Kim Gordon and her band came on stage with little fanfare but with the expected effortless cool and poise. Everyone in the band contributed to the rich electronic soundscapes that ran throughout the show and everyone played a more standard rock instrument as well with a drummer (Madi Voigt), a bassist (Emily Retsas) and guitar duties with Gordon and Sarah Register. Immediately it felt like we were hearing something born out of the various interests and creative leanings across Gordon’s career as an artist and pushing past immediate expectations of some kind of No Wave noise rock. It was more like a thorough fusion of various styles of hip-hop, industrial aesthetics and stretching notions of what role guitar plays in songwriting. Like real time sampling in moments with rock instruments dropped into a track. The percussion was a combination of programming/sequencing and live drums played with an ear for the various beat styles that have emerged in the past two or three decades: trap, Dilla-isms, drill. The effect was cinematic and emotionally-charged with Gordon’s nearly spoken word vocals accenting the rhythm with her own lines of spare poetry as though she was replicating a production method with own performance.
Kim Gordon, photo by Sam Zalkin
The band played all of the new record, Play Me (2026) seemingly in order as well as a few songs from The Collective (2024) and No Home Record (2019). But it all felt like a vivid yet hazy dream with Gordon singing songs that felt like they were a commentary on the current era and zeitgeist in a way that was creative like stream-of-consciousness poetry or free verse and free association on a theme. The social commentary was pointed and cathartic with the production lending the music a textural and cinematic quality so the experiencing of witnessing it live had a tactile aspect that was riveting and seemingly personal because Gordon’s words framed the ideas of tech oligarch and the dream of a world after the fall of the imperial program that has been burning through the world with an accelerated spirit of consuming destruction an attainable goal. The caustic menace of “Sub Con” and “Square Jaw” got into your head like hope through validating one’s anger and desire for liberation from the various tools of late capitalist repression. Both songs and “Post Empire” were a string of songs that seemed to draw heavily on hip-hop production and sounds of the past decade and a half but with a little different sound palette and informed by Gordon’s insight into the ills of the horrific aspects of current human civilization.
Sarah Register, photo by Sam Zalkin
Hard to imagine Gordon isn’t affected deeply by this music and the words performing them on a tour and yet it has to feel good to get these thoughts and feelings out there and sharing them with people who may not be as focused in their expression when everything can feel overwhelming and you just have to show up to your job or jobs just to survive. But the show did feel like an expression of human solidarity for the collective, ambient anxiety and horror of what feels like the worst timeline of recent years. With the update of “Bye Bye” as “ByeBye25” as a kind of exclamation point on the album it was obvious that Gordon’s new album showcased her masterful wordplay perhaps influenced by the hip-hop artists that have inspired her for decades. Beginning to end the songs sounded like the chaos, fragmentation and collapse of the American experiment but also like a hope for something better to replace the old world order. It made this era feel survivable.
Kim Gordon, photo by Sam ZalkinKim Gordon, photo by Sam Zalkin
Setlist from JamBase.com
PLAY ME GIRL WITH A LOOK NO HANDS BLACK OUT DIRTY TECH NOT TODAY BUSY BEE SQUARE JAW SUBCON POST EMPIRE NAIL BITER BYE BYE Trophies It’s Dark Inside Psychedelic Orgasm Paprika Pony Cookie Butter Encore Cigarette
Experimental music festival Ghost Canyon Fest returns August 27-30Pearl & The Oysters, image from Bandcamp
Saturday | 08.01 What:Pearl & The Oysters w/Green Typewriters and Pleasure Prince When: 8 Where: Hi-Dive Why: Pearl & The Oysters is based out of Los Angeles these days via the Gainesville, Florida scene but has its origins when the duo of Juliette Pearl Davis and Joachim Polack met in high school in Paris. Polack earned a master’s degree in muscology with a focus on Brazilian popular music. And you hear that flavor in this band’s output which sounds like a retrofuturist pop band with some jazz informing its compositions and Tropicália flavor but really its own thing with some obvious heavy influence by classic 60s and 70s pop and psychedelia. But its production is lush and from record to record it would be impossible to pigeonhole an exact style including its most recent record Monkey Mind (2026). So it’s only appropriate the art pop psychedelic prog weirdos Green Typewriters and virtuosos of soulful synth pop Pleasure Prince are sharing the bill and thus no downside.
