Caspar Milquetoast – Queen City Sounds and Art

Queen City Sounds Podcast S6E7: Blucifer Fest

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.

Best Shows in Denver and Beyond July 2026

Blucifer’s First Rodeo is Denver’s newest and most ambitious music festival. Buy tickets here.

Modern Leisure, photo courtesy Casey Banker

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

Valley 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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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 and Beyond November 2025

**They Are Gutting a Body of Water performs at The Marquis Tues 11/4, photo by Brian Karlsson**

Saturday | 11.01
What: Moon Pussy w/Old Deer
When: 3
Where: Mutiny Information Cafe
Why: This is your last chance of 2025 to see the noise rock juggernaut trio Moon Pussy. Whereas many noise rock bands are a permutation of post-hardcore and sludge metal, Moon Pussy is genuinely strange and both humorous and ferocious which is not a combination one sees often enough. Vocalist Crissy Cuellar’s on stage banter and absurdist (in the delivery) jokes does little to mask how smart the band’s music is or its inherent sophistication of concept and execution. Old Deer brings the doom to posthardcore in its own weighty style of noise rock.

Saturday | 11.01
What: Native Daughters, Abrams and BleakHeart
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Instrumental, heavy noise core outfit Native Daughters doesn’t play out often these days and usually at bigger venues. But its epic, cinematic sprawl of post-rock post-metal has evolved to a degree of highly expressive and vivid sonic storytelling without words. Abrams is the perfect amalgamation of shoegaze and atmospheric post-hardcore like Torche and Cave-In. Fantastic, melodic harmonies and transporting guitar streams in heavy momentum and luminously gritty leads. BleakHeart will likely be in its new manifestation but probably still have the gorgeously dark and orchestral fusion of dream pop and heavy post-rock.

Sunday | 11.02
What: Ada Lea w/Porlolo and Autumnal
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Ada Lea released her third album when i paint my masterpiece in August 2025 and further established her status as a modern master of finger picking style with expressive and beautifully intricate guitar work paired with her delicate yet assured vocals. She is currently signed to Saddle Creek Records which is fitting since an act to which she might be favorably compared is Azure Ray. Porlolo is the indie/acoustic band from Denver whose own aesthetic is adjacent to that of the headliner but Porlolo has been around considerably longer as a live act. Erin Roberts’ existential and poignant lyrics and occasionally dryly humorous stage banter with commanding vocals is what has keep the project a local favorite. Fort Collins’ Autumnal comes out of the indie folk corner of the Colorado music universe but its songs will assuredly appeal to those with a taste for pastoral slowcore and the tenderest of indiepop.

What: Ryan Davis & The Roadhouse Band w/Caspar Milquetoast
When: 7
Where: Larimer Lounge
Why: Acclaimed songwriter Ryan Davis and his band released one of the secretly great albums of 2025 with Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band “New Threats from the Soul.” On the surface it’s like some indie Americana thing but not long into the first song it becomes apparent that what you’re hearing is weirder and more creative but not in expected ways. It has the dapple lap steel flourishes enhancing the melodies like you’d expect from a solid country record but there are synths in the mix and tape loops so that at times things seem otherworldly and unpredictable but in the pocket of strong songwriting. It’s a fascinating effect. Plus Will Oldham contributes vocals to the album so you know it’s definitely coming from a different kind of place. The lyrics are also like something out of a Cormac McCarthy novel but sung like an artist out of the whole Laurel Canyon scene of the early 1970s.

they are gutting a body of water, photo by Kasey Agosto

Tuesday | 11.04
What: they are gutting a body of water w/Fib
When: 7
Where: Marquis Theater
Why: For several years Philadelphia’s they are gutting a body of water has been stirring noise and grime into drifty, warping shoegaze to create something like the equivalent of a lo-fi cassette only release by one of those weird late 2000s bands that would have belonged on Siltbreeze. Like Times New Viking or Eat Skull. But if those bands were more into Slint and Planning For Burial. Crush yet transcendent guitar tone, left field rhythmic structures or none at all and just stretches of raw sound that drops into fragmented melodies like these people listened to a lot of Canadian band Women coming up as well. The group’s new album LOTTO pushes the songwriting into even more unpredictable territory.

