“I’m stunned,” guitarist Bill Frisell said to a crowd of over 900 people. He was standing on the stage in the auditorium of East High School, from which he graduated in 1969. “I can’t believe this is happening. I used to have dreams like this. Really weird dreams too. I…
Thirty-eight governors around the country celebrated their inauguration this year. Most of them held events marking the occasion, ranging from elaborate galas to tours of the state’s barbecue restaurants (Arkansas). Here in Colorado, John Hickenlooper marked his reelection with a formal ceremony at the State Capitol followed by a dinner…
Two major things inspired the Wiredogs’ newest album, Kill the Artist Hype the Trash: trauma and Iggy Pop. The personal trauma the band experienced in their daily lives is responsible for the album’s deep, personal lyrics and frustrated, aggressive tone. The title? That was all Iggy. At Riot Fest in…
James Iha will DJ Lipgloss this Friday, January 23, at Beauty Bar. Iha is best known for his time as a guitarist for alternative rock band Smashing Pumpkins. He left that band in 2000 and went on to join A Perfect Circle, and he has contributed to numerous recordings by…
Stevie Wonder brings his Song of Life Performance tour to the Pepsi Center on Tuesday, March 17. Tickets ($39.50-$149.50) for the show, which is a live adaptation of his Songs in the Key of Life album, go on sale on Friday, January 23 at 10 a.m. The Disco Biscuits return…
Belly Up Aspen, an intimate venue hidden in the mountains, turns ten this week. The space has hosted some unforgettable shows in that time (including sets by the Jane’s Addiction, home state hero Pretty Lights, the Wu-Tang Clan, B.B. King and more), and the owners have plans to keep the…
“I think the first time music as a whole clicked for me was when I saw the Offspring’s ‘The Kids Aren’t Alright’ video,” says David McGhee. “I was like, ‘Wow, this is heavy like Slayer, but it’s poppy like Disney. They’re like a heavy Disney band!’ “I started writing songs…
During last night’s showcase of black metal, Revenge put in a solid set of deathgrind-inflected black metal and Watain had a skeleton and goat head altar with lit candles. The band’s actual performance was entertaining enough but straddled the divide between black metal and more commercial metal, to the point…
Michael David Quattlebaum Jr. is a poet, actor, performance artist and rapper — but he is best known as Mykki Blanco, a musical project that melds all of his experience and expertise together. Defying categorization, Blanco works to push the rigid confines of sex and sexuality presented in popular music…
Caribou Ranch belongs on a very short list of Colorado’s musical treasures. Artists ranging from Michael Jackson to Frank Zappa to the Beach Boys worked at the recording studio north of Nederland. It hasn’t been in use since 1985, and the family of former owner James Guercio is auctioning a…
Old Curtis St. Bar has given way to The Curtis Club. Before shutting its doors in 2012, Old Curtis St. Bar was a host to an eclectic schedule of shows starting around 2003, when Kosta Razatos brought live music regularly into the long-running family business. An anecdote that serves as…
The chill winter night seemed almost too perfect a climate for going to see experimental music at La Cour. The bar/restaurant, with its Parisian flair, had a modern take on Japanese classical art hanging on the inside walls. Outside, there was a glass-walled fire in the center of a stone…
In music, duets are supposed to be simple: take a composition, divvy it up between two performers and prepare to be wowed. Recently, though, the duet has been put through the ringer by washed-up pop stars hacking it up alongside other celebrity singers, searching for a hit. With apologies to…
[jump] 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 YOUTH IS WASTED. Last Week’s Episode • BACKBEAT’S GREATEST…
We hope you’re enjoying Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We’ll be back to our full slate of commentary, news and concert coverage tomorrow — for now, we’ve got a few shows to recommend. This is a great week in Colorado, with bands ranging from notorious metal outfit Mayhem to the…
The final word on 2014 music, the Village Voice’s annual Pazz + Jop poll, is out. As has been the case for the last forty-plus years, hundreds of critics across the country submitted their favorite albums and singles of the year, and the picks are compiled into the most comprehensive…
The City of Denver is imposingnew restrictions for concerts at Red Rocks this year, and some members of the the electronic music community argue that those limits (which include decibel ceilings throughout performances) unfairly affect EDM. A petition called Respect The Rocks has racked up almost 14,500 signatures in support…
On Saturday, January 17 at Larimer Lounge, Instant Empire will be performing some of the unreleased material from its forthcoming debut full-length, Lamplight Lost, due for release this Spring. Sharing the stage with the Royal and Montoneros, the “aggressive indie rock” outfit will end the night on unique interpretation of…
Varma Cross from Lawrence, Kansas is playing Friday, January 16th, at Carioca Café with Joy Subtraction and Hooper and on Saturday, January 17 at The Oriental Theatre with Photo Atlas and Holy Fear. Though the guys in Varma Cross are Kansas natives, the shows will be a homecoming for bass…
A lot has changed in the area surrounding 26th and Welton in the last twelve years. The neighborhood went from somewhere you didn’t want to venture into to somewhere you would happily go to for a drink or meal or to even find your next apartment. The name even changed…
Governor John Hickenlooper celebrated his re-election earlier this week with a formal inauguration ceremony followed by a dinner at the Fillmore Auditorium and a concert at the Ogden Theatre. We’ll have much more on the latter in next week’s issue of Westword. It was an improbable arrangement of some of…
The holiday weekend should be a good one for music in Denver. Some of the highlights include Del McCoury, who will play new songs inspired by Woody Guthrie and Fishbone, which inspired D’Angelo to write the song “1000 Deaths.” Many more of our picks await you below. See also: The…