babybaby4ever, photo by Tom Murphy
Saturday | 08.01 What: babybaby4ever, Sonic Chick, Mon Cher and PEPPERSACK When: 7:30 Where: Squirm Gallery Why: babybaby4ever will bring her tonally immersive indie synth pop to places well beyond Denver following this tour kick-off show and win over audiences far and wide. For the occasion you’ll get to see lo-fi synth-infused dream pop project Mon Cher, darkwave dance duo PEPPERSACK and the lo-fi, Half-Japanese-esque emo band Sonic Chick—fans of K Records bands of the 90s will definitely find much to like about the latter and its new record All Star Hits.
Let the Dead Eat the Dead, photo by Tom Murphy
Saturday | 08.01 What:Let the Dead Eat the Dead, Part Weapon and The Picture Tour When: 8 Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Club Why: Let the Dead Eat the Dead is the new project that rose up from the remnants of Bad Luck City. Similar dark Americana and poetry with wit, intensity and an unpretentious earnestness that one would come to expect from the musicians involved including ex-members of Random Victim, Red Cloud, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club and Snake Rattle Rattle Snake. Part Weapon will being its fusion of noisy post-punk and industrial sounds and The Picture Tour will fill the room with deeply atmospheric, melancholic moods and late night drive intensity circa early Nicolas Winding Refn cinema.
TV Star, photo from Bandcamp
Monday | 08.03 What: TV Star w/Angel Band, Pink Lady Monster and Pulse When: 7 Where: Seventh Circle Music Collective Why: TV Star from Seattle recently released its new album Music For Heads which can have multiple meanings but for fans of the kind of crossover of shoegaze, C86 pop and pastoral Americana its exactly in your wheelhouse. Delicate and intricate guitar melodies and layered textural sounds with winsome vocals make the band’s new record and its Unrest-esque sound a repeat listen. Opening of course are purveyors of perfect indie pop Angel Band and Pink Lady Monster, the neo-No Wave art pop geniuses from Denver.
Cat Power, photo courtesy the artist
Monday | 08.03 What:Cat Power: Anniversary of The Greatest Tour When: 6:30 Where: Chautauqua Auditorium Why: Cat Power released her album The Greatest in 2006 to great acclaim. Recorded in Memphis, TN, the album included contributions from the late, great Mabon “Teenie” Hodges renowned for his contributions as guitarist and songwriter on several of Al Green’s hits as well as other notable artists in the realm of soul and R&B. And other greats of soul music including bassist Leroy Hodges. The record contains some of Chan Marshall’s most intimate songs in a career of intimate songwriting and there is a warmth and affection in much of the searching and heartbreak and at times resolution found across the album’s twelve tracks. This is a rare opportunity to catch these songs live in a venue as uniquely beautiful and rustic as the Chautauqua Auditorium.
Melvins, photo by Chris Casella
Friday | 08.07 What:Tomahawk w/Melvins When: 6:30 Where: Ogden Theatre Why: Tomahawk is the experimental metal band comprised of Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle, Faith No More etc), Duane Denison (The Jesus Lizard et. al.), John Stanier (Helmet) and Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, Secret Chiefs among others). Considering the people in the band how metal is it and really more experimental, art rock noise rock with Patton’s versatile and powerful vocals. Opening is Melvins who reliably put on a powerful performance of heavy music of great nuance and imagination and with every tour they try to do something different and other than touring with Tomahawk in this format it would be worth showing up to find out what Melvins have in store.
