Concerts

A big hell yeah for Tjutjuna, who was written up last week on Altered Zones, Pitchfork’s sister site, made up of a consortium of forward-thinking bloggers devoted to highlighting “the most notable and adventurous new artists.” Although we have to admit that the writing is a little dense for our…

All right, so if for some reason, you’re crabby about the line-up for this year’s Mile High Music Festival — which, you know what, say what you will about DMB and Jack Johnson; love ’em or loathe ’em, you can’t deny there’s some serious gems on the undercard (um, hello,…

In the beginning, Donnybrook Manor was just an imaginary place jokingly referred to by the members of the Donnybrook Writing Academy. But then on a trip through France, Donnybrook founder Erin Barnes (aka Angora Holly Polo) took inspiration from a tiny, cramped apartment over a Paris bookstore that housed young…

You can chalk this one up as one of the more brilliant ideas of July 2010: “Inside a Dead Skyscraper” is an interactive music video (aka “music video game”) from Jesse Stiles’ Target Museum album. You read all that correctly — it’s a music video you can play. The video…

UMS Travelogue, Night Four 7.25.10, Baker District/South Broadway Getting a late start, I got to the TS Board Shop stage in time to catch The Conjugal Visits. Before the show, I saw Pete on the side of the truck, and asked him about the new band, and he said it…

UMS Travelogue, Night Four 7.25.10, Baker District/South Broadway The mood was more understated from the beginning. As the fourth and final day of the UMS got underway on a stifling Sunday afternoon, the sense of weariness felt almost palpable. After four straight days of live music in venues spread up…

UMS Travelogue, Night Four 7.24.10 | Baker District/South Broadway The heat was stifling when I showed up to watch Photo Atlas play the main stage in the Goodwill parking lot, and the crowd seemed too sluggish to truly enjoy it, even though the band’s guitar-based, Foals-style technical pop warranted some…

UMS Travelogue, Night Four 7.24.10 | Baker District/South Broadway I have never seen so many neon Wayfarer sunglasses in my life. Ever. It was like I walked into 1982 the second I walked onto Broadway — the hot sun blistered people’s skin but their eyes were blocked by their first-rate,…

Liars • John Wiese 07.24.10 | Bluebird Theater Props to Liars for seeing fit to bring a straight-up noise artist — and a good one — as an opening act. Through his solo work and his numerous collaborations with heavyweights like Sunn O))), Wolf Eyes, and Merzbow, John Wiese has…

UMS Travelogue, Night Thee 7.24.10 | Baker District/South Broadway The TS Board Shop stage was really an augmented version of the truck that Jeremy Gregory of Bands for Lands and The Construct uses to put on shows anywhere and everywhere. This year, someone did something right, and the sound, despite…

UMS Travelogue, Day Three 7.24.10, Baker District/South Broadway I decided to change my pattern for my third crawl along Broadway for the UMS. I’d started late on Thursday and Friday nights, checking out the first venues at 10 p.m. at the earliest. I wanted to get a head start for…

UMS Travelogue, Night Thee 7.24.10 | Baker District/South Broadway There’s been no shortage of buzz surrounding Air Dubai: Though it has yet to hit the national stage, round these parts we’ve already as good as coronated the band successor to Flobots. Though the acoustics were terrible in the Import Warehouse,…

UMS Travelogue, Night Thee 7.24.10 | Baker District/South Broadway It’s said that love and hate are two sides of the same coin. I can’t say if that’s true in all cases, but it certainly sums up my feelings about music festivals. All the things I love about them are also…

String Cheese Incident 07.23.10 | Red Rocks Amphitheater There’s probably nothing anyone could say or write that would convince someone who doesn’t appreciate jamband music to change their mind about String Cheese Incident. Regardless, in terms of concert tickets sold, String Cheese Incident is perhaps the most popular band ever…

A couple quick notes about today’s UMS lineup — but first a post-script to the travelogues we’ve already posted from Jef Otte and Tom Murphy: Heard bits of Papa Bear from the sidewalk outside the Rover, and it was quite lovely. Very eager to hear more. Caught part of the…

UMS Travelogue, Night Two 7.23.10 | Baker District/South Broadway I started my tour of South Broadway relatively late in the evening, heading south from the 404 Lounge at around 9:45 p.m. Turns out I still had plenty of time to catch a wide variety of acts in a wealth of…

Mark Farina with Pillowfight, DJ Rootz and AA 07.23.10|Fox Theatre There’s a covenant involved when listening to live music: You give your attention and energy to the musician, and in exchange, they provide you with some kind of experience that (IMO) should be crafted to capture that attention and suspend…

UMS Travelogue, Day Two 7.23.10 / Baker District, South Broadway Well away from the densest cluster of the festival was a place called Fentress Architects Materials Garden on 4th and Broadway, and when you walked through the glass doors, there was a large room with these odd glass-encased displays that…

UMS Travelogue, Night Two 7.23.10 | Baker District, South Broadway I started out with Papa Bear at the Irish Rover, where the band’s uber sincere Neutral Milk Hotel vibe proved a good start to the evening. The band boasts a small horn section, and I happened to be right in…

There’s nothing like 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 worth…