Update, 5/2: Congratulations to Gary Peck and Gina Lux, this week’s VIP upgrade winners. Didn’t win? No worries. We’ll be rolling out another contest tomorrow. Got your tickets for Showcase yet? What are you waiting for? Now’s the time. In case you haven’t heard, this is the last week you’ll…
Nothing, to our way of thinking, is more captivating than the true story of very real struggle. We all have these little musical fantasies, strumming our Fenders in the dark of our apartments, listening to a little Miles Davis or Johnny Cash.
Scottish-born singer KT Tunstall (who plays the Bluebird Theater tonight with Robert Francis and Miggs) is, essentially, a one-woman band. Utilizing her own voice and a looping pedal, Tunstall creates layers of sound and faux-instrumentation to back her powerful crooning…
Way back in 2007, a company called Amie Street introduced variable pricing for MP3 sales. The premise was simple: The more copies sold, the higher the price. The concept didn’t work out so well. Amie Street was purchased and subsequently shuttered by Amazon in 2010. That hasn’t stopped Ticketmaster from…
SHPONGLETRON EXPERIENCE with Random Rab and Hallucinogen 04.23.11 | Boulder Theater If the preview for this colossal structure wasn’t enough to get your eyes thirsting for the real thing, then get off your ass and go see the Shpongletron for yourself. With much help from Random Rab, the Shpongletron Experience…
THE DEFTONES With Funeral Party and Dillinger Escape Plan 04.22.11 | Ogden Theatre See the photo slideshow Funeral Party got the evening started, and after enduring its set — one in which ear plugs couldn’t be shoved deep enough into ear cannals to block out the horrid sounds being churned…
BAD BRAINS With Frontside Five and the Other Russia 4.22.11 | Summit Music Hall View photo slideshow While Bad Brains may not have the frenetic stage energy of three decades ago, the hardcore godfathers still managed to fuel quite a few mosh pits over the course of its 45-minute set…
MIKE WATT & THE MISSINGMEN With Il Cattivo and Lion Sized 04.22.11 | Larimer Lounge There are a small handful of bands that would have been great openers for a show like this, and Il Cattivo and Lion Sized are two of them. The former started off the show with…
Since the first Shakespearean performance with blaring trumpets, cross-dressed men, confetti poppers and a curtain call, stage spectacles have only gotten better. With technological upgrades allowing music to actually control the visuals, accompanied with professional lighting engineers and audio controllers, concerts are better than ever these days…
The mile-high city continues to represent electronica with an array of events this weekend — starting off with tonight’s Full Flavor Friday, featuring DJ ESP (aka Woody McBride) at the Appaloosa Grill with resident Greg Campbell, plus Garret and Sound Advice. They’ll be dishing out free promo records and CD’s…
Self-described “funkabilly” duo LoCash Cowboys definitely have that typical Top 40 country swagger in their singing, but it is an observational sense of humor that sets them just a bit a part. Both former dancers and choreographers, Chris Lucas and Preston Brust have the kind of stage presence that made…
The world of heavy metal can be an exercise in absurdity and uninspired imitation played at blistering volume. With the relatively recent (and fading) popularity of “stoner-rock” and “doom metal,” as evidenced by tours including the reunited line-ups of Sleep, Saint Vitus (read our recent interview with Dave Chandler) and…
Earlier this week, Lady Gaga reportedly refused permission to “Weird Al” Yankovic to release a parody of her new single, “Born This Way,” called “Perform This Way.” Upset, but well-aware of his right, Yankovic released the song anyway. Turns out, Lady Gaga actually loves “Weird Al” and is placing the…
JOHN DENVER’S ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH Olivia Newton-John, Michael Martin Murphey and more 04.21.11 | 1STBANK Center John Denver fans — and let’s be clear, that accounted for pretty much everyone in the building, save for perhaps the odd service employee — got their money’s worth last night at 1STBANK Center,…
This week’s cover story, “Word,” recounts the creation of The Anthology of Rap, the scholarly catalogue of rap lyrics co-edited by CU-Boulder professor Adam Bradley. The story details the challenge of figuring what, exactly, all those rappers are saying. A few of the quarter-of-a-million words included in the book were…
Following the smoke-filled craze of yesterday’s 4/20 celebration of all things green, we bring you the finest list of parties and places to be tonight if you want to drop it to the floor, raise it to the roof or just sit back and catch some good vibes off of…
This week’s cover story, “Word,” tells the extraordinary tale behind The Anthology of Rap, released last year to high praise and a bit of heated debate. The Westword story focuses on Anthology co-editor and CU-Boulder professor Adam Bradley, a hip-hop academic whose own narrative is as compelling as anything in…
Seems we’re not the only ones concerned with helping Yerkish come up with a new name. This morning, if you log on to Sprint’s website, you’ll notice that the telecommunications behemoth has gotten in on the act. According to Yerkish frontman Tim Kaminski, shortly after Alvin Ramos joined the band,…
Portland duo Hillstomp (playing the hi-dive tonight with Legendary River Drifters) is a definite throwback, but the band delves deeper than most contemporary Americana-styled groups with a porch-rattling sound. Henry Christian and John Johnson’s less-than-modern approach is about creating loud and rowdy shows based on the simplicity of two voices,…
So tonight’s the night when the Centennial state finally gets a place of its own to recognize all the great musicians who’ve helped put our fine state on the map over the years. And while there’s a lengthy list of worthy inductees, it’s pretty fitting that John Denver is the…
In general terms, a compilation is most often used as a promotional tool for labels or magazines to draw awareness to their product. In the case of the ZetaKaye House, that’s still essentially the purpose, but the product is the state of Colorado itself. “Musicians aren’t always the best at…
As yet another example of the seemingly inexhaustible generosity of the members of our local music community, this weekend finds nearly two dozen acts from the scene rallying around the people of Japan with a pair of like-minded benefits, A Mountain of Arms at City Hall and Tomodachi: A Concert…
