Kicking off early with relatively short sets from Youth Code, Haujobb and Front Line Assembly, this weekend’s Skinny Puppy show at the Ogden Theater seemed refreshingly succinct. And everyone, crowd and performers alike, seemed in good spirits. It was mostly electronic music, but what sets these particular artists apart from…
Halfway through Shakey Graves’s final Denver show of the weekend, he decided to bring out “a local badass” by the name of Gregory Alan Isakov. Together, with local fiddler Jeb Bows, they performed a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “Colorado Girl” that left few dry eyes in the sold-out Bluebird…
Telluride is not only known for its skiing and breathtaking scenery. It has also become a mecca for bluegrass fans, who make their annual pilgrimage for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. The town hosts other music events, like the Telluride Jazz Festival and Brews and Blues. But this August, a new…
[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…
Another huge weekend in Denver, including the second and third sold-out Shakey Graves shows at the Bluebird. Elsewhere, pop god Fleetwood Mac plays the Pepsi Center and doom hero Pallbearer is in town on Sunday. The rest of our picks follow…
On Colorado Gives Day, consumers are encouraged to log off Amazon.com and support their favorite local non-profit through an online donation. Landing right before the holidays, the fundraising day is organized to end off the financial year on a high note. Here in Denver, there are almost a dozen major…
The first two albums Fleetwood Mac (playing tonight, December 12, at the Pepsi Center) released after Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined Christine McVie, bassist John McVie, and drummer Mick Fleetwood provided the pop soundtrack of the late 1970s. The tender nature of singles like “Landslide,” the mysticism of “Rhiannon,”…
While studying jazz at the University of Northern Colorado, saxophonist Jared Atol and drummer Nick Spreigl, who also plays with Air Dubai, saw a lot students spending a good deal of time practicing and composing. Some would put still more time into recording albums, but then not doing anything with…
Front Line Assembly is part of what is arguably the greatest electronic industrial music tour in years. Alongside Skinny Puppy, Haujobb and Youth Code, FLA will take the stage this Friday, December 12, at the Ogden Theatre. All together, the lineup represents major stars of experimental electronic music from their…
Chella & The Charm is releasing its self-titled, full-length album at the hi-dive on Friday, December 12. The folky Americana project is the latest incarnation of a band fronted by primary singer and songwriters Michelle Caponigro. Performing as Chella Negro for the last several years, Caponigro has established herself as…
Being the torchbearer of the modern American doom metal movement can be a tough job, especially when you list Kansas as one of your favorite bands. But it makes sense, according to Pallbearer bass player and vocalist Joseph D. Rowland, who will be in Denver with his band this Sunday,…
As if the packed schedules at all the local venues weren’t enough, Colorado had more festivals this year than we could keep track of. While not every one was worthy of a year-end mention, many were. From the small to the massive, from the noise to the punk, from the…
Yesterday brought upon us the birthday of the late, great, sir Donald Byrd. Mr. Byrd passed away on February 4th, 2013 at the age of 80. He is celebrated as one of the most influential jazz trumpeters to emerge from the bebop era, and his career spanned more than forty…
Giants & Pilgrims is one part music, one part artwork, one part online community. But the easiest way to understand the project is to think of it as the Coons family scrapbook. “There were times in my life where I felt giant, I felt mountainous, I felt big,” says Tim…
When Annabel Lukins Stelling turned forty last year, she and her husband hosted one hell of a birthday bash. Two hundred fifty friends, many involved in the Colorado or national music communities, were strewn across the lawn of her Boulder home. “I am not the only one who thinks my…
The Samples are among the most successful bands ever to come out of Colorado. But primary songwriter and singer Sean Kelly got his start far away from the mountains, playing for unlikely audiences.As a young man, Kelly and his fledgling band, the Last Straw, couldn’t get the time of day…
The Czars were one of the more popular bands from Denver in the 1990s and early 2000s. Theirs was a style of music could never be limited. It wasn’t dream pop or shoegaze or slowcore. It wasn’t even really just moody post-punk. It was all of that, and its dynamic…
Beloved Denver band Flashbulb Fires is officially no more. “Today is the end of an era for us,” the band wrote on their Facebook page and web site early yesterday morning. See also: Quickly Rising Colorado Band You, Me & Apollo Is Breaking Up…
When it comes to art, second chances are rare, but they can happen. After the Fort Collins art space Gallery Underground closed down in April 2011, Brandton Manshel, his wife Sarah, and their friend Thomas Herrera helped it live on by opening a venue in its place. During July 2013,…
Gov’t Mule with guest guitarist John Scofield, who are set to release a new album in January, will be at the Ogden Theatre on Tuesday, February 24 as part of their 2015 winter Sco-Mule tour. Tickets ($43.50/$45) go on sale on Saturday, December 13 at 10 a.m. Joe Russo’s Almost…
Spoon is a Texas band, meaning it carries with it a certain pride and ambition that never really allows it to settle down. Britt Daniel and his bandmates produce the kind of music in which every pop, squeak, cymbal hit and second of silence matters. Every noise and lack thereof…
[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! • BACKBEAT’S GREATEST…
