There’s nothing like experiencing the sweat, thump and catharsis of a great show. But it can be tough to decide which one to go to when you live in Denver, the land of embarrassing musical riches, the land of too many shows and too little time. So which ones are…
In this week’s Rough Mixes entry, we got a much needed introduction to Ariel Rosenberg, the creative force behind Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. He has a reputation for being a bit of a pistol, but now that we’ve felt him out, we feel comfortable digging a little deeper. In this…
Founded in 2009, the Dead Weather had a bit of a leg up for a new band. But then all its members came together from other well-known projects: Jack White, who decided to take up the drums once again for this band, is famous, of course, for his stints in…
For some time now, Pabst Blue Ribbon has been the predominant staple of the hipster booze diet. It’s cheap, it tastes acceptable, but most importantly, it’s high in a key nutrient known as “irony,” which it derives from its sort-of-patriotic, red-white-and-blue label art, and also from it’s having been awarded…
For many people, 4:20 is a time that holds some significance. For those of us not down with the hippie lettuce, 4:20 comes and goes every day with no fanfare. Fact is, that time of day is no more noteworthy than, say, 1:15, 2:35 or 3:10. (Yes, the irony is…
Ah, Germany: Strangest of European cultures, home of great beers and lovers of David Hasselhoff. Not to mention, the only possible place in the world, apart from maybe their WWII buddies Japan, where something like today’s video could emerge. Why? Because only in Germany would one think to combine the…
One of Colorado’s biggest massives is going off tonight and tomorrow at Red Rocks. We’re talking, of course, about the hotly anticipated two-day edition of Global Dance Festival. If you’ve always been curious about dance music and are wondering if this is a good opportunity to indulge in it, let…
The first ever Rock ‘n’ Roll Denver Marathon and Half Marathon, slated to take place on Sunday, October 17, is going to have 26 bands playing at each mile along the 13.1-mile and 26.2-mile courses. So the folks at Competitor Group, who have launched other Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathons at…
Korn’s new album, Korn III: Remember Who You Are came out this past Tuesday, and word has it that the album’s producer, Ross Robinson, who produced the act’s first two records, brought the band to tears several times while recording it. Jonathan Davis’s shrink was evidently incensed, and the drummer,…
Paul McCartney Thursday, July 15, 2010 | Pepsi Center After kick-starting a set with a couple of Wings songs and the Beatles’ hit “All My Loving,” Paul McCartney stood at the middle of the stage and said, “Let me just take a moment to take it all in” just before…
Okay, metal, death metal and/or punk bands, if you’ve ever wanted to put a song in a film — and really, who hasn’t? — opportunity is knocking. Pueblo-based Bloody Rose Productions is currently shooting a short entitled Bone Digger Jones and readying another, called Curse of the Hunter’s Moon, and…
Okay we all have some skeletons in our closet, shit we dig — be it music, movies or television shows — that we’d just as soon that nobody else knew about. Guilty pleasures is what most people term these sort of inclinations. Well, here at Backbeat, there’s no shame in…
The first time The Heart is a Drum Machine caught my eye was sometime in March when it popped up on my Netflix Instant queue. It looked interesting — but I quickly moved on to something else — probably something with explosions or monsters or some obscure foreign film that…
Navigating the turgid, contentious waters of hip-hop in Colorado as a DJ isn’t easy. Discussions involving radio play and “breaking records” plague conversations daily. Whether real or perceived, there is a fear that the DJ’s role has all but disappeared into ringtone oblivion. The days of DJs on the block…
Anyone who’s ever been in a band,” notes Teresita Hinojosa, “where you rehearse and rehearse and rehearse, and you have these tight, organized songs —the guitar solo’s here, the vocal solo’s here, and everything is so tight — knows how great it feels to let go of that for a…
Andrew’s on Lincoln closed last summer for a quick remodel that split the space into two areas, one with a brand-new stage. But that transformation wasn’t enough to save Andrew’s, which closed in May. Now the venue, at 1111 Lincoln Street, is being transformed into an entirely new spot: Stoney’s…
As Reverend Dead Eye, Brent Burkhart is a bit of an itinerant spirit these days, seeing as how he’s almost always on tour somewhere. But between tours, he’s made time for his first full band since making dark post-punk with the Bedraggled. Joining Burkhart in Broken Spirits (due at Old…
Back in 2005, when Ke$ha was just a glimmer in the eye of the reality-TV wave, her random appearance on The Simple Life proved a harbinger: Like Paris Hilton back then, Ke$ha rose earlier this year, seemingly out of nowhere, to startling ubiquity. By combining hard-house-appropriated dance pop with singsong-couplet…
Starting with the humble aim of putting out a seven-inch record, the Dead Weather realized at its initial recording sessions that its members had real chemistry together, and they ended up recording far more material than could fit on one record. Often referred to as a “supergroup,” the Dead Weather…
Fans still feeling let down by the anemic, ho-hum ninth season of American Idol love to predict the show’s demise, especially now that Simon Cowell is departing. But those people have short memories. You only have to look back to the previous season to witness one of the most bizarre…
From the title of their last EP, Bright, Bright, Bright, it’s clear that the members of Dark, Dark, Dark have a sense of humor. However, the lyrical content of that disc is no laughing matter, as vocalist Nona Marie Invie sings party-stopping lines like “You always cared for me, but…
Dualistics may have found the key to longevity. The only way to stay, as Tyler Despres points out on the aptly titled “Only Way to Stay,” is to “fan out,” which means leaving your options open without having to directly commit to anything. On Crimson, the band’s latest effort and…
