Blogs

Does It Offend You, Yeah? and Yo Majesty
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Bluebird Theater

The evening went up, up then crashed hard Saturday night. Electro pop, electro rock and some god-awful hip-hop took over the Bluebird, leaving this reviewer asking, "How the hell did Yo Majesty snag a tour headlining for one of the hottest acts on either side of the Atlantic? And why are they so obnoxious?" Find out in this slide show review by Cory Casciato.

Photo Courtesy of Kara Davidson/Urban Outfitters

The Chain Gang of 1974
Saturday, May 10, Urban Outfitters, Boulder
Better Than: The last show you saw at the Gap

You wouldn’t expect a chain retail store to support local live music, but this weekend, on the increasingly homogenized and decreasingly unique Pearl Street Mall, the unlikely venue of Urban Outfitters offered up a truly unique event. Part of the store’s “Land Locked and Rocked” series of shows, Friday night’s performance by the Chain Gang of 1974 proved that even a predictable, highly calculated place like UO can still harbor a surprise or two.

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Photo by Aerin

Film School, Monofog, Fucking Orange
Saturday, May 10, 2008
hi-dive
Better Than: That time I saw Mind Bomb at 7 South. Yikes.

While I was ultimately pleased with the music I heard Saturday night at the hi-dive, I was initially less than certain that I’d walk out of the club with more than ringing ears. The crowd didn’t help instill me with much confidence upon arrival. Maybe everyone was just nervous about Mother’s Day brunch the next morning with the famn damily, but the vibe at hi-dive was so subdued I was afraid I’d wandered onto the set of The Stepford Hipsters. Maybe it was just the opening act Fucking Orange, who despite playing for thirty fucking minutes, never quite located a fucking song in all the fucking noise.

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Laura Veirs and Liam Finn
Friday, May 9, 2008
The Walnut Room
Better Than: Six Months in a Leaky Boat.

Digital looping pedals, which have been around for at least the past two decades, have made it fairly simple for one musician to sound like multiple musicians. A guy can lay down a phrase on guitar, sample it and have it loop repeatedly, and then layer other guitar, bass, drum or vocal parts over it. Last Friday at the Walnut Room, both Liam Finn and Laura Veirs made ample use of the looping pedals.

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Phil Lesh and Friends
Friday, May 9, 2008
Fillmore Auditorium
Better Than: Crying into your beer at Sancho’s Broken Arrow next door because you couldn’t find a ticket.

Walking into the sold-out Lesh show was interesting; there was an ice-cream truck parked out front, people selling various psychedelic paraphernalia and I couldn’t guess the age of the average crowd member. I saw people barely old enough to get in and people old enough to be my grandparents. The energy and excitement in the vast room was palpable before the band even took the stage; personally, I was struck by the sheer amount and variety of equipment, instruments, wires and machines crowding the sizable stage.

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Photo by Tom Murphy

Nudity with Temples and Outer Neon
Friday, May 9, 2008
Glob Glob Glob, Colorado Springs
Better Than: Most of the neo-classic rock out there.

Tight Bros. From Way Back When only played Denver once during its entire career, and that was on June 15, 1999 at Soulciety on Brighton Boulevard. It was an impressively blistering, bluesy rock-and-roll show, the likes of which had fallen somewhat out of favor at the time only to reemerge in mass popularity in the past half-decade. The band had played with critical darlings, Denver's Rainbow Sugar, and the first incarnation of Friends Forever.

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Detroit Cobras, Super 400 and Yerkish
Friday, May 9
The Falcon

You'd never know that Yerkish was missing a guitar player. Down an axeman, Nate Huisgen pulled double-duty -- not an easy task considering the band's complex song structures that border on math-rock. But with his creative approach, Huisgen relied on more textural approaches in his playing to fill up the room with his unique sound. With a bevy of guitar effects at his disposal, it seemed as if he switched from sound to sound like a painter choosing from a well-stocked palette. Things never got boring.

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Wilco
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Pikes Peak Center, Colorado Springs
Better Than: The last time I saw Wilco at the Fillmore.

The first time I heard the live version of Wilco’s “Handshake Drugs” from Kicking Television I was floored by the guitar solo in the middle and the pure sonic wash of three guitars at the end of the song. I thought, "OK, this version completely kicks the ass of the studio version of on A Ghost is Born." Then I thought, “Who the hell was playing that guitar solo?” Not to knock Jeff Tweedy’s guitar chops, but I was pretty damn sure it wasn’t him.

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Instead of a rundown, I simply give you a list of the amazing stuff we heard and saw this weekend: Cut Copy and Black Kids @ Larimer Lounge; Kool Keith, ManeLine and the Americans @ the Oriental Theater; Destroyer and Josh Queen @ the Walnut Room, Bad Weather California, Velella Velella and Hearts of Palm @ hi-dive. Best. Weekend. Ever.

Click here for more photos by Brian Folkins.

The Hollyfelds and Three Miles West
Friday, May 2, 2008
The Walnut Room

The Hollyfelds are a country band – a fact that co-lead singer Eryn Hoerig made sure to point out. Although this was pretty obvious after the band's first song, Hoerig’s charm was as beguiling as her bluegrass-diva stage presence. Her country-crooning partner, Kate Grigsby, was equally stunning. Both women, dressed in retro-country attire, led their bandmates through a moonshine-inspired tour of twangy Americana classics augmented by similar songs from Saratoga, their latest effort.

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Cut Copy and Black Kids
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Larimer Lounge
Better Than: Seeing New Order. A lot better.

It’s a rare thing to see a tour bus parked in front of Larimer Lounge. Vans with trailers are a lot more common. They don’t hand out buses to just any band. It’s usually a luxury saved for groups that have proven themselves somehow, whether by selling a bunch of records or showing a fair amount of promise.

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Kool Keith, ManeLine and the Americans
Saturday, May 3 2008
The Oriental Theater
Better than: Trying to get a cab home from the Oriental Theater.

How often do you imagine meeting someone famous? Do you wonder if they’ll be nice, or a complete jackass? Likewise what about a band or musician that you think is great? Will they be awesome or will they completely blow it? Sitting at the Oriental, I imagined Kool Keith decked out in some sort of space suit or some sort of crazy spectacle, given his propensity for show. What we got, however, was something much different.

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Destroyer and Josh Queen
Saturday, May 3, 2008
The Walnut Room

Friday night's gig at the Walnut Room marked a bit of an anniversary for opener Josh Queen. His first Denver show after moving here from North Carolina a year ago was at this intimate club. Armed with just a Fender amp, a hollow-body and his plaintive voice, Queen commanded the attention of everyone in the packed room as he ran through a roster of songs as personal as they were accessible, earnest tales of love, loss, memories. Judging from the response Queen elicited, the Queen City is warming right up to Queen.

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Photo: Claudia López

Bad Weather California, Velella Velella and Hearts of Palm
Friday, May 2, 2008
hi-dive
Better Than: being profoundly and painfully alone on a Friday night

With apologies to the Geto Boys: Damn, it feels good to be in Denver! I know I’ve beaten this dead horse so many times that the Humane Society has me on speed dial, but with a show like Friday’s at the hi-dive, I just can’t help myself. Over the weekend, two of Denver’s finest live acts all but obviated the need for the touring act they sandwiched and – with the help of a delightfully responsive crowd – proved that this scene is truly a remarkable beast.

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Slide show review by Cory Casciato

Punk-fueled '80s keyboard balladry collided head-on with big-band garage psych at Hi-Dive on May Day when Mark Mallman and the turbo-insanity of Dark Meat set Thursday on fire. More Thursday nights should be like this.