Arson Charge – Queen City Sounds and Art

Best Shows in Denver and Beyond February 2026

**babybaby4ever releases the new album at Hi-Dive Saturday February 6**

Clementine Was Right, photo by Tom Murphy

Monday | 02.02
What: Worst Night of the Year Fest II: Clementine Was Right, Caspar Milquetoast, Al Ameda and Small Houses
When: 7/7:30
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: At least this is in February and not January so the name of the event is by circumstance a bit of a joke this year. And given world and national events it seems unlikely as well. But music, yes, Clementine Was Right is the band that combines vivid and heartfelt poetry with emo-flavored country and atmospheric rock and live the band is truly exuberant. Caspar Milquetoast is a band that sounds like what a lot of bands were trying to do mixing psychedelia and folk rock but opting more for an indie pop sound than Laurel Canyon retro and that has meant more original songwriting.

Tuesday | 02.03
What: Hobbyist, Pet Traits and Reposer
When: 7:30
Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Room
Why: Chicago-based Hobbyist like many bands from the Windy City is coming at music from a different angle. This one is noise rock adjacent in terms of sensibility and yes there is guitar and bass but electronic beats and a fusion of downtempo and punk attitude. At times the band dips into a mutant kind of blues rock but its 2024 album People, Like Used CD’s sounds like edgy art pop. Think post-punk made by former theater kids who are writing music to have an emotional resonance and appeal beyond narrow genre categories. Fans of Two Ton Boa and Mecca Normal will probably find something to like here.

Thursday | 02.05
What: Buñuel w/Squid Pisser, Spiritual Poison and Almanac Man
When: 7/8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Buñuel is the San Francisco-based avant-garde noise rock/No Wave band. Fronted by Eugene S. Robinson formerly of experimental rock legends Oxbow. This newer band has a similarly menacing and intense sound that is part experiments in arrangement and rhythm that sometimes hits the ear as some kind of industrial noise rock like a sister band to Swans, Live Skull or The Jesus Lizard whose Duane Denison contributes guitar to the group’s most recent album Mansuetude. Squid Pisser is glitchy, demented grindcore from Tommy Meehand (GWAR), Michael Armendariz (Duck Duck Goose) and Seth Carolina (Starcrawler). Spiritual Poison is the “ambient” project of Primitive Man’s Ethan McCarthy and some of the best music he is making. Almanac Man are an angular noise rock band whose style of post-hardcore is rooted in both DC and West Coast punk.

Friday | 02.06
What: Weakened Friends w/Team Nonexistent and Queen Frog
When: 8/9
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Portland, Maine’s Weakened Friends released its third album Feels Like Hell in October 2025 through Don Giovanni. The trio tapped into that 90s grunge pop sound and the loud-quiet-loud sort of sound structure early on but by now has refined it into something with more nuanced emotional range. The new record seems to be informed by the existential exhaustion, exacerbated by the current social and economic climate, of feeling like maybe your closest relationship has run out of steam yet you’re not ready to let it go while taking an assessment of every aspect of it and realizing in the end that a lot of those feelings are projection and you’re really tired of yourself and how you are and the ways in which you self-sabotage. And how that reflection allows you to grow and be present for the people you care most about but maybe allowed yourself to forget along the way. Team Nonexistent is in a similar lane of music but from Denver and with a little more edge in the presentation.

Friday | 02.06
What: Judge Roughneck’s 30th Anniversary Party w/Reptiles & Samurai
When: 7
Where: The Oriental Theater
Why: Judge Roughneck’s history reaches back to 1995 when ska was entering into its ascendance in American mainstream music but instead of being the kind that plagued the airwaves for a time with a watered down version of the music, Judge Roughneck seemed to have some authenticity and musical chops. The band’s fusion of reggae and ska with soul set it apart from many of its peers and thirty years later and with the recent tragic passing of former trombone player/back vocalist David Dinsmore, the group is still fronted by lead singer and multi-instrumentalist Byron Shaw. This show celebrates its legacy of excellence that transcended genre.

Friday | 02.06
What: Patrick Dethlefs and The Still Tide
When: 7
Where: Swallow Hill
Why: Patrick Dethlefs has been one of the more gifted songwriters out of Colorado for more than a decade and his style of folk Americana is poetic and emotionally vibrant. In 2025 he released his latest record Patty, a collection of songs that told stories of life and made sage observations about the human psyche and society that felt both like something from another, better, era and a commentary about the present times without some kind of didactic statement or grandstanding. All of which is easy and understandable to do but the lack of which lends Dethlef’s record an unspoken elegance of expression. The Still Tide might be described as a dream pop band but one that rocks a little more at times and singer/guitarist Anna Morsett is a bit of a prodigy player with songwriting that doesn’t make that obvious because it is all folded into how captivating the songs so often are.

Saturday | 02.07
What: babybaby4ever album release for 4ever is a long time w/Pleasure Prince, Xenon Thief and WNGDU DJ
When: 7/8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Over the last handful of years discerning fans of synth pop in Denver that have been fortunate enough to witness a babybaby4ever show have an artist worthy of her influences. Lily Conrad grew up in Golden, Colorado and started playing music at a young age getting into playing guitar and then cello by her middle school and teen years. In 2016 in college Conrad started making music and performed her first show as babybaby but in the past couple of years she changed the project name so that it was more findable via internet search engines. Early on playing out in and around Denver Conrad was part of the local DIY scene playing house shows and underground venues like the now defunct Posh House. Around that time she started playing keyboards in the live version of psychedelic garage rock band Rose Variety with her friend Becc Perez. The pandemic era stretched time in weird directions but since the world opened up again Conrad started playing around more often in her solo project at venues that could better represent her developing sound and its highly developed, rich synth tone and production. The show now includes props and aspects of performance art from Conrad making a babybaby4ever show memorable both visually as well as for the finely crafted songs that have the spontaneity and vulnerability of classic indiepop and the robust and enveloping melodic tonality of 80s New Wave. In 2026 babybaby4ever releases the new album 4ever is a long time via Denver-based imprint Witchcat Records. The nine songs are loosely a kind of breakup album as breakthrough. The lyrics and moods honor the heartache and the will to move forward by embracing vital experiences and the roots of who were are and what makes our lives feel vibrant.