Wednesday | 11.05
What: Martin DuPont w/Church Fire and French Kettle Station
When: 7
Where: HQ
Why: After a nearly 25 year hiatus, French coldwave/New Wave band Martin Dupont re-emerged as a live project in 2023 and a new album of re-recordings of older songs titled Kintsugi. In 2025 a record of new material dropped called You Smile When It Hurts establishing that the members of the group were capable of crafting quality resonant songs on part with its acclaimed earlier material. Church Fire is Denver’s premiere industrial dance pop group. The impassioned performance style of the band always made it a standout but with expanded production as a trio and a dynamic light show Church Fire brings a large stage show visual impact to any venue. French Kettle Station is a one-man New Age dance project with no small amount of visceral energy of his own even when he’s triggering prepared electronic passages or performing live synth.

Thursday | 11.06
What: Packaging w/Barbara, Paw Paw and DJ Ryan Wong
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Packaging is the new group formed between Daniel Lyon of Spirit Award and Daniel “Connor” Birch of Flaural. Their debut, self-titled album dropped October 10 and no surprise, perhaps, its lush and enveloping psychedelic pop benefits from the contributions of multiple artists out of the wider indie rock realm including Luke Temple (Here We Go Magic), Ash Reiter (Sugar Candy Mountain), James Barone (Beach House), Andreas Wild (Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats), Curt Kiser (Carriers) and Andy Rauworth (Gauntlet Hair). Its luminous melodies and melancholic urgency helps to set the music apart from yet another post-2010s psychedelia project. Its songs have emotional heft and the music is entrancing and commanding.

Death to All, photo courtesy the artists

Friday | 11.07
What: Death to All playing Spiritual Healing and Symbolic w/Gorguts and Phobophilic
When: 6
Where: The Gothic Theatre
Why: Death to All features former members of foundational extreme metal band Death including Gene Hoglan, Steve DiGiorgio and Bobby Koelble as well as former Cynic member Max Phelps on guitar and vocals. This tour the assembled band will perform the classic albums Spiritual Healing (1990) and Symbolic (1995), both albums that represented a progression of the band in new directions that would shape where technical death metal of the future worth listening to would go. Anyone that has caught the Death to All tours in recent years can attest to how legit the presentation and musicianship has been with some of the greatest heavy music of all time getting a live performance treatment that honors the legacy of founder Chuck Schuldiner’s vision with some of the only musicians that can make it happen.

Friday | 11.07
What: Hi-Dive 22 Year Anniversary Night 1: Nuclear Daisies, Cleaner, American Culture and Supreme Joy
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Hi-Dive has arguably emerged as the premiere small club in Denver with solid bookings every week across a fairly broad spectrum of genres, styles and subscenes. Pick any week and there is at least one show that’s worth going to but probably really a few. It has had some of the best sound in a room of its size with a skilled sound crew. This two night celebration of Hi-Dive begins with sets from garage-psych giants Cleaner, shoegaze/indie pop legends American Culture, left-field post-punk/post-garage phenoms and headlined by noisy shoegaze dance dream pop group Nuclear Daisies.

Friday and Saturday | 11.07 and 11.08
What: Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country Tour w/The Fretliners
When: 7
Where: The Ogden Theatre
Why: Daniel Donato started developing ideas for his version of “cosmic country” while playing in bands around Nashville and coming up with a fusion of country, rock and roll, the free associating improv he heard in the Grateful Dead and folk psychedelia. Think a sound and vibe more like a honky tonk end of Gram Parsons and you’ll have an idea what you’re in for. The live shows are imbued with a spirited creativity in the performance and inspired free flowing improvisation that goes beyond where most bands operating in musically adjacent territory seem to be able to conjure. The band is currently touring in support of its 2025 album Horizons.

