Concerts

When Eck’s Saloon closed two years ago, Lakewood lost a legendary music venue with a history that spanned more than three decades and saw steady stream of local and national hard rock and ’80s hair-rock bands like Warrant, Skid Row and Quiet Riot. But since Dumitru Sajin took over the building last February, he’s been busy giving the spot a much-needed update, and now he is opening the space as the Silver Spur Saloon the first weekend in December.

This week kicks off with the Pretty Reckless at the Ogden Theatre and Two Door Cinema at the Fillmore Auditorium tonight while later in the week it’s Mindless Behavior at the Summit Music Hall, Tommy Emmanuel at the Paramount Theatre, Greensky Bluegrass at the Ogden Theatre and Haley Bonar at the Larimer Lounge. See our full list of picks below.

Contrary to all the social media squeals of joy from out-of-touch former punks proclaiming that thanks to this election, “punk will get good again, ” music has never stopped being a radical force. Art and activism have always been intertwined and Denver’s own Tim Holland aka Sole — a musician, tape label head and activist himself — continues to keep the conversation about present-day political issues going with his music. Earlier this week he released “Three Way Fight,” a collaboration with musician and vocalist Decomposure. Westword spoke with Sole about the song and what it means to protest in 2016.

Last month, the November 2016 Open Music Session welcomed Hang Rounders, a Denver band that insists it’s both country and Western, and is undeniably American roots music at its finest. There is some bluegrass and folk amid the heart-wrenching ballads and barnstorming dance anthems, but there’s a dash of reggae, too.

Three of state’s bigger bands have two night stands this weekend, including the Fray, Leftover Salmon and Paper Bird while Elephant Revival, also a local favorite, teams up with the Colorado Symphony on Saturday, November 26. This weekend’s lineup also includes hi-dive’s 4th and 13th two-night anniversary bash, Snow Tha Product as well as a pair of co-headlining shows from Kung Fu and Particle. See the full list below.

Canadian DJ and producer Datsik, who’s set to release his Sensei EP in December, brings his North American tour to the 1STBANK Center on Saturday, February 4, 2017, with Crizzly and Virtual Riot opening; tickets ($20-$75) are on sale now.

Quixote’s True Blue might have changed locations a few times over the last two decades, but the music venue and bar has always been a haven for fans of the Grateful Dead. Although owner Jay Bianchi closed the last Quixote’s incarnation at 314 East 13th Avenue (where it had been for the last four years) at the end of October, he didn’t waste any time opening another spot in a similar vein. Bianchi has taken over the former Denver Wrangler space at 1700 Logan Street and will open Be On Key Psychedelic Ripple there in December.

Colorado Creative Industries (CCI) and Bohemian Foundation announced a partnership intended to advance the status of Colorado music.

Music wasn’t supposed to be Kayla Marque’s life. “My dad wanted me to be an athlete, so that’s what I grew up doing,” says the Denver-born-and-raised singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. “I started playing basketball at five. In high school, I quit basketball because I found volleyball. I thought it was the best thing ever.” Marque had always considered herself an athlete, feeling what she describes as a “hunger, drive and competitiveness” for sports that she didn’t have for other things. But underneath the team uniform, a musician was hiding.

Prior to November 8, Sadie Dupuis figured she would release Slugger, her first album as Sad13 (pronounced “Sad Thirteen”), to an America celebrating the election of its first female president. Like most people, she hadn’t planned to go to bed on Tuesday night coming to grips with the startling new reality of President-elect Trump, and she certainly didn’t plan to release her album three days later still reeling from the news.

Classic Kanye. Kanye West gives the middle finger to the Mile High City for the fourth tour in a row. Yeezus? More like Yeesh-uz.

Thanks in part to college students returning to Denver for the holidays, Thanksgiving Eve, this Wednesday, November 23, 2016, aka Drinksgiving aka Black (Out) Wednesday, is the biggest bar night of the year. We’ve rounded up a number of EDM events as well as concerts happening the night before Thanksgiving. See the full list below, and check back on this post, as we will update it as we hear about other events.

