Legendary guitarist Adrian Belew was kind enough to spend some time talking with us as he waited out a fire drill in his Denver hotel on the eve of the “Remain In Light” tour that launches at the Ogden Theater here in Denver on February 16th.
As families we all have our traditions and, whether it’s opening presents on Christmas Eve, driving to the cabin every summer, or making pancakes on Sunday morning, these traditions are what define our lives and give us those memories that last a lifetime. For our family, one of those traditions is our annual August pilgrimage to Lyons for the Rocky Mountain Folks Fest. Though it’s been twelve years some thing remain the same; the beer is cold, the music is amazing, and the river water cools the blood in minutes.
The second Ziggy Marley and his band took the stage at the Gardens last week, fans were on their feet and moving close to the stage to ensure they staked a claim on dancing space. Many of the Garden faithful had caught Marley’s performance last summer and knew they were in for a long night of upbeat songs that were guaranteed to keep feet moving and hearts smiling.
A powerful vocalist and impeccable performer, Catherine Russell has performed with such prominent performers as David Bowie, Steely Dan, Cyndi Lauper, Jackson Browne, Levon Helm and Paul Simon to name a few. She has been celebrated as NPR radio’s top 5 jazz CD’s of 2006 and most recently in 2012, she was the recipient of a Grammy Award for her appearance as a featured artist on the soundtrack for the HBO TV series Boardwalk Empire.
Having ramped up the second half of their Fall tour in Des Moines early last week, Greensky Bluegrass rolled in to Denver on Friday for the first of two highly anticipated, and sold-out, shows. Despite the sold-out sign that hung on the box office window, The Ogden was nearly deserted before opener You, Me & Apollo took the stage. As the Denver bands set moved on, the room steadily filled and the buzz of excited fans grew in intensity until there was electricity crackling in the air just seconds before Greensky Bluegrass took the stage.
The Ogden Theatre was sold-out Friday night for the return of Los Angeles’ Indie Folk rockers Lord Huron. It was the band’s second trip to Colorado in five months after opening for Alt-J last September. The night had moments of both ethereal wonder and musical celebration as a good mix of twentysomethings filled the floor, aisles and stairways and the room buzzed the way only a Friday night show can. Despite flat sets in the past, Lord Huron finally delivered a performance that matched the beauty of their record.
Last Tuesday saw a bill at The Pepsi Center that made Baby Boomers for miles around weak in the knees with excitement as legendary musicians Paul Simon and Sting joined forces for the first time in their illustrious careers. Grey haired couples who held hands and closed their eyes as they sang along with Simon’s early hits and groups of women in their mid-forties coo’d at Sting’s ripped physique and Reggae inflected melodies.
The Third Annual LoHi Music Festival is set for this Saturday, June 15th, outside Highland Tap & Burger at 32nd and Vallejo St in Denver, with some late-night music moving over to Cervantes’. With two stages, and eight solid hours of foot-stompin’, groovin’ & pickin’ tunes, Denver music-lovers should be prepared for for the best of what Denver’s music scene has to offer.
The term “suspension of disbelief” has been referred to as an audience’s willingness to overlook the implausibility of a premise or narrative in favor of entertainment. Case in point: Folk singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson, also known as The Tallest Man on Earth, is 30, married and Swedish. He’s also not particularly tall, much less the tallest (Google suggests he is 5’7″). Yet, at Matsson’s show at the Ogden Theatre last Saturday, you could have sworn people were there to see the Paul Bunyan-Woody Guthrie equivalent of Justin Timberlake.
Colorful umbrellas and rain ponchos dotted the seats at Red Rocks Amphitheater last Monday when a chilled out, pleasant mix of young hipsters and middle aged business types turned out to see the co-headlining show with Icelandic Folk-Poppers Of Monsters and Men and the hipster answer to Paul Simon, Vampire Weekend.