Whatever the incarnation — and there are many — Drew Emmitt shines. Photos by Nathan Rist.
The problem with any artist looking to explore different artistic endeavors is figuring out where and how their former art should play in their current project. Jerry Garcia, for instance, got so tired of the huge crowds that came out for Grateful Dead shows that he started playing solo shows that were mostly cover tuness, with the occasional Dead tune thrown in.
I had that thought Wednesday night at the Boulder [...]

Sound Tribe’s DJ set at the Bluebird was so packed that many people couldn’t dance. Photos by Brian Carney.
Reverb contributing photographer Brian Carney checks in with this report and photo essay from Monday’s STS9 show at the Bluebird Theater.
“The Bluebird is not quite the place for STS9. Not enough room to move around and dance, and painfully crowded. I kept mostly to my corner, whereas their Filmore show last winter was much more dance-friendly. Being a DJ set, only the drummer was playing a real [...]

Nickel Eye was even more boring that Nikolai Fraiture looks in this picture. Photo from themodernage.org.
It’s too easy to compare an artist’s new project to the band that made them famous. No doubt Nikolai Fraiture is best known as the bassist for NYC pretty boys the Strokes, but previous to the Nickel Eye show on Monday night at the Marquis Theater, I had no knowledge of what his new band sounded like. To avoid cop-out blanket comparisons, I chose instead to go with a blank [...]

Switching between solo and full-band setups allowed City and Colour’s Dallas Green to indulge both of his performance personas. Photos by Joe McCabe.
Dallas Green is one-fifth of the award winning Canadian punk/screamo band Alexisonfire. In City and Colour, his side project, his melodic vocals and virtuoso guitar playing are magnified and laid over a solid foundation of Neil Young rockers and hushed acoustic ballads. At his sold-out show Sunday night at the Bluebird, his voice, humility and humor easily won over the potentially unruly crowd.
I [...]

Jason Cain of Astrophagus concentrates on his guitar work as part of Stand by Your Band Saturday at the Hi-Dive. Photos by Heather Browne.
Building your own cover band could be considered the newest way to gain community service hours. Last Saturday at the Hi-Dive, the cherished Stand By Your Band event made its fourth appearance since the beginning of 2008. Denver Kickstand, the not-for-profit organization behind this event, is all about encouraging local music, so all proceeds of this show went directly to band programs [...]

In the case of Young Coyotes’ Zach Tipton vs. The People at the Hi-Dive on Friday night, everybody won. Photos by Brian Carney.
Zach Tipton, Adam Halferty and Matt Wilcox sure make a lot of racket for three guys. The trio, otherwise known as Young Coyotes, have been steadily climbing Denver’s indie ladder the past several months with a knack for touring outside the state and a reputation for putting on blistering live shows.
Granted, Tipton and Halferty have spent time in bands like Moros Eros, the [...]

An abysmal sound mix sunk the Ska is Dead Tour, featuring Voodoo Glow Skulls, Mustard Plug and the Toasters. Photo from egoassassin.com.
I decided to write this review backwards. Not for fun, but because the headliners, Voodoo Glow Skulls, got the raw end of the deal. To save my ears (even with my dorky earplugs in,) I left before their set was even over because I just couldn’t take the horrible sound anymore.
Let me start by saying that I think the Voodoo Glow Skulls are tops; [...]

Who makes better cake than mom? No one, that’s who. Photos by Jason Claypool.
Friday’s show at the Soiled Dove Underground was the continuation of the annual birthday bash for Denver’s own Rob Drabkin. The venue played host to Rob and several hundred of his closest friends, including Andrea Ball and Vonnegut, and the show served to highlight Rob’s new release, “On These Heavy Feet.”
Andrea Ball started things off with a blend of acoustic guitar and piano, culminating with the funky “Beat Beat Pound.” She even [...]

Dirty Nasty lived up to his name in every way at the Larimer Lounge on Saturday. And we mean every way.
Dirt Nasty loves two things: cocaine and his penis. With the words “Black Girls Rule” adorning Nasty’s t-shirt on Saturday night at the Larimer Lounge, one would think girls would tally higher on his list. But hardly.
Sure, activities involving women and cocaine and Nasty’s penis were mentioned dozens of times over the course of his set, but the substance and his favorite body part’s importance [...]

Git Some gave some at 3 Kings Tavern last Friday — and it was good. Photos by Doug Beam.
Maybe it’s just me, but the last few months in Denver have seemed a little, well… quiet. It could be that I was still suffering from a post-DNC comedown, or it could be that Denver’s Git Some was on an extended tour of the U.K. and Europe.
After releasing their “Cosmic Rock” LP at the end of last summer, the band headed overseas to rock crowds in places [...]