Marc Gaertner via Recess RecordsBen Weasel, not punching any women at the moment.I’ve never had an interest in Screeching Weasel, as I don’t listen to punk music that comes off like it was meant to be the soundtrack of a straight-to-video film about kids rollerblading in a shopping-mall parking garage…
Goosetown Tavern has a new owner: Chris Swank, who has a long history in Denver music. He’s taking over the bar from the Wynkoop Brewing Company, and he did a “low-key remodel,” adding a stage and sound system installed by Event Production Services in the back room where local bands…
Amanda Palmer is known for her crazy antics as the leader of the Dresden Dolls and the Grand Theft Orchestra. But Palmer started her career doing something a little more stationary. She worked as a living statue, painted all in white, wearing a wedding dress and giving people flowers. In…
The negative temperatures and piles of snow last week were a pretty solid indication that winter has arrived in Denver. While every day of winter here doesn’t involve bone-chilling cold, plenty do, and it gets old, fast. Suddenly, concert calendars look a little bare and the idea of leaving your…
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 soundtrack is officially out in anticipation of the film release Friday. As is increasingly common practice for these types of blockbusters, it features a ridiculous array of music talent — Lorde, Stromae, Pusha T, Q-Tip and HAIM are all on the first track. But…
JJ Grey, Anders Osborne, Marc Broussard and Luther Dickinson are currently touring as Southern Soul Assembly — but Dickinson notes that the emphasis should be on the “soul” rather than the “Southern” part of the name. The reason, he explains, is because everyone in the group draws from their wide-ranging…
Gangsta rap, where have you gone? About 20 years ago at this time, we were in the middle of an unprecedented run of gangsta rap greatness, with Death Row, Bad Boy, Ruthless, Rap-A-Lot and others all functioning at high levels. And while the songs and albums from this era continue…
Coyote Poets of the Universe has cultivated a unique songwriting style over the years in order to accommodate the disparate voices of its nine-piece membership — the results will be on display during a show this Saturday at the Oriental Theater. But the band did not have ambitious beginnings; in…
After work one frozen night last week, I put on my bike helmet, ski mask and warmest gloves and rode in the snow up 17th Street in Boulder to Beat Cycle, a new music-centered cycling studio on the Hill. “Sorry, I’m early,” I said to the four young female employees…
Judas Priest (due tonight, November 19, at the 1STBANK Center) is one of the most influential heavy metal bands in the history of the genre. From Birmingham, England (the same city that produced Black Sabbath), Priest basically created the blueprint for the sound and look of most of the heavy…
After spending a couple of years at Beauty Bar, the long-tenured monthly Mile High Soul Club has found a new home at Syntax Physic Opera. Syntax Physic Opera is a much different aesthetic than Beauty Bar, but the space has been hosting music nights and performances ever since it opened…
The streets of Denver are safe now that Maris the Great, king of the gay undead, has returned to his crypt for winter hibernation. For those unfamiliar with Denver’s resident revenant royalty, Maris can be seen at rock and metal concerts throughout spring and summer clad in elaborate royal attire…
The Colorado Music Hall of Fame is hosting an induction concert at the Paramount Theatre on Friday, January 9 with performances from original members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Poco and Firefall, as well a tribute to Stephen Stills/Manassas. The evening will feature video tributes, interviews with inductees, celebrity…
[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 of Rufus Baxter…
From 1963 until March 15, 2008 The Cricket On The Hill (located at 1209 East 13th Avenue) was a dive bar that hosted bands of pretty much every conceivable genre and level of notoriety. Denver’s godfathers of noise Page 27 played there — so did nearly every other band in…
Fresh off a two-week tour, Itchy-O was still clearly in well-toned performance condition on Saturday night at the Mercury Cafe. The band has always had a strong physical presence, and that, coupled with its mysterious, musical cultist appearance, means the thirty-plus member outfit is impossible to ignore or forget. But…
Before Shovels and Rope performed Saturday night at the Ogden Theatre, the crowd there was trying to claim them. There was plenty of discussion about the potential Colorado roots of husband-and-wife-duo Michael Trent and Carry Ann Herst, who champion Charleston, South Carolina as their hometown. See also: Eleven Famous Musicians…
Weather is happening, people. We won’t bore you with it — you can figure that stuff out pretty easily. But there are some excellent shows, including the release of Snake Rattle Rattle Snake’s excellent new one, Totem. You can also see Dance Party Time Machine at the Ogden and a…
The Black Keys returned to Denver last night and took over the Pepsi Center for an hour of pop-infused rock and blues. The Black Keys have rocketed from playing small clubs to playing arenas in the past couple of years, mostly driven by the highly deserved success of their 2010…
Update: Time’s up! We’ve picked winners for the vinyl and taken down the album stream. Go hear it in person tonight at the Gothic. Original post follows. Snake Rattle Rattle Snake spent years working on its sophomore album, Totem. For this week’s Backbeat feature, we talked to the band’s members…
Michal Menert is called the Godfather of Pretty Lights Music by his fans. When he is on stage, he sports a Henley Fedora hat and a suit jacket. On special occasions, a three-piece full suit will come out complete with a vest. “If I’m going to make music that I…
There’s a lot of distinct sounds echoing through a vast warehouse hidden at the end of residential street in Englewood: the scraping of wood against metal, the gut-wrenching thud of bodies hitting plywood, the rolling of wheels on concrete, and on a raised stage, the voice of the lead singer…
