Tag: Gift

Thursday | 05.01
What: YHWH Nailgun w/Morgan Garrett
When: 7
Where: Globe Hall
Why: YHWH Nailgun is an experimental rock band from NYC whose deep experimentations with rhythm and texture lends its 2025 album 45 Pounds an industrial intensity and No Wave menace. Mostly percussion and low end frequencies, electronic production and desperate vocals it’s unlike much of anything else going on unless you’re well versed in 2000s left field and industrial post-punk or Orange Milk artists like opener Morgan Garrett who deconstruct rock music to create something daring, strikingly original and whose music stirs the imagination.

Friday | 05.02
What: Deerhoof w/Decollage and Wheelchair Sports Camp
When: 7
Where: Bluebird Theater
Why: Across its 31 years of existence Deerhoof has proven that you can have some consistency and still largely reinvent yourself as a band as you absorb and process and shed aspects of influence along the way while building your own world of musical imagination. Every one of Deerhoof’s now 20 full length albums and assorted other releases are worth diving deep into and getting lost in the wonderfully psychedelic pop and noise prog and indie jazz funk or whatever Deerhoof is manifesting in any particular song in a style that sounds like genre collage yet entirely their own. The new record Noble and Godlike in Ruin is refreshingly unlike any of its previous albums except that it plays with familiar elements in new ways while incorporating aspects of cinematic composition and ambient classical at times while embracing noisiness and “imperfections” yet perfect for embodying a unique creative vision that is not in line with any prevailing musical trends meaning Deerhoof does what it wants with consistently fascinating results across the album. Decollage is a psychedelic pop band from Denver in the vein of a more synth-drive of Montreal. Wheelchair Sports Camp is the legendary, experimental, free-jazz inflected hip-hop group from Denver who manage to employ humor in addressing serious social and personal issues without downplaying the impacts of social injustice.

Friday | 05.02
What: Jill Sobule – canceled
When: 7
Where: Swallow Hill
Why: Jill Sobule was born in Denver and made her mark in popular music with the release of her 1995 self-titled album and the hit single “I Kissed a Girl” with a prominent appearance in the film Clueless along with the song “Supermodel” from the same album. The undeniable pop hooks and lighthearted flair made the songwriter’s music of that time popular in the waning days of alternative rock. Sobule’s 1997 follow-up Happy Town found the songwriter experimenting much more with sounds and songwriting styles as well as more overt and sharp social commentary on conservative culture, homophobia and medicated conformity to a society in which “normal” is defined by an outward facing cheeriness. The failure of the record to sell as many as her previous release got Sobule dropped from her label but looking back the artist seems to be completely vindicated as it was clearly a creative success and the music holds up far better than most alternative music of the same time, resonating with themes and expressed in a way still very relevant today. Fortunately, Sobule has continued to release records informed by a poignant personal insight and thoughtful cultural examination. The singer-songwriter will be releasing F*ck 7th Grade, the cast recording of her autobiographical musical of the same name later this spring but at this show you’ll likely get to witness some of that music as well as Sobule’s signature wit and poetic insight. Tragically Jill Sobule passed away on 5/1/25.

Saturday | 05.03
What: Cabaret Grey: Plague Garden, Ronnie Stone, Hex Cassette and Healing
When: 7
Where: The Crypt
Why: This is the official Arcane Vampire Ball (Sunday, May 4, at The Church) pre-party. This event will feature live music from Denver post-punk/deathrock band Plague Garden that recently released its latest album Under the Sanguine Moon. With synth-infused atmospherics and robust guitar sounds, Plague Garden is refreshingly different from the cookie cutter modern post-punk bands with spindly guitar tones. Ronnie Stone & the Lonely Riders made a splash among the synthwave/darkwave synthpop world in 2015 with the Møtorcycle Yearbook LP by sounding not just like some restro synth band but one capable of tapping into that decade’s fusion of styles among pop bands with post-punk and R&B often being in the same mix. Then Ronnie Stone basically disappeared from making new music until 2024’s Ride Again with some more underground rave music sounds as an influence that fans of Nuovo Testamento will appreciate. Hex Cassette is the intense and often hyperkinetic one-man synthwave Satanic cult performance art whose beats are irresistible and enveloping. Healing is the synth punk/EBM dance act from Cincinnati, Ohio.

