Looking back on those years I only went to that part of town for shows four times in 2013 and more than doubled that in 2014. It was perhaps a partially subconscious decision but of late I've felt that Rhino and Glob got some of its mojo back at a time when Denver metro is becoming a more unwelcoming place for off the beaten path art and music and culture generally.
What follows are several of the photos I took going to shows from 2013 to the present. Going back lately I've felt like the focus on art and music is back stronger and that the newer bands that regularly play shows at Rhino, Glob and Club Scum like Future Single Mom, French Kettle Station, Future Single Mom, Cop Circles and Bang Play are keeping things vital in that part of the underground while more established artists and bands with more experienced people like Thug Entrancer, Page 27, Church Fire,
2013
2014
2015
*Author's Note on the High Plains Underground Archive: In the late 1990s, I started going to local shows on a regular basis. Growing up in the '70s and '80s, I didn't know there was such a thing as local music worth checking out. But I was drawn in after seeing a band called Rainbow Sugar (an all-female punk/hip-hop/experimental guitar rock extravaganza) opening for Sleater-Kinney's first show in Colorado at The Fox Theatre in October 1998. Next, I learned about a show at the now-defunct Rebis Galleries. From there I went to the first Monkey Mania show, and there was no looking back.
Rainbow Sugar was the first local band I photographed at Herman's Hideaway in 1999. But it was in 2005 when I got my first digital camera that my extensive photo archive started. In this series, called High Plains Underground Archive, I will share a small fraction of the tens of thousands of those photos, focusing on specific venues, bands, time periods, movements and whatever else seems to make sense. The title of this series comes from the working title of my book on the history of underground music in Denver 1975 to the present.
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If you'd like to contact me, Tom Murphy, on Twitter, my handle is @simianthinker.