Author: simianthinker

Thursday | 07.02
What: Modern Leisure, Angel Band and Caspar Milquetoast
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Modern Leisure makes its more high profile return to Denver stages after a bit of a hiatus. The group fronted by Casey Banker who has been a member of some of the better indie rock bands of the past several years including The Don’ts and Be Carefuls and Shady Elders. Banker’s talent for writing a memorable melodic hook with emotionally vibrant songs about heartbreak, heartache and everyday life in urban America with vivid storytelling that renders some of life’s downbeats seem like something you can pull yourself out of often by just really feeling those moments. Opening are two of the more noteworthy bands from Denver. Angel Band writes exquisite pop songs in the vein of vintage early Slumberland and Sarah Records groups with some actual grit and emotional weight. Caspar Milquetoast writes the kind of psychedelic country that sounds like what would happen if some great 90s lo-fi pop band discovered both Townes Van Zandt and the more cosmic end of The Byrds or The Flying Burrito Brothers while free associating experimental musical ideas and cultural references. Who names a song after Cy Twombly? Not many acts.

Friday | 07.03
What: Suicide Cages, Church Fire, Seam Ripper and f-ether
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Suicide Cages is the rare heavy band in its post-hardcore/noise rock mode that is intense and forceful in its performance style with incredibly precise musicianship and nearly unhinged in the outpouring of feelings while sensitive and giving expression to the rage, pain and sadness that comes from navigating the offenses against humanity that come from navigating late capitalism. Church Fire will pretty much debut it’s four-piece configuration and new light show with this performance, it’s first in months, which is a bit of a record for a band that has regularly performed live every year for more than a decade so if you’ve been seeing them it’s going to be noticeably different but likely still the gloriously energetic and emotionally charged catharsis of industrial dance pop. Seam Ripper from Greeley appear to have found the sweet spot between doom, Gothic rock and post-hardcore without feeling the need to fit in strictly in a genre. f-ether has often been one of the best electronic dance producers with a gift for inventive beat-making and tonally rich melodies. Skyler Heck aka f-ether has been delivering hard hitting yet fluid industrial hip-hop.

Saturday | 07.04
What: Ed Sheeran w/Myles Smith amd Aaron Rowe
When: 5:30
Where: Empower Field at Mile High
Why: Ed Sheeran is one of the most commercially successful pop artists of his generation and needs no introduction. But Sheerhan is someone who started writing songs in his very early teens and worked as a guitar tech in his late teens before being accepted at Academdy of Contemporary Music and then dropping out to focus on his budding career in music as a songwriter and musician but also as support for other artists. But by the time he was 19 he was garnering mainstream attention for his own work and he signed to a major label after self-releasing a few EPs. Since 2011 Sheerhan has become one of the most famous songwriters in the world for his particular style of folk pop with obvious influence from hip-hop in the production. He has also used his success to uplift other artists whether as a collaborator or with opening slots on his tours. One artist who was inspired by Sheeran is opener Myles Smith who grew up in a British Jamaican family near London. Smith himself has cultivated a wide fan base for his uplifting, expansive and soulful folk pop. With three EPs released between 2024 and 2025 Smith has grown as a songwriter and his 2026 debut full-length My Mess, My Heart, My Life is an especially vulnerable set of songs that are open about personal and interpersonal struggle, love and what makes life worth living. There’s a song called “Sertraline” which is another name for Zoloft signaling how open Miles is about real issues that one is willing to take necessary steps to help oneself get through some of life’s super downbeats.

Thursday | 07.09
What: Replica City album release, Total Cult, Glueman and Cleats
When: 7:30
Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Room
Why: Replica City is releasing its new full-length album A Better You. The ten songs confirm that the trio has put together a narrative of the state of American society today with heartfelt songs about self-accountability, authoritarian paranoia and corruption and the multitude of ways our economic system and culture aim to keep us all distracted and powerless. Like a Millennial cognate of Zen Arcade but whose version of angular yet melodic post-hardcore is reminiscent of the likes of Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes and Pretty Girls Make Graves. Opening are post-garage punk group Total Cult from Colorado Springs, garage grunge stars Glueman and noisy post-hardcore band Cleats.

