Concerts

Westword photographer Brandon Marshall says he has never seen anybody punch so many people at one concert as a man trying to sneak into the Chance the Rapper show at Red Rocks did last night, Tuesday, May 2.

The Spring 2017 edition of the Lafayette Electronic Arts Festival takes place this weekend, May 5 and 6, at the Center for Musical Arts. The event, which showcases musical and visual electronic arts started in 2016 with both a Spring and Autumn edition.

They say that, in comedy, timing is everything. That’s the art of the joke, or funny movie scene — the setup, the anticipation, the payoff. And yet, here’s a head-scratcher: How has punk supergroup Me First & the Gimme Gimmes traded off of the same gag for more than twenty years and, more perplexing, remained hilarious?

In late 2015, Dragondeer frontman Eric Halborg’s brother-in-law passed along some of the Denver-based psych-blues band’s demos to producer and engineer Mark Howard. Howard, who has worked with heavy hitters including Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, R.E.M. and Neil Young, was skeptical.

On Friday, May 5, the Open Media Foundation hosts its next monthly free Open Music Session event, which will spotlight music from Los Lunaticos, while comedy will come courtesy of Jose Macall.

Growing up as musician in the major label system, Aimee Mann says the thing she constantly heard was, “This doesn’t sound like a single. We need to have a single. It has to be more up-tempo. Radio won’t play a song that isn’t up-tempo.”

Red Rocks is now open for business, and many clubs and venues have events loaded with electronic acts to help us dance our way into the summer. Take a look at what is happening in the electronic scene for May 2017.

Janet Jackson just announced her 56-city State of the World global tour, starting September 7, and she’s going to be making a stop in Denver.

There are band names that mean basically nothing, and then there are those that describe the music perfectly. Essentially, for every Smashing Pumpkins, there’s a Bombpops.

While trance music and Cinco de Mayo may be far from synonymous, both offer global excuses to go wild on a Friday night.

Kendrick Lamar, Justice, Hans Zimmer and this year’s art installations were highlights. But not everything was an Instagram-worthy moment.

Cinco de Mayo is this week, and Denver knows how to party with a variety of events celebrating Mexican culture and heritage.

Let’s cut to the chase: Charly Bliss is a terrific band from Brooklyn that pairs crunchy pop-rock with the sugary vocal melodies of frontwoman Eva Hendricks. The results are sweet and serrated and effervescent and muscular and totally addictive.

Take Note the Concert, featuring Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, OneRepublic, Isaac Slade of the Fray, Todd Park Mohr and more, is Thursday at 1STBANK Center, while Chance the Rapper takes over Red Rocks on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Superfly and the City of Denver announced Thursday, April 27, they would be moving forward with contract negotiations on a project that would bring a massive music festival to the city-owned Overland Park Golf Course.

For the seventh consecutive year in a row, DJ collective Thievery Corporation will be playing Red Rocks – this time with Colorado great, DeVotchKa.

Cancer sucks. Every year in the United States, 72,000 young adults are diagnosed with cancer, equating to one diagnosis per seven minutes. One of these young adults is Caly Bevier. She is a 17-year-old, stage-3 ovarian cancer survivor who shared her story of strength with thousands when she auditioned for the TV show America’s Got Talent.

It was fourteen years ago when Cris Kirkwood was serving 21 months in prison for striking a security guard at a post office with his own baton.

Power metal may be an unfamiliar subgenre to most, especially here in the States, but it’s one of the most theatrical, empowering and popular forms of heavy metal. Originating in Europe, a power metal concert can feel like a party in Middle Earth.