Tuesday | 02.10
What: Midwife and Amulets w/Sunswept
When: 7:30/8
Where: Chautauqua Community House 900 Baseline
Why: Midwife brings her emotionally vibrant, ambient folk soundscapes to a rare appearance in Boulder. Opening is Amulets, the solo project of Randall Taylor who has collaborated with Midwife on both his records and her own and his compositions that combine pastoral drones and tape collage is definitely spiritual kin to Midwife’s own songwriting. Sunswept is a flute and synth-driven ambient project from Denver comprised of local improve and experimental music scene star Sarah Christensen.

Tuesday | 02.10
What: Sudan Archives w/Suhreetah
When: 7
Where: Gothic Theatre
Why: Sudan Archives came up playing violin and while studying ethnomusicoloy at Pasadena City College she attended the legendary club night Low End Theory and wrote her own music and did some deep diving into violin players across cultures and by 2017 released her self-titled debut EP. Since then, Sudan Archives has made a name for herself a talented composer, songwriter and performer blurring the lines between R&B, classical music, experimental electronic composition and dance music. Her latest album is the sprawling and entrancing The BPM (2025).

Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy, photo by Christy Bush

Wednesday | 02.11
What: Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy and Friends Play R.E.M. w/Bob Goldthwait
When: 7
Where: Summit Music Hall
Why: For the past dozen years acclaimed actor Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy (Bob Mould Band, Superchunk, Sunny Day Real Estate) have been working together to play albums live by mutually loved artists like The Modern Lovers, The Smiths ad Neil Young. But the past two years the focus has been performing classic albums by college rock/early alternative rock band R.E.M.. Last year the duo performed Fables of the Reconstruction with four original members of R.E.M. joining them on stage for their two shows in Athens, Georgia, the hometown of the group. For this tour Shannon and Narducy will by joined by Jon Wurster, John Stirrat, Dag Juhlin and Vijay Tellis-Nayak in celebrating the 40th anniversary of the album Life’s Rich Pageant and of course the show will include some choice cuts from across R.E.M.’s catalog.

Palehorse/Palerider in 2017, photo by Tom Murphy

Thursday | 02.12
What: Palehorse/Palerider w/Glass Human and BleakHeart
When: 7/8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: This will be a front to back show of heavier Denver bands that don’t fit comfortably in the realm of metal though they might each be considered within that lane of music. Palehorse/Palerider combines desert rock, shoegaze and tribal/pastoral rhythms and soundscapes in its evocation of emotional weight. Glass Human is able to navigate being an art rock band and heavy shoegaze with pop songcraft with surprising mastery. BleakHeart is like if a doom band discarded those trappings in favor of more existential, dark and heavy post-punk.

Friday | 02.13
What: Plastik Mystik album release w/Cherry Spit, Pale Sun and Soneffs
When: 7/8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Plastik Mystik is refreshingly difficult to pigeonhole because its sound hits the ears as some kind of amalgam of punk fury, dark post-punk sophistication and mutant garage rock left of center fractured song structures. After a handful of singles the past couple of years the group is finally releasing its debut album. The rest of the bill is filled out with some of Denver’s finest. Cherry Spit is a ferocious noise rock/post-hardcore quintet whose sound fuses angular, caustic sounds and impassioned vocals with a mathematical precision that breaks enough with being more calculated to be interesting. Pale Sun is arguably Denver metro’s greatest shoegaze band with former members of Bright Channel, Pinkku and Space Team Electra. Soneffs make music at the intersection of indie rock songcraft, psychedelia and shoegaze.

Saturday | 02.14
What: The Cowboy Confessional: Sea of Heartbreak – Real Stories, Fake Cowboys w/Christie Buchule, Erin Christian, Susan Earley, Sarah Chase Fountain and musical guests Salads & Sunbeams
When: 2
Where: Mutiny Information Cafe
Why: This will be an afternoon of confessional storytelling in the spirit of the subversion of the Valentine’s Day holiday. With musical guests, masterful pop band Salads & Sunbeams and their layering of poetry, 60s psychedelia and 90s indiepop.

Saturday | 02.14
What: Heartbreak Holiday: Gentleman Deluxe, The Schofields, Scooter James, Micah and the Mirrors & Silver West
When: 6
Where: The Federal Theatre
Why: Gentleman Deluxe is the solo Americana project of Aaron Howell, the charismatic frontman of MF Ruckus, White Fudge and various other bands over the years. This effort showcases Howell’s ability to write stripped down songs without losing the emotional sensitivity he can bring to a song that perhaps isn’t as obvious from his more bombastic bands but the sensibilities of which can be heard in his other songwriting. Also on the bill is former Tin Horn Prayer and Pinhead Circus member Scooter James with his own solo work and cosmic country artist Silver West.

Saturday | 02.14
What: DeVotchKa A Tribute to the Music of Little Miss Sunshine
When: 7
Where: The Boulder Theater
Why: DeVotchKa was already a bigger band in Denver metro around the turn of the century that worked hard to hone and refine its masterful songwriting and sound that got pigeonholed as “gypsy punk” and Americana. But the affecting lyrics and the sophistication of its songwriting with elements of jazz composition and classic pop songcraft and a little luck landed the group’s music on the soundtrack for the 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine which adapted songs from the group’s albums How It Ends (2004) and Una Volta (2003). This is a rare chance to witness a great deal of that music live.