Friday | 07.10
What: BleakHeart, Spiritual Poison, Mournful Ruin and El Welk
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Denver-based doomy shoegaze group BleakHeart is celebrating the release of its latest album A Stone Thrown to Silence with this stacked lineup. The four-piece has undergone a bit of reinvention since the 2024 release of Silver Pulse with greater experiments in the use of space and now with just one vocalist in Kiki Ganun, The lead singles and song titles suggest the record leans into themes of impermanence and searching for hope or at least the will to move forward when there seems to be little to nothing to offer solace in a world that seems to be headed to annihilation. The album seems to most completely reflect the name of the band but in its dark drones and most crushing guitar work one hears resilience and a strength of personality that everyone has but often forgets until the time comes to draw on inner resources one didn’t know one had. Spiritual Poison is the “ambient” band of Ethan McCarthy of Primitive Man fame but don’t show up to the set expecting something like Brian Eno or Laraaji. Nothing as soothing as that but an cathartically unsettling flow of textural atmospheres and deep, layered tone. Mournful Ruin is a death/sludge quartet from Denver with more than a touch of Sabbath and black metal in its sound. El Welk is the great, dark garage Americana band fronted by George Cessna with Kim Baxter on drums.

Saturday | 07.11
What: The Church – The Singles: 1980-2025
When: 7
Where: The Summit Music Hall
Why: The Church is the legendary Australian post-punk and psychedelic rock band from Sydney who got off the ground in 1980 and has had a distinguished career of producing some of the most emotionally engaging and poetic rock music of the past few decades. They have classic material most people who have been aware of rock and pop music since the 80s but the group’s entire catalog of studio material is worth a listen and the band has managed to reinvent itself regularly without losing its gift for creative storytelling and heartfelt and insightful lyrics delivered with passion and grace. Truly one of the greats of modern music and they will play some of the finest material from throughout its career for this performance.

Tuesday | 07.14
What: PINKNOISE w/Edith
When: 7
Where: Globe Hall
Why: PINKNOISE aka Kacey Foxx released their sophomore EP FLESH AND BONE on April 17, 2026. The seven song offering is the singer/songwriter’s follow up to the 2025 EP HUMAN=KIND. Foxx makes a kind of music that perhaps fits in with industrial metalcore/screamo but the vulnerability doesn’t feel performative or like misplaced aggrievement. The songs invite the listener in for a shared experience where one can explore painful experiences, insecurities and resistance to a toxic culture of cruelty that seems to permeate channels of social and political power. Regardless of any specific styles that may have influenced Foxx as a developing artist, their ability to fuse emotional power with the ability to express truths of inner turmoil has a catharsis resonant with some of the better music of Nine Inch Nails.

Wednesday and Thursday | 07.15 and 07.16
What: The Head and the Heart with The Colorado Symphony Orchestra w/Evan Honer 7/15 and w/Wilderado 7/16
When: 6:30 both nights
Where: Red Rocks Amphitheater
Why: Seattle’s The Head and the Heart emerged in 2009 around the time of a national upswing of indie folk in various corners of the country. Its members met through open mic nights at Conor Byrne pub in the Ballard neighborhood in northwestern Seattle and when the group put together a recording in 2010 they home made covers with denim to house the CDRs it was an organic hit locally with stores like Easy Street in West Seattle and Sonic Boom in the aforementioned Ballard not being able to keep up with demand. That fall the band signed to Sub Pop who remastered and reissued the self-titled debut on vinyl, CD and digital. The album went on to Platinum-selling status. The Head and the Heart has since gone on to much wider acclaim and fame playing large venues on national and even international tours but its core virtues as a band can be heard in that first record for which it is now touring behind a 15-year anniversary of the self-titled album. The band’s vocal harmonies feel intimate and powerful with the three vocalists complementing each other with an intuitive connection with each other accented with the prominent percussion and orchestral arrangements on guitar, bass and mandolin. On this two-night run of performances the group will be joined by The Colorado Symphony Orchestra itself acclaimed for syncing well with indie rock and other bands whose songs easily adapt to a larger and more expansive sound palette.

