Shoulder Rubs From Meredith Brooks

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 SAINT COLE from Fantagraphics books. Last Week’s Episode of Rufus…

The Light Up Fans of Random Rab

West coast act Random Rab played Cervates’ Masterpiece Ballroom over the weekend, and the visual spectacle was equal to the music — there was live painting, swirling glowsticks and plenty of enthusiastic fans. Our Brandon Marshall was there to give you a sense of the scene. …

The Seven Best Concerts in Denver This Week

Kiesza 8:30 PM, Monday, Gothic Theatre Punch Brothers $35.50 8:00 PM, Tuesday, Ogden Theatre Futurebirds  $10/$12 7:30 PM, Tuesday, Fox Theatre Brand New $28.50-$33 7:00 PM, Wednesday, Fillmore Auditorium The Color Morale $15 6:00 PM, Wednesday, Marquis Theater Father John Misty $20.75/$25 8:00 PM, Thursday, Ogden Theatre Yung Lean $23/$25 9:00 PM, Thursday, Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom…

The 2015 Denver Botanic Gardens Summer Concert Series Lineup

Hot Rize w/ Aoife O’Donovan Tuesday, June 16 – York Street Shovels & Rope w/ John Fullbright Wednesday, June 17 – York Street Cooder – White – Skaggs Monday, June 22 – York Street Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Tuesday, July 7 – York Street Boz Scaggs…

Announcing the Bluebird District Music Festival

East Colfax has become one of Denver’s most vibrant music neighborhoods, and this summer, it will be home to a music festival. Called the Bluebird District Music Festival, it will take place from July 10 to 12 at Bluebird Theater, Goosetown Tavern, Park House, Lost Lake and Southside Bar and Kitchen. …

The Thirteen Best Concerts in Colorado This Weekend

This weekend’s best shows include a couple of local release parties: In the Whale and Edison will both celebrate new records with shows at the hi-dive and Larimer Lounge, respectively. Elsewhere, Jason Boland brings Red Dirt to Denver, Natalie Merchant returns and more.  Jason Boland & the Stragglers  $12 8:30…

A Winged Victory For the Sullen on the Power of Classical Music

One of the finest and most well-respected ambient music projects going, A Winged Victory For the Sullen is performing tonight for the first time in Colorado at the Tri-Lakes Center for the Arts. Formed in 2011, AWVFTS is a duo comprising Adam Wiltzie and Dustin O’Halloran, along with supporting musicians…

Foxygen Makes the Most of its Final Colorado Show

If rock ‘n’ roll had a baby and that bay was schizophrenic, its actions would most likely be represented in the stage presence of Alex Cameron and Foxygen. The two groups played at the Fox Theatre this week, and I witnessed the entire episode. When we arrived at the theatre…

Fleetwood Mac Remains a Strange and Potent Musical Family

The Pepsi Center was moving and shaking on Wednesday evening to the smoky sounds of the infamous Fleetwood Mac. The night was full with velvet-draped microphone stands, beards, vests and the crackle of big personalities. Although the group seemed to be in high spirits, there was a suggestive tinge of…

Edison’s New EP Is a Celebration of Beginnings and Endings

Denver trio Edison is releasing a story-filled EP this Friday at the Larimer Lounge. Called Ghost, the four-track album is an ode to songwriter Sarah Slaton’s mother, who passed away five years ago after a year-long battle with cancer. It’s a story that is so ingrained in the music that…

Every New Denver Concert Announcement

Phish returns to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park a fifth year in a row for a three-day Labor Day weekend run from Friday, September 4 through Sunday, September, 6. Genera admission field tickets ($60) and GA stand tickets ($49.95) go on sale on Saturday, April 4 at 10 a.m. Three-day camping…

Is the Grateful Dead Screwing Over Its Fans?

The Grateful Dead is still noteworthy, fifty years after the San Francisco band’s emergence amid the remnants of the Beats and the beginnings of the hippie generation. According to longtime Grateful Dead Hour producer David Gans (who also co-hosts the Grateful Dead channel on SiriusXM with Gary Lambert), “People are…

50 Things People Say at Ultra Music Festival

Ultra Music Festival is 36 solid hours of EDM-themed overstimulation. Superfamous DJs! Pop-star cameos! Half-naked ladies! Oiled-up beefcakes! Dancing robots! Human tacos! Toothpaste Man! Pyrotechnics! Cryo cannons! Fireworks! Everything at Ultra deserves an exclamation point. Or maybe ten. And there’s never less than 120 decibels rumbling through your already stimuli-flooded…

Becoming the Lodo Drum Guy

One day about six years ago, Peter Isakovic’s then-nine-year-old daughter expressed an interest in playing drums, and he wanted to make that happen for her. But Isakovic’s life wasn’t in the best shape at the time: He was a recently divorced dad crashing on a friend’s  couch while working through…

Joe Pug on the Dangers of Expectation

Unlike many acoustic-guitar-playing solo acts today, Joe Pug was not previously part of an established band; in fact, he’s never played in a band, period. So when his debut EP, 2009’s Nation of Heat, sold 20,000 copies, it was not because of an already established fan base, but because of…

Why an 18-and-Over Ultra Music Festival Was Way Better

Ten years ago in 2005, I went to my first Ultra Music Festival. Back then, it lasted just a day. Moby played, but he brought a full band and did all original material. The Carl Cox & Friends tent was still actually a tent. No one yet knew what a…

Krewella “Unplugged” and EDM’s Sexism Problem

Over the weekend, drama prone DJ Joel Thomas Zimmerman, also-known-as Deadmau5, asked an Ultra related question that has Twitter buzzing: Did Krewella, the electronic music producing female sister-duo, fake their set? This all started when Deadmau5 tweeted “Aw man. Krewellas got them new completely wireless DJMs??? I’m jealous.” During their set at…

The World According to The Smith Street Band

Melbourne Australia’s Smith Street Band, due tonight at the Summit Music Hall, is a passionate and earnest group, whose world travels and experiences have offered its members unique perspective on politics, passion and self-evaluation. Their latest, Throw Me In The River, is an account of these experiences and emotions. The…

Pacifiers and Other Banned Raver Gear We Saw at Ultra 2015

Any veteran of Ultra Music Festival who attended this year’s three-day event was pleasantly surprised by the increased organization and overall maturity of the audience. Certain seemingly simple measures, like an 18-and-over age policy and significantly improved perimeter security, taken following 2014’s trampling of security guard Erica Mack and the…

Rufus Baxter Will Get His Revenge

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 SAINT COLE from Fantagraphics books. Last Week’s episode of Rufus…