Monday | 02.16
What: Weval – Chlorophobia album tour w/CERVAL
When: 8
Where: The Bluebird Theater
Why: Weval is an electronic duo from Amsterdam that for nearly a decade and a half have produced some of the more sonically rich dance and pop crossover music of recent years. Its fusion of deep house, techno and the kind of low end heavy electronic pop that fans of Big Black Delta, Sextile and Moderat would fully appreciate with songs that seem to fit both the dance club and indie radio formats.

Thursday-Saturday | 2.19-2.21
What: Ron Funches
When: Varies by date
Where: Comedy Works (downtown)
Why: Ron Funches launched his comedy career while working various jobs in Portland, Oregon in 2006. Since then he has been on numerous television shows including a memorable but short bit in Portlandia in 2011. His surreal and sharply observed material exposes aspects of American culture and the collective psyche with great wit and insight. His unique vocal style and renders his inspired storytelling into bypassing expectations and giving a new perspective on what you may think is already familiar. Fans of Mitch Hedberg will definitely be into what Funches has to offer.

Friday | 02.20
What: Rowboat, Loose Charm and Owosso
When: 8
Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Room
Why: Rowboat is a band whose music has some roots in folk but Sam McNitt has refined those influences into something more moody and literary with fine sonic textures and an intense delivery that creates a fascinating contrast with the sensitivity and delicacy of the songwriting. Owosso is a band that seems to draw inspirations from angular, DC post-punk, 90s emo and noisy shoegaze. Loose Charm makes music out of another era when alt-country wasn’t watered down into indie Americana, when it had more slivers of punk and early 90s alternative rock in its spine.

Friday | 02.20
What: Atmosphere w/Sage Francis, R.A. the Rugged Man, Kool Keith and DJ Mr. Dibbs
When: 6
Where: Boulder Theater
Why: From humble origins as an alternative hip-hop group forming in 1996, Atmosphere has become one of the most popular acts out of that musical milieu. Celebrating its 30 year anniversary for this tour including a club show at Boulder Theater, Slug and Ant bring their hyper verbal, emotionally vibrant and imaginative hip-hop as well as legends of the art form including innovators like Sage Francis and Kool Keith who have both pushed the boundaries of hip-hop with experimentation in sound delivery of subject matter. Mr. Dibbs maybe became more well known in the 2000s but he was honing his skills at turntablism actively as an artist since the early 90s and has worked with Atmosphere and El-P as well as Doseone and numerous other noteworthy artist of hip-hop.

Friday | 02.20
What: Taraneh w/Tassles and Warper
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: New York’s Taraneh sounds like it draws equally from more avant-metal, post-punk, noise rock and shoegaze to make its own sound that is deeply atmospheric and edgy with soulfully delivered vocals. While sounding nothing like Kylesa and Slow Crush, fans of those bands will find something to appreciate about the way Taraneh combines heaviness, electronic music and psychedelic flourishes. Warper recently put out a new album that showcased its complete absorption of heavy 90s emo and shoegaze and fused it into its own flavor. Tassles started out as sort of a bedroom shoegaze band but as the live project has evolved into more of a band its robust guitar sound backed by live bass and the in person experience expands upon the strong songwriting of the project’s recorded releases with robust sound that doesn’t take away from songs that are like the next evolution or two beyond chillwave with meditations on life and how you have to fantasize about something that engages the mind and otherwise dissociate to get through the nightmare of life under late capitalism and how it manifests in your personal existence.

Saturday | 02.21
What: Dressy Bessy & The Tammy Shine Album Release w/Hotel Wifi and Cribbo
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Dressy Bessy doesn’t play live in its hometown in Denver often and it has become a bit of a tradition to play the Hi-Dive in February. The indiepop band includes Apples in Stereo guitarist John Hill and fronted by the charismatic Tammy Ealom who super old school Denver people may know from The 40th Day or Sissy Fuzz. But obviously Dressy Bessy eclipsed all of that with national and international fame of the kind that doesn’t fill stadiums but does allow one to have opportunities most smaller bands can only dream of. This show celebrates the release of Ealom’s debut solo album as Tammy Shine called Ok Shine Ok on Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records with a special lathe cut of edition of songs from the album available from local imprint Witchcat Records. Of course the record has the charm and spirited energy that Ealom brings to Dressy Bessy if the songwriting is a little different and more spare but doesn’t spare the energy and attitude that is the singer and songwriter’s signature style. Plus, Ealom produced the album herself and it fully reflects her unique creative vision.

Sunday | 02.22
What: clipping. w/Open Mike Eagle and Cool Prongs
When: 7
Where: Gothic Theatre
Why: From its inception clipping. was a band that had experimental leanings baked into its beats and aesthetic. But its latest record Dead Channel Sky is the fullest development of its albums as works of science fiction as much as music but not the kind that’s instantly corny and heavy-handed. Sure the title seems like a nod from the opening lines of William Gibson’s 1984 cyberpunk landmark Neuromancer. But the relentless yet sparely executed beats and flow of words is like hearing something like Busdriver working with The Prodigy. But more stark and reflecting the dystopian mood of the world today. At times it feels like it makes statements on the unsustainability of striving culture and and a world seemingly on fast forward driven by the demands of late capitalism but which does nothing but wear out mere humans.

Thursday | 02.26
What: MDC w/The Elected Officials, Poison Tribe and Shit Drugs
When: 7
Where: The Federal Theatre
Why: MDC just had a provocative name with radical left perspectives in its lyrics being against racism, homophobia, the perils of imperialistic capitalism (as if there’s any other kind) and fascism. All that at time when mainstream culture seemed to reflect the insipid “Morning in America” nonsense promoted by the Ronald Reagan administration which also funded death squads in Latin America and interfered with American elections in 1984 in a way that is still buried for fear of general public upset. Fast forward some forty years and things are somehow even worse so MDC (Millions of Dead Cops or Multi Death Corporations or whatever darkly funny and irreverent name the band chooses to adopt at any given time) is more relevant than ever.