Friday | 07.17
What: The Body and Big|Brave w/Spiritual Poison and Fainting Dreams
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: The Body has for years been a reliable source of some of the heaviest, most crushing, dynamic experimental metal around. Freely mixing sludge, doom, noise rock, screamo and power electronics, the duo of Chip King and Lee Buford seem to collaborate with many of the more forward thinking heavy bands of the past three decades as well as offering up several albums of only their own material. Going to a show from The Body is like signing up for a flood of sounds and outpouring of emotion in a joyous yet bare bones display of maximalist guitar, drums, electronics and vocals creating more noise than a duo has any seeming right to doing. The music may seem monolithic to the uninitiated and fans alike but listen to their records and there is a great deal of nuance and concepts that the band has masterfully executed all along with influences ranging from the most extreme metal to mainstream pop and synth pop. Currently The Body is touring with Canadian experimental metal trio Big|Brave who have done a fascinating collaborative avant-folk album with The Body called Leaving None but Small Birds (2021). But the band recently released in grief or in hope, a record that pairs melody with processed noise, textural harmonics and drone for an effect that is both intimate and enigmatic in a deep exploration of living as a human in the current era when everything seems to be falling apart socio-politically and the climate crisis and widespread extinction event hovers on the nearby timeline but clinging on to faint possibilities.

Saturday | 07.18
What: Valley Fever, Rowboat and A Strange Happening
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Valley Fever from Tucson, Arizona is making a stop in Denver with its fiery blues rock. Think like a progression out of the boogie rock/classic rock throwback of a decade ago. If you go you can catch Johnny Lundock formerly of Futurebirds and Denver notables Houses, Rowboat and Blue Million Miles lend his considerable gifts behind the drum kit. Opening are Lundock’s old band Rowboat and its shoegaze adjacent, noisy indie rock with songwriting rooted in folk and literary lyrics that display Sam McNitt’s gift for sharp social commentary and emotional vulnerability. Also on the bill is A Strange Happening who somehow inject Americana indie rock with a cinematic conceptualization behind the songwriting that sets the trio apart from many of its peers.

Saturday | 07.18
What: Pink Hawks, Last Reel Hero and The Opalites
When: 8
Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Room
Why: A full show of Afrobeat with Pink Hawks and the more rocking end of ska with Last Reel Hero’s punk spirit driving the songwriting as well as the rocksteady stylings of The Opalites. Don’t go expecting it to be a super mellow affair as Pink Hawks tend to being an intensity to the performance and a righteously politicized sensibility and Last Reel Hero includes former Fanatics frontman Geoff Anderson.

Saturday | 07.18
What: Dildox w/Hex Cassette, Watch Yourself Die and Insipidus
When: 8/8:30
Where: The Crypt
Why: Dildox is an electro-industrial post-punk duo from Los Angeles whose lyrics explore themes of trauma from living and surviving in the era of late capitalism and the inherent alienation therefrom society and ourselves. The band also delves into concepts of modern primitivism and the contrasts and contradictions of disconnecting ourselves from how humans have developed as animals through the process of civilization and reconnecting with our deep humanity. Definitely for fans of ADULT. and Youth Code. Opening are the “Satanic” shenanigans and brilliant darkwave beatmaking and performance art of Hex Cassette’s confrontational show. Watch Yourself Die takes that confrontational performance style to a different place with angular yet psychedelic noise rock and Ray Diess’ inspired breaking the fourth wall throughout the set. Insipidus is a great, progressive death metal band whose membership can be seen performing an entirely different (maybe not entirely) style of music in Pink Lady Monster.

Sunday | 07.19
What: Johnny Dynamite w/Tassles and Porcelain Horses
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Johnny Dynamite has been fusing decades and musical styles for several years and his most recent, self-titled, album from 2026 sounds like he’s absorbed chillwave nostalgia and mastery of atmospherics, 80s sophistipop and synthpop and channeled it into his own kind of melancholic post-punk with some clever turns of phrase and sly cultural references. Opening the show are Denver’s Tassles who started out as sort of a bedroom shoegaze project for singer Nick Tassinari but with the addition of bassist Molly McGrath and drummer Zach Johnson the music took on greater dimensions even though the songwriting preserved the core appeal of Tassinari’s introspective lyrics and unique guitar style. The current band has an unexpected power and gravity paired with transcendent melodies. Porcelain Horses is a darkwave/post-punk band that includes former Princess Dewclaw vocalist Amanda Gostomski.

