinco de Mayo, so get out and support this duo of Latino artists.

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