Gogol Bordello, photo courtesy the artists

Friday | 02.27
What: Gogol Bordello w/Puzzled Panther and Boris and the Joy
When: 7
Where: The Ogden Theatre
Why: Gogol Bordello spawned in 1999 in New York City named in part from 19th century Ukrainian writer Nikolai Gogol. Frontman Eugene Hütz, also from Ukraine, started playing in bands in the country of his birth with an appreciation for strong lyrics and thus another reason for the literary connection. The singer/musician spent a good deal of his youth in various parts of Eastern Europe, Austria and Italy including refugee camps in the wake of the Chernobyl meltdown ultimately landing in Vermont prior to his migrating to New York where he met the future members of his band. Fortuitously, Gogol Bordello came together when NYC was experiencing an upswing in underground rock with bands of disparate styles starting in the late 90s and 2000s. With a sound that has been perhaps self-described as “gypsy punk” perhaps as a way to capitalize on Hütz’s Romani background and incorporation of Romani musical ideas into rock as well as Ukrainian and Russian punk which has its own rich history and unique development. The band’s impassioned performances and unique sound distinct from other bands from New York of the time has since garnered Gogol Bordello a bit of a cult following across the past three decades as it successfully evades easy categorization except its own style. On February 13, 2026 the band released its new album We Mean It, Man!, potentially a reference to the Sex Pistols song “God Save the Queen” as well as a statement of intent. It has all the hallmarks of the band’s infectious energy and fusion of punk, glam rock, Eastern European folk and orchestral flourishes.

Friday | 02.27
What: Clusterfux w/Prescription and Arson Charge
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Clusterfux has been around for more than 30 years as a staple of the local scene with its amalgam of skate punk and crossover. Brothers Josh and Justin Lent have been longtime supporters of local community including with their shop Chain Reaction Records. Their irreverent and intense records hasn’t exactly lost its edge and intent as evidenced by December 2025 single “American Gestapo.” Arson Charge also makes no bones with its own brand of hardcore taking aim at the dark corners of one’s psyche and American culture. Prescription is one of the old school hardcore bands from Denver’s 90s punk scene that came across as being humorous and pointedly political back then and now with its new album Lab Rats.

Hex Cassette in 2021, photo by Tom Murphy

Saturday | 02.28
What: Hex Cassette, “Horse Girl,” Brock “‘”the Brick” Bronson and aithworker
When: 8
Where: The Crypt
Why: Hex Cassette is Denver’s premiere industrial dance/darkwave performance art act. Zachary Graves is a commanding and hyperkinetic figure whose music is well-crafted and compelling on its own but his stage banter in which he cajoles the audience in hilarious heel fashion is second to none. “Horse Girl” is not the Chicago band. It is the performance troupe/experimental pop band from Denver whose shows are all fairly unique and often involving a concept and musical elements can be drastically different from the previous show but always wortth seeing.

Brotherhood of Machines in 2016, photo by Tom Murphy

Saturday | 02.28
What: 4digit, Virga Delta, Brotherhood of Machines (album release) and Sell Farm
When: 8/8:30
Where: DMV
Why: Brotherhood of Machines is set to release his new album for this show. The project is a unique layering of ambient methodology, environmental industrial, techno noise and cassette collage music. Virga Delta is industrial ambient glitch. Sell Farm is a ferocious amalgam of industrial rock and noise akin to Nine Inch Nails.

Best Shows in Denver December 2025

**Primitive Man performs at the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest on 12/6, photo by Vanessa Valadez**

Tuesday | 12.02
What: The Home Team: The Crucible of Life Tour w/Arrows in Action and Makari
When: 6:30
Where: The Oriental Theater
Why: Seattle’s The Home Team is touring in the wake of the release of the deluxe edition of its 2024 album The Crucible of Life. The record is a combination of its post-hardcore roots, R&B and modern alt-pop with the kind of production and electronic elements one would imagine out of that melding of sounds and styles. Also on the bill is Arrows in Action who recently released their new album I Think I’ve Been Here Before (Nettwerk). Since forming in 2017 the group’s fusion of modern rock and pop songwriting with R&B vocals and electronic pop production has garnered a bit of a wide online following. But live the band’s energy and commanding performances are proving it’s more than a studio creation capable of delivering a more visceral version of the slick production of its recordings.

Thursday | 12.04
What:Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Denver pre-fest with Terror Corpse, Vimana and Death Possession
When: 7 doors
Where: Ratio Beerworks 2920 Larimer St.
Why: Decibel Magazine’s Metal & Beer Fest has been pretty reliable for booking some of the most interesting bands in the realm of extreme metal since its inception. This pre-fest event includes performances from Texas-based blackened death metal group Terror Corpse, technical death metal/grindcore band Vimana and the ominous sounds of Denver-based death metal outfit Death Possession.

Friday and Saturday | 12.05 and 12.06
What: Story Of The Year and Senses Fail w/Armor For Sleep
When: 7
Where: The Summit Music Hall
Why: Two of the better and more popular bands out of that post-hardcore and pop-punk crossover in the early 2000s are sharing the bill on this tour with Senses Fail and Story of the Year. The latter settled on the name in 2002 after forming in 1995 in St. Louis. It’s intricate yet hooky guitar riffs and emotionally charged vocals weaving between emo sensitivity and more distorted screaming meant Story of the Year was in the pocket of a popular style with younger fans of punk looking for something with more edge than the typical pop punk of the day. The band split for a couple of years in 2011 and reconvened in 2013. For this tour you may be able to hear some of the quartet’s forthcoming album A.R.S.O.N..

