Our complete guide to the June 23 Westword Music Showcase

Welcome to the eighteenth annual Westword Music Showcase! Our baby is finally old enough to vote and buy cigarettes and porn — though who really buys that anymore? How things have changed since the Showcase was born way back in 1995. Bill Clinton was in his first term as president, cell phones were still a luxury of the rich, Coors Field was hosting its first season of the Colorado Rockies, and while there were 55 bands on the inaugural ballot that year, only 31 performed, at six LoDo venues.

This year’s Showcase, on Saturday, June 23, features roughly five times that many acts performing at fifteen venues spread out across the Golden Triangle, the neighborhood where Westword is now located. We have an absolutely killer lineup on the main stage, not to mention all the stages filled with the town’s best local acts, culled from this year’s Westword Music Showcase ballot.

To help you get to know this year’s performers a little better, we asked each of the featured bands to tell you what you need to know about them in a hundred words or less. Read what they have to say, in their own words, and then check them out this Saturday. If you haven’t already bought tickets, get them now at Westword Music Showcase tickets — prices go up the day of the show — and stop by backbeatblog.com for additional interviews and Showcase-related stories.

See you at Showcase!

A MOUTHFUL OF THUNDER
ROCK — INDIE
3:45-4:15 Rooster & Moon

A Mouthful of Thunder started out of the ashes of Hearts of Palm, formally Nathan & Stephen, which featured members of a slew of other bands, including Black Black Ocean, Five Iron Frenzy, Dan Craig Band, Barbizon, Lion Sized, the Symptoms, Walking Distance, Co-Pilot, Planet 9 and Ending People. A Mouthful of Thunder features members from Rifle Men, Black Black Ocean, Solar Bear, Two Tone Wolf Pack (formally Munster Boogie), Barbizon, Gromit and Ending People. Slow burn.

A. TOM COLLINS
AMERICANA
3:45-4:15 Curious Theatre

A. Tom Collins is a five-piece rock-and-roll band that is hard to pigeonhole. Navigating and transmogrifying the murky swamps of New Orleans R&B and ’60s soul, the outfit follows the cues of diverse influences, from Otis Redding and Cab Calloway to Tom Waits and Jack White. A. Tom Collins drops anchor with an impressive crash at each and every port, transfixing bewildered audiences with its strange brand of celebratory sounds that are as familiar as they are refreshing. Expect wild horns, surprising rhythms, catchy gang chants and one hell of a live show led by Aaron Collins, whom Westword has called “one of the city’s best frontmen.”

ACHILLE LAURO
ROCK — INDIE
2:15-2:45 Bar Standard

Denver four-piece Achille Lauro continues to perfect the tricky art of forging an encyclopedia of influences into a unique and approachable sound. Whether evoking scenes of a Kingston dance hall, a smoke-stained jazz club or a 1985 dressing room choked with hairspray, its sound is always incredibly polished and always sounds as if it takes twice as many hands to create. Equal parts headphone science and hip sweat, an Achille Lauro show never fails to leave a smile.

ALPHABETS
ELECTRONIC — EXPERIMENTAL
12:00-12:30 Rooster & Moon

AMERICAN TRASH REPUBLIC
HIP-HOP — GROUP
1:30 — 2:00 City Hall Amphitheatre

ANDY PALMER AND GRUB STREET WRITER
ROCK — ROOTS
4:30-5:00 The Church

Andy Palmer and Grub Street Writer thump and growl through their sets of electric alt-folk rock. Though a newer Denver band, the act has quickly been recognized for its unique blend of dynamic songwriting, powerful bass lines, soaring guitar solos and lyric and vocal stylings that draw apt comparisons to Waits, Dylan and Cohen.Westword listed Palmer’s debut album, Sometime Around, as one of Denver’s best releases of 2011. And the band recently returned from playing a SXSW showcase, where they were invited to perform at the Korg party. Palmer came west after working in Brooklyn, New York, as a public defender. Living and working in the trenches of Brooklyn’s underbelly clearly provides fodder for the grit and honesty of this must-see band.

