Tag Archives: Westword

My interview with Mike Gordon

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Overstep

If someone had told me last summer when I was chasing Phish around the country that in six months I’d be interviewing Mike Gordon himself, I never would have believed them. Yet, there I was this past Monday morning singing a guitar part of “Yarmouth Road” to Cactus himself, and in return he sang me some Los Lonely Boys “Heaven”. Read my interview here, it was the fastest twenty minutes of my life:

http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2014/02/interview_phish_mike_gordon.php

His new album Overstep came out today, check it out, it’s a ton of fun and has really great production values. Listen to the new “Yarmouth Road” below:

Westword article I wrote about the stigma of jam bands

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jamband

After writing a band an apology for calling them a jam band in a recent article, (they said they didn’t care what I called them as long as people were listening phew!), I started to get annoyed that the term “jam band” had become such an offensive insult. I wrote an opinion piece for the Westword which quickly accumulated comments from jam band haters saying we stink, and because jam bands suck. There were also some fantastic, valid arguments, some prefer the song craftsmanship of singer/songwriters over extended jams, others don’t like the fusion of genres. But the majority had the knee jerk reaction I spoke of in the intro. Here’s a link to the Westword article, the comments are pretty funny:

http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2014/01/jam-band_stigma.php

If you go to the Westword’s main page, they put it front and center next to an article about where to buy weed in Denver: http://www.westword.com/

The Minneapolis City Pages music blog Gimme Noise liked it so much they published it as well. There too, jam bands are hated on:

http://blogs.citypages.com/gimmenoise/2014/01/why_do_jam_bands_have_such_a_stigma.php

The vitriol, it’s so amusing.

Final Review for the Westword of Phish at Dick’s is live

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And that’s a wrap, folks! My review of the final night of Phish at Dick’s is now live, and I never thought my first big published piece would be reviewing Dick’s for the freaking amazingly awesome Westword! What a blast. Section 119 you rule:

my review of Phish Night Three for the Westword

My review of Phish Dick’s Night One for the Westword

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I was honored to be asked to review this weekend’s Phish shows at Dick’s by the fantastic Denver paper the Westword. The review went live, read it here: Westword review of Phish at Dick’s

Vices I Admire Tear Up the Westword Showcase Pre-Party at Gothic

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20130622-121149.jpg photo by leslie loudspeaker

Last night I was invited to the Westword Music Showcase Pre-Party by Vices I Admire, a quirky, rocking local band. They’ve got a genuine punk energy while writing great songs with interesting changes. The lead singer has some really pretty vocals too, try to catch him sound checking.

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Listen to their song Sweetest Girl , love the guitar tone. Also, check out this song and read the comments, “the new Slipknot” cracks me up. They are much better than that: Heartbreaker

20130622-122036.jpg photo by leslie loudspeaker

Shows to See in Denver June 19-24

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20130619-110700.jpg photo by leslie loudspeaker

Shows to See in Denver June 19-24th

Wednesday, June 19
Parquet Courts – Larimer – one of my favorite new finds this year, these guys are raw and loud live. These guys have a lot of buzz, I expect a great show: Borrowed Time live video from SXSW 2013

Springdale Quartet – Armoury – thought they were great at LoHi Festival this weekend. High energy rock, fantastic guitar solos, and the bassist has some great hair.

Tony Bennett – Denver Botanical Gardens – the weather is beautiful to spend the night in the gardens with a legend

Ben Folds Five – Red Rocks – Ben Folds has been excellent live for decades, he gets better with age. Barenaked Ladies are playing as well. Eh.

Thursday, June 20
Bob Schneider – Bluebird – Austin’s dirtiest, sexiest showman, he’s a must see. Bring a date.

The Cold Hard Cash Show – Oriental – Johnny Cash tribute night at the remodeled (in the process) Oriental. I love this theatre, and it’s nice to see it sprucing up. They even painted the vintage sign!

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Radar Brothers and Ola Podrida – solid night, film composer plus some Austin friends and others make for a psychedelic, atmospheric night

Friday, June 21
MTHDS – Cervantes – Positive white boys and Hawaiian boy hip hop, quality people, quality originals

Tjutjuna and Snake Rattle Rattle Snake – Larimer – Tjutjuna makes great space rock, come see two of Denver’s best bands

Saturday, June 22
Westword Music Showcase – lots of good stuff, link to everything here: Westword Showcase Tickets and Schedule

Grieves – Bluebird – Rhymesayers star, I always love their shows, very positive crowds.

Monday, June 24
Jaill – Moe’s BBQ – loud awesome goodness: video