Saturday | 11.08
What: Melodies Never Lie, Salads and Sunbeams, Mouth Cathedral at Squirm Gallery, benefit for Jeanette Vizguerra
When: 7
Where: Squirm Gallery
Why: Jeannette Vizguerra was detained by ICE on 3/17/25 with the aim of deporting the well-known immigration activist and remains in custody at the ICE detention center in Aurora. Her case received some press attention and despite the charges against her, Vizguerra’s situation parallels that of many others who are struggling with a broken and now very punitive system of immigration in the USA particularly with the involvement of the militarized and extremely politicized ICE organization which is an extension of the failed and catastrophic “War on Terror” that is now being used to persecute thousands in America and is essentially a private army of the most corrupt president in US history employed to terrorize people living in America. So this show is a benefit for one of the most visible people targeted by ICE and will hopefully help to create a ripple effect of resistance to the wave of fascism and tyranny plaguing not just America but the world. For more information helping Vizguerra click on the link in the band names. Melodies Never Lie is the ambient indie pop shoegaze solo project of Isaac Rivera whose roots in Denver underground pop, experimental rock and avant-electro goes back two decades. Salads and Sunbeams is the finely honed psychedelic indiepop group from Denver whose members came up in the DIY world and the underground scene developing skills and aesthetics that incorporate classic songwriting methods with modern sensibilities. Mouth Cathedral creates gorgeously transporting, ethereal dream pop.

Saturday | 11.08
What: Hi-Dive 22 Year Anniversary Night 2: Glacial Tomb, Palehorse/Palerider, Mournful Ruin and Eagle Wing
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: This second night of the Hi-Dive anniversary celebration features music on the more heavy side. Glacial Tomb is a long-running death metal doom trio from Denver. Palehorse/Palerider makes a cinematic, unclassifiable heavy music that blends psychedelic, dark Americana and tribal post-punk. Mournful Ruin is more on the grindcore-influenced end of sludgy death metal. Eaglewing is a sort of throwback to early New Wave of British Heavy Metal sound akin to Judas Priest in moments and includes Yancy Green formerly of Aberrent and now of Roskopp.

Steven Lee Lawson, photo courtesy the artist

Saturday | 11.08
What: All Through the Night and Steven Lee Lawson
When: 3
Where: Mutiny Information Cafe
Why: All Through the Night is an Americana band that sounds like it makes music for a Jim Jarmusch film set in the highways and byways of Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming meaning moody, emotionally immediate and drawing from eclectic roots rather than a more traditional country or rock and roll base. Steven Lee Lawson is a brilliant songwriter, lyricist and multi-instrumentalist whose music is also tending toward an Americana sensibility but he clearly draws inspiration from the likes of Harry Nilsson and 60s psychedelia.

Ax and the Hatchetmen, photo courtesy the artists

Saturday | 11.08
What: Ax and The Hatchetmen w/Kids That Fly
When: 7
Where: The Marquis Theater
Why: Chicago-based Ax and The Hatchetmen haven’t been around long enough to have played the legendary Chicago venue Lounge Ax but its brand of melodic indie rock with elements of jangle-y psychedelia wouldn’t have been out of place had the club endured through to today. Though the band has been around since 2018 its debut album So Much to Tell You debuted on October 24 via Arista Records. But the group has had EPs and singles along the way and the whole early pandemic stretched everyone’s timelines a bit so this band had time to incubate and hone its songwriting. The new record showcases how the band is able to orchestrate diverse influences into a sound that feels like a blend of power pop, turn of the century New York post-punk, soul and garage rock.

Sunday | 11.09
What: Emergence w/Voicecoil and Absynthe of Faith
When: 8
Where: Club 404
Why: Emergence was one of the prominent EBM/industrial bands of the 2000s that went on hiatus toward the end of that decade. The band commanded large audiences at the time in Denver and toured nationally before splitting around 2005. In 2024 the core of the group with new collaborators reconvened to re-start Emergence with a new sound palette.

Tuesday | 11.11
What: Agriculture w/Rhododendron and Clarion Void
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Agriculture is the black metal band from Los Angeles whose sound struck a chord among fans of noise rock for its forays into wild sonic strangeness in its songs. The group’s new record The Spiritual Sound isn’t short on classic thrash style riffs and melodic breaks yet still feral rawness in the vocals and the erupting and imploding song dynamics and escalating sense of surreal hysteria. Agriculture is currently touring in support of its excellent new album The Spiritual Sound. Presumably Rhododendron is the experimental prog noise thrash band from Portland, Oregon and Clarion Void the death/blackened doom/sludge metal band from Colorado Springs.