Tuesday | 07.21
What: Trace Amount w/Lunacy and Modern Devotion
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Trace Amount is an industrial noise and abstract metal project from Brooklyn, NY. Its 2025 album FLAGRANT is a thrillingly caustic and savage set of sounds that fans of Author & Punisher will appreciate. Lunacy is a like-minded artist but his industrial sounds are more in the realm of ambient and blown out shoegaze whose own new album The Crisis of Existence has a title apt for the current time and whose songs are like a bleak projection of the prospects for our immediate future. Modern Devotion is Adam Rojo of post-punk band Voight exercising his gift for crafting masterful ambient industrial techno.

Tuesday | 07.21
What: Corrosion of Conformity w/Whores and Crobot
When: 6:30
Where: The Federal Theatre
Why: Probably the band’s most ardent fans knew that Corrosion of Conformity still had one of its best albums waiting to be released and so the group delivered Good God/Baad Man on April 3, 2026. It is a blunt yet heavy and rife with some of the group’s heaviest psychedelic grooves. COC of course started off as a hardcore band but by the end of the 80s it had shifted into more sludgy metal but always out of step with trendy sounds and with lyrics that more than hint at social commentary hearkening back to its punk roots. Whores is a sludgy noise rock band from Atlanta whose own experiments in volume and psychedelic heaviness has left a mark in recent years with its seething fusion of industrial metal era Ministry and Unsane.

Thursday | 07.23
What: Kim Gordon w/Sasami
When: 7
Where: Ogden Theatre
Why: Kim Gordon is of course a legend whose work in fine art, fashion, film and of course music is well-known. But in case someone reading this doesn’t know who she is, Gordon first came to the attention of a wide number of people was as the bassist/guitarist, singer and songwriter for influential alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Her calm presence, cool and raw emotional power and nuance and thought-provoking lyrics have influenced generations of musicians. And for that alone, Gordon would be an important figure. But her cultivation of younger and not-as-established artists along the way and has exerted a positive energy into the music and art worlds that might not have been there without her presence and advocacy. After Sonic Youth split Gordon continued to make genre bending and establishing work with Body/Head and under her own name pushing boundaries as she often did with Sonic Youth and other projects and her latest record Play Me proves that Gordon has been immersing herself in new musical ideas and incorporating some of those newer production methods and aesthetics into her own songwriting and soundcrafting imagination to produce one of the most fascinating records of 2026 with a set of songs deep in mood and inventive in beatmaking and might be considered industrial by some, trip hop by others but all Gordon’s own inimitable style. This is a rare chance to witness that music live in Denver.

Th-Su | 07.23-07.26
What: Blucifer Fest: Blucifer’s First Rodeo
When: Varies
Where: Denver DIY Spaces, Baker District, Baker House Shows
Why: This is the newest music festival in Denver and one that was initiated and run by musicians in DIY fashion with an eye for an inclusive booking and an awareness of the types of small venues, DIY spaces and house shows that have made the music scene in the Mile High City vibrant the past few years and going back decades. The first night of the festival will take place in various DIY spaces in Denver, the second and third nights will be at small venues and spots in and near the Baker neighborhood in the center of the city and the final day will be at houses in the Baker district as well. The festival will feature a wide spectrum of the music in Denver’s underground/indie scene. You could literally wander to any venue during the run of the event and catch something worthwhile that you’ve never heard of before or catch up with some of your local favorites. Below is a short list of my picks by day. For more information and full schedule please visit bluciferfest.com

Thursday July 23 2026
7PM
The Picture Tour at Ante Up!
Monkey Man at D3 Arts
Sun Swept at Squirm
Dead Boyfriend at 7th Circle Music Collective

7:15PM
head slug at D3 Arts 2

8PM
Gartener at Ante Up!

