“Folks, a star is born.” So wrote AEG impresario Don Strasburg this morning on Facebook in reference to Michael Kiwanuka. And, man, I’m here to tell you: There’s clearly a reason that Strasburg does what he does for a living. Dude can spot talent from a mile away. Kiwanuka, a…
Kelly Clarkson is back. Again. After disappearing from the pop-music scene following her massive hit album Breakaway, then returning with the Clive Davis-hated project My December, then returning again with “My Life Would Suck Without You,” Kelly Clarkson makes another comeback with her new single, “Mr. Know It All.” Thank…
Phish played three shows over this past Labor Day Weekend in Denver (Commerce City, actually) at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Read all about each Phish concert in Denver here. Being the tech-savvy — if shaggy haired and a little rough around the edges — fans they are, Phish-heads took to…
Over the course of a line-up change or two, Ideal Fathers, playing its final show tonight at the Larimer Lounge, developed a sound and a stage presence that probably would have otherwise been lumped in with “dance punk,” but there was always an agenda in the band to inspire people…
Phish parking lots are a gold mine of bootleg memorabilia for fans. It used to be that a clever T-shirt design was the hot item on lot, but these days, fans have been moving into a different type of collectors item: hat pins. Below are our top ten hat pins…
If you’ve just joined us, earlier this week we gave away a pair of three-day, general admission field passes to see Phish this weekend at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Rather than just giving the tickets away at random, we asked folks to share their best Phish stories, and the response…
8Ball and MJG (due at Casselman’s this Sunday, September 4) are one of the dopest hip-hop acts to ever come out of the south. The Memphis duo ushered in an entirely new era of hip-hop, unwrapping their lives in layers with vivid tales of pimping hoes, making money and moving…
Boyz II Men (due this Monday, September 5 at the Taste of Colorado) is the best selling R&B group of all time. Having sold over sixty million albums worldwide and continuing to tour consistently, even during the group’s more recent down years, the crooning fellas from Philly have enjoyed the…
Borrowing its name from the carousing, profligate brother in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s classic novel, The Brothers Karamazov, Mitya (due tonight at Larimer Lounge with Young Analogs and Sparkle & Burn) has spent the last handful of years evolving its sound and bringing together angular guitar textures with driving rhythms and dark,…
Update: Contest is now officially over. We’ve picked two winners (Getz and Joan Rivers), who have each won a pair of three-day, general admission field passes to see Phish this weekend at Dick’s Sporting Good Park, courtesy of Backbeat and our gracious friends at AEG Live. Thank you for all…
There’s a grip of local hip-hop this week, including a a new mixtape featuring The Pirate Signal, a metaphor heavy, tongue-in-cheek joint from Innerstate Ike, a remix of A.V.I.U.S.’s single “Same Ol’ Line,” a video from Mr. Midas featuring Rockie that’s more club anthem than many singles currently being played…
Keri Hilson (due at Comfort Dental Amphitheatre tonight with Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, the Far East Movement and Lloyd), the gal with the sweet face and grown woman lyrics, first made a splash with the release of her debut album, In a Perfect World in 2009, with features from Kanye…
Besides Chris Brown’s mad hops and lip-synching skills and Tyler, the Creator of Odd Future giving props to Earl Sweatshirt in his best new artist speech, MTV’s Video Music Awards show last night was one for the ladies. Even when Lil Wayne closed the show, shirtless and all, he was…
The last time Return to Forever (due at the Parmount Theatre tomorrow night) played in the Mile High City in 2008, we overhead one guy marveling at how the show was on how par with a spiritual experience for him. It was certainly one of the more electrifying jazz fusion…
Mister Heavenly (due tonight at the hi-dive with WATERS and ManCub) came together when Ryan Kattner approached his friends Joe Plummer of Modest Mouse and Nick Thorburn of Islands with some songs he’d been working on in a kind of doo wop style and asked if they’d like to help…
What does mermaid porn, an ominous ice cream truck driver and a bionic arm have in common? One mega star: Lady Gaga. Or at least Gaga’s video for her new single, “Yoü And I.” We may not be too jazzed about the recent announcement that she’s opening the VMAs this…
Just over a month ago, Death Cab for Cutie (due tomorrow night at Red Rocks with Frightened Rabbit) was slated to close out the Ottawa Bluesfest when a freak storm hit and sent the stage crashing to the ground, destroying a lot of the band’s equipment, which was stored under…
Shortly after graduating from Carleton College and moving to Minneapolis, Josh Grier and some friends started the band Tapes ‘N Tapes (due tonight at The Bluebird Theater with the Chain Gang of 1974). Within a year of the band’s existence, the group recorded its first EP, and those recordings were…
The music industry has changed in fundamental ways since bassist Robby Takac started the Goo Goo Dolls (due tonight at 1STBANK Center with Michelle Branch and Parachute) with guitarist and songwriter John Rzeznik in the late 1980s. In their more than two decades of existence, the band has tapped into…
LMFAO leads the Billboard Hot 100 again this week, once again blocking Katy Perry from her fifth number one and tying Michael Jackson’s record. But we heard all about that last week. This week, the biggest surprise comes from a half-naked Maroon 5 frontman. Weird, we know. Oddly, and finally,…
Although gypsy-jazz guitar pioneer Django Reinhardt died in 1953, there’s been a steady stream of players inspired by him over the past few decades. One such player is Robin Nolan, who’s been hailed as one of the world’s leading guitarists in the Reinhardt tradition, in addition to being a favorite…
Gramatik (due tomorrow at Red Rocks with Pretty Lights) used to be an MC who rapped with his buddies over his beats. He grew up in Slovenia listening to DJ Premier, Guru, Rza, Dre, and an arsenal of hip-hop and break beats fills his catalog of sample options. Now, after…