The Jayhawks, photo by Steve Cohen
Saturday | 08.08 What: The Jayhawks When: 7 Where: Chautauqua Auditorium Why: The Jayhawks are unarguably one of the most influential Americana bands of the past four decades plus since forming in Minneapolis in 1984. They were early pioneers of what came to be called alternative country. Its 1992 album Hollywood Town Hall is a landmark record for the style and refreshingly out of step with the trendy sounds to emerge from early alternative rock. The group went on hiatus in 2005 while its members pursued other creative endeavors. Briefly reuniting again from 2009-2012 The Jayhawks have once again been an active band since 2014 with a new album Sanctuary Park due out August 28, 2026 with the eclectic yet coherent sound that has marked the best of The Jayhawks’ later work integrating some deeper atmospheric melodies and uplifting rhythms into the songwriting. Of all the venues along the front range Chautauqua was basically built for experiencing this kind of music.
Sugar, photo by Ryan Bakerink
Tuesday | 08.11 What:Sugar w/J. Robbins When: 7 Where: Mission Ballroom Why: After the collapse of punk legends Hüsker Dü, guitarist and singer Bob Mould released two acclaimed solo albums and came to recruit David Barbe (formerly of the great Athens, GA post-punk band Bar-B-Que Killers) and Malcolm Travis (who had been in early Boston New Wave band Human Sexual Response) to work with in the near future. The band they would dub Sugar became in its own right one of the more popular and influential of the early 90s alternativ rock bands. With a song pace that wasn’t as headlong as Mould’s previous band was known and more developed melodies the group’s debut album Copper Blue (1992) was instantly at hit with college and the nascent alternative rock radio. Mould had learned a lot from Nirvana who he influenced in terms of pop songcraft with spirited performances and he was finally able to somewhat capitalize on the sound his songwriting and guitar style had directly impacted. Sugar only released two albums and an EP before splitting in 1995 but all of those releases contain some of the finest music Mould has worked on to date. When the grop announced it was back together and playing live shows again it was arguably simultaneously one of the least expected and most anticipated reunions of recent years. And if you’ve seen Mould’s band recently you know it’s not going to be subpar.
Sam Zalkin is a photographer and musician from Denver. If you’re not from Denver, you might not know who he is but if you’ve been paying attention to the underground scene in the Mile High City you may have run across his photographic work documenting bands playing places like Squirm Gallery, Seventh Circle Music Collective, D3, Hi-Dive, The Marquis Theater and elsewhere. He was born in Houston, Texas but moved to Denver around age five when his father moved to town for a job at Children’s Hospital. In seventh grade Zalkin was encouraged by his school counselor to apply to go to Denver School of the Arts where he would attend through high school graduation in 2026. He was a film student who got into photography when he got access to a camera in his early-to-mid-teens and early in his tenure at DSA he met a friend who introduced him to K Records and Kill Rock Stars bands which lead him to a different world of music than what his parents were into. Zalkin wrote a piece about David Lynch for school and his teacher Amy McGrath told him her daughter was friends with someone opening for Midwife at the Bluebird Theater in 2024 and that lead Zalkin to an internship and then employment at Wax Trax records and being around the likes of the members of Pink Lady Monster, Cherry Spit and going to Squirm gallery for the first time and encountering Ryan Wong and his musical projects. Rapidly Sam became a fixture in the local scene shooting shows and bringing a uniquely creative vision to the visual presentation of the bands in post-processing and honing his photography skills. His work has graced the artwork for east coast-based experimental rock band Neptune’s album Play Some Music (2026) and he has done short documentaries on Denver musician and long-time Wax Trax employee Doug Mioducki (title Common American Crow, Mioducki has been in bands Felt Pilotes, Koala, North Americans, Sparkles, CP-208, Quits etc) as well as Squirm Gallery (titled Something Real). Now Zalkin is off to attend school at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore where he will likely further pursue his work in film and photography but he will always be a key contributor to documenting the Denver scene the past couple of years plus.
Listen to our interview with Sam Zalkin on Bandcamp and see his band Apple Blossom at D3 Arts at 3:45 on Saturday, July 25, 2026 as part of the Blucifer Fest Satellite event.
