Category: Denver Threads

News, reviews, interviews, specifically about local Denver bands, any genre
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, 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!

Reverb: Maraca Five-0, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club @ the Larimer Lounge
July 13, 2010 Off

Reverb: Maraca Five-0, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club @ the Larimer Lounge

By Billy Thieme

Judging from the sounds that burst from the Larimer Lounge stage last Saturday night, Colorado is no longer landlocked, and Denver now sports beachfront property.

Those sounds came from local instrumental legends Maraca Five-0, who have reunited after six years to debut as opener for Slim Cessna’s Auto Club — one of a short list of shows this summer.

Actually, it’s far less than fair to classify Maraca Five-0 as a mere “surf band.” While they echo the sound of the Ventures, Laika & the Cosmonauts, Link Wray and Dick Dale, their interpretation of it evokes much more.

Murder Ranks plays a fantastic fun brand of dancehall and hard dub, welcomes the highly anticipated return of Denver’s beloved Warlock Pinchers
May 25, 2010 Off

Murder Ranks plays a fantastic fun brand of dancehall and hard dub, welcomes the highly anticipated return of Denver’s beloved Warlock Pinchers

By Billy Thieme

Legendary front range provocateurs and pranksters Warlock Pinchers are getting back together for a show in August, and they’re determined to cash in on the nationwide – worldwide – “remake trend.” Of course, unlike much (most? all?) of the other remake grout that’s been piling up in our entertainment culture for lack of bricks, these guys promise to offer premium, relevant and fun entertainment, chock full of their characteristic DIY, punk rock/hip hop/scramble-wave hybrid mayhem.

Odds are they’ll be among the few projects that will deliver – and deliver over and above. And there will be plenty of merchandise to boot.

The show, scheduled for August 6th at the Gothic Theatre, promises to hold numerous surprises – from airborne meat (likely as not raw) to go-go dancers to cellophane-wrapped band members, in the vein of past extravaganzas. Those legendary shows featured shenanigans like all of the above, as well as various liquids and solids being dumped, sprayed or otherwise unleashed upon their audiences – all in front of pre-recorded (on cassette!) drums and live bass, guitars, screeching, rapping and scratching. In a word, unpredictable. In another word, unmatched – maybe unmatchable. This time, though, all instruments will be live, as the band has taken on Melvins drummer Dale Crover up on a decades-old offer to play with them.

Live DenverThread Review: Ideal Fathers with Solar Bear, St. Elias at Hi-Dive, 04/29/10
May 3, 2010 Off

Live DenverThread Review: Ideal Fathers with Solar Bear, St. Elias at Hi-Dive, 04/29/10

By Billy Thieme

This part of the Denver scene continues to grow in both band members and fans, and the Hi-Dive hosted an all-local, all noisy and all fun lineup that showcased some of them last Thursday night. Including Solar Bear, Ideal Fathers, St Elias and Colors, it attracted a more than modest crowd, and kept the fans fascinated – often dancing to some metal-dipped prog-rock and post punk.
Solar Bear and St. Elias bookended Ideal Fathers’ set with a somewhat similar vibe based in different sub genres of prog, which actually made the latter band’s style stand out. Not that the two are clones – to the contrary.

Who’s Playin’ What, Where? This Week – Katy Taylor, Salesman, Ideal Fathers
April 23, 2010 Off

Who’s Playin’ What, Where? This Week – Katy Taylor, Salesman, Ideal Fathers

By Billy Thieme

With a beautiful, lilting voice delivering delicate and passionate songs that recall a younger, more relaxed Suzanne Vega, local troubadour Katy Taylor will be gracing Trios Enoteca this Friday night, to accompany the restaurant’s well-made cocktails, beers, wines and foods. Taylor fits well in the smooth, low-lit atmosphere of Trios – though she would also fit impeccably in a larger venue – with her powerful, folky compositions and accomplished acoustic guitar.