ANXIOUS<
hip-hop mc
city hall upstairs> SINGER-SONGWRITER 5:15-5:45 Rooster & Moon ELECTRONIC 6:45-7:15 City Hall Amphitheatre HIP-HOP — MC (MALE) 6:40-7:05 City Hall Upstairs METAL 3:00-3:30 Broadways METAL 12:00-12:30 Broadways FOLK/ACOUSTIC 1:30-2:00 Curious Theatre POP — ALTERNATIVE 1:30-2:00 Stoney’s BLUES 3:00-3:30 Dazzle ELECTRONIC — EXPERIMENTAL 2:15-2:45 Rooster & Moon WORLD 6:45-7:15 The Church SOUL/R&B 7:05-7:30 City Hall Upstairs HIP-HOP — MC (MALE) 12:45-1:15 City Hall Street Level SINGER-SONGWRITER 6:45-7:15 Curious Theatre POST-PUNK 3:45-4:15 Bar Standard HIP-HOP — MC (MALE) 1:45-2:10 City Hall Upstairs ROCK — ROOTS 12:00-12:30 La Rumba ELECTRONIC — EXPERIMENTAL 12:45-1:15 Rooster & Moon ROCK — TRADITIONAL 4:30-5:00 La Rumba ROCK — ALTERNATIVE 4:30-5:00 Bar Standard HIP-HOP — MC (FEMALE) 1:10-1:35 City Hall Upstairs ROCK — INDIE 12:45-1:15 Bar Standard ROCK — INDIE 3:00-3:30 Bar Standard POP — ALTERNATIVE 4:30-5:00 Broadways ROCK — HEAVY 3:45-4:15 Broadways POP — INDIE 1:30-2:00 Vinyl Main ELECTRONIC — POP 5:15-5:45 City Hall Street Level HIP-HOP — MC (MALE) 4:40-5:05 City Hall Upstairs POP — INDIE 12:00-12:30 Vinyl Main ELECTRONIC — EXPERIMENTAL 1:30-2:00 Rooster & Moon ROCK — HEAVY 5:15-5:45 Broadways HIP-HOP — MC (FEMALE) 6:15-6:40 City Hall Upstairs JAZZ 12:00-12:30 Dazzle ROCK — AMBIENT 3:45-4:15 City Hall Street Level ROCK — AMBIENT 1:30-2:00 Bar Standard HIP-HOP — MC (MALE) 2:55-3:20 City Hall Upstairs DJ — PROGRESSIVE 6:00-6:50 Vinyl Rooftop ROCK — PROGRESSIVE 12:30-1:00 Main Stage COUNTRY 2:15-2:45 La Rumba POST-PUNK 5:15-5:45 Vinyl Main METAL 2:15-2:45 Broadways SINGER-SONGWRITER 3:00-3:30 Stoney’s DJ — PROGRESSIVE 1:30-2:00 City Hall Street Level ROCK — ALTERNATIVE 6:45-7:15 Bar Standard ROCK — PROGRESSIVE 12:45-1:15 The Church DJ — PROGRESSIVE 5:00-5:50 Vinyl Rooftop POP — ALTERNATIVE 12:45-1:15 Curious Theatre POST-PUNK 6:45-7:15 City Hall Street Level WORLD 6:00-6:30 The Church PUNK 2:15-2:45 Bannock Street Garage WORLD 5:15-5:45 The Church POP — TRADITIONAL 3:45-4:15 Stoney’s JAZZ 12:45-1:15 Dazzle POP — TRADITIONAL 3:00-3:30 Rooster & Moon AMERICANA 4:30-5:00 Curious Theatre ELECTRONIC — POP 2:15-2:45 City Hall Street Level PUNK 3:00-3:30 Bannock Street Garage PUNK 6:45-7:15 Bannock Street Garage HIP-HOP — MC (MALE) 3:30-3:55 City Hall Upstairs PROGRESSIVE 12:00-12:30 The Church AMERICANA 4:30-5:00 Rooster & Moon POP — INDIE 4:30-5:00 Vinyl Main PUNK 12:00-12:30 Bannock Street Garage SINGER-SONGWRITER 12:45-1:15 Stoney’s REGGAE/DUB 3:00-3:30 The Church HIP-HOP — MC (MALE) 5:50-6:15 City Hall Upstairs ROCK — INDIE 12:00-12:30 Bar Standard HIP-HOP — MC (MALE) 5:15-5:40 City Hall Upstairs ROCK — ALTERNATIVE 6:00-6:30 Bar Standard PUNK 6:00-6:30 Bannock Street Garage POP — ALTERNATIVE 2:15-2:45 Stoney’s DJ — DANCE 1:00-2:00 Vinyl Rooftop ROCK — ROOTS 3:00-3:30 La Rumba BLUES 2:15-2:45 Dazzle REGGAE/DUB 3:45-4:15 The Church METAL — EXTREME 1:30-2:00 Broadways POP — ALTERNATIVE 3:45-4:15 Vinyl Main SINGER-SONGWRITER 6:00-6:30 Rooster & Moon HIP-HOP — GROUP 4:30-5:00 City Hall Amphitheatre ROCK — JAM/IMPROV 6:45-7:15 La Rumba HIP-HOP — MC (MALE) 2:15-2:45 City Hall Amphitheatre POST-PUNK 6:45-7:15 Vinyl Main ROCK — JAM/IMPROV 6:00-6:30 La Rumba FOLK/ACOUSTIC 12:00-12:30 Curious Theatre ELECTRONIC — EXPERIMENTAL 3:00-3:30 City Hall Street Level BLUES 1:30-2:00 Dazzle ROCK — HEAVY 6:00-6:30 Broadways