Modern Leisure is the songwriting project of singer/guitarist Casey Banker. The latter grew up in the Denver metro area and played guitar from a relatively young age before attempting college at UNC in Greeley where he ended up meeting like-minded musicians and forming his first band that played live that anyone who was part of the late 2000s Denver underground music world has heard of called The Don’ts And Be Carefuls. The group made a mark in Denver with well-developed songwriting and exuberant energy as a live band with poetic lyrics that truly channeled the experience of being young and experience all the strong feelings that come from being in your early 20s. Banker’s lyrics were clearly telling stories that felt vivid and thoughtful and the music like a post-punk band with a knack for dance rhythms and evocative melodies. The band faded out by the early 2010s and Banker joined dream pop group Shady Elders for a time until forming a project that could be a vehicle for his creative vision and Modern Leisure was formed in the mid-2010s and garnered attention for Banker’s strong songwriting and charismatic live performances. Before the end of he decade Sumner Erhard joined the band and brought his own accomplished musicianship to the band. But like many musical endeavors Modern Leisure went on hiatus with the pandemic. Banker went on to develop his DJ business as DJ Kay Bay and affiliated with the Weird Touch night when it had a residency at what is now The Roxy on Broadway. That experience gave Banker his current career as a DJ for events including weddings. But of course he had songs in the can and a new set of material he wanted to write and develop and Modern Leisure returned to life with Banker recording new songs with contributions from studio musicians and a producer Jake Supple formerly of the psychedelic rock band Plum and contributions from Will Walden of ambient/psychedelic rock band StaG. The new live edition of Modern Leisure debuted on July 2, 2026 at the Hi-Dive with a lineup that included Erhard and his Dollpile bandmate Isadora Eden proving the continued vitality of the older songs and the vibrancy of the new songs. The lead single “tied in a knot” was released on July 21, 2026 and expresses a catharsis from the oppression of the working class by the oligarchy. Expect further singles to be released throughout 2026 and a new album in 2027.
Listen to our interview with Casey Banker on Bandcamp and follow Modern Leisure at the links below. Modern Leisure will perform at Blucifer’s First Rodeo on Friday 24, 2026 at 7PM at Adrift Tiki Bar.
Blucifer Fest pre-show, photo courtesy Gillian Pasley and Mike Young
Blucifer’s First Rodeo is the debut edition of Blucifer Fest, a music festival focused on local artists, independent venues and businesses as well as DIY spaces and the active Denver house show scene. The festival runs from Thursday July 23, 2026 through Sunday July 26, 2026 beginning with the DIY venue shows, the small venues and businesses on Friday and Saturday and closing with the house shows on Sunday and ending with a few performances including bands from the fest’s primary organizers. Two of the main heads behind the festival are Gillian Pasley of the cosmic Americana band Caspar Milquetoast and Mike Young of the psychedelic country group Clementine Was Right. Both had extensive experience in the world of underground and DIY music before moving to Denver during and shortly after the lifting of the pandemic restrictions. Pasley came from the East Coast and went to college in Ohio having organized a festival while in high school and putting together shows as a student at Oberlin and playing in various bands prior to moving to Colorado in 2022. Young is from California but has spent time in Portland, Oregon, New Mexico and other parts of the country playing in bands and organizing shows himself before landing in Colorado in 2020. Both have become significant participants in the local music community in addition to writing music and performing in two of the local scenes most noteworthy bands. For the festival the two pooled resources and traded ideas and honestly planned and executed one of the most ambitious local music festivals in the modern history of Denver by incorporating the DIY music scene more completely as well as the house show scene not to mention the significant Baker district area that has been a home to a good deal of local music venues featuring underground artists for decades. The festival involves hosts of the venues and Pasley and Young aimed to help participants know how to do this sort of thing themselves and in effect become stakeholders in the event in a way that empowers them some too. Going to any or all nights of the festival and you could randomly pick one of the venues and see a band that represents well some corner of the music scene as well as catch some of the more celebrated relatively underground artists. The festival sold out more than a month before it happened indicating that the festival was a success before it even happened at least on that score but also the planning of not just the shows but the amenities and promotion of the event and how the organizers of Blucifer Fest have thought about so many aspects of the event and put together shows leading up to the show with aims of highlighting the local scene throughout the year. Other festivals take note and not just those in Denver.