The Fray, who released Through the Years: the Best of the Fray earlier this month, play an intimate show at the Fox Theatre on Friday, November 25 before headlining 1STBANK Center the following night. Leftover Salmon performs the music of Neil Young at Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox on Friday, November 25 and headlines the Fillmore Auditorium the following night with Los Lobos opening. This week’s lineup also includes FIDLAR, 12th Annual Last Waltz – Revisited, Paper Bird and Snow Tha Product.

Evan Stephens Hall wanted to make sure I heard him right. A few hours before Pinegrove’s show last July, and we were sweating over pints on Larimer Lounge’s back patio, nearly shouting over the clanging of soundcheck. The young rock band’s lead singer-songwriter was describing a song cycle he wrote…

Multi-instrumentalist Kris Drickey is an eternally creative spirit. Her work in the Denver-based folk/americana/whatever-the-hell-you-wanna-call-it band Chimney Choir has always had a sense of collaboration and whimsy. The group’s latest effort Dream is a continuation of these sensibilities while creating a new world, which may be a dream after all. Growing up in the cassette-tape generation, Drickey’s love of tapes continues to this day, as well as her somewhat guilty love of Mariah Carey.

Charleston, South Carolina’s Shovels & Rope is at the Ogden Theatre for two nights this weekend while Rufus du Sol and Faceman also have two-night stands. This weekend’s lineup also includes Life Aquatic’s Tribute to David Bowie featuring Seu Jorge at the Gothic, Darlingside at L2 Church,  Glen Phillips at Swallow Hill, the Posies at the Oriental Theatre, Andy McKee at the Soiled Dove Underground. See the full list of our picks below.

“Everyone always thinks I’m the one that did this, but I’m not,” Steve “Faceman” says about his latest mastermind, “Faceman’s 100 Year Storm,” a two-day festival taking place this weekend at the Oriental Theatre during which 100 bands will perform twenty-minute sets. “Everyone can come up with an idea, but if other people don’t put their hearts in it as well, nothing comes of it. I’m always fearful that it’s a selfish endeavor.”

“The Other Black comes from the idea that music should help,” says Denver musician Wesley Watkins. “People are very afraid of the unknown. I’ve spent a lot of time as an outcast in my life, in the black community, specifically in Denver, but just in the community. I’ve had some very unconventional things happen to me in my life, and with all this election and everything I really want to encourage people to love themselves, so that they can start to love others.”

Few bands can point to one event or festival as a catalyst and jumping-off point for its success. For Massachusetts’s Darlingside, however, much of the group’s recent success can be traced back to the Westin Hotel in Kansas City, where last year’s Folk Alliance Festival was held.

Bruno Mars, who set to release his new album on Friday, brings his 24K Magic World tour to the Pepsi Center on Monday, October 30; tickets ($49.50-$150) go on sale on Monday, November 21, at 10 a.m. New Kids on the Block headline the Total Package tour at Pepsi Center on Saturday, June 10, with Boyz II Men and Paula Abdul; tickets ($29.95-$199.95) go on sale on Saturday, November 19, at 10 a.m. As we announced earlier this week, Sting will be at the Fillmore Auditorium on Tuesday, February 14, and Devendra Banhart is coming to the Boulder Theater on Friday, February 3.

Charleston, South Carolina duo Shovels & Rope, which plays the Ogden Theatre on Friday, November 18, and Saturday, November 19, know that some seeds are worth watering, allowing them to grow and bloom — while others are best left in the cold, dark ground.

Nearly a year ago, Pearl’s opened at 603 East 13th Avenue in the space that been the Beauty Bar for the last five years and a longtime home of the Snake Pit before that. Mike Barnhart, who was a co-owner of the Beauty Bar, and Tucker Schwab, a Beauty Bar bartender and manager, opened Pearl’s with a dance club in one room and a neighborhood bar in another room. But now they’re trying to keep the venue afloat with an Indiegogo campaign to raise $60,000 over the next twelve days.