It’s Time to Take Ed Sheeran Seriously

Celebrity culture is a bit twisted, so Ed Sheeran is, unfortunately, more famous for being Taylor Swift’s best friend then he is for his impressive singing voice. If you Google him, there will be more videos of him stumbling out of a London club then of him using his looping…

The Best (and Worst) of Electric Forest 2015

According to organizers, some 45,000 people converged in Michigan this past weekend for the jam-bands-meets-ravers annual festival known as Electric Forest. The weather was perfect, the denizens were impossibly friendly, but the logistics and other quirks sometimes wrecked the vibe. The Worst Getting in Big festivals are often a logistical…

Chastity Belt and the Promising Future of the American Underground

The Seattle-based rock band Chastity Belt made its second Denver appearance at Dryer Plug Studios over the weekend. (The first was in 2013, when the group played with Pony Time at Rhinoceropolis.) This time, at least half the band members discarded their shoes while performing. The way the they interacted…

The Best Totems at Electric Forest

At big music festivals like Electric Forest, totems are critical for meeting up with your friends — just stick ’em in the sky and your people will stop wandering in circles. These decorated placards-on-sticks have become tremendously popular in recent years, and Electric Forest attendees had some definite winners. For…

Small Town Police Are on the Hunt for Electric Forest Fans

If you’re headed to Electric Forest this weekend, you might not want to advertise it by decorating your car. Police are profiling the shit out of anyone driving in the greater Michigan area who looks like they might enjoy bass in their face. Police representing numerous small Michigan municipalities —…

Chastity Belt’s Julia Shapiro on Reclaiming the Word “Slut”

Chastity Belt, due to perform this Friday, June 26, at Dryer Plug Studios, is now based in Seattle. But the band got started at Whitman College in Walla Walla. There, the fledgling group played impromptu street performances, before going on to play house shows. Without a music scene  that the…

Colorado’s Ten Best Off-the-Beaten-Path Summer Music Festivals

The massive music festivals throwing down in Colorado this summer need no introduction — big bashes like Riot Fest and the Underground Music Showcase are well-known, promising great line-ups and fun times. So what about the little guys? There’s a statewide network of smaller scale but equally vibrant and viable…

The 2015 Westword Music Award Winners

Last weekend’s Westword Music Showcase, along with the Westword Music Awards, serve as our annual celebration of our state’s vibrant music scene. Colorado is home to internationally renowned experimental bands, pioneering folk artists, Grammy winners and much, much more. On most nights in Denver, you can see just about any…

Veteran Denver MC Koo Qua Is Also a Student, Artist and More

Niquasia Waddles (aka Koo Qua) is no rookie when it comes to the Westword Music Showcase. She started her career a decade ago, when she was in her early twenties, living in Aurora, and she made her first appearance at the June festival four years ago. On Vinyl’s rooftop over the…

The 2015 Riot Fest Denver Lineup: The Pixies, Run DMC and More

Riot Fest will return for its third year in Colorado from August 28 to 30 at the National Western Complex. The Chicago-born punk rock carnival has quickly established itself as one of the largest music festivals here, drawing thousands for an array of bands best described as “loud.” The fest…

Highlights From the 2015 Westword Music Showcase

The party hadn’t gestated yet for MTHDS’ early set, and that was too bad: the band jounced through cheerful dance-rock tunes like it was playing for thousands, though it was more like tens, and the little crowd bobbed listlessly, sluggish and not yet primed. A dude in purple pants chugged…

The Best (and Worst) of EDC Vegas 2015

Electric Daisy Carnival is such a massive assault on the senses that, after the dust has settled (mostly in one’s lungs), it can be hard to pick out the highlights and lowlights. We’re still processing everything we heard and saw out there on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but here…

I Wore Pasties at EDC and It Wasn’t That Bad

It’s easy to make friends when you wear pasties at EDC. I would know. I did it over the weekend. I didn’t plan for this to happen. When I packed for the festival, I chose regular clothes—shorts, tank tops, a sundress. You see, I’m not a raver and I’d never…