Crash 45 ended its three-year run on Saturday, December 20. It was a place you could see experimental music, bike clubs, “burners” and b-movies. Its very unassuming facade hid the array of metal art inside. When you stepped inside on the final night, the staff cheered you in welcome and…
Bummeroo, Denver’s first online music festival, occurred on YouTube this weekend. You can read all about the idea here, but basically artists uploaded sets to a YouTube playlist and, as described on the Facebook page, “u can enjoy it from the comfort of yr bed as they are uploaded or…
[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 of Rufus Baxter…
When some people think about noise as a genre, they think of harsh noise. But this show was somewhere else on the spectrum. Using samples, guitar, processed vocals, theremin and beats, Tom Smith and Mark Morgan, performing as T/SMM, created an immersive environment with their own musical language, enhanced by…
It’s a little bit of a quiet weekend in Denver, but there are still plenty of great shows, including Nathaniel Rateliff pulling double-duty tonight at the Ogden and T/SMM at Glob. The rest of our picks follow! Enjoy your weekend…
It’s now been almost an entire year since marijuana was legalized for recreational use here in Colorado. The experiment, by most accounts, has been a successful one, with other states following in our footsteps. It seems inevitable that we’ll see the entire country follow in the next decade. Although, because…
The Goth and industrial bands from Denver enjoyed a kind of heyday in the ’90s in Denver, with several active bands playing live. There was even a high-profile festival for a handful of years: the Denver Dark Arts Festival (later Tte Colorado Dark Arts Festival). When the momentum behind any…
“I had never really gone to music festivals until last year, when I went because I was playing them. I thought, this fucking blows. I didn’t like the experience at all — I see a bunch of people I like, but it’s not fun. It’s harder for me to be…
It is no secret that rent in Denver is climbing rapidly — so much so, in fact, that some artists feel they can no longer afford to live in the city. The Arts & Venues department of the city’s government wants to help. Together with the Minneapolis-based nonprofit Artspace, it…
The last time we talked to Guy Gerber (in 2012), the up-and-coming electronic music producer and DJ told us about his new project with P.Diddy, 11:11 — which was just released this year. Gerber will be back in Denver to play a show at Beta this Saturday night, December 20;…
The last major electronic show I attended was Porter Robinson’s World’s tour. The 21-year-old DJ used to be known for his wild drops and ultra-fast techno sounds, as heard in his 2011 hit single Spitfire. But in his newest album, he uses sampling to thread together beautiful melodies with gut-wrentching…
There’s something about carrying a torch for art that no one else seems to give a fuck about — when you love a band or a record or an artist so deeply but goes unnoticed by the general populace it starts to feel like it’s your own special secret to…
On November 17, Denver City Council passed an ordinance establishing AXS, a ticketing company co-owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group, as the exclusive ticketing provider from January 1, 2015, until December 31, 2019, for venues owned by the City of Denver. You can read all 47 thrilling pages of the agreement…
Colorado’s last great soul-funk band was formed in 1966 in Phoenix, Arizona, where it was known as Freddi-Henchi and the Soulsetters. In 1968, founding members Freddy Gowdy and Marvin “Henchi” Graves decided to move the band to California in hopes of engaging a national audience and obtaining a record deal…
The members of good-times punk band SPELLS will happily share their opinions on any number of things. Mythical creatures, for example: “I think Bigfoot is just John Lithgow in a costume,” says Peter “P” Bohner. “That’s where he vacations. Some people go to Vail or Aspen…”A band that isn’t short…
“Denver is tight,” says P.O.S with a chuckle when asked about the music scene here. The rapper, producer, part-time punk-rocker and founding member of Doomtree will be heading here at the end of this week. He’ll be playing the Bluebird Thursday night, and Friday night he will be heading to…
More changes are coming to Globeville’s nightlife scene. Just a few weeks after the Sidewinder Tavern went on the market, Crash 45 announced last night that this would be its last few days in operation. The bar, which was the Portulaca Cafe and then the White Owl before metal artist…
Grammy Award-winning songwriter Wil Guice launched his Love Money Music tour from the Roxy Theater late last week. Welcome to Guiceland was the start of the next step for a vocalist who wants to bring back the roots of R&B — he feels that talent is now trumped by image…
Photo by Clever Cupcakes via FlickrAs close as a typical opening band might get to meeting KISS.By Chris Lane Your band has been playing shows for a while and seems to be getting popular. Perhaps you’re still just rising stars on the hometown circuit or have hit the road a…
Iggy Azalea brings The Great Escape Tour to the Pepsi Center on Monday, April 27 with Nick Jonas as special guest and Tinashe and DJ Wizz Kidd as support acts. Tickets for the public go on sale on Friday, December 19 at 9 a.m. The Avett Brothers return to Red…
Stage security has been a contentious issue in the decade since the death of Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott. Lamb Of God vocalist Randy Blythe was famously cleared of manslaughter in Czech Republic after a fan died from complications of a stage diving injury in 2010. More recently, NOFX vocalist…
It’s another big week for live music in Denver. Be sure to catch Esme Patterson at the Bluebird on Wednesday, and head back the next night for Minneapolis rapper P.O.S. The rest of our picks follow. See also: 50 Ways to Support Your DIY Music Community…