Saturday | 05.03
What: Chella & The Charm w/The Blue Rider and Honey Blazer
When: 8
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Chella & The Charm is releasing its new EP Happy Hour, a celebration of the social connections we take for granted at our usual hangouts and how that camaraderie can help to sustain us in especially rough times. Like now. Like the months and years to come. The situations from which we need a respite even if those times don’t hit us as life changing in the moment. With resonant songwriting and warmly crafted and insightfully observant lyrics, the new EP transcends the Americana realm of music with which the band is most often associated. The Blue Rider is a psychedelic garage rock band in the mold of something from the 1960s but informed by modern, experimental music sensibilities. Honey Blazer taps into 1970s cosmic country and 2010’s psychedelic rock for a sound with a feel like it is coming from hidden oasis of American culture and social infrastructure where people can work minimal jobs and thrive still able to make art and make time for each other aka a place you’d want to visit.

Monday | 05.05
What: LEYA w/Polly Urethane
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: LEYA is a Brooklyn-based duo whose music doesn’t fit in neatly into the realms of modern classical and experimental pop because its tonal choices and moods fit a more archaic form of liturgical music with harps alongside ethereal electronic production and falsetto vocals. Its 2024 album I Forget Everything indulges touches of discordant sounds and unsettling moods. Think something like Philip Glass collaborating with Anohni. Denver’s Polly Urethane is pretty much the only artist in the Mile High City that makes sense for this bill with her own heterodox musical styles weaving together classical and medieval composition, industrial ambient, hypnogogic pop and confrontational performance art paired with strikingly commanding vocals.

Wednesday | 05.07
What: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
When: 7
Where: Mission Ballroom
Why: If you’ve paid attention to modern music for the past four decades plus the name of Nick Cave looms large because of his groundbreaking work with The Birthday Party, Grinderman and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds among other projects. He’s an icon and an enigma whose body of work is consistently rewarding and insightful in the ways the human mind can get caught up in collective mythology and individual obsession, in love and the depths of despair and contemplating the multitude of human experiences. And you’d think this far into his career he might be coasting a little but Cave’s past more than decade of studio albums is among the most creatively realized of his entire career including 2024’s Wild God which unlike his previous three records, deep meditations, seemingly, on despair, loss and rediscovering a will to go on and find meaning and vitality. Some of the latter peeks through in expressions of joy on the new album while never indulging in mere feel good insipidity. Cave is also among the greatest front people to ever do it and worth seeing for that alone.

Wednesday | 05.07
What: LOOLOWNINGEN & The Far East Idiots w/Moon Pussy and Cherry Spit
When: 7:30
Where: Skylark Lounge Bobcat Club
Why: LOOLOWNINGEN & The Far East Idiots are a prog-post-punk-art rock band from Tokyo whose sound is an unlikely combination of something like Happy End, Fishmans and an arty psychedelic garage prog group. Denver noise rock luminaries Moon Pussy and Cherry Spit are opening the show so there will be no down side beginning to end.

Saturday | 05.10
What: Jandek
When: 7
Where: Aztlan Theater
Why: Jandek aka Sterling Smith might be described as lo-fi outsider blues whose cult following may not be gigantic but is in itself influential. It’s hard to compare his music to that of other artists because it’s so enigmatic yet accessible. Like something out of a similar stew that spawned Les Rallizes Denudes, The Fugs and the solo work of Skip Spence and Syd Barret. Minimal, spare, haunted and intimate stuff completely unadorned by the kind of commercial ambition that ruins a lot of music. Jandek put out some 36 albums before any documented evidence of a live performance before 2004 but since then has occasionally played unannounced or shows promoted largely by word of mouth or minimal press including a 2008 performance at Denver at The Bug Theater with local musicians in the experimental scene backing his spidery sketches of guitar work and vocals. This might be that or whatever it is it’ll be worth going to see to catch one of the few underground legends left that doesn’t smear the world with self-promoting ego assertion.

