FRI | HARD WORKING AMERICANS at BOULDER THEATER | 12/20/13 Hard Working Americans, a supergroup made up of Todd Snider, Dave Schools of Widespread Panic, Neal Casal of the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Chad Staehly of Great American Taxi and Duane Trucks of Col. Bruce Hampton's School of Music, is making its live debut this week at the Boulder Theater. The show, which also serves as the kick off of the band's inaugural tour in support of its self-titled debut album (due out on Tuesday, January 21), is a benefit for the United Way Flood Relief fund sponsored by Boedecker Foundation.

SAT | PUBLIC ENEMY at SUMMIT MUSIC HALL | 12/21/13 The idea that hip-hop has always been politically self-aware and only recently has it strayed from that course is often tossed around, but it's not true. Although, in many ways, the birth of hip-hop was fundamentally a political movement, the earliest rappers spoke mostly about partying and self-aggrandizement, save for a few, such as Brother D With Collective Effort and Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five on occasion. Public Enemy was the first seriously political group to garner mainstream attention, which they did in spectacular fashion, releasing multiple gold and platinum albums. P.E. helped make counter-culture part of mainstream culture, and they brought into question the legacy of heroes like John Wayne and Elvis, for instance, in "Fight the Power."