of Montreal walked out on stage last night at the Bluebird Theater in Denver wearing black hooded capes. The one on frontman Kevin Barnes could have been a Jedi-knight-inspired take on the Grim Reaper, which he quickly threw off as the set began to reveal another cape underneath (this one…
Khemmis vocalist and guitarist Phil Pendergast remembers the moment he realized his new band might actually amount to something. The Denver quartet was in the process of recording its debut album — 2015’s Absolution — and Pendergast and bassist Dan Beiers took a quick break for some food. “We were…
‘Tis the season for spooky shows and Halloween-themed musical events. Listed in chronological order, here are ten of the best concerts offered in the Mile High City to set the tone for the Samhain holiday season For more seasonal events, please visit the Westword calendar. 1. True Widow, Emerald Siam and Lowlands Larimer…
Playing in beloved bygone bands like Only Thunder and the Blackout Pact, Justin Hackl has been a pillar in the Denver music scene for over two decades. Nowadays he is the owner and operator of Hackl Guitars, in addition to playing with the beautifully brutal Native Daughters and raising a daughter…
Last year, History Colorado introduced its Tiny Library Concert Series, which was inspired by NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, in the Stephen H. Hart Library & Research Center. The 85-person “listening room” is surrounded by books and items from the museum’s collections. Last year’s lineup included a diverse selection of local acts like…
You might assume that an event called Freedom On to be a kind of garish celebration of overzealous patriotism: nothing more than less-than-mediocre bands plus the Pledge of Allegiance led from the stage. It’s true that last weekend’s inaugural festival took place at the Grizzly Rose, a club that generally hosts…
Last weekend’s Cloak & Dagger music festival felt very different from going to EDM shows at Red Rocks in the summer, due to the event’s crowd and performers. The attendees represented an interesting mix of races, genders, sexual orientations and other social groupings that often divide people. Rock music hasn’t brought so…
Friends of Red Rocks is an organization that came together in 1999 out of concern for the corporatization of the legendary music venue. At that time there had been talk of turning the planting boxes into box seats bearing advertising, a development antithetical to the concept of a public park…
The fact that Ja Rule and Ashanti survived the early 2000s is a feat in itself. It was a strange time to be in music — the Internet really took off as a place for socializing and finding and sharing music, but it also it left many artists and record…
This weekend, the Block Festival brought jibs and jams to downtown Denver’s SculpturePark. The first day of festival that combined music, snowboarding and film could be summed up in three words: Moshing. Mimosa. Sosa. As the snowboard community brought together vendors, action sports media, athletes, and videographers to the grounds, artists…
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Death From Above 1979 are both at the Ogden Theatre tonight, while tomorrow Ingrid Michaelson headlines the Paramount Theatre, Deerhunter will be at the Gothic Theatre, and Grouplove lands at the Ogden Theatre. This week’s lineup also includes Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room, Kaleo and…
Cities, parks and campuses around the country are being stalked by creepy clowns. The wave of pranksters dressing up as clowns and menacing unsuspecting passers-by is causing pandemonium across the country, and a spike in coulrophobia. However, there are many talented — and musical! — clowns out there who aren’t foaming at…
When you hear Dan Andriano’s impeccable tone and original vocal quality, you feel like he’s been groomed to be a lead singer from the start. Yet Andriano, who released his second solo record, Party Adjacent, under the name Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room, started with Alkaline Trio as more of a musical…
It’s strange to think that it’s been fifteen years since San Francisco’s Black Rebel Motorcycle Club released its B.R.M.C. debut album. Back then, rock and roll was wallowing in a garage-rock revival led by Detroit bands like the White Stripes, Scandinavians like the Hellacopters, and Australasians like the Datsuns. The downside of…
When Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez tragically died last month after a boating accident at only 24 years of age, not only Miami but the entire baseball community mourned the loss of one of the most promising athletes in the MLB. To see someone that talented and joyous taken away so young…
There are a few two-night stands in town this weekend, including country star Brantley Gilbert at Red Rocks, Cake at the Boulder Theater and Mandolin Orange at the Bluebird Theater. The Snowboard on the Block Festival is over two days as well, with a lineup that includes Wolfmother, Afroman, Chief…
Last Sunday night, local rapper BossMan Goodie, AKA 29-year-old Tyrone Adair Jr. of Aurora, was killed in a shooting outside the hip-hop venue and nightclub Cold Crush at 2700 Larimer Street. The nightclub, which opened in May 2013 and was named Westword’s Best New Bar that year, has now been…
As the air turns crisp and rollerblades are tucked in the closet, many of us are turning our attention to indoor activities that can still get the blood pumping. Spin class works the legs, bouldering works the arms, but dance — dance works the soul, baby. Whether you’re into flailing,…
Starting at the age of fourteen, pianist Larry Wegner would sometimes play Glenn Miller hits with the Bob Murphy band at dances at American Legion and VFW halls in Yuma, near the eastern border or Colorado. He’d get home around 5 a.m., get some sleep and then play organ at…
After nearly thirty years of performing as Little Fyodor, Dave Lichtenberg is putting his current project, Little Fyodor & Babushka Band, on indefinite hiatus. That means that the band’s show on Saturday, October 15, at the Lion’s Lair will be its last performance for the foreseeable future. The event is…
Country stars Tim McGraw and Faith Hill bring their Soul2Soul world tour to the Pepsi Center on Tuesday, August 1, 2017; tickets go on sale Friday, October 14, at 10 a.m. Last July, Lotus released Eat the Light, the electronic outfit’s first album with vocals on every song. The band headlines…
Miguel may make get-down jams for the “consent is sexy” generation, but last night at the Boulder Theater, the question on everyone’s mind was when the R&B star would take off his goddamn shirt. Dressed in a white fringed jacket, the singer-songwriter delivered a relatively stripped-down performance in which he…