Listen to our interview with Gillian Pasley and Mike Young on Bandcamp and for more information about the festival please visit bluciferfest.com. The festival runs from July 23-26, 2026 and is currently sold out but you might be able to find a ticket.
White Rose Motor Oil is an Americana/cowpunk duo from Denver that launched in 2018. Singe/guitarist Eryn DeSomer and drummer Keith Hoerig-DeSomer were both members of notable alt-country bands The Hollyfelds and The Jeckylls in 2000s and 2010s. Hoerig-DeSomer was also one of the founding and longtime members of ska-punk/rock band Five Iron Frenzy. By 2016 The Jeckylls were winding down and Eryn DeSomer played some solo shows but that evolved into White Rose Motor Oil by 2018 when Hoerig-DeSomer decided he would learn to play drums. From the beginning WRMO was playing regular gigs and as part of its circuit it would play out of town shows regionally and well beyond. Its lively and emotionally-charged music equal parts garage rock, punk and alt-country and straight ahead country with some deep mood in the mix garnered the band a following and the duo has released a string of EPs and albums all along including the excellent 2023 album The Gift of Poison. One thing that has set the band apart is how its music fits in fine with a broad spectrum of bookings because the presentation has a lot of spirit and edge and the superb songwriting and DeSomer’s powerful and charismatic vocals transcend specific genre. Also its simple format of drums, guitar and vocals comes across as much more forceful than seems likely. The band also regularly donates money to causes for social and civil rights justice because it’s obvious the world could use some encouragement at improvement and even a casual listen to band’s music reveals it’s about more than just entertainment. Look for the band’s new album out on vinyl, download and streaming on Halloween 2026.
White Rose Motor Oil performs at Blucifer’s First Rodeo (aka Blucifer Fest) on Friday, July 24, 2026 at 6PM at Wax Trax Broadway Bazaar. You can also catch WRMO at The Skylark Lounge on Tuesday, August 11 at The Skylark Lounge with Minot and Zealot, at Rugby Rocks Festival on Saturday, August 29 at 1PM in Aguilar, Colorado and at Bar 404 for the album release show on Saturday, October 31 at 7PM.
Michael McGrath is one of the premier live music photographers based out of Colorado. Born in the Bronx, McGrath found himself seeing the Rolling Stones play Folsom Field in Boulder in 1981 and found a resonance with the state and has lived in New Mexico and Colorado since. Having studied at University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and University of New Mexico in Albuquerque he took advantage of his access to camera equipment and film processing facilities to focus on his early endeavors in live music photography. Since around the mid 90s McGrath has shot for New York Times, The Denver Post, Vice, Relix and various other publications. His photos of Yoko Ono were included in the impressive one volume career retrospective of her work titled Infinite Universe At Dawn. These days McGrath is the primary photographer for the music website Audiovore. All of these details, though, leave out McGrath’s presence in Denver as one of the most active photographers of live music for over a decade and a half always capturing the essence of the show and knowing how to get the right lighting and angle to convey the life inherent in the subjects of his photos with high quality equipment. You can see him patiently and quietly getting the perfect images knowing so many of the rooms well and the lighting situations he is likely to encounter and how to adapt to dynamic situations. But beyond being a photographer McGrath has become a part of the local music community because of his expansive personality, inherent friendliness and unpretentious grace. The world of music through McGrath’s lens is a better place than we’re used to and one you want to be involved with because it lends the art a timeless and compelling quality that isn’t present in all concert photography and an intuitive sense of composition born of inherent skill and honed practice. The interview presented is very casual with plenty of surprises and left turns.
Listen to our interview with Michael McGrath on Bandcamp and follow his work at the links below. He, his wife Amy and one of their children Molly, a musician and writer, will be guests at the next Analog Salon at Posner Center for International Development on Wednesday, July 15, 2026 with doors and DJ at 6pm, talk at 7pm during which the family will in the tradition of the event discuss some of the records that most impacted them. Molly’s band Tassles will also play a set.