Sunday | 05.11
What: Stereo MC’s w/The Casual Sound DJs and guest
When: 7
Where: The Oriental Theater
Why: Stereo MC’s aren’t from Manchester but coming about in the second half of the 80s and into alternative music prominence in the early 90s its unique brand of hip-hop and DJ/house/techno culture music sounded in that pocket in their own style. The 1992 hit “Connected’ was ubiquitous at the time and yet has aged a lot better than music of the era that got a ton of airplay with its soulful vocals and irresistible beat and it didn’t hurt that the band had a live drummer. Opening/between sets are The Casual Sound DJs including Tyler Jacobson and Jake Ryan who spin Brit-Pop classics, shoegaze, baggy and likely a heaping of Madchester music too.

Sunday | 05.11
What: Seun Kuti & Egypt 80
When: 7
Where: Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom
Why: Seun Kuti is the youngest son of Afrobeat’s biggest star and cultural and political figure Fela Kuti. When Fela passed in 1997 Seun came to lead the band Egypt 80. As a saxophonist, vocalist and activist Kuti has continued his father’s legacy in not only writing uplifting and politically-informed songs he has also been vocal in his support for human rights at home and abroad. This tour is in support of his latest album with the band Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head) produced by Lenny Kravitz with a 2025 deluxe edition coming soon. Live Kuti is a commanding figure who masterfully weaves storytelling with dance and a rich tapestry of live music the demonstrates the continued vitality of the Afrobeat sound and how it has absorbed and influenced other styles across decades.

Monday | 05.12
What: Allison Russell w/Kara Jackson
When: 7
Where: Gothic Theatre
Why: Allison Russell is an acclaimed singer/songwriter, poet and multiinstrumentalist from Montreal who has made a name for herself for her emotionally vibrant vocals and keen ear for evocative musical detail and soulful live performances in her bands Po’ Girl and Birds of Chicago and most recently as a solo artist. Russell’s songs frequently take on cultural and psychological binaries and the oppression and destructiveness that people perpetrate in the world and on themselves. Her recent single “Superlovers” with vocal contributions from Annie Lennox is a tender song of yearning for a power of love to help the world to overcome the will to hate, war and genocide and to cultivate the strength to face tough issues with compassion and fortitude.

Tuesday | 05.13
What: Magdalena Bay w/Sam Austins
When: 7
Where: Ogden Theatre
Why: Magdalena Bay’s 2024 album Imaginal Disk is a leap forward for the synth pop band. Its tones more lush, its science fiction concepts more fully realized as a fusion of a retro technological object with a human being as a vehicle for self actualization but rejected in favor of embracing one’s humanity and inborn consciousness. The live performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last year revealed a band that had begun to develop its theatrical stage show for tour behind Mercurial World and is now in the realm of a pop band version of those early 1970s Genesis live shows with costumes and ambitious art rock but in this case pop. But the music speaks for itself and the duo’s entrancing melodies and finely crafted arrangements ensure the stage performance enhances well-crafted songs rather than overshadows them.

Tuesday | 05.13
What: Mayday Parade w/Microwave, Grayscale, Like Roses
When: 6
Where: Gothic Theatre
Why: Mayday Parade emerged from Tallahassee, Florida in 2005 when Kid Named Chicago and Defining Moment merged and became one of the era’s most noteworthy acts in the realm of pop punk and emo. Its debut album 2007’s A Lesson in Romantics is not just a favorite of fans but an acclaimed pop punk record with anthemic songs about coming of age and the dramatic frustrations that most people experience while they’re still figuring out who they are. The group released its latest album Sweet on April 18, 2025. Currently Mayday Parade is on the Three Cheers for 20 Years tour and performing not just selections from the new album but tracks beloved by its fans and some deep cuts across its career for good measure.

