When Gods Come Back to Denver: All Them Witches, King Buffalo Ripped 

All Them Witches is the one-and-only band that’s inked forever on my skin. Not that I needed a reminder of why I got that tattoo nearly a decade ago, but last night had me thinking maybe it’s time for another.

The 1,600-capacity Ogden Theatre was sold out for King Buffalo and headliner All Them Witches. This Denver show immediately followed a sold-out night at Boulder Theater. 

Back in 2014, I first heard the four-piece psych rock band All Them Witches when my husband and I were visiting friends in Nashville; one buddy met them working sound at 3rd and Lindsley, a local venue, and he said he had an act we needed to hear. After seeing the band an estimated twelve times at this point, I have Jason Frasher to thank for that introduction (and I have drunkenly told the band this story too many times).

Stacking last night’s performance against a baker’s dozen, it may have been my favorite set yet in the band’s new era with drummer Christian Powers, who joined in 2024.

And All Them Witches seems to love us as much as we love them. The band played three sold-out, back-to-back shows at the Bluebird Theater in 2023 as part of its “3 Nights 3 Records” tour, as well as a sold-out show in Boulder in 2024, and a crowd-melting performance at the 25th Underground Music Showcase last summer.

On Instagram, ATW posted love for Denver, saying, “It’s starting to feel like a hometown for us.”

‘This is headliner material’

That’s what someone at the show said about the opener, heavy psych rock trio King Buffalo, during its set, and they weren’t wrong. That’s why this bill is so impressive: While the bands have toured together before, it’s apparent that these two bands are stoner, psych rock torchbearers for years to come.   

King Buffalo formed in Rochester, New York, in 2013, with Sean McVay on vocals/guitar, Dan Reynolds on bass, and Scott Donaldson on drums. Last night, they played a six-song set, with each track met by a growing eruption of cheers. 

The band opened with the riffy “Silverfish” (off 2021’s The Burden of Restlessness), one of my all-time favorite tracks, setting the tone for a wonderfully heavy and heady evening. There was a tangible buzz in the crowd, as if everyone was in agreement about the impossibility of this night getting better.

King Buffalo kept the high standard locked down throughout its set, venturing into improvised jams and a compendium of crushing metal, offset by just enough atmosphere to give the vertebrae a little rest. All of that was demonstrated front and center on their closing song, “Cerberus” (off the 2021 album Acheron), which boasts climactic guitar loops for an utterly sensational finish.

All Them Witches proves why they’re selling out venues

Along with Powers, vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Charles Michael Parks Jr., guitarist Ben McLeod,and keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Allan Van Cleave played a fifteen-song set that included fan-favorite classics as well as the musicians’ latest endeavors in gargantuan psych rock.

The band opened with “See You Next Fall,” a track from its 2020 album Nothing as the Ideal, and an inspiring introduction to the night of heavy psychedelia ahead. 

New music included “Red Rocking Chair,” which dropped earlier this year. Taking a tip from the almighty Black Sabbath, slow and low were on full display, connecting with some of the heaviest moments of the night.

Everyone had time under the spotlight to display their talents. Parks and Van Cleave performed “The Children of Coyote Women” with Van Cleave on the violin. After they stepped offstage, McLeod walked on with his guitar to play “Everest” and gave us all stink face as he tickled the strings with some sweet, sweet guitar licks. He truly is one of the most beautiful guitar players I’ve ever seen live. 

Before the encore, ATW ripped with “When God Comes Back” and the absolute party of a track that is “Alabaster.” The crowd was jumping and dancing, and the energy was back in full force. This is still my favorite All Them Witches song to see live.

The band closed out the night with “Bulls,” the lead track from 2017’s Sleeping Through the War. Maybe it’s just the weight of everything happening around us, but this selection felt like it carried a little extra weight on a set that opened with “War Pigs” as walkout music.

When that album was released, I interviewed Parks for Isthmus in Madison, Wisconsin. Here’s what he said about the album’s title:

“We see all of these terrible things happening around us, and we can turn it off or turn off the emotions about it. That’s how we were raised — being desensitized to actual human feelings and needs. You have the ability to turn off the bad news and watch something that will entertain you. Living in a society where you can whip out your phone and be stimulated takes the focus off the violence.”

And absent amongst this crowd was the common concert view of a sea of phones. I rarely saw any. 

With that, King Buffalo’s last album was released in 2022, and the last one from All Them Witches in 2020. For both bands, I think I can speak for all of the fans absorbed in the moment last night in saying we’re eagerly awaiting the next album releases.