Concerts

On Ninth and Lincoln’s last effort, Static Line, leader and composer Tyler Gilmore moved away from the standard big-band form and went in a different direction, one inspired by twentieth-century composers and minimalism. Now he’s lending his innovative composing and arranging skills to indie chamber group Small Dream Ada, which…

On D.E.R.’s side of this split twelve-inch, the outfit sounds like Agoraphobic Nosebleed, but with scarier, more feral vocals and more nuanced percussion. The beginning of “Servo Desleal” sounds like a sample that was captured and smuggled out of a secret prison camp for the “disappeared” — a fitting precursor…

“I heard he had two ribs removed so he could suck his own penis.” It was the winter of 1996, and Marilyn Manson was bringing his infamous Dead to the World tour to my home state of Iowa, spawning a pre-Internet hysteria. For all we knew, he was a high…

A classically trained pianist who also sang and played cello and clarinet growing up, Laura Jones exploded onto the scene last year with releases on Leftroom and Visionquest; the songs “Love in Me” and “Live a Little” gained play on dance floors all over the planet, and she’s been remixed…

In many ways, it’s been a long, hot, tumultuous summer for a lot of people, many of whom are relieved to be making the transition into fall. Mike Marchant is one of the folks who’s happy to put the dog days of summer behind him. With this notion in mind,…

GOLDRUSH 2 @ DEER PILE | 9/21/12-9/22/2012 By Leya Lynette and Tom Murphy The hype around Goldrush 2 had not been identical to that of Goldrush 1. The original crew that did the booking had changed, and the festival this year focused on more under-the-radar acts from around the country…

RISE AGAINST @ FILLMORE AUDITORIUM | 9.24.12 If there was a single moment where Rise Against came alive — really, sincerely began to lose their minds, feeding off the audience’s vast stores of energy — it happened late in the game. The crowd had been decidedly awestruck after opener the…

SWANS @ GOTHIC THEATRE | 9/24/12 “I know it’s a Monday night. Can you tolerate one more?” Michael Gira asked the crowd more than two hours into the show. It wasn’t really even a question because Gira already knew the answer. Swans then played its final song: the sprawling, apocalypse-eclipsing…

It is a universally acknowledged truth that there’s no better way to measure stokedness than the rock fist. Three upturned fingers and an angry grin are all you need to indicate your appreciation for a rowdy show — and Denver has a lot of those. Looking back through our slide…

It’s officially fall now, according to the calendar — and, well, the thermometer — but that doesn’t mean things have cooled down here in the Mile High City. While most of the shows have moved indoors, there’s still plenty to choose from, including Rise Against at the Fillmore tonight and…

HOODIE ALLEN @ SUMMIT MUSIC HALL | 9/23/12 In the moments before Hoodie Allen took the stage at Summit Music Hall, the anticipation was reaching a breaking point, and the tension was as thick as the combination of the smoke drifting off the stage from the machines and the smoke…

Colorado’s largest indoor dance festival, Skylab, came to the Denver Coliseum once more on Saturday. Hosted by Triad Dragons and Beta nightclub, the night featured more than twenty acts and thousands of costumes. Continue reading for our favorite looks from the fest. See also: – Slide show: People of Skylab…

DJ PREMIER & PETE ROCK @ CERVANTES’ | 9/22/12 At the end of their set last night at Cervantes’, DJ Premier’s Houston Astro’s hat was dripping with sweat, while Pete Rock appeared to have barely broken one. Over the course of their set, though, the two matched wits furiously playing…

FURTHUR @ RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE | 9/22/12 All signs pointed to go before the doors to the venue even opened. It was the first day of fall, a beautiful day, and all four of Red Rocks’ main parking lots were filled up by 5:30 p.m. Deadheads were parked out on…

GZA @ SUMMIT MUSIC HALL | 9/22/12 “I don’t have a hypeman, so you’re my hype man,” Killer Mike tells the crowd two songs into his set. “So get hype, motherfuckers.” The crowd is more than happy to comply. Opening with the first three songs from his new album, the…

AMANDA PALMER @ GOTHIC THEATRE | 2/4/12 Amanda Palmer wants to ask the audience a personal question. It’s halfway through her set, and the crowd is understandably sweaty, aroused, and willing to answer anything she asks. “How many of you, in high school, were described as ‘goth’?” To which the…

DRAGONETTE @ LARIMER LOUNGE | 9/21/12 The Larimer Lounge wore three sizes too small on Dragonette last night. The Canadian band, which stopped at the Larimer Lounge for their first Denver show three years ago, put on a show that rock n’ rolled too hard for the constraints of the…

ATMOSPHERE @ OGDEN THEATRE | 9/21/12 If a journey through the archives of Atmosphere’s extensive music history wasn’t enough to blow the pants off a sold-out Ogden, then a freestyle session to close the night certainly was. What started as a subtle track laid down by the beat-boxing loop master…

Hola, amigo! Welcome to the weekend! A massive amount of musical goodness awaits you this weekend, the first of this fall season. Whatever you feel like getting into, there are a ton of shows to choose from, whether you’re looking for metal, rock, hip-hop or just want to party down…

DEVOTCHKA @ RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE | 9/20/12 DeVotchKa played their first show with the Colorado Symphony in February at Boettcher Concert Hall, moving longtime fans and enthusiasts to a state of tearful and awe-inspiring bliss. Last night, the rare and remarkable collaboration played for a larger audience at Red Rocks…

By Leya Lynnette Goldrush Music Festival is the brainchild of Jake Martin, occasional Backbeat contributor Crawford Philleo and Ryan Pjesky. The three friends all knew each other from going to local shows and writing about experimental music on the internet. At some point, they began exchanging e-mails and hashing out…