Big band? No problem, at least not at the Oriental. The old-school theater’s stage practically spans the back of the venue. Photos by Brian Carney.
Fitting all the members of Paper Bird, one of Denver’s finest collection of barefoot folkies, onto a single stage would present a problem at some smaller clubs, but the Oriental Theater’s wide stage proved an appropriate setting for the band when they played there Nov. 26.
The band was joined by fellow Front Rangers the Autumn Film, Laura Goldhamer, Chuck Potashner and [...]

A lanky Matisyahu makes his way across the stage at the Ogden Theatre on Saturday. Photos by Joe McCabe.
Matisyahu seemed an unlikely figure when we burst onto the reggae scene nearly a half decade ago: a Hasidic Jew that inserted Jewish themes into his amalgam of traditional reggae and hip-hop. Of course, the Pennsylvania native has gained accolades and a fervent fanbase since then, as he proved during his Denver stop at the Ogden Theatre on Saturday.
Reverb photographer Joe McCabe stopped by the show to [...]

Nobody move, nobody get hurt. You’re never safe at a GWAR concert. Photo from MySpace.
God bless GWAR! Where else can you find a show that will truly satisfy your need to be liberally sprayed in blood and alien superhero gunk while witnessing beheadings, eviscerations and human infant sacrifices? And it’s all performed amidst proto-hardcore black speed metal played by mutant fugitive aliens straight from the nightmare sequences in some anime flick, to boot!
Saturday’s show at the Gothic went a long way towards satisfying that primal [...]

Vonnegut took flight at their Bluebird Theater show on Friday. Photos by Jason Claypool.
Sofo, Epilogues and Vonnegut were keeping it clean — and sometimes quiet — at their Bluebird Theater show on Friday. Why? Some of the bands said that their parents were in the house on Friday and they joked about playing a couple quiet jams — just to prove they could.
Each of the bands all played solid sets of music, according to Reverb photographer Jason Claypool. Here’s Jason’s photo essay of the night:

Michael Franti at the Mile High Music Festival on July 19. Photo by Laurie Scavo.
Wrapping up a two-month tour and a trio of shows at Denver’s Fillmore, Michael Franti and Spearhead were supposed to be tired. They looked weary. They did not, in any way, sound drained.
Franti and the four-man Spearhead cranked out more than two dozen tunes Saturday night, leaving the packed house wobbly from three hours of non-stop waving, hollering and hugging. The lanky, humanitarian maestro of the musical love-in, Franti can peddle [...]

Slightly plumper but still handsome, Boyz II Men serenaded a sold-out Ogden Theatre on Friday. Photo from ShowClix.com.
Much of the pop music I discovered as a pre-teen was through the good graces of KS 107.5 (back in the day known as KS 104.3), a station that played Salt N’ Pepa, Tony! Toni! Tone!, Paperboy, A Lighter Shade of Brown and dozens of other R&B/rap-lite favorites. Almost 20 years later, 107.5 still feeds my need to hear songs about sex and dancing, although violence, booze, drugs [...]

Jeremy Enigk was joined by Nathan Meese and Joseph Pope III at his Nov. 23 Larimer Lounge set. Photos by Brian Carney.
Former Sunday Day Real Estate and the Fire Theft frontman Jeremy Enigk was in good company at his stripped-down Larimer Lounge set on Sunday, Nov. 23. Nathan Meese (of Denver pop-rockers Meese) and Joseph Pope III (of Denver’s Born in the Flood) opened in similarly solos-acoustic mode, setting an appropriate tone for the evening.
Unfortunately, the Larimer had just painted its floor a few hours [...]

Barcelona singer Brian Fennell (above) and his band headlined the Marquis Theater on a frosty Friday. Photos by Lucia De Giovanni.
Barcelona, despite their name, actually hail from Seattle, where their smooth, propulsive indie pop-rock is a bit of a departure from the harder-edged, more experimental stuff that soggy town is known for. Soaring and melodic to the core, their slick tunes took over the Marquis Theater on Friday with openers Low vs Diamond and Denver bands the Autumn Film and the Rouge.
“It was a great [...]

Calexico’s new album, “Carried to Dust,” provided a wealth of perfectly-pitched songs at the band’s Nov. 24 Gothic Theatre set. Photos by Lucia De Giovanni.
Watching Calexico play the Gothic Theatre last Monday (Nov. 24), I couldn’t help but wish for the first time I’d felt that blast of trumpets played by Jacob Valenzuela and Martin Wenk, the sheer joy of “Guero Canelo,” the jolt of discovery of Joey Burns and John Convertino’s band.
Anyone lucky enough to get into the Gothic show was rewarded by the [...]