Concerts

Giants & Pilgrims is one part music, one part artwork, one part online community. But the easiest way to understand the project is to think of it as the Coons family scrapbook. “There were times in my life where I felt giant, I felt mountainous, I felt big,” says Tim…

Beloved Denver band Flashbulb Fires is officially no more. “Today is the end of an era for us,” the band wrote on their Facebook page and web site early yesterday morning. See also: Quickly Rising Colorado Band You, Me & Apollo Is Breaking Up…

Spoon is a Texas band, meaning it carries with it a certain pride and ambition that never really allows it to settle down. Britt Daniel and his bandmates produce the kind of music in which every pop, squeak, cymbal hit and second of silence matters. Every noise and lack thereof…

[jump] Editor’s note: Each week, illustrator Noah Van Sciver shares his ongoing story of an 80’s rocker on a road trip through his past with the readers of Backbeat. You can see more of Van Sciver’s work in his new book YOUTH IS WASTED. Last Week’s episode! • BACKBEAT’S GREATEST…

Shakey Graves’ remarkable three nights of sold-out shows at the Bluebird kicks off midway through this week. There are plenty more good ones to tide you over before a busy weekend, including Suicidal Tendencies and Blackalicious. Our picks follow. See also: 50 Photos That Prove Red Rocks Is the Most…

Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom became a music venue in 2003, but the building is much older, having served as the “Casino Cabernet” as early as the 1920s. In the years since it started hosting bands, it has expanded with an additional stage, known as The Other Side, an outdoor patio, all…

What are you doing New Year’s Eve? Our annual New Year’s Guide, coming in the December 18 issue of Westword, will be full of suggestions for how to ring in the new year with style — and, with any luck, some great music. This is our last call for information…

When the subterranean club Wicked Garden opened in 2008 it felt like a New Orleans mansion with its darkly baroque decor, but after Corridor 44 owner Brian Siffermann took over the spot he gave it a significant makeover in decor and layout. Tonight, he’s opening it has the Crimson Room:…

After running Suite Two Hundred at 1427 Larimer Street in Larimer Square for six years, Lotus Clubs, which also runs Chloe and View House, has completely remodeled the space and is opening it as Vie tonight, December 5, with DJ Mike Magic and the VIE dancers. While the new club…

It’s an excellent weekend for live music in Denver — Houston rap firebrand Snow Tha Product plays Cerventes’, our Open Media Sessions continue with Sorcha Richardson and Miss America by Wheary and there are plenty more. Our picks follow. See also: 50 Photos That Prove Red Rocks Is the Most…

If Jenny Lewis were to be considered the voice of any certain slice of this generation, it would be those steeped in rock culture. Her set last night at The Ogden Theatre (her third Denver show this year) gave those in attendance the opportunity to experience her recently released The…

The screaming was almost unbearable, but absolutely warranted. Last night at 1STBANK Center, Usher used the crowd’s unrelenting wails to his advantage, standing on stage in his own silence many times during the night, letting the crowd fill space in the arena with vocal adoration. He just flirted with every…

It has been a big year for You, Me & Apollo. The Fort Collins-based group released its second full-length album Sweet Honey to acclaim and set off on a successful national tour. What should be a joyous homecoming show at Hodi’s Half Note at the end of the month will…

[jump] Editor’s note: Each week, illustrator Noah Van Sciver shares his ongoing story of an ’80s rocker on a road trip through his past with the readers of Backbeat. You can see more of Van Sciver’s work in his new book YOUTH IS WASTED. Last Week’s episode • BACKBEAT’S GREATEST…

Willie Lewis was a wild musical legend, a collector of supernatural talent, a label head of uncompromising values and, by some estimations, the best rockabilly singer of his generation. The Colorado native died earlier this year, and at his funeral, friends were still at a loss for words to capture…

Unlike a few of the other area record stores, Black & Read doesn’t have many shows. So when a band does play at the store, it’s kind of a special occasion, especially when it features legendary ’70s psychedelic hard rock band Medusa. This was one of only a handful of…

Halfway through the Pizza Underground’s set at the packed Marquis Theater, something strange happened. Most of the band departed the stage and flannel-clad one member stepped up, and started playing straight Nirvana covers. The songs might have contained some wordplay or puns, like all The Pizza Underground songs do (which…

Thanksgiving. A holiday full of food, football, family fights about politics and awkward run-ins with high-school exes. It’s a wonderful American tradition. But this year, instead of waiting until midday Thursday to bond and drink and eventually argue with your relatives, take your great aunt, step-uncle and second cousin to…

Kevie Durham (aka KL Tha General) was making strides in Denver’s hip-hop scene. This week, in fact, he was headed to Atlanta to work with some artists and industry people there. But that’s a trip he’ll never take: Durham’s life was cut short Saturday night in a shooting outsideThe Beach…

A few hours after the Broncos barely beat the Dolphins, The Beach Nightclub just a stone’s throw from Mile High Stadium is mostly empty. The tailgaters and fans and revelers have all departed, leaving just under a dozen Manning jersey-clad people all huddled in one part of the spacious club…

When bands take to the road to tour in support of a new album, they play a lot of shows in a lot of different venues –some small, some cavernous, all of them unique. The trick is to adapt to the room, so that the songs connect with the audience…