Wednesday | 05.14
What: Beach House w/Cass McCombs (solo)
When: 7
Where: Mission Ballroom
Why: Beach House is the well-known dream pop and shoegaze band from Baltimore, Maryland that came up in that city’s fertile indie scene of the mid-2000s before releasing its self-titled debut in 2006. Since then the duo has established a cult following for its intimate sound, expansive melodies and immersive live shows. Even early on when the group was playing small clubs it put in the effort to give those who came a sense of something more than just a band on stage playing songs. Victoria Legrand’s expressive and soulful vocals help to center music that invites listeners to drift into a state of reverie and contemplation. Beginning in 2016 James Barone, a drummer, bassist, producer and engineer based in Denver, joined the Beach House fold and added an element of something different to the band including an expanded rhythmic finesse. The group’s most recent album Once Twice Melody was the first written by all three members of the band and its lush, orchestral beauty makes it one of the most fully-realized of the band’s career to date.

Wednesday | 05.14
What: Rilo Kiley w/Benjamin Gibbbard
When: 6
Where: Red Rocks
Why: Rilo Kiley were darlings of early modern indie rock although they mostly played small clubs on early tours including a few shows in Denver at the venerable, legendary and defunct 15th St. Tavern. The earnest and genuinely clever lyrics on the early Rilo Kiley records were a change from a lot of what was happening in rock music of the time because it felt raw and truthful like an unvarnished emotional truth presented in the kind of song that could both make the messaging seem easier to take without watering down the impact. The group continued to refine its songwriting to great effect but then split in 2013. Jenny Lewis of course might be much more well known than her old band at this point but Rilo Kiley announced its reunion in 2025 with a tour including this date at Red Rocks, a venue it was never big enough to command in its first iteration but that is just a testament to its legacy as one of the best indie rock bands in the development of that music into a recognizable form. Opening act Benjamin Gibbard people may know as the singer for some group called Death Cab For Cutie whose own solo career is not short on worthwhile material.

Wednesday | 05.14
What: Peter, Bjorn and John
When: 7
Where: Bluebird Theater
Why: Peter Bjorn and John are currently touring playing their 2006 landmark album Writer’s Block, the record that basically broke the Swedish trio to an international audience. The songs from the album are about the peaks and valleys of being in a relationship but paired with the kind of noise pop and psychedelic rock that became a core sound of indie rock over the next decade. The hit single “Young Folks” is truly one of the great singles of the 2000s that you’ll still hear in public space playlists and on radio stations that play pop music of the past two decades. Of course the band will perform music from across its fine career but something about Writer’s Block still makes it a standout record of enduring appeal and a testament to the group’s continuing talent.

Thursday | 05.15
What: The Gang of Four w/Colfax Speed Queen
When: 7
Where: Gothic Theatre
Why: Gang of Four are the legendary post-punk band from Leeds, UK that alchemically blended funk, punk, conceptual art rock and left politics into a potent blend that was ferocious and had some swing to its angular musical constructions. The classic lineup of Jon King, Hugo Burnham, Andy Gill and Dave Allen produced some of the most memorable and incisive post-punk in the history of that music. That lineup split in 1984 but the band has returned to operation now and then over the years with King, Burnham, Gill and Allen touring extensively again in 2005 and showcasing the raw power of the band and its still relevant and enduring music. This tour is purportedly the group’s last. Gill passed away in 2020 just before the pandemic and Allen died in April 2025. But the group has tapped former L7 and Belly bassist Gail Greenwood and Ted Leo on guitar so not the original or even the version with Dave Pajo but likely worth making it out to see.

