The Swayback’s Eric Halborg rocked the holiday spirit — and drank a few holiday spirits — at his Bluebird Theater show on Tuesday. Photos by Brian Carney.
If there is a God, he must hate Christmas.
At the very least, he’d hate that Christmas is the one time of the year when we pretend that we don’t treat each other like dogs. It’s all about goodwill toward men, peace on Earth and “Be a good little boy or Santa is going to drop a deuce in your [...]

William Topley was loving his acoustic guitar on Sunday when he played the Bluebird Theater for a second night. Photos by Tina Hagerling.
William Topley kept it sweet and simple at the Bluebird on Sunday.
On the heels of his sold-out Saturday performance, the British baritone and his three-piece line-up delivered another unplugged set — featuring the likes of “Delta Rain” and “The Ring,” along with a few new ones crafted for the acoustic format. The rowdy crowd ate up every minute of it, and they would [...]

Hot IQs frontman Eli Mishkin — seen here with members of the Team Firefox dance troupe – was a powerful presence at his band’s holiday show at the Bluebird Theater on Friday. Photos by Matt Schild.
When Hot IQs frontman Eli Mishkin was asked by The Post about the appeal of an annual holiday show, he responded: “Holiday lights are sparkly and shiny things. We like shiny things.”
They like shiny things alright — like shiny, catchy power pop, smart titles and lyrics and a local following [...]

Tickle Me Pink played a big hometown show at the Aggie Theater on Saturday — complete with Santa hats, bows and presents. Photos by Matt Schild.
In a college town like Fort Collins, when finals week and commencement ceremonies wrap up in December, that means two things: The college students hit the road to celebrate the holidays with their families, and it’s the time of year when holiday cheer’s almost palpable in the air. Tickle Me Pink couldn’t have picked a better time for its year-end [...]

The Squirrel Nut Zippers’ Katharine Whalen got a slow start at their Boulder show on Wednesday, but once the songs got faster and more familiar, all was well in the world of nostalgia. Photo by Joshua J. Smelser via myspace.com/snzippers.
At the old Boulder Theater on Wednesday evening, surrounded by well-meaning dorks like myself, I felt like Jack Nicholson in “The Shining” as he cruises through a roomful of yesteryear’s partygoers. The Squirrel Nut Zippers are a band of another yesteryear — one so recent it [...]

So that’s what they mean by “Oklahoma Sex Rock” — a mash-up of some early Flaming Lips (as in really early, from the “Oh My Gawd!” days) and ELO and Belle and Sebastian with a little Dethklok, interspersed with a few songs straight out of the Elephant 6 collective. Sounds kind of awkward, just like the real thing often is. But if that’s a mix that intrigues you, you’ll be happy to find that Colourmusic pulls it off pretty well. And Wednesday’s show at the [...]

Live review: Cheech & Chong @ the Paramount Theatre

Is Neil Diamond, who played Wednesday at the Pepsi Center, an alien? Is he related to William Shatner? You tell us. Photos by John Leyba.
After Neil Diamond’s saccharine set at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday night, I’m a believer – that Diamond and William Shatner are secretly related.
Honestly. When it comes to telling stories, Diamond is only a shade behind Shatner on the stinted, histrionic delivery. When it comes to singing, they’re both equally emotive, awkwardly masculine and beyond tacky. When it comes to performing, [...]

Mercury Rev played their hearts out to a modest crowd at the Fox Theatre on a very cold Sunday night. Photo by John Moore.
Chalk it up to the cold or the unfortunate scheduling of a show around finals week. Whatever the reason, the crowd at the Fox on Sunday night, sadly, was well under 100 people. I tried to imagine Jonathan Donahue’s state of mind, as he led Mercury Rev through their set at Boulder’s Fox Theatre in front of a nearly empty house.
If it [...]

The Black Crowes, led by an older but wiser Chris Robinson, haven’t lost a thing since their 1990s commercial heyday. Photos by Candace Horgan.
When the packed Fillmore disgorged its sweaty patrons onto Colfax Avenue on Saturday night, the temperature had plummeted a good 30 degrees in three hours.
That was despite the best efforts of the Black Crowes to sear the venerable auditorium. The blistering heat from the Crowes in a two-hour slugfest of sultry southern rock had turned the capacity crowd salty, which proved somewhat [...]