8:15PM
Soneffs at D3 Arts 2

9PM
“Horse Girl” at Squirm

10PM
Watch Yourself Die at D3 Arts
Sonic Chick at Squirm

11PM
Voight at Squirm

11:15PM
GUNK! At D3 Arts 2

Friday July 24 2026
6PM
White Rose Motor Oil at Wax Trax Broadway Bazaar
Chella & The Charm at Hi-Dive
Nina de Freitas at Bar404
Joshua Trinidad at HQ
The Milk Blossoms at Skylark

7PM
Modern Leisure at Adrift Tiki Bar
Silver West at Chaos Bloom
Jaguar Stevens at Li’l Devils
Pleasure Prince at Wax Trax Broadway Bazaar
Pink Hawks at HQ

8PM
Chroma Lips at Li’l Devils
Look at Fiona at Skylark
Bluebook at Hi-Dive
The Tammy Shine at The Saint Mary
The Savage Blush at HQ

9PM
Wheelchair Sports Camp at Hi-Dive
Munly J Munly at The Saint Mary
Circling Over at Import Mechanics
Summer Bedhead at Adrift Tiki Bar
Autumnal at Bar 404

10PM
Circling Girl at Bar 404
Patrick Dethlefs at Chaos Bloom
Dressy Bessy at Hi-Dive
Suicide Cages at Import Mechanics
Hex Cassette at The Saint Mary

11PM
Pink Lady Monster at Skylark
Los Mocochetes at HQ
babybaby4ever at The Saint Mary
SPELLS at Hi-Dive
blankslate at Bar 404

12AM
Cheap Perfume at Skylark
Sell Farm at The Saint Mary
Ritmo Cascabel at HQ
Bud Bronson & The Good Timers at Hi-Dive

1AM
DJ Kay Bay at The L

Saturday July 25 2026
6PM
Wave Decay at Adrift Tiki Bar
Fresh Fruit! At Hi-Dive
Moonlight Bloom at HQ
Bun Bun at Wax Trax Broadway Bazaar
[SALT] at Bar 404

7PM
Deth Rali at Wax Trax Broadway Bazaar
Mr. Shrimp at Li’l Devils
Shady Oaks at HQ
In Plain Air at Hi-Dive

8PM
Blood Oath at Hi-Dive
Datamen at Li’l Devils
Insipidus at Ritual Tattoo Gallery
Dollpile at The L
Cobranoid at Import Mechanics

9PM
Cherry Spit at Hi-Dive
Your Friend Nirantha at Chaos Bloom
Tassles at The L
Sour Magic at Adrift Tiki Bar
sunstoney at Skylark

10PM
Blackberry Crush at The L
Divingbell at The Saint Mary
Plastic Mystic at Bar 404
Bitchflower at HQ
Abrams at Import Mechanics
Mainland Break at Irish Rover

11PM
Julian Street Nightmare at Hi-Dive
Travel Kit at Adrift Tiki Bar
Tiny Tomboy at HQ
Night Fishing at Import Mechanics
Claruin at The Saint Mary
moonpool at The L

12AM
MF Ruckus at Bar 404
Team Nonexistent at Hi-Dive
Vegan Gore at The Saint Mary
Horse Bitch at HQ
Shadow Work at The Skylark

1AM
Neoma at HQ

Sunday July 26 2026

Baker House Shows
Big Dopes, Church Fire, Don Chicharron, Geno Beach, Mouth Cathedral, SeFa-LoCo, Totem Pocket – Venues to be announced to wristband holders

After Fest Shows at TrashHawk Tavern
Gion Davis & The Designated Strangers 9:30
Caspar Milquetoast 10:30
Clementine Was Right 11:30

F-Su | 07.24-07.26
What: Underground Music Showcase
When: Varies
Where: RINO District
Why: Underground Music Showcase reconstituted this year but now taking place in the RINO neighborhood. It will still feature some of the premiere Denver underground bands as well as out of town headliners across small venues and two outdoor stages this year along Larimer Street. A short list of the highlights of this year’s fest according to me below. Venues italicised.