The Builders and the Butchers, photo by Tari Gunstone
The Builders and the Butchers is a folk rock/punk band from Portland, Oregon that formed in 2005 among friends and musicians who found themselves coming to the Rose City separately from Anchorage, Alaska. The group in its early days performed street shows completely unplugged. But eventually the group plugged in but not before establishing itself as a lively group of performers whose songs began as lyrics written by guitarist and singer Ryan Sollee. The group built a regional and then national and international following in underground music for its commanding live show and lyrics that always delved into subjects of the current human condition combining personal issues with social commentary. Now with its new full-length, its seventh, No Tomorrow (out April 2, 2026 on vinyl, digital download and streaming via Bandman Recording Co.) The Builders and the Butchers offer both a critique of the prevailing socio-economic order and a message of hope in basic human connections and our capacity to experience joy and to create in spite of failing systems and political leaders, in spite of the machinations of the powerful and the wealthy whose influence really only exists with our collective consent. The band’s storytelling with music has always been vivid and meaningful but with the new record it is reaching a new peak in its songwriting.
Listen to our interview with Ryan Sollee on Bandcamp and follow The Builders and the Butchers at the links below.
Anne Richmond Boston was an early and current member of Atlanta-based New Wave/jangle pop band The Swimming Pool Q’s. As a vocalist and keyboard player, Boston was in the group in time for playing opening slots for Devo and Police in the late 70s. The Q’s were a staple in the college rock world of the 80s with Boston highlighted as a powerhouse singer with the band. She left the group in 1987, 5 years before its 1992 split (reuniting in 1998), and in 1990 released his first solo album The Big House of Time. The follow up I Should Be Happy was recorded with contributions from musical luminaries like Terry Adams (NRBQ), Marti Jones, Syd Straw, David Barbe (Sugar, Mercyland), Billy Conway (Morphone), Bob Elsey (The Swimming Pool Q’s), Michael Lorant (Indigo Girls) among others. But the record was shelved for reasons not even clear to Boston either. Thanks to friend Clay Harper over thirty years later Boston remixed eight of the 12 original songs recorded and added seven for a 2025 release on vinyl, CD and digital. The album sounds perfectly in line with the current era with the kind of songwriting that recalls classic pop, Laurel Canyon folk rock and the kind of art folk pop one might associate with Joni Mitchell. Boston sounds confident and soulful singing songs that seem to be about existential crises before that became a term used to describe a state of mind in which one grapples with life pressures and a sociopolitical climate that doesn’t support anyone’s best life. When writing the songs Boston likely had no idea it would be a perfect record for the 2020s while simultaneously capturing the mood of the early 90s as well.
Listen to our interview with Anne Richmond Boston on Bandcamp and follow the singer/songwriter/graphic designer/visual artist at the links below.
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.
Suicide Cages, photo by Tom Murphy
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.
Myles Smith, photo by Jennifer McCord
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.
Replica City, photo by Tom Murphy
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.
BleakHeart, photo by Cameron Baczkowski
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.
The Church, photo by Hugh Stewart
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.
PINKNOISE, photo by Jacqueline Day
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.
The Head and the Heart, photo by Alex Currie
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.
The Body in 2023, photo by Tom Murphy
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.
Big|Brave, photo by Stacy LeeValley Fever, photo courtesy Johnny Lundock
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.
Dildox, photo from Bandcamp
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.
Johnny Dynamite, photo from Bandcamp
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.
Trace Amount, photo from Bandcamp
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.
Corrosion of Conformity, photo by Danin Drahos
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.
Kim Gordon, photo by Danielle Neu
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.
Blucifer Fest, photo courtesy Gillian Pasley
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
Twin Shadow performs at the UMS 7:25PM at Showcase Stage, Saturday 7/25/26
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
Ratio Beerworks Lost Relics 4PM Rugburn 6PM The Death Chat 8PM Plastic Mystic 9PM
Black Moth Super Rainbow, photo courtesy the artist circa 2018
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.
Allison Russel, photo by Marc Baptiste
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.
MaryAnne Muglia, photo courtesy the artist
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.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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