Thursday | 11.13
What: Boris w/Cloakroom
When: 7
Where: The Gothic Theatre
Why: Boris is celebrating the 20 year anniversary of the release of its 2005 album Pink. The sprawling epic of a record was and still is a peak for the group in its complete disregard for needing to fit in with being a metal band, a shoegaze group, a heavy psych blues outfit, a noise project or post-rock. The sounds have grit and edge while simultaneously ethereal and uplifting and dense with tone and texture that swims and hurtles in often unpredictable directions. Pink sounds like it could have come out in the late 70s, the early 90s or in any of the most recent two decades and still come off as something mind-altering in its maximalist sonics. Opening is the Indiana-based heavy shoegaze band Cloakroom whose 2025 album The Last Leg of the Human Table proved it was capable of not only searing and transporting psychedelia but also pop hooks worthy of the best indie rock bands. Something about Cloakroom’s music feels like it’s coming from a near future science fiction universe where the world is both in deep civilizational decay and an underground cultural renaissance transmitting the kind of music we want to hear.

King Princess, photo by Connor Cunningham

Thursday | 11.13
What: King Princess w/spill tab
When: 7
Where: The Ogden Theatre
Why: King Princess has built a body of work that uses lush production and introspective lyrics to explore the nuances of personal psychology, social dynamics and relationships with creativity and sensitivity. The latest album Girl Violence and its masterful use of saturated synths, tonal processing and layers of atmospheric noise help to place the singer’s soulful vocals in settings that immerse the listener in the emotional moment of the song. It’s a bit of a journey of a record with contributions from Joe Talbot of IDLES fame.

Friday | 11.14
What: Underworld
When: 7
Where: The Fillmore Auditorium
Why: With the 1994 release of its landmark album Dubnobasswithmyheadman, Underworld helped to usher in an era of music fusing progressive house, techno, ambient, downtempo and psychedelic electronic music that proved influential on at least a generation of like-minded artists. The record is structured to be a little like experiencing the music at a rave with expert pacing and layers of rhythm and atmosphere to craft a sustained mood of sensuous transcendence. The duo’s latest album Strawberry Hotel (2024) is decidedly less dark and brooding than the aforementioned but still brimming with mysterious moods and the completely enveloping production one would hope to get from masters of the art.

Friday | 11.14
What: Kill You Club 8 year anniversary w/Nuxx, Puerta Negra, Lazer Bullet and Severed Reality
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Kill You Club has been bringing some of the most interesting and cutting edge darkwave/Goth-adjacent bands to Denver for several years now. The kinds of artists the more traditional Goth scene seems to bypass and be unaware exists until a half decade or more later. Possibly because Brian Castillo has his finger on the pulse of what’s cool in that realm of music whether the more electronic end or the post-punk acts that are pushing the boundaries of what that music has been. Headlining this night is the edgy, synthwave punk/industrial trip hop artist Nuxx.

Friday | 11.14
What: Felly w/Breakup Shoes and Lady Denim
When: 7
Where: Fox Theatre
Why: Felly released his latest album Ambroxyde in June further solidifying his reputation as an artist who can take the gentle and delicate and turn it into something feels like it has some emotional substance even as his vocals are often bordering on the ethereal. The title track sounds like it coalesced out of the surrounding weather and that’s a feeling you get from the new album. It’s like something that feels instantly comfortable yet able to build in energy and enthusiasm without losing a sense of intimacy. It makes the music impossible to simply dismiss as another indie folk thing as the songwriting itself is more lush and sophisticated than appears on the surface.

Suzanne Ciani in 2023, photo by Tom Murphy

Saturday | 11.15
What: Suzanne Ciani w/Clarice Jensen
When: 7
Where: Central Presbyterian Church
Why: Suzanne Ciani is an innovator in synthesizer music composition with an influential career spanning more than fifty years. Her work, musical and sound effects, has been featured on soundtracks, television and in a pinball machine game called Xenon. In the 1980s her compositions became associated with new age music and by extension modern ambient. Ciani in recent years seems to have expanded her live performance itinerary and her 2023 appearance at this same venue showcased her gift for imaginative soundscaping on a large format with an inherent sense of play in the performance and songcraft.