Thursday | 05.15
What: Sasami w/Mood Killer
When: 7
Where: Larimer Lounge
Why: Sasami’s 2022 album Squeeze was a surprise entry of experimental industrial metal for an artist more known for atmospheric indie rock and dream pop. Her new album Blood on the Silver Screen has a title like an even more extreme manifestation of her songwriting. Instead it’s a collection of indie pop explorations of the way love operates in our loves and how deal with various aspects of romantic relationships and the aftermath when it doesn’t work out or not the way we though it would in the beginning. The album feels like the songwriter was capturing the specific headspace and writing a song that would articulate the emotions that course through you.

Friday | 05.16
What: Panda Bear and Toro Y Moi w/Kassie Krut
When: 7
Where: The Fillmore Auditorium
Why: Panda Bear released his new album Sinister Grift in February 2025. Likely the album was written and finalized long before it went public but the title sure does capture the moment and sinking sense of doom and civilization being on the precipice that anyone with any sense of reality and moral conscience has felt for some time but perhaps most acutely now. There is plenty of grift in the American government at the highest levels with too many parts of society getting in on the action and it can feel completely hopeless. The record though it’s deeply melodic and feels like an attempt at musical self soothing it does little to hide a shared feeling of doomerism and trying to hold it together and weather this worst of recent timelines. Panda Bear is perhaps best known for his membership in influential art pop group Animal Collective but his body of work under his own name and in collaboration with the likes of Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3 fame has consistently been a rewarding listen and for this tour he co-headlines with foundational chillwave artist-turned-art funk pop artist Toro Y Moi. Both excel at incorporating the multi-media element into the live show so this will likely be a feast for the ears and eyes.

Friday | 05.16
What: The Black Angels w/Gift
When: 8
Where: Gothic Theatre
Why: Austin’s The Black Angels were early adopters of the style of psychedelic rock that would go on to become more popular in a tamed form in the 2010s. The Black Angels, though, have consistently put out interesting records across its entire career experimenting with form and content and recording methods and themes always with the kind of aesthetic that resonates with its counterculture influences. The band also initiated the Austin Psych Fest which has turned into Levitation championing psychedelic and left field music internationally with remarkable lineups with each iteration of the event. The live shows are a great example of what psychedelic rock can be when the artists lean into the mind-altering possibilities of music rather than aiming for an established genre.

St. Vincent | 05.16
What: St. Vincent w/Black Country, New Road
When: 7
Where: Mission Ballroom
Why: St. Vincent is probably considered by many to be an indie rock artist because her early work was a fine example of what that music could be with some imagination and artistic ambition behind it but even an album like 2009’s Actor was virtually a concept album that explored ideas of identity and the influence of mediated images on culture and the collective psyche. In 2024 St. Vincent released All Born Screaming, a record of uncommon vulnerability in which Annie Clark brought to bear her accumulated songwriting and production skills to craft immersive emotional soundscapes in which she invites listeners to share in a likely resonant experience of living with and honoring heartbreaking loss and finding a way to persevere when one’s world threatens to overwhelm our capacity to do so. Black Country, New Road is the UK band that has found a way to fuse Americana-infused psychedelia with art rock ambition and an ear for production and eclectic sound palettes.

Friday | 05.16
What: INTHEWHALE w/Hellgrammites and Musuji
When: 7
Where: The Oriental Theater
Why: This is the final INTHEWHALEshow in Denver. The duo comprised of Nate Valdez and Eric Riley started off in 2010 as a cross between a sludge rock and punk band whose sound anticipated the embrace of 90s grunge and alternative rock in the late 2010s and beyond. The group made a name for itself locally and far afield when they would take short tours every week or every month due to the freedom of their work situations. The raw energy of the band and its knack for writing tuneful rock songs that yes had songs about partying and being young and rocking but also sensitive songs about mental health issues, mortality and the fraught social landscape that is America.

Friday | 05.16
What: Bison Bone EP release w/The Patti Fiasco
When: 8
Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Club
Why: Bison Bone is celebrating the release of its new, 3-song EP Lean with this performance. The new set of songs are about partnerships of various kinds: romantic, friendship and other associations in which commitment enriches the experience for all involved. Courtney Whitehead’s spare yet heartfelt and poetic lyrics are delivered with the essential sentiments emphasized and the style of country rock the band has offered from the beginning is warm, commanding and inviting all at once with performances reflecting and embodying this aesthetic perfectly.