Blood Incantation, photo by Julian Weigand

Friday and Saturday | 12.05 and 12.06
What: Decibel Metal & Beer Festival Day 1 (12.05) Blood Incantation, Chat Pile, The Red Chord, Panopticon and Castrator, Day 2 (12.06) Acid Bath, Eyehategod, Deadguy, Primitive Man, Conan and Necrofier
When: 6 (12.05) 5 (12.06)
Where: Fillmore Auditorium
Why: Decibel Magazine brings to Denver a generous sampling of the best of current extreme metal for a two day festival. Attendees can opt to buy a ticket that includes getting in on the beer varieties being showcased at the event or a mere “Metal Only” pass for just the music. The first night is headlined by Denver-based psychedelic, progressive death metal band Blood Incantation and one might argue also the political noise rock legends Chat Pile. The second night is indisputably headlined by influential and foundational sludge metal group Acid Bath who are reuniting for a handful of shows this year. Also on that night earlier on is Denver’s death grind trio Primitive Man who recently released their latest sprawling epic of an album Observance with its even more pointed and withering commentary on a corrupt and self-destructive society and economic order and even their own part in its continuance.

Sunday | 12.07
What: Wet Leg w/Capture This and Bob Moses (club set)
When: 5
Where: Mission Ballroom
Why: Wet Leg is the scrappy post-punk/pop band from the Isle of Wight that started garnering a bit of a cult following after the release of its debut single “Chaise Longue” in 2021 followed by the full-length including that song in 2022. The song and the band’s general presentation is frank in its depiction of sexuality but with a wit and charm and undeniable hooks that keep you coming back to listen. The full length was brimming with tales of everyday life delivered with the spirited sass that you would hope would inform the rest of the songs. The group released its sophomore record Moisturizer in 2025 and its own eclectic set of songs delivered on the promise of the debut including lead single “Catch These Fists” about not defaulting to being polite when you get harassed in public places.

Tuesday | 12.09
What: House of Harm w/Past Self and killyouclub DJs
When: 8
Where: The Crypt
Why: House of Harm is a post-punk band from Boston whose sparkling melodies and melancholic vocals could be like any other band out of recent darkwave. But there seems to be a bit more emotional urgency in the singing and keen attention to the electronic end of the soundscapes that drive the music. Past Self is a darkwave/death rock band from Las Vegas with leanings toward more ethereal dream pop.

Friday | 12.12
What: Belly 30th Anniversary of King – 2 sets one night
When: 7
Where: The Oriental Theater
Why: Belly Formed in 1991 shortly after Tanya Donelly left influential post-punk band Throwing Muses. She had spent a brief stint in the early version of The Breeders but after 1992 Belly became the singer/guitarist’s main creative focus and the 1993 release of the group’s debut album Star landed the music on regular rotation on MTV during that first great wave of alternative rock. Founding bassist, and former Throwing Muses member, Fred Abong left the outfit a few months after the release of the record to be replaced by Gail Greenwood (who would go on to play in L7 and recently Gang of Four). The new lineup would record the follow up album, 1995’s King. At the time grunge was, in face, king, and the jangle-y, atmospheric power pop of the record meant it didn’t perform as well commercially as its predecessor but artistically it was a step forward into interesting directions. Belly gets the chance to revisit those songs live with you if you show up and there’s a better than average chance that some material from the first record and 2018 album Dove will end up on one of the two sets.

Saturday | 12.13
What: Lawsuit Models, Flutter, Black Dots, State Drugs
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Lawsuit Models is the kind of modern punk band that clearly has roots in 90s and early 2000s pop punk but didn’t get stuck completely in that sound. But preserved is the best of that music and its relatable yearnings and an ability to take topical cultural references and make them into statements of more enduring human experience and struggle. The rest of this bill is also interesting because Flutter is a great power pop band who seem to have translated an older sound and sensibility into a modern context with a charismatic live show. Black Dots are a veteran punk act from Denver that has also made a transition into a more modern mix of sounds from a pop punk adjacent early sensibility to something more seemingly informed by a touch of Americana and more straight ahead rock. State Drugs come from that stand of punk that as into power pop of the late 80s and early 90s like they listened to the cooler end of The Goo Goo Dolls, Gin Blossoms and Soul Asylum and decided the songcraft in those bands and a knack for a melodic hook and earnest emotional expression was perfectly fine a well of inspiration as any other.

Saturday | 12.13
What: Jorma Kaukonen
When: 7
Where: Paramount Theatre
Why: Jorma Kaukonen was one of the members of the classic lineup of Jefferson Airplane. The latter helped define the San Francisco Sound of the late 60s and the early psychedelic rock of the era. Kaukonen came into the group as a blues guitarist who had earlier played a gig with Janis Joplin before either came to anything resembling prominence. The Airplane had hits like “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit” and its 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow is a classic of the 60s with songwriting that endures because it was unlike much of anything else in its then realm of rock music. Kaukonen’s instrumental “Embryonic Journey” and its elegantly intricate guitar work brought more than a touch of experimental folk to one of the great psychedelic rock albums of all time. Later in the 60s Kaukonen and some of his bandmates in the Airplane formed Hot Tuna, a group that continues to this day. Somewhere between a psychedelic country blues band and free improvisation outfit, Hot Tuna was a little difficult to pigeonhole though today would be considered on the higher end of the jam band spectrum. Kaukonen has also had an acclaimed solo career in which he can no more easily be classified but in which his energetic and free-flowing finger style guitar and seemingly endless ability to find ways for the guitar to express great feeling with nuance remains. For this tour, possibly the musician’s last on a wide scale at age 84 (soon 85 on December 23) Kaukonen will be joined on stage by heavy hitters R. Carlos Nakai & Will Clipman, David Hidalgo, Jack Casady, Justin Guip, and Ross Garren.

Tuesday | 12.16
What: Silver West (album release and Hali’s birthday) w/Marty Nation and Whitless
When: 7:30
Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Room
Why: Silver West will release her debut album Ballads of a Heartbroken Hunter at this show. The songwriter/musician is relatively new to performance but has been around music her whole life and as a sound person at various clubs and other live show situations she’s certainly been witness to her fair share of music stories as well as firsthand experience with what works best in a live music format. How much of that shaped her songwriting, hard to say, but surely in the recording there will be an uncommon level of attention to detail and production. But if you’ve seen Silver West there is a compelling vulnerability to her particular style of cosmic Americana that is refreshingly raw and thoughtful.

