Category: Local

Live reviews of local acts playing in, around, and of Denver.

Gangcharger and Smoothbore – two Denver bands release new tunes, noise in a new direction
October 17, 2010 Off

Gangcharger and Smoothbore – two Denver bands release new tunes, noise in a new direction

By Billy Thieme

There aren’t too many bands that can withstand an entire personnel change and keep going. There are even less that come back stronger for it – but Gangcharger is one that has. Ethan Ward’s love child – with huge emphasis on the love – has not only rebounded after being abandoned by virtually every member of the band over the course of late 2009, he’s driven the rebuilt band beyond anyone’s expectations, maybe beyond his own – and definitely miles beyond the previous lineup’s promise – with their latest release, “Free Exhaust.”

New Music Threads – Murder Ranks and St. Elias add new life to Denver music
August 26, 2010 Off

New Music Threads – Murder Ranks and St. Elias add new life to Denver music

By Billy Thieme

Reaching back to the tradition of dancehall, the updated, stripped down and visceral outgrowth of reggae that revitalized that already tired genre, Murder Ranks uses its basic musical tenets to distill a sweet, strong and minimalist – but sickeningly catchy – punk/dub concoction, and layers it upon modified (sometimes completely transfigured) dancehall riddims. But, where dancehall deejays may use horn sections, other instruments and/or background singers to enhance riddims that they chant and toast over, Murder Ranks reworks these parts with their instruments, and with Scratchie’s vocals, to fit their own aggressive and fun style.

REVERB: Warlock Pinchers’ reunion show – There was blood, and so much more . . .
August 9, 2010 Off

REVERB: Warlock Pinchers’ reunion show – There was blood, and so much more . . .

By Billy Thieme

Cheerleaders, men in diapers (one of them covered in blood) and a clown with a mohawk making balloon animals. That was the scene on the Gothic Theatre’s stage last Friday night.

All of that, and there was also a rock band — Warlock Pinchers, one of Denver’s legendary locals from the late ‘80s/early ‘90s — tangled up in there somewhere, celebrating a reunion after nearly two decades of separation, in front of a packed and ecstatic house. Nothing strange about that lineup, at least not if you’re familiar with the Pinchers’ history.

If you catch one show this year, make it this weekend: Warlock Pinchers are back!
August 6, 2010 Off

If you catch one show this year, make it this weekend: Warlock Pinchers are back!

By Billy Thieme

If you were anywhere around the scene in Boulder and Denver in the late ’80s, chances are you were not only familiar with the Pinchers, but you probably carried some of their merchandise with you daily – clipped to your backpack or in your pocket – or you wore out your shield t-shirt as you attended other local shows, PETA rallies, and the occasional CIA hiring protests. These boys – King Scratchie (AKA Daniel Wanush), and K.C. K-Sum (AKA Andrew Novick), EE-Rok (AKA Eric Erickson), DD-Rok (AKA Derek van Westrum), 3KSK (AKA Mark Brooks) and a drum machine – were tearing up backyards, basements, punk venues like Boulder’s Ground Zero and warehouses with a fusion of Faith No More and Beastie Boys’ funk/punk/hip-hop, industrial and hardcore thrash, all wrapped up in intelligent and hilarious, tongue-in-cheek punk rock rage directed towards a spineless, shallow and directionless society.

The UMS: 4 incredible days, 300+ bands, memories that won’t soon fade
July 27, 2010 Off

The UMS: 4 incredible days, 300+ bands, memories that won’t soon fade

By Billy Thieme

One impossibly acceptable truth: four days and nights of anything might be just about too much. This is what I found myself thinking last night as I carried pieces of a guitar, smashed onstage at the 3 Kings Tavern by a member of the local band Gangcharger, from venue to venue at the end of the best rock festival in the west. After over 300 bands had played their hearts out to thousands of Denver’s music lovers, the effort at the end looked still unfinished, still full of promise, melody, pounding rhythms, desperate screams and wild howls. All of that formed the beginnings of memories that will never fade.

The UMS, Day 3 – So many bands, so little time! More pre-kus from DenverThread
July 24, 2010 Off

The UMS, Day 3 – So many bands, so little time! More pre-kus from DenverThread

By Billy Thieme

Now that we’ve got two, fat and sassy days of the Underground Music Showcase under our belts, the real monster is being unleashed. This weekend, as in festivals past, begins the real UMS proper, and there are more bands, artists, venues, drinks and awesome food today than both of the previous two days combined!

Today also brings out the two-day visit of Lucha Libre Mexicana – a wonderful experience by any standards – in the Groove Automotive Stage at 3:45 & 5:15. If you haven’t seen the masked luchadores before – don’t dare miss this act! You’ll definitely regret it. . . .

The UMS: Day 2 – DenverThread haikus the bands to see tonight!
July 23, 2010 Off

The UMS: Day 2 – DenverThread haikus the bands to see tonight!

By Billy Thieme

Here’s to the hope that you had a fantastic first night of the 10th Annual Underground Music Showcase all along about a mile of South Broadway last night! Having been to all ten years’ shows, I have to say last nights showing was among the most impressive so far. There were lines about 20 people deep at the box office from the second it opened at 5:30 PM, and crowds were filling all of the eight venues that were showcasing live talent until early into Friday morning.

So – as promised – read on for some haiku-sized recommendations for shows to see tonight at UMS: Day 2!

Ready for the UMS? Check out these Haiku pointers – to help you make the most of it!
July 22, 2010 Off

Ready for the UMS? Check out these Haiku pointers – to help you make the most of it!

By Billy Thieme

Denver, The UMS, Day 1, Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 –

It’s come around again. The UMS – Denver’s pinnacle celebration of the local music scene – is upon us, and this year, the festival’s tenth anniversary, this beast has grown, nearly to the point of bursting. Four days, over 20 venues, and over 300 bands, comedians, burlesque and other performance artists (are you a fan of Lucha Libre? Then plan to spend Saturday & Sunday afternoon on South Broadway!) – it boggles the mind!

And yet, this is the sound of our town, and it’s just down the street – and some of it’s even FREE! Denver’s scene has grown with at least the same fury as the UMS over the past ten years, branching out from almost every genre, weaving in and out of each other like trade winds and crosscurrents, and creating new ones along the way.

So how do you decide who to see, after all? Over 300 bands, playing over 4 nights, means . . . something like 75 options per night (not that they’re all split up that way, of course). Without cloning, your chances to see everything is nil. . . Click through to see some suggestions to help you make up your mind!