Before you head out to see Force Publique at the Westword Music Showcase this Saturday, the band has been generous enough to compile its nine, somewhat randomly recorded tracks into one easy-to-download free album. We were rather impressed with what we heard a few months back, but if you’ve been…
With a career that spans over six decades, Mavis Staples (appearing tonight with Dr. John & the Lower 911 at the Botanic Gardens) doesn’t need much of an introduction. The Rock And Roll Hall of Famer began her gospel-influenced singing career as part of the Staple Singers family institution in…
We were all kids once, even cool dudes in bands. So in celebration of all things juvenile and fun, we’re giving you a chance to win a pair of tickets to this weekend’s Westword Music Showcase. Guess which Showcase performers are pictured from the childhood photos below. Leave your answers…
MILLIONAIRES at MARQUIS | 06.13.11″Wobbling between the monitors, the Green sisters continued to talk more about being drunk and the desire to fuck before going into the Madonna ‘Dress You Up’ rip-off, ‘Stay the Night.'”…
Here’s what’s good in the Mile High City this week: In concert news, the Avett Brothers announced another Colorado date on July 8 at the Boulder Theater the night before their sold-out Red Rocks show, the FMQB Triple A Conference is returning to the Fox, Diana Ross is due at…
Today is Flag Day, which is an opportunity to raise the Stars and Stripes, drink a Budweiser, crank the A/C and leave the windows wide open. The flag is often the go-to symbol for musicians who want to make a political statement — from Johnny Cash to Miley Cyrus –…
The sarcastic comments and dirty looks came almost immediately when Nathaniel Hammond asked to plug in his synthesizers. Soon the scrutiny became a familiar rite for the Epilogues’ keyboard player after the band started playing live in Denver around 2006. “They’d be like, ‘What am I supposed to do with…
Who are you excited about seeing at this year’s Westword Music Showcase? Kind of a loaded question, isn’t it? Depends on what time you ask, right? The lineup is pretty insane from top to bottom, even if we do say so ourselves. In addition to hosting the hottest acts in…
As partners in Strong Survive Promotionz for the past five years, independent concert promoters Travis Ragan and Ivan Ovchinnikov have booked shows at a number of venues around Denver, but they’ve never gotten a cut of the bar sales. So when they found out that the Roxy Theater, an old…
In 1984, Jesse Saunders released “On and On,” the track widely credited as the very first house music in existence. Saunders used old-school funk, disco, early pop, hip-hop and R&B to create the template for what would grow into a worldwide phenomenon. Now, almost three decades later, he’s still making…
Welcome to the seventeenth annual Westword Music Showcase. Seventeen years! On the one hand, that’s a long freaking time — a lifetime, in fact, for some of our performers. The members of Sauna, for example: They were born the same year that Westword launched this event: 1994. (Yeah — let…
It’s no secret that Katy Perry has a wicked sense of comedic timing. Remember when her Sesame Street appearance didn’t air and she donned a skin-tight Elmo T-shirt and bounced around on Saturday Night Live as Maureen the sixteen-year-old who just hit puberty (and hard)? No one could forget the…
We are sad to report that longtime participators and supporters of Denver’s DIY music community Kristi Schaefer and Ryan McRyhew are packing their bags and heading for Chicago. Known as musical collaborators Hideous Men, the couple will be moving its headquarters to the midwest next month so that Schaefer can…
Wow! We’d be lying if we said we saw this coming. While we were sleeping, evidently, the Foo Fighters have officially been elevated to bona fide arena rock status, presumably owing to the success of the new album, Wasting Light…
Pulling a page from the Peaches’ sex rap playbook, Millionaires (performing tonight at the Marquis Theater with Breathe Electric, Christian TV, Set It Off and Caramel Carmela) is two campy sisters who aim to simultaneously please and offend. Still paying tribute to the days of MySpace with a big scene…
The line for the bar at Summit Music Hall was five-deep for most of Saturday night at the very sold-out Face to Face show in LoDo. Aaron Thackeray brings back these photos: View the full Face to Face slideshow. Below are a few highlights…
ELECTRIC DAISY CARNIVAL | 06.13.11 “When the smoke machines ran out, someone — and by ‘someone,’ I mean a complete fucking idiot — blasted the room with a fire extinguisher, sending a sweet poison into the eyes and mouths of everyone.”…
Remember a few weeks ago when we mentioned that Nathaniel Rateliff was getting ready to release a 10-inch live album culled from performances captured during Daytrotter’s Barnstormer Tour and a gig at Notting Hill Arts Club in London this past February? Well, we’ve just learned that Rateliff will be issuing…
Rose Hill Drive fans bemoaning the fact that the band has been mostly dormant for the past few years, rejoice! The indefinite, self-imposed hiatus has come to an end, and your heroes have returned — with new music. The former power trio (now a quartet, with the addition of bassist…
We sincerely hope you got in some recovery time and beauty sleep last weekend and this week, because this weekend’s Dance Card is out-of-control. Between the Electric Daisy Carnival, Inception and the first Full Moon Gathering of the summer, you’ll have plenty of options for booty-shaking good times…
We just received word on the lineup and dates for this year’s FMQB Triple A Conference taking place this fall. This year’s summit is slated to kick off on Wednesday, August 10 and culiminate on Friday, August 12, with performances at the Fox Theatre by Brett Dennen, Matt Nathanson, DeVotchka,…
The summer concert season is in full-swing, and it seems that every venue in town is booked though the weekend. With seemingly endless options, we’ve put together a list of shows we think are worth checking out, starting with A Place To Bury Strangers, back in Denver at the Bluebird…