Thursday | 12.18
What: Takipnik, Lost Relics, Chew Thru and Sungrave
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Takipnik is a Denver-based heavy band that formed in 2019 and recently released its third album Awakened. The record reveals the band has a keen ear for ethereal atmospheric elements mixed in with those more distorted and raging. Think something like Agalloch and Russian Circles and you have an idea what to expect. Lost Relics bridges the gap between extreme metal and noise rock. Some of its members came out of the more interesting end of the Denver stoner rock scene of the 2000s and 2010s and found a way to sharpen the sound some without losing the ability to maintain a solid groove and thus hooks. Chew Thru has more roots in post-hardcore but still has the aggression and knack for a touch of melody that one might expect from a band with influences in 1980s thrash. Sungrave is in the metal universe as well but its sound clearly has some origins in psychedelic rock and the kind of post-metal one heard in the various incarnations of Isis and Neurosis. In moments the shoegaze fusion has Sungrave sounding more like the majestic pastoral side of Jesu.

Friday | 12.19
What: Cheap Perfume, Arson Charge, Gunk! and Cop Killer
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Arguably the punk show of the month headlined by feminist/political punk band Cheap Perfume from Colorado Springs. Its latest album Don’t Care. Didn’t Ask. really does pushes its critique of society and capitalism to new heights and connects the dots in many realms of human life in the intersectional way that the current moment requires. Arson Charge includes former members of Native Daughters, Chieftain and Love Me Destroyer and fronted by SPELLS singer Ben Roy. It’s thrashcore and Roy takes on a different vocal style than you’d expect from him and it’s potent stuff tackling issues related to deeply personal experiences with abuse and the legacy of that for one’s own life in ways that the adult mind is beginning to grapple with. Gunk! Is a like-minded hardcore band from the Springs with a raw, caustic sound. Cop Killer recently released its self-titled EP and it is five tracks of the kind of aggressive hardcore you’d hope with the verbal content you’d hope was there including an updated rework of the Body Count classic.

Salads and Sunbeams, photo by Tom Murphy

Saturday | 12.20
What: Salads and Sunbeams and Gadget Cats
When: 8
Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Room
Why: Salads and Sunbeams are one of the premier Denver-based indiepop bands. Coming out of noteworthy previous bands Fingers of the Sun and The Pseudo Dates (among others), the band’s songs are literary and steeped in 60s and 70s psychedelic pop but informed by modern experiences in the current socio-economic context. Its songs are tonally colorful and heartfelt and filled with creative storytelling. Gadget Cats are a grunge pop group from Fort Collins whose songs released so far seem to reflect some inspiration from 90s underground punk and indiepop.

Saturday | 12.20
What: Pons w/Bitchflower and Plastik Mystik
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Pons is a mutant art punk/neo-No Wave noise rock band from Brooklyn, New York that incorporates classical instruments used in unorthodox ways. Often its songwriting sounds like it’s been influenced by experimental electronic music and left field jazz with splintered, fragmented tempos and imploded structure. Bitch Flower from Fort Collins sounds like it was inspired equally by the most jagged and confrontational punk and dark psychedelic rock like the Stooges and its own blues roots. Plastik Mystic is sort of a strange blend of psychedelic garage rock and something like moody punkers Wipers.

DJ boyhollow aka Michael Trundle of Lipgloss in 2021, photo by Tom Murphy

Wednesday | 12.31
What: A Lipgloss New Years Eve
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Lipgloss has been held at various venues since starting as the prominent indie DJ/dance night in Denver and one of if not the longest running such nights in the country. Currently helmed by longtime DJ Michael Trundle aka boyollow, the night is being held perhaps for the first time at arguably the best small club in Denver, the Hi-Dive. Expect indie hits from the 90s, 2000s, 2010s and now with some sprinkling in of 80s and maybe even 70s music that inspired the music that launched the event.

Wednesday | 12.31
What: Colfax Speed Queen, Jesus Christ Taxi Driver and Glueman
When: 8
Where: Lost Lake
Why: If a night of high energy punk is how you want to spend your New Year’s Eve this is the best bet. Colfax Speed Queen is really a psychedelic garage rock band that has made a name for itself in Denver and beyond. But its charismatic and charged performances propel its whole thing into the realm of punk. Jesus Christ Taxi Driver sounds like it came out of the American southeast with its blues-infused rock and roll. But its attitude is definitely adjacent to the irreverent spirit of punk and its live shows are played with a palpable intensity. Glueman these days sounds like its members were inspired by strands of the gloriously frayed and ferocious punk from Memphis, Tennessee from the 80s to now. Just raw and unmindful of a need for clean tonal lines and tapping into some wild energy. If you’re Oblivions you’ll probably be into Glueman.

Best Shows in Denver and Beyond December 2024

**Xeno & Oaklander perform at Hi-Dive on December 12, 2024, photo by Liz Wendelbo**

Sunday | 12.01
What: Machete Mouth, Joseph Lamar, S.T3V
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: An evening of the best local, left-field/experimental R&B. Go and witness the soulful downtempo ambient style of Machete Mouth, the IDM psychedelic soul performance art leanings of Joseph Lamar and indie rock/shoegaze/abstract folk sounds of S.T3V.

Wednesday | 12.04
What: Anthony Raneri w/Brother Bird
When: 7
Where: The Marquis Theater
Why: Anthony Raneri is perhaps better known for being the singer and songwriter in punk/emo band Bayside. But his solo work is more countrified yet atmospheric and his latest record Everyday Royalty is an introspective reckoning with how one’s life suddenly feels like your mistakes or at least the areas you’ve been neglecting more than you realize catch up to you emotionally, psychologically and even physically. Whereas Raneri’s brash and cathartic songwriting has its own psychological cleansing on stage, Brother Bird’s songs are more delicate and in the realm of folk but her production is around the edges gives the songwriter’s music a cinematic yet intimate quality that unfolds across a song like her own kind of confessional and self-examination that too feels relatable on a very human level of navigating life with an imperfect set of tools and capacities to do so.

