Music

Big weekend for big shows here in Colorado. A few festivals, including Telluride Jazz, bring deep lineups to the mountains. And the alleged last ride of hair metal legend Motley Crue comes to Denver tomorrow. We have plenty more — see the full list of our picks below…

When Joan Baez played at the Botanic Gardens a few weeks ago, she kicked off her shoes and danced around the stage, pulling her keyboard player away from his instrument to join her. As she did, people in the audience got up from their blankets and danced too, because how…

There was no gobbing, no fighting, no obvious fascist skinheads ruining last night’s Black Flag show for other people. There were also no members of the classic line-up beyond the band’s founder, Greg Ginn. But twenty-eight years after Black Flag last did a national tour, that was to be expected…

Tomorrow, Westword, Open Media Foundation and Greater Than Collective will co-hosting a live performance by Denver’s Kitty Crimes at the Denver Open Media studios at 7th and Kalamath. It’s a continuation of our Open Music Sessions, where we will create several videos based on regular live tapings of exceptional bands…

Sarah Slaton can’t stop saying yes to Colorado music. In addition to her avid support of the scene as a fan, she performs in the band Edison, works for the Vinefield Agency as a manager and recently accepted a position as artist development director for SpokesBuzz. We spent some time…

July may be over and school may be just around the corner, but festival season in Colorado is nowhere near ready to come to a close. Here are twelve upcoming festivals that offer a taste of everything from blues to metal, local to international bands, mountains and microbrews to cities…

“Ted Nugent + poopy pants = unclean vermin,” read one sign at yesterday’s protest at the Gothic Theatre. It was one of about thirty signs circling the sidewalk in the rain to pressure the Gothic to cancel Nugent’s show because of the latter’s racist comments, particularly those against Native Americans…

Dick Orleans spent his younger years driving around the country in a van, playing music whenever he could. But he settled in Estes Park 25 years ago, and during his time there, he helped the town develop its music scene while also becoming an avid nature photographer. Orleans died earlier…

Six years ago, Lotus Clubs opened the ultra-slick upscale Suite Two Hundred at 1427 Larimer Street, which had former housed Lucky Star. Now Lotus, which also runs Chloe and View House, is set to open VIE Luxe Nightclub in that space on Friday, September 12 with a performance by Manufactured…

Photo-based entertainment website The Chive recently announced that it would hold a two-stage music festival called Chive Fest in City Park on August 16. The event will be among the first major admission-based, for-profit festivals held in Denver’s largest park. Some groups have expressed concern about the impact of Chive…

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On May 12, Dick Orleans went into the mountains near Estes Park and didn’t come home. At 11 p.m., Dave Orleans, Dick’s older brother, got the call that he was missing. Soon after, police found Dick up in the foothills, a few yards from Fall River Road, dead after suffering…

In the basement of his ranch-style home in the Welshire neighborhood of South Denver, Greg Daniels is putting the final touches on the merchandise for his band Glass Hits’ final show. It’s Friday morning and the show at Eslinger Gallery for the Underground Music Showcase (UMS) is just hours away…

Most of the audience at the Soiled Dove was there to see the Polyphonic Spree and didn’t know much about opener Sarah Jaffe. Matt Arrington of Fort Collins was one such person. “I never saw Sarah perform before, but I was here for her warm-up, and it sounded amazing!” The…

The Goldrush Music Festival in Denver is returning for it’s fourth year of underground music from around the country — this time the festival will take place at the Larimer Lounge and the Meadowlark Bar. Goldrush announced the first half of the lineup last week, and sold out pre-sale tickets…

Thursday It would be easy to drift off into a dream world listening to Hollow Talk at low volume, but that’s not really an issue. The Denver-based shoegaze/psych band features members of Endpoint, Guilt and Good Riddance, bands known less for their subtlety and nuance than for their bombast and…

Nate “Igor” SmithNebraska, a personable and modest 22-year-old dishwasher from Lincoln, Nebraska, takes a punch.As our nation’s culture and economy continues to deteriorate, more and more people are taking an interest in watching people beat the shit out of each other. While, under normal circumstances, these events are highly promoted…

Another Gathering of the Juggalos has come and gone, and with it thousands of face-painted, fun-loving freaks and misfits to and from the event’s first year in Thornville, Ohio. While the move from the deep wilderness of Cave-In-Rock, Illinois, to this year’s decidedly more inhabited location did make the experience…

There was a lot going on all the time at this year’s Underground Music Showcase (UMS). Bands were setting up and breaking down to keep to the festival’s tight schedule, fans clogged the sidewalks for blocks on both sides of the street, and food trucks and other purveyors of trinkets…

There were no gimmicks over the weekend at the Buffalo Rose, beyond some rock theater, and none were needed. Great White, of all bands, gave us a startlingly strong rock and roll show, the likes of which isn’t often seen these days. When the band came on stage, it looked…