Saturday | 05.17
What: Momma w/Wishy
When: 8
Where: The Marquis Theater
Why: With the release of its fourth album Welcome to My Blue Sky, Momma has, like Wednesday, shown that one can pair raw and resonant tales of everyday life with brashly expansive, deeply atmospheric and transporting melodies. Sparkly and gritty guitar work and introspective but emotionally-charged vocals are at the core of the music but Momma shows a command of processing all of those sounds with creative use of processing and effects with great variety serving perfectly the moment in each song. The video for the title track to the new album was filmed in Yerington, Nevada, a small town that guitarist and vocalist Etta Friedman is from and shows a side of America that many will identify immediately and feel a sense of fond remembrance. Wishy from Indianapolis is a great pairing on the bill with its own shoegaze-adjacent indiepop and touring behind its own new release Planet Popstar.

Saturday | 05.17
What: SPELLLING w/Ramakhandra
When: 7
Where: Bluebird Theater
Why: SPELLLING has been creating orchestral, soulful experimental pop across several albums now including 2025’s Portrait of My Heart. The new album sounds like a glorious, long lost art rock and R&B record of the 1980s but made with modern production sensibilities. Maybe it’s the crunchy power pop style guitar at points and the breezy rhythms reminiscent of something you might hear on a Missing Persons album. But at the center is Tia Cabral’s commanding vocals seemingly unfurling vivid synth washes and beautiful sustained guitar melodies. Opening is art prog psych funk band from Denver Ramakhandra returning after too long a hiatus.

Monday | 05.19
What: The Effigies w/Battle Sights and Shitdrugs
When: 7
Where: HQ
Why: The Effigies were one of the earliest of Chicago’s punk bands in a city that was apparently late to adopt that cultural and musical earthquake in the mid-to-late-70s. And from the beginning the band was different. It played with the guitar tones to be more sharp and atmospheric, the rhythms more outside of standard rock ideas and in general despite its aggressive energy was more of a post-punk band in terms of its thoughtful lyrics and sonics. It was more like an American Killing Joke but without the synthesizer. Tragically singer John Kezdy died in a crash while riding his bicycle in 2023 but the group released the final album in 2024 and honoring the legacy with this tour.

Friday | 05.23
What: Florist w/Allegra Krieger
When: 7
Where: The Perplexiplex at Meow Wolf Convergence Station
Why: Brooklyn-based indie folk band Florist released its latest album Jellywish via Double Double Whammy. This time around the songs have a pastoral and at times elegiac quality. The lyrics explore the deep essences of existential meaning and the significance of our lives in themselves separate from the destructive comparisons that we’re encouraged to make by culture. The instrumentation is delicate and spare, mostly acoustic guitar, piano and almost ambient electronic backgrounds with the gentle texture of field recordings. It’s a quiet music that moves profoundly because it trickles into your psyche in the listening.

Friday | 05.23
What: Elephant Rifle, Gaytheist, Almanac Man and Chew Thru
When: 8
Where: The Skylark Lounge Bobcat Club
Why: Elephant Rifle is a noise rock band from Reno, Nevada that combines angular, aggressive energy with mutated atmospheric edges and wonderfully pointed, socially critical lyrics. Gaytheist is the queercore noise rock juggernaut from Portland, Oregon. Almanac Man from Denver is equal parts DC post-hardcore and post-metal sludge with their own brand of harshing on the excesses of late capitalism. Chew Thru from Denver is post-hardcore thrash that definitely sounds like it draws inspiration from late 80s crossover and The Melvins.

Sunday | 05.25
What: Horse Jumper of Love w/Roseville and Precocious Neophyte
When: 7
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Boston’s Horse Jumper of Love has created for itself a small cult following for its style of slow-moving-dramatic atmospheric art rock. At times moody and intense but always evolving in the tenor of the song, the music of Horse Jumper of Love has been dubbed slowcore but it’s noisier than most of that realm of music and more given to the jagged break into cathartic transcendence. Its latest album 2024’s Disaster Trick includes contributions from Karly Hartzman of Wednesday fame.

