Lemmy Memorial at TRVE Brewing This Saturday

This Saturday, rock fans around the world will raise a glass of Jack Daniels to the memory of Lemmy. On Motörhead’s official Facebook page, the band issued this invitation to its audience to livestream the funeral service for frontman Lemmy Kilmister, who died at age 70 on December 28: “Wherever…

Review: David Bowie Gets Jazzy on New Album Blackstar

Nearly a year ago, David Bowie made an unannounced trip to the intimate 55 Bar in New York City’s West Village to hear an innovative jazz group led by saxophonist Donny McCaslin and featuring keyboardist Jason Lindner, bassist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Mark Guiliana. Bowie dug what he heard and…

Favorite Jazz Albums of 2015

Editor’s Note: Westword’s resident jazz expert, Clubs Editor Jon Solomon, picks his favorite jazz albums of the year. ADVENTURES IN JAZZ While there were a number of great straight-ahead jazz albums released this year, some of my favorites (the top ten are listed below) were more on the adventurous side,…

Lemmy Isn’t God: R.I.P.

Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, bassist and singer with Motörhead, died on December 28, 2015, after a short battle with an aggressive form of cancer that sources say he had only learned about on December 26, though fans and observers had begun to worry earlier. He had just turned 70, and he will be…

YouTuber Parodies “Hotline Bling” on Streets of Denver

Subscriber-based geek-culture box-senders Loot Crate are no strangers to a gimmicky Youtube video. Damn, over 150,000 people regularly tune in just to watch somebody open one of their boxes and reveal a pair of Star Wars socks or a Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. pin. Meanwhile, Arizona-based Cody Strong (Youtube handle AngryPicnic) loves a musical…

How To Succeed in Business…With Hip-Hop

On a typical weekday, Roy Dockery can be found inside a wide, one-story brick building in a northeast Denver industrial park. The corporate setup appears to be modeled after an advertisement in an office-supply catalogue, with high-walled cubicles forming a maze across the center floor and a few closed-door offices…

Flobots’ Jamie Laurie on Today’s Best Protest Music

This was the year of call-out culture, viral backlash and Facebook activists — but 2015 also saw frequent in-person, organized demonstrations for a variety of causes around the world. Denver’s Flobots make conscious music of and for the current social and political moment, but their new projects are a continuation…

Ten Dopest Weed Songs of 2015 — Who Won the Highest Spot?

What’s your stoned soundtrack of 2015? Yesterday WeedStream.net released its list of the top ten weed-related songs of the year. The list includes tracks from a few usual suspects, including Snoop Dogg and Kottonmouth Kings, but also notes surf-rockers Best Coast (“California Nights”) and British dance-pop duo The Ting Tings…

The Ten Best Metal Albums of 2015

There’s no doubt that headbangers enjoyed another banner year in 2015. These last 12 months proved to be a successful for many established, and up-and-coming metal bands from various sub genres. Through it all, we’ve been keeping track of our favorites and the bands that surprised us the most.This was…

Comic: Tooey’s Off Colfax

Editor’s Note: The Denver Bootleg is a series chronicling the history of local music venues by longtime Denver cartoonist Karl Christian Krumpholz. Visit Krumpholz’s website to see more of his work…

Five Reasons That Denver Is the New Hot Spot for Metal

It’s no secret on a global scale that ever since recreational cannabis became legalized, people started flooding to Denver, and the city experienced a huge influx of culture, industry and innovation. With this came new musical movements, subcultures and events, and one that has gotten a big boost is metal…

Denver Reunion Shows, Part 3: Warlock Pinchers

The third and final installment of High Plains Underground Archives’ series on Denver music reunion shows, features Warlock Pinchers. These days it is very easy to find out about local bands if you make even a small amount of effort. But back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, this was…

Welcome to the D.O.P.E. Game Moves Forward, Looks Back

It was a great summer for independent hip-hop in Denver and beyond, with more venues opening their doors to the genre, and creativity in the rap world reaching new highs. Riding those highs, Kaipran Promotions will present a show celebrating independent performers called “Legends in the Making” on December 5…