Thursday | 12.05
What: Machine Girl w/Lightning Bolt and Kill Alters
When: 7
Where: Summit Music Hall
Why: For over a decade Machine Girl has been developing its own brand of breakcore/digital hardcore/glitch industrial sound. Famously the duo performed a show at a house in Denver and caved in the floor because of the intensity of the dancing. And the group does go hard but its electronic soundscapes are very in the vein of drum and bass and jungle with the relentless beats and tranquil/chill passages. Lightning Bolt is the legendary noise rock band that got started in Providence, Rhode Island in 1994. Along with other local music weirdos like artist and former member of Mindflayer and Forcefield Matt Brinkman Brian Chippendale and Brian Gibson of Lightning Bolt formed the iconic and influential DIY space Fort Thunder. In its 30 years together Lightning Bolt has been known for preferring to perform at unconventional spaces if appropriate and available and if not, turning a more conventional venue into something of a performance art event with its frenetic and borderline chaotic live shows that often feel like the noise rock equivalent of free jazz or conceptual as much as musical use of noise incorporating the energy of everyone that shows up.

Friday | 12.06
What: Greet Death w/Cherished and Prize Horse
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Greet Death made its reputation as a band that fused heaviness with ethereal shoegaze tonality. But since then its music has drifted in even more melodic and melancholic. More slowcore in its arrangements and thus hazily psychedelic but not bereft of a sonic freakout when the moment calls for it. Opening the show is Denver’s post-punk-turned-shoegaze band Cherished whose lyrics give a glimpse into a side of America all of us probably recognize but with a perspective that’s very real and non-judgmental. Prize Horse from Minneapolis has a sound that sits at the crux of shoegaze, post-rock and the more interesting 90s emo.

Friday | 12.06
What: A Place For Owls, Corsicana and INNS
When: 7:30
Where: The Skylark Lounge
Why: A Place For Owls is refreshingly a raw and heart on sleeve emo band of the current wave variety meaning its influences span beyond the influx of math rock and vulnerability and occasional forays into atonality. APFO’s guitar work is elegant and inviting and its whole vibe is one inviting listeners to share in these previously private moments that might help to illuminate one’s own feelings about complicated situations. Corsicana is the dream pop band from Denver.

Maria Bamford, photo from mariabamford.com

Friday | 12.06
What: Maria Bamford
When: 6:30
Where: The Paramount Theatre
Why: Maria Bamford is one of the great, living stand-up comedians whose surreal yet sharply observed humor has shed a light on American folly and the darkly absurd side of capitalism and wellness culture. Part of Bamford’s appeal is how open and vulnerable she is regarding her own struggles with mental health and trying to fit in with a warped and demented culture and presents it with her inimitable style.

King Cardinal, photo from kingcardinal.com

Saturday | 12.07
What: King Cardinal
When: 10 am
Where: Swallow Hill
Why: It is a free show but it’ll be one of Denver’s better Americana/roots rock bands, King Cardinal. 2024, though, saw the release of he band’s most recent album Land Lines which waxes well into the realm of cosmic country at times but otherwise is full of the band’s well crafted story songs and uplifting presentation.

Saturday | 12.07
What: Weird Al Qaida w/Pythian Whispers
When: 9:30
Where: Mutiny Information Cafe
Why: Experimental psychedelic noise band Weird Al Qaida makes a rare appearance in the basement of the new location of Mutiny Information Cafe. Expect multi-media performance elements, pitch shifted vocals and a fusion of psychedelic folk, art rock and outsider pop. Opening is psychedelic ambient and noise project Pythian Whispers which includes Tom Murphy who is writing this.

Saturday | 12.07
What: Nova Fest: Church Fire, Night Fishing, The Photo Atlas, Post/War and Gifter 8 at Hi-Dive
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Nova Fest returns with a stacked lineup including industrial dance revolutionaries Church Fire, psych doom band Night Fishing, the resurrected dance punk band The Photo Atlas back from Denver’s 2000s indie rock heyday and the shoegaze-y Post/War.

Thursday | 12.12
What: Franz Ferdinand w/almost monday and Losers Club
When: 6
Where: The Ogden Theatre
Why: The new Franz Ferdinand album The Human Fear doesn’t come out until January 10, 2025 but for this show there’s a better than half a chance you’ll get to see some of that material live. The Scottish post-punk band first made major waves with its 2004 self-titled album and breakout single “Take Me Out.” The then post-punk revival was well under way and the group got lumped in with “dance punk” perhaps not unjustifiably and its subsequent albums proved the band had more in their repertoire than a trendy style. Its funky power pop has had underpinnings of influence from literature and dub and has evolved in ways that have refreshingly not been so obvious. For example the 2015 album as FFS when the band merged with glam and art rock legends Sparks for a unique album for which they toured doing sets of their own and together as the supergroup. There’s something vital in what the band has had to offer from the beginning and its live shows have been proof positive.

Xeno & Oaklander in 2022, photo by Tom Murphy

Thursday | 12.12
What: Xeno & Oaklander w/Spiritual Poison and Terravault Network
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Modern cold wave legends Xeno & Oaklander return to Denver for a show at Hi-Dive in support of its latest album Via Negativa (in the doorway light). The duo has innovated in its use of analog and digital synthesis to craft evocative soundscapes as conceptual pop songs since its 2004 inception and the new record is reminiscent of what might happen if Chris & Cosey and Giorgio Moroder collaborated on an album of gorgeously icy synthpop.

