25 reasons the Denver music scene rules
10. Dave Otero
Making records out of his Flatline Audio studios, Dave Otero has created a signature sound that has catapulted an inexhaustible parade of local metal bands to prominence, and he puts the exact same care and precision into those recordings as he does for records by choice imports like Cattle Decapitation and Demonica.
Tom Murphy
09. DIY isn't a four-letter word in Denver
DIY, of course, stands for Do It Yourself, but you don't have to spell that to the people in this scene, which cultivated the famed Rhinoceropolis, a DIY space revered across the country, a proud link in a long line of other kindred spaces past and present such as Monkey Mania, Blast-O-Mat, the Tar Shack, Hipster Youth Halfway House and Garageland, among countless others. And it's not just shows: These folks continue to put out their own 'zines, their own music and book their own festivals, in addition to doing everything else you can imagine.
BLKHRTS on stage at the Westword Music Showcase last summer.
08. There is no shortage of musicians
Feel like starting a new project and need some musicians? No problem. You can hardly throw a rock around here without hitting somebody who plays in a band. And you'd be surprised how easy it is to find people to play with if you just ask. If nothing else, the Denver scene is flush with people who gleefully lend their vast talents to innumerable bands -- people like the Meese brothers, Fez Garcia, Greg Harris and Casey Sidwell, among countless others.
07. There's so much talent here, in fact, that...
...when the touring industry comes to grinding to a halt around the holidays, you hardly even notice because there are still a ton of cool local shows worth checking out.
Tom Murphy Dirty Few at 3 Kings Tavern earlier this month
06. All local shows are not the exception
Even when the touring season is in full bloom in the summer time, it's not at all unusual to see an all-local bill packed to the gills from the beginning of the night until closing time. Whereas in other places you might arrive fashionably late with little regard to the opening acts, here, you do so at your own peril.
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