JELLO BIAFRA & GUANTANAMO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE at SUMMIT | 12/31 Jello Biafra first came to the attention of the world as the charismatic, hyperkinetic and relentlessly intelligent frontman of the Dead Kennedys. Never one to mince words, Biafra became a lightning rod with his unapologetic critiques of the regressive…
After more than two decades of being in the local music scene, from playing in Rubber Planet to booking places like the Cricket on the Hill to owning the Toad Tavern for the last five years, Brice Hancock is selling the venue and moving on. On Friday, December 13, a…
SAT | DENVER BLACK SKY at GOTHIC THEATRE | 12/14/13 December is a leaner month than usual with regard to the number of metal shows booked. But quality more than makes up for quantity thanks to Denver Black Sky. This absolute must-see metal festival is being curated by Sherwood Webber,…
SAT-TUES | STRING CHEESE INCIDENT at 1STBANK | 12/28-12/31 String Cheese Incident will be presenting its twentieth-anniversary celebration with various openers during its New Year’s run at 1STBANK Center. The group has Bootsy Collins joining forces on Saturday, December 28, and confetti rockers Flaming Lips on Sunday, December 29. Past…
FRI | ALPHABETS at RHINOCEROPOLIS | 12/13/13 When Colin Ward was thirteen years old, he was already making an impression on older members of the underground music community in Denver with his project Pocket Dove. With Nick Peelor, Ward formed the experimental indie-pop band Tudaloos and made music that seemed…
Welcome to In the Mix, a brand-new feature in which we spotlight new dance tracks and mixes from Colorado producers and DJs. This week, we bring you an exclusive house track from Pruitt, a hard-hitting cut from DirtMonkey, Ishe’s take on drum-and-bass, plus a couple more gems from Project Aspect…
DECADENCE NYE at COLORADO CONVENTION CENTER | 12/30-12/31 Just to tease a few of the artists: Bassnectar, Beats Antique, Keys and Krates, Tiesto, Dada Life, Pretty Lights, Odesza, Above & Beyond, Paul Basic and 12th Planet. Need we say more? Decadence landed in Denver as a result of Triad Dragons’…
MON | JAY Z at PEPSI CENTER | 12/2/13 Ever since Reasonable Doubt was released, Jay Z’s esteemed career has continued on a path of lyrical and stylistic mastery that leaves no doubt whatsoever. Well beyond the need for braggadocio, the rapper’s confidence and long-sustained commercial success are self-evident, which doesn’t…
SUN | MILE HIGH SPIRITS JAZZ FEST at MILE HIGH SPIRITS | 12/8/13 Mile High Spirits and the Gift of Jazz have teamed up to put on this free daylong festival, which kicks off at 3:30 p.m. and runs until 10: 30 p.m. Each of the six local acts on…
MON | JAY Z at PEPSI CENTER | 12/2/13 Ever since Reasonable Doubt was released, Jay Z’s esteemed career has continued on a path of lyrical and stylistic mastery that leaves no doubt whatsoever. Well beyond the need for braggadocio, the rapper’s confidence and long-sustained commercial success are self-evident, which…
JOHNETTE NAPOLITANO at THE SOILED DOVE | 11/27/13 After opening with “The Real Thing,” a Concrete Blonde limited edition, single, Johnette Napolitano looked down at a woman sitting in front of her next to the stage and asked if she was okay. The singer, playing her last show of the…
SAT | MARC HOULE at NORAD | 11/30/13 Marc Houle has attracted attention from some of techno’s finest players, from Richie Hawtin to Miss Kittin to Troy Pierce. Houle’s studio tracks get snatched up and spun by everyone who’s anyone in dance music, spanning genres and lighting up clubs and…
FRI | NATHANIEL RATELIFF at GOTHIC THEATRE | 11/29/13 From his recent stint making music backed by the Night Sweats, to the incredibly moving songs he’s crafted on his own, to his cinematic work with Born in the Flood, Nathaniel Rateliff is a man who requires absolutely no preamble –…
It comes down to Alan introducing us to indie rock,” declares Confluence frontman Ian Gassman, speaking of bassist Alan Hubbard and summing up the eventual musical direction of the band. “I was listening to Bob Dylan a bunch, and Jack Johnson…. I’m just saying my want to get better at…
The eight tracks on Crash Landings’ Tragedy tread musical ground that will be instantly familiar to fans of old-school punk and hardcore. Songs like “Burn Your Money” and “Who’s Next” summon the spirit of Jello Biafra and the Buzzcocks, with power chords, simple guitar solos and pounding drum lines that…
The title of Dr. Izzy Band’s debut, Blind & Blues Bound, perfectly encapsulates this group’s sound. Throughout the twelve-song disc, frontwoman Dr. Izzy, who was born in Texas with full vision but began to go blind at the age of nine, clearly has a strong affinity for the blues. On…
Thanks to David Mead’s flute playing, “The Black,” Black Stitch in Eternity’s opener, could be part of the soundtrack to an early-’60s Japanese ghost movie. Elsewhere, “Weight for Dusk” introduces the tenor sax and recalls the hard bop of late-’50s jazz figures, while “Rotting Cage” displays Mead’s deeper roots in…
The spectrum of noise delivered on the self-titled debut from EXKXO reveals the multitude of options available in hip-hop beat creation these days. EXKXO drops sixteen tracks with no real theme, and while the beats themselves lie in the safe zone of musical exploration, the album is still a joy…
You might’ve seen a picture floating around Facebook this morning in which it looks like part of the ceiling caved in at Sancho’s Broken Arrow at Colfax and Clarkson. Turns out, the soffit around the bar indeed slipped. But according to Jay Bianchi, folks worked through the night repairing it,…
POLICA at BLUEBIRD THEATER | 11/26/13 Somewhere in the relentless blur of the first ten minutes of Poliça’s pounding performance at the Bluebird Theater last night, Chris Bierden’s bass strings broke, and Poliça had to do something it has rarely done since hitting the scene a few years ago –…
BILL CALLAHAN at ORIENTAL THEATER | 11/25/12 If you show up to a Bill Callahan show expecting a whiskey-soaked rager, you shall be disappointed. Last night’s gig at the Oriental was proof positive of that. The audience took their seats, and Callahan — standing near the back of the stage,…
BLACK JOE LEWIS at BLUEBIRD THEATER | 11/25/13 Last night’s Black Joe Lewis show at Bluebird showed that the garage heavy sound all over the band’s latest release, Electric Slave, sounds incredible live and has really rejuvenated old hits. Now that the group has dropped “and the Honeybears” from its…