Saturday | 11.15
What: Broken Record album release w/Precocious Neophyte and Safekeeper
When: 8
Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Room
Why: Broken Record is a Denver-based band that formed after singer/guitarist Lauren Beecher and bassist Corey Fruin moved to the Mile High City from Connecticut in 2017. Both had roots in the underground and DIY scene in and around New Haven and in forming Broken Record around some material Beecher had been working on what emerged was music that reflected the influence of punk and hardcore, certainly in the ethos of the group, as well as the atmospheric melodic qualities of The Cure. If you caught the band early on you might be excused to hearing in the music a touch of Hüsker Dü’s emotionally rich and fierce yet gentle aesthetic. The fledgling outfit found a home in the local hardcore scene and played early shows with the likes of then relatively newly founded bands like Destiny Bond and Ukko’s Hammer. And yet Broken Record never seemed out of place even though the catharsis of its music wasn’t formed from the same set of sounds but the emotional core of the songwriting shared a similar vulnerability and intelligence in expressing emotion with a keen sensitivity in the language of emotionally charged rock music.

The quartet released its debut full-length I Died Laughing on April 24, 2020 and of course could not tour around the record due to the global pandemic. But on that album one hears the knack for melodic jangle and shimmer embedded into earnestly energetic hooks with the expert pacing and Beecher’s warmly thoughtful vocals that strike the perfect emotional coloring for songs that are often poignantly melancholic and always deeply observant. For the 2023 album Nothing Moves Me the songwriting seemed to experiment further with tone and style incorporating delicately minimal guitar leads and triumphant choruses while seeming to be able to mine the more interesting ends of adolescent angst as a lens by which to understand the sometimes disillusioning aspects of adulthood. Like an entire record of what your teenage self might have to say about your current adult self. The 2025 album Routine and its cover of suburban American would-be normalcy takes the band’s established themes further to seemingly comment with great insight into the compromises and perils of navigating life in late capitalism and how that can cast a pall over your life if you’re not equipped to find some meaning in a socioeconomic environment seemingly designed to erode your joy and ability to live a full and dignified life. But also on the album the band seems to find the threads of psychic resistance to it all in creative acts and writing songs that feel like a shaking off of the gloom with music that feels like an expression of basic human solidarity.

The Green Typewriters, photo by Tom Murphy

Saturday | 11.15
What: The Green Typewriters, Mr. Pacman and Pythian Whispers
When: 7
Where: Feldman Mortuary
Why: A rare show at a mortuary in Denver with psychedelic, experimental indie pop group The Green Typewriters. The band’s songs seem to stem from philosophical concepts as projected through the lens of analog human experience and emotions. Mr. Pacman is visionary blend of synthwave and punk with performance costumes like video game characters. Pythian Whispers is a psychedelic ambient cinematic noise prog band.

Cap’N Jazz, photo from the Polyvinyl Records website

Saturday | 11.15
What: Cap’N Jazz w/Rainer Maria
When: 7
Where: The Summit Music Hall
Why: Cap’N Jazz only released one full-length album, 1995’s Burritos, Inspiration Point, Fork Balloon Sports, Cards in the Spokes, Automatic Biographies, Kites, Kung Fu, Trophies, Banana Peels We’ve Slipped On, and Egg Shells We’ve Tippy Toed Over – often called Shmap’n Shmazz. But that record proved to be a template for a realm of math rock, emo and indie rock in all its messy and frenetic glory and its core of earnest emotions seemingly unleashed at once across twelve songs in thirty-one minutes, ten seconds. It sure wasn’t for everyone because those more into pristine arrangements and established, classic pop/rock songwriting structure and sounds probably found it just completely amateurish—which is an essential part of its appeal for others. When the group split in 1995 its members went on to groups like The Promise Ring, American Football, Joan of Arc and Make Believe. Cap’N Jazz has reunited a few times since it first broke up but this is its first wider tour since the 90s and along for this journey is Rainer Maria whose own poetic emo/space rock sound seems to resonate with the emo and shoegaze fusion that has been bubbling in the past several years.

