THE OUTFIT @ LARIMER LOUNGE | 8/24/13 The Outfit saved one of its best songs for late in the set, and the sparkling urgency at the beginning of “What Happened To You?” perfectly framed the song’s poignant lyrics, which were inspired by a chance encounter Eric Johnston had at a…
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND @ DICK’S SPORTING GOODS PARK | 8/23/13 The skies were dark over Commerce City on Friday night as fans tailgated in the parking lots outside of Dick’s, cracking beers and playing their favorite Dave Matthews Band tunes. But the threatening clouds didn’t dampen the excitement for this…
PHISH @ DICK’S SPORTING GOODS PARK | 8/30/13-9/1/13 Phish is playing at Dick’s this weekend. You know what that means, right? Yep –the end of summer. Bye-bye, barbecues and basking in the sun. Besides signifying the conclusion of the iconic Vermont band’s summer tour, the now-annual three-day extravaganza represents the…
When I think back on the first time I heard Dave Matthews (no, I mean, really heard Dave Matthews), I think of a collection of balmy summer nights in my hometown of Boston — bare feet in wet grass, a Natural Ice buzz, the beautiful, frightening uncertainty of youth. Me…
Mark your calendar — naw, scratch that — don’t mark it, clear it: On Saturday, September 7, Colorado Crush is going down once again. And from the sounds of it, the fourth edition of this annual hip-hop block party is going to be a block buster. Seriously. If you’re an…
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND @ DICK’S SPORTING GOODS | 8/23-8/24 Twenty years ago, the Dave Matthews Band played Red Rocks for the first time, opening for the Tragically Hip and the Samples, and went on to build a loyal following with early shows at the Fox Theatre in Boulder. In the…
DERRICK CARTER @ NORAD | FRI, 8/23/13 When fans of house music talk about Derrick Carter, they use words that might seem hyperbolic to those not in the know — words like “legendary.” But the truth is, every superlative that’s used to describe the man is wholly appropriate. At age…
Welcome back to another edition of That’s a Rap, the regular feature in which we spotlight some solid tracks from the Colorado hip-hop scene. This week, we’ve got another a fresh batch of homegrown hip-hop for you, including new cuts from Young Doe, DC Smiles of the Cash Addicts, Foo…
Using a greater palette of digital and physical controllers, modern electronic musicians are making music that is quite different from the current wave of EDM. Watt? Amplified and Supercharged Music Expression is a collaborative performance between Darren Kramer, Victoria Lundy and Mark Mosher that will effectively demonstrate some of the…
Before grunge scrubbed the smeared makeup off of the face of hair metal and trimmed its flowing locks, an endless parade of longhaired dudes did their level best to destroy the ozone layer, fueled by a steady diet of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Oh, and, well, depending on…
BARONESS @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 8/21/13 After the year Baroness had, it was obvious the quartet was happy to out playing again, and the crowd at the Bluebird last night was likewise amped to see the band. This was displayed none more powerfully and vividly than during the performance of…
Music is life — or at least it is for us. When we’re not writing about it, we’re thinking about it, talking about it or listening to it. These are the things that were in heavy rotation for us this week. What are you listening to? What should we be…
It was just like a Thanksgiving miracle, to be honest,” says Cassie Taylor, recalling the first time she played bass. Her father, famed Boulder-based bluesman Otis Taylor, and then-bandmate Kenny Passarelli were messing around with “Hey Joe” when a teenage Cassie walked in and said, “Well, that’s kind of a…
It’s been roughly two years since the Outfit last put out an album. During that time, the band’s current members — singer/guitarist Eric Johnston, bassist Mike King, drummer RJ Powers and lead guitarist Mikael Kilates — have been developing their sound, going from its earlier, highly promising indie pop to…
Back Seats is a major leap forward for Bad Weather California, in terms of both music and songwriting. Chris Adolf has never sounded more confident or as much in his element as he does here, where the angst and emotional turmoil of the past is not as obvious as it…
No matter how Halden Wofford & the Hi*Beams approach country, they do a damn fine job, as evidenced by Rocky Mountain Honky Tonk, the band’s latest release. While the five-piece clearly excels at up-tempo cuts, such as “Beaver Hat Boogie,” which features some fine steel guitar from Bret Billings, and…
Isaiah “Ikey” Owens has left his mark on more than his fair share of Colorado music in the past few years. The eight tracks on True Aristocrats’ Mary Amygdala bear the hallmarks of his production, including adventurous jazz structures and psychedelically tinged keyboard work. And although the band’s Tyler Lindren…
It’s easy to mistake Maxwell Hughes’s furious output on the acoustic guitar as the work of multiple players. Through percussive taps on wood, dense and dizzying fingerpicking and a two-handed approach to tapping, Hughes coaxes every possible sound out of the instrument. That majestic sound is the most consistently impressive…
By Jason Roche One year ago, Baroness was touring Europe in support of its critically acclaimed record Yellow & Green. The ambitious double album was generating a strong buzz for the Georgia-based band. The momentum came to a screeching halt, though, on a rainy morning in August, 2012, when the…
Izm White (aka Hayden Laybourn) has been immersed in the local hip-hop scene since the mid-’90s, when he first started heading down from the Western Slope to Denver to compete in MC battles and attend shows. During that time, he’s had some ups and downs, including releasing multiple albums, taking…
If you’re the type of person who don’t see nothin’ wrong with a little bump ‘n’ grind, then gather round: This one’s for you. During the hypersexualized years of the Clinton era, the potent blend of R&B that took hold had a penchant for cliched, over-the-top lyrics about gettin’ busy,…
Okay, let’s set aside for a moment the fact that the forthcoming release from Plastic Sound Supply is the Denver label’s twentieth release. Or even the fact that the platter itself is absolutely brimming with a fresh batch of tunes from some of the finest and most celebrated electronic acts…
