Possibly the most famous and influential keyboardist in the history of rock, Doors co-founder Ray Manzarek, died yesterday at age 74 from complications due to bile-duct cancer. Known as the lanky professor crouched off to the left of Jim Morrison, Manzarek was an erudite multi-instrumentalist who delivered a complex and…
BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 5/17/13 Near the end of its set, Black Moth Super Rainbow performed “Sun Lips,” one of its signature older songs. While some people sang along a bit earlier in the show, it seemed like everyone up front knew the words to this…
3 LOCO @ CERVANTES’ MASTERPIECE BALLROOM | 5/17/13 First there was silence. Then there was hysterical screaming, as Andy Milonakis walked on stage. “Pussy, pussy, pussy, marijuana,” he rapped over and over again. Yup. This was definitely a 3 Loco show. What a curse 3 Loco faces; they’re completely average…
Drawing on a hardcore background, Turbonegro combined glam metal with punk to create a sound it has cheekily called “death punk.” With lyrics and imagery that both celebrate and make a mockery of the gaudy aspects of glam and its thematic tropes. The band’s 1996 album, Ass Cobra, established the…
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club formed in the late ’90s after Peter Hayes left the Brian Jonestown Massacre, when he and his high school friend Robert Been, son of the late Michael Been of the Call, started the band, influenced by acts like the Verve, Loop and the Jesus and Mary…
TURBONEGRO @ OGDEN THEATRE | MON, 5/20/13 In 1989, when Norwegian band Turbonegro got together, it was clearly fueled by a love of Alice Cooper and acts like Hanoi Rocks and the Stooges. You can hear the influence in songs like “Sell Your Body (To the Night),” which features an…
In 2011, Jammin Joe’s moved from Wheat Ridge to its current location in Arvada, a strip-mall spot that was previously home to the Brickhouse Nightclub and the very short-lived Mind Bender’s. Since relocating, Jammin’ Joe’s has brought in a steady parade of local hard-rock acts, as well as ’80s hair-metal…
More than fifteen years after the release of Three Dolla Bill, Y’all, Limp Bizkit is back with a brand new album, Stampede of the Disco Elephants, on the Cash Money imprint. In advance of the band’s return to Denver in support of that album this weekend, we caught up with…
Mike Servito is a New York-based DJ and resident of the monthly Brooklyn techno club night, the Bunker. He came of age in Detroit during the 1990s, and you can hear it in his sound, which pays a substantial debt to many of the legendary mixmasters of that era. Equally…
IMAGINE DRAGONS @ RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE | 5/16/13 On stage at Red Rocks last night, Dan Reynolds couldn’t get over the emotional weight of the moment. “This may be the greatest night of our lives,” Reynolds declared after “Round and Round,” the band’s energetic opener. Later, he marveled, “This is…
GLOBAL DUB FESTIVAL @ RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE | FRI, 5/17/13 The music of Excision (due at Red Rocks this weekend with Flux Pavilion, Zomboy, Dirtyphonics and Designer Drugs) is a fitting soundtrack to the desolate, gritty, apocalyptic landscape of a future ruled by homicidal machines. His tunes are warped, stuttering…
NATHANIEL RATELIFF & NIGHT SWEATS @ BOULDER THEATER | 5/17 At this stage of his career, particularly in Denver, Nathaniel Rateliff is a man who requires absolutely no preamble. Nonetheless, the limited-edition two-song seven-inch he produced for Record Store Day feels like a fresh and glorious reintroduction to a songwriter…
These days, South Broadway is a thriving nightlife district that has undergone a cavalcade of changes in the past few years. As much of a makeover as the strip has had, though, not everybody’s stoked with the changes. If you’ve logged on to Facebook, you’ve no doubt seen posts from…
Dig your bluegrass? Banjos and mandolins make your heart swell? Great. You’re gonna love this shindig: two days of banjo goodness up in the hills. Clear Creek Rapidgrass is slated to go down on the first weekend of July at the Shelly/ Quinn Baseball Fields in Idaho Springs on Friday,…
When you hear steel guitar in a song, it’s usually used as supplemental instrumentation, adding texture to the tunes. You generally don’t expect to see the men and women of steel in the forefront, and yet that’s the entire impetus for the Denver Steel Guitar Show, the second annual edition…
Although Black Moth Super Rainbow’s dreamlike, psychedelic melodies sound like they could’ve been part of those ’70s era Sid & Marty Krofft shows, the band actually formed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2003 in the wake of earlier projects from the act’s singer and multi-instrumentalist, the unimonikered Tobacco (aka Thomas Fec)…
While there are a countless number of places to do karaoke around town, we’ve singled out the ten best spots in town to indulge your inner song bird. Some of these places cater to singers every night of the week, while others only do karaoke on specific nights. Some of…
The members of Chimney Choir want to show their audience just how messy the creative process can be. “People just see the final product when an album is released. That’s not really how it is for us,” insists David Rynhart, a founding member of the band, who serves as guitarist,…
Straight Outta Luck formed in 2009 when Missouri transplant Ryan Jacobs met up with Natalie McFall, a veteran of the punk scenes in Fort Collins and Denver. Although he was initially reluctant to sing, Jacobs became the perfect vocalist for the band’s raw, dynamic and urgent songs. McFall and Jacobs…
Little Goose sounds much more powerful than a typical power trio during the best moments of Classic Gent. Thanks to expansive pedal effects and emotive vocal runs from guitarist/singer Eric Lovick, tunes like “When It Rains,” “Freddy” and “Classic Gent” feel epic and ambitious, with the bluesy solos, funky rhythmic…
“Assume the Imposition” gets things going on Allout Helter’s new album with a bracing dose of aggressive rhythms and pointed invective aimed at those who are smug in their ideological framework while society suffers or those who are otherwise complacent, assuming nothing can be done. Related themes run through this…
At this stage of his career, particularly in Denver, Nathaniel Rateliff is a man who requires absolutely no preamble — his reputation precedes him. Nonetheless, this limited-edition two-song seven-inch (produced in honor of Record Store Day) feels like a fresh and glorious reintroduction to a songwriter we all thought we…