Thursday | 12.12
What: David Eugene Edwards w/Logan Farmer
When: 8: 30
Where: Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox
Why: David Eugene Edwards established his dark folk and post-punk bonafides as a member of influential Gothic Americana band 16 Horsepower and further with Wovenhand. His 2023 solo album Hyacinth is imbued with the kind of gravitas and grandeur one has come to expect from the songwriter and its lush arrangements don’t feel stripped down even if not expressed with the same level of sturm and drang as his other projects. The emotional intensity and vibrant poetic sensibility and insight is very much running through the songs. Opening the show is Fort Collins-based songwriter Logan Farmer whose luminously atmospheric variety of folk songcraft is transporting and soothing. His most recent album 2022’s A Mold For The Bell includes contributions from avant-garde harpist Mary Lattimore and saxophonist Joseph Shabason. It’s an album of great subtlety, nuance of expression and great depth of mood that rewards patient listening.

Limbwrecker in 2023, photo by Tom Murphy

Saturday | 12.14
What: Limbwrecker (final show) w/Sugar Skulls & Marigolds, Rico Predicate and Corpsewhale
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Denver-based grind/powerviolence band Limbwrecker is taking the stage one final time for a set of furiously noisy and cathartic, metallic post-hardcore and confrontational antics. They will be joined by fellow perpetrators of sonic violence with crafters of epic, instrumental, post-metal journeys Sugar Skulls & Marigolds, death grind thrashers Rico Predicate and industrial noise artist Corpsewhale.

Sunday | 12.15
What: Church Car, Pink Lady Monster, The Trappings, Hippies Wearing Muzzles
When: 7:30
Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Room
Why: Church Car might be the new manifestation of avant-garage soul artist Big Daddy Mugglestone but don’t bother trying to run the new name through a search engine. There are plenty of other reasons to go to this show like to see the spectacular No Wave free jazz dream psychedelia group Pink Lady Monster and blend of allure and menace. Hippies Wearing Muzzles is the solo analog synth composition project of Lee Evans who some may know from his long tenure as the bassist in indie pop group Kissing Party. The Trappings is a lo-fi experimental pop project of Adam Baumeister, the man behind the lathe cut imprint Meep Records and his own music is worth a deep dive in its own right for the sprawling and exploratory nuggets of imaginative music making therein.

Monday | 12.16
What: Emma Ruth Rundle w/Stonefront Church
When: 7
Where: The Bluebird Theater
Why: Emma Ruth Rundle has made a name for herself as a writer of richly emotional and introspective, darkly atmospheric songs that blur and break the edges of strict genre. In her more recent albums Rundle’s gift for weaving soundscape-y, even ambient folk expressions of how the inner life finds resonance with the mythical in a synergistic and transformative way. Her most recent album, 2022’s EG2: Dowsing Voice, seemed to draw upon deserty sounds and textures to delve into themes of ancient trauma and self-rediscovery.

Lanx Borealist in 2015, photo by Tom Murphy

Thursday | 12.19
What: Weirdo Music: Rooster Jake, Lanx Borealis, Brotherhood of Machines
When: 7
Where: Fort Greene
Why: This showcase of local experimental music will feature the left field hip-hop of Rooster Jake, the synth-driven and organic soundscapes of Lanx Borealis and Brotherhood of Machines’ deep house/abstract electronic dance oriented compositions.

Vatican Vamps, photo courtesy the artists

Saturday | 12.21
What: New Verbs w/Cactusheads and Vatican Vamps https://globehall.com/event/new-verbs-w-cactusheads-vatican-vamps/globe-hall/denver-colorado/
When: 7
Where: Globe Hall
Why: New Verbs are an indie rock band from Denver/Boulder who if you dissect their sound a bit you’ll hear hints of the influence of The Fall, Deerhunter and 2010’s psych rock. Maybe Cactusheads are literally operating out of a garage in preparing to take the stage, like many bands, its musical roots seem to have at least evolved beyond the ragged amateurishness of well-intentioned miscreants into writing solid melodic hooks to go along with the grit. Vatican Vamps are a post-punk band from Denver that released its self-titled debut full length in March 2024 showcasing its dusky, atmospheric and earnestly weighty post-punk.

Saturday | 12.21
What: Broken Record, Curious Things, Replica City and The Gentlys
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Broken Record blurs the line between melodic post-hardcore and shoegaze with delicate emotional colorings. Curious Things is a trio of former members of The Gamits, The Dead Girls and Lawsuit Models whose songs are an appealing blend of power pop and emo. Replica City delivers a noisy, angular post-punk post-hardcore style with vocal performances both vulnerable and confrontational. The Gently’s is the latest band to include Dameon Merkl, the charismatic frontman of dark Americana legends Bad Luck City and Lost Walks.

Saturday | 12.28
What: Cheap Perfume, Arson Charge, Lost Relics and Brass Tags
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: At the top of the bill is political/feminist punk band Cheap Perfume with its heartfelt and often refreshingly wickedly and pointedly humorous lyrics still incredibly relevant in light of the seeming slide of world society in the past few years steeply in the wrong direction. Arson Charge is a punk band including members of other acts from Denver including SPELLS singer Ben Roy. Brass Tags is a post-hardcore band in the vein of melodic practitioners of noisy punk like Jawbox. Lost Relics split the difference between sludge metal akin to Melvins and heavy noise rock reminiscent of Unsane.

Slim Cessna’s Auto Club in 2023, photo by Tom Murphy

Monday and Tuesday | 12.30 and 12.31
What: Slim Cessna’s Auto Club w/Rattlesnake Milk and DJ Ryan Wong
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Denver pioneers of Gothic Americana Slim Cessna’s Auto Club play their two night run at the Hi-Dive. If you’ve seen the group in the past several years it’s become obvious the Gothic part is perhaps less accurate than comparing the live show and music to a kind of Western Vaudeville with music inspired by literature and theater infused with local cultural flavor and a flair for the dramatic and inventive, lively songwriting that is as life affirming as it draws upon any traditional sounds and style. Rattlesnake Milk from Texas is straight up cowboy western plains style country music.