Tuesday | 11.18
What: Brighde Chaimbeul
When: 8
Where: The Bug Theatre
Why: Brighde Chaimbeul is a Scottish musician who grew up in a musical family and herself learned fiddle and piano before setting out to play the smallpipes and bagpipe for which she is perhaps most well-known these days. She has worked with experimental pop artist Caroline Polacek and composer Colin Stetson and she recently released her latest album Sunwise. It is a rousing journey of a record that establishes a strong mood with drone and folk minimalism. It helps to expand the aesthetics of ambient with a profound sense of place through unconventional instrumentation for a sound one immediately associates with that broad genre of musical experience. It has a folkloric feel like the sense one gets when watching the 1970s films of John Boorman. It’s a deep record and one whose songs performed live are sure to mesmerize in this rare performance at one of Denver’s premier venues for the avant-garde as presented by Creative Music Works.

PORTUGAL. THE MAN, photo by Nathan Perkel

Tuesday and Wednesday | 11.18 and 11.19
What: PORTUGAL. THE MAN w/Ya Tseen
When: 7 both nights
Where: Fox Theatre (11.18) and Mission Ballroom (11.19)
Why: PORTUGAL. THE MAN has offered plenty of left field indie/psychedelic/hard rock/punk over the years with a body of work that is immediately identifiable if not so easy to pigeonhole into a simple marketing category. In 2025 the band has released one of its albums in its 21 years with Shish. The record is an endearing and at turns entrancingly melodic and harrowingly intense tribute the band’s home state of Alaska and the search for meaning not just in an edge of the world place like Alaska but in the tentative state of the world in general perhaps as embodied in the challenges of living in a place that is often so isolated and laden with snow. Jack London would certainly recognize what PORTUGAL. THE MAN is putting out there on Shish.

Wednesday | 11.19
What: The Beths w/Phoebe Rings
When: 7
Where: The Ogden Theatre
Why: The Beths are an acclaimed power pop band with a noteworthy career offering memorable songs often informed by a euphoric sense of joy in the performance even when the subject matter waxes heavy. But there’s something different about where the music is coming from partly because the group hails Auckland, New Zealand and its members have backgrounds in jazz. So the intricacy and attention to the delicacy of the performances comes off as natural and confident and fans of Kiwi rock in general and C86-era indiepop will immediately connect with its music. The band is currently touring behind its new album Straight Line Was a Lie which is rich with heartfelt lyrics, unconventional hooks and a keen ear for small sonic details that make the songs linger with you.

Diles Que No Me Maten, photo by Tom Murphy

Wednesday | 11.19
What: Diles Que No Me Maten, Pink Lady Monster and Sunswept
When: 7
Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Room
Why: Diles Que No Me Maten from Mexico City is a band that on the surface is an odd psychedelic rock band with roots in Krautrock. But a closer listen and witnessing a live performance reveals the group seems to be coming from a background/interests in No Wave, experimental poetry and the more odd post-punk of The Fall with vocals that are part singing and part spoken word. So a good fit with Denver No Wave funk poetry weirdos Pink Lady Monster and the avant-folk psychedelia of Sunswept.

Juliet Mission in 2015, photo by Tom Murphy

Friday | 11.28
What: Juliet Mission, In A Darkened Room and Redwing Blackbird
When: 8
Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Room
Why: Juliet Mission is the secretly great shoegaze/alternative rock band from Denver with one of its bonafide guitar heroes Doug Seaman who among other projects was and still is in influential alternative rock band Sympathy F. Tony Morales from that group is also in Juliet Mission and its exquisite soundscapes and emotionally expansive songs are rooted in Denver’s long tradition of moody, atmospheric rock partly in helping to establish that sound inspired by late nights and the former sprawl of urban decay inviting the imagination to project one’s dreams upon forgotten and neglected spaces. Redwing Blackbird is a darkwave band more in the vein of The Cure with the sparkling guitar jangle and mastery of melodic tone.

Saturday | 11.29
What: Malkasian – Heavy Blues album release, Riff Dealer and A Strange Happening
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Malkasian released its latest album Heavy Blues on October 22, 2025 but you can get a copy of the vinyl at this show. The band could be described as heavy, psychedelic blues rock but it is weirder than that simple designation suggests. The vibe with its references to the occult and, um, “Long Pig,” suggest that the title of its previous album Macabre wasn’t just a throwaway descriptor. The mood is reminiscent of the 1989, spooky debut album by stoner rock pioneers Masters of Reality. A Strange Happening must be friends of someone in one of the other bands but even if not its own ambitious alternative pop songwriting and high concept storytelling in an Neil Young-esque gone indie rock vein is strong recommendation in itself.