One of the big stories of the year in the jamband world has been Connecticut’s Goose. Simply put, the band is on a tear and are drawing sold-out crowds across the country. Is the hype justified?
Record temperatures descended on the Denver metro Tuesday. That didn’t seem to affect the vibe of a mix of bluegrass and Ryan Adams fans at Red Rocks Tuesday night. From the first notes, Adams had the crowd in the palm of his hand. As a lightning storm danced over the Denver metro area, Adams and his band worked their way through a twenty song set that left fans entirely satisfied.
The annual Tedeschi-Trucks Band headlining show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre is marked on many calendar’s months in advance and, with openers including North Mississippi Allstars and Los Lobos, there was no way this night would disappoint. The only thing weighing down the good vibes among the crowd were the looming clouds and forecast for a rainy night. Fortunately, the clouds were soon forgotten and the good vibes sent any chance of rain far away.
Last Saturday night the Ogden Theatre brought us the greatest annual Halloween treat Denver has to offer – The Motet’s annual Halloween run – two weeks late. Though this year it was a bit past the holiday deadline, that didn’t stop the loyal fans of this local Funk band from stepping out in full force for what was dubbed as the “Hometown Hustle.” For weeks this show was the talk of the town, and the anticipation was sky high for the band’s rabid fans.
Valentine’s Day may be a “Hallmark Holiday” but music was in the air at Cervantes’ Ballroom this year and whether they were in love or looking for love, out of love or in lust, the nearly capacity crowd came to party at “The Love Shack,” the newest themed superjam dance party from the guys over at J2G Live. David Murphy and members of The Disco Biscuits, The Motet and countless other bands proved this wasn’t just another jam session as they delivered the goods.
This year’s Rocky Mountain Folks Festival featured marquee names like John Butler Trio, Patty Griffin and John Prine but it was the lesser known acts like Seryn, Foy Vance, Nathaniel Rateliff and Charles Bradley that really wow’d the faithful crowd. Word on the street months before the festival was that the organizers and staff of Planet Bluegrass were more excited by the acts this year than they had been at any time in recent memory, and they just may have been right on!
Last weekend The Greyboy Allstars came straight out of the 70’s on a groove of Funk, Soul, and Jazz. The band was in town supporting their new album, ‘Inland Emperor,’ which dropped this week, and the crowd filled in fast and early at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom on both Friday and Saturday nights. Supported by Dumpstaphunk on Friday night and Denver’s own The Congress on Saturday, it was a weekend of unforgettable music, and luckily all three bands have new albums out to keep the party going.
Soul music has the wonderful property of evoking memories of musical marks made on the heart and that’s just one of the many reasons why the new EP from The Congress is quickly working its way into heavy rotation on our playlists. Recorded on a reel-to-reel tape machine in an old Masonic Temple in Berthoud, CO, “The Loft Tapes” pays tribute to the band’s influences with a collection of super chilled Soul classics that have a fittingly scratchy and vintage vibe.
Last Friday Maceo Parker schooled a young crowd at Cervantes’ as he funked his way through a 50 year career that has featured stints with everyone from James Brown to Prince. After a blistering set from Colorado-by-way-of-Iowa local boys, Euforquestra, Parker took to the stage in dark sunglasses and grinned from ear to ear as he demonstrated his musical aptitude on sax, vocals, and even jazz flute. Maceo and his band moved the room in and out of Funk, Smooth Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Soul until the clock struck two.
Last Monday at the Botanic Gardens, the wine flowed, cured meats and cheeses were consumed by the plateful, and though the threat of rain hung in the air (and even fell out of it from time to time), it didn’t dampen the spirits of the Gardens faithful who had come out in droves to catch the one and only Reverend Al Green and Denver’s own soul sister, Hazel Miller deliver Soul classics in the way that only they can.