Friday July 24 2026
Bierstadt Lagerhause
RAREBYRD$ 8PM

CAMPGROUND
Yugs 10PM

Finn’s Manor
Travel Kit 9PM

Improper City
Izcalli 9PM

Matchbox
Battle Pussy 8PM

Ratio Beerworks
Macheté Mouth 9PM
Animals in Exile 10PM
Cleaner 12AM

Two Moons
DNA Picaso 10PM

Saturday July 25 2026
Showcase Stage
Twin Shadow 7:25PM

Underground Stage
Rubedo 3:50PM
Snooper 6:10PM

CAMPGROUND
Legs. The Band

Finn’s Manor
Bad Boy Bug 4PM
Nina de Freitas 8PM

Larimer Lounge
NIIS 7PM

Matchbox
May Be Fern 9PM
Erin Stereo 10PM

Ratio Beerworks
Pleasure Prince 6PM
Colfax Speed Queen 8PM
The Photo Atlas 11PM

Two Moons
Venus Cruz & Super Distant Boyfriend 5PM
Covenhoven 7PM
Bluebook 9PM
Ritmo Cascabel 12AM

Sunday 7 26 26
Larimer Lounge
Madeline Hawthorne 7PM
The Milk Blossoms 9PM

Ratio Beerworks
Lost Relics 4PM
Rugburn 6PM
The Death Chat 8PM
Plastic Mystic 9PM

Friday | 07.24
What: Black Moth Super Rainbow w/Giant Day
When: 7
Where: Gothic Theatre
Why: Black Moth Super Rainbow has done an wide national tour in several years but with the release of its 2025 album Soft New Magic Dream, its first in seven years, the group delivers a more clear-toned set of songs with themes of being lost in coping with the multiple layers of late capitalism’s caustic effect on civilization and individual human life. The distractions, the dissociating behaviors and desperation for something more imaginative, fulfilling and vital in times when the most celebrated social and cultural rewards are a dullened, diminished, infuriating version of what one would hope it could be and how it’s all a big farce and rip-off compared to what’s possible if we had the collective will to create and sustain even an okay world. The album is an escape from that and a critique of the same and a declaration of a need to aim for something much more inspirational than what is widespread in the American and even international zeitgeist. But that aside it’ll be a strange show with beautiful and rich psychedelic sounds like something from another era and a better imagining of existence.

Tuesday | 07.28
What: Sarah McLachlan w/Allison Russell
When: 6
Where: Red Rocks Amphitheater
Why: Sarah McLachlan is an award winning, celebrated songwriter with a long career and the founder of touring festival Lilith Fair that from 1997-1999 brought some of the most prominent female artists in music of that time around the country in a well curated and successful series of events at large venues. But McLachlan’s own songwriting has been imbued with a striking honesty and deeply atmospheric production that takes nothing from the intimate quality of McLachlan’s performances. For this tour she brings with her another prominent Canadian artist, Allison Russell. The latter had distinguished herself as a member of acts like Birds of Chicago and Our Native Daughters. But her solo albums beginning with 2021’s Outside Child revealed Russell’s versatility as a songwriter and singer with her signature soulful melodious vocals that fit whatever specific style she chooses to delve into. Her latest record is In the Hour of Chaos out July 10, 2026. The album showcases Russell’s mastery of pop folk songcraft but also incorporates more experimental production and unconventional song structure without sacrificing the immediacy of the music. It’s a diverse record that finds a way to describe the current era and its perils and the importance of love and recognizing hope and goodness when they are presented to you.

Friday | 07.31
What: MaryAnne Muglia w/Lonely Choir and Kat Goblin
When: 8
Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Room
Why: MaryAnne Muglia is an Arizona-based composer, arranger, pianist, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. For this tour she’s traveling with her husband and their children in an RV as an way for family and music to coexist rather than needing to choose between the two for something like a tour. Muglia released her latest EP Try Hard – Pt. 1 on March 18, 2026. Her bright and focused vocals are placed within fairly dreamlike retro pop music like something one imagines from a 2000s underground indie pop world before everyone discovered Laurel Canyon and retro synths and made imaginative music drawing on memories of summer nights and having the time and psychological space to stretch into pondering existential questions and the nature of one’s feelings for a beloved other and really both feel it all and thing it through with poetry and finding the right tones and paces to express it in song. That may not be the intention and certainly not the creative process of Muglia’s EP but its orchestral songwriting conveys so much and evokes another time much less compressed and desperate as things feel today and listening to music with that resonance is a gift. This show gives you the opportunity to experience it live.