Tuesday | 05.27
What: Napalm Death and Melvins
When: 7
Where: Summit Music Hall
Why: Napalm Death is of course the foundational, always evolving grindcore band from the UK. Since its 1981 inception as more of an anarcho punk band into darker, starker post-punk the group by the mid-90s had developed an extreme form of guitar rock with blast beats that has proven influential and open enough to influences that the band never got stuck doing the same sound and style endlessly across its career. The group throughout the 90s incorporated elements of death metal, shoegaze, progressive rock and later into the 2000s, industrial aesthetics and all the way Napalm Death has had an especially incisive run of commentary on the state of the world as an anti-fascist, anti-authoritarian band. Melvins have exerted an immense influence after launching itself in the early 80s in 1983 but in Montesano, Washington and carving out the foundations of sludge metal and doom while infusing it all with punk attitude and an irreverent attitude toward standard rock conventions. It influenced grunge and a whole host of stoner rock and extreme metal throughout the 90s but also embraced its own version of experimental music. How many “sludge” bands would cover Throbbing Gristle? And much as Napalm Death every Melvis album is worth a listen because the band has tried something different with every record, and every tour for that matter, to keep itself from getting bored with the music. Its 2025 album Thunderball is more melodic and psychedelic than the band has been in awhile, maybe more than it ever has been without sacrificing the sonic intensity that is the reason one checks in on the band.

Friday | 05.30
What: Still Loud! A Celebration of Michael McGrath featuring Pink Mountaintops, Rowboat, Peter, Paul & Gary and Porlolo
When: 6
Where: The Oriental Theater
Why: Michael McGrath is among the best live music photographers ever based out of Denver and one of the most active shooting a broad spectrum of styles and always seeming to capture the choice action shot or dramatic expressiveness of the artists. He captures the essence. With a career spanning at least three decades, McGrath is a constant presence in the photo pit and at clubs and not just as a documentarian but as a fan of the music which is what sets his work apart from other skilled photogs in the field. He was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and under treatment and this show is a fundraiser to help him cover the costs of his treatment and while needing the time off to take care of everything. For this occasion renowned solo psychedelic rock act Pink Mountaintops will perform as well as Denver artists such as experimental folk/psychedelic rock band Rowboat and indie rock phenoms Porlolo.

Friday and Saturday | 05.30 and 05.31
What: Lafayette Electronic Arts Festival
When: 6:30
Where: Founders Hall of the Center For Musical Arts
Why: The Lafayette Electronic Arts Festival focuses on artists that combine music, multi-media/multi-disciplinary presentation and innovative theoretical practice. This year’s edition includes performances across two nights. On Friday night there is Ian Hatcher, L’Astra Cosmo and Shapes of Emergence.
Saturday will feature once again Ian Hatcher but with Spices Peculiar, Mark Mosher, Jason & Debora Bernagozzi. Mark Mosher is one of the founders of the Rocky Mountain Synth Meet-Up and this year his show is titled “Beautiful Tomorrows: Temporal Odyssey” that blends techno music and this usual dazzling synchornized visuals representing four months of work set in a fictional temporal theme park with journeys inspired by classic science fiction television programs. For more information on the festival and other artists on the bill for both nights, visit the link above.

Saturday | 05.31
What: Ministry (Twitch and With Sympathy) w/My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult and Die Krupps
When: 6:30
Where: Mission Ballroom
Why: For years Al Jourgensen said he would never perform Ministry music previous to The Land of Rape and Honey but in recent times he’s let up on that restriction and this tour will include live versions of music from the first two albums. But you also get to see bands who were pivotal to the growth and development of industrial music as we know it in the campy-yet-charismatic and colorful My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult and German industrial and EBM pioneers Die Krupps.

To Be Continued…