Photos by Merry Swankster Some solid international acts have graced Denver's stages this month. Earlier this month Montreal's Handsome Furs left a lasting impression at downtown Denver's dive-club fave, Larimer Lounge. In what easily was the year's best show, the husband-wife team of Dan Boeckner & Alexei Perry performed a dazzling show that hit all the buttons to stay memorable. Of course the "year's best" tag wouldn't last. Just last week a sold out Bluebird Theater hosted red-hot buzz band Phoenix for an electrifying and inspiring show capping a tragic day [...]
[Wilco] Monday, June 29 Mormon Tabernacle Choir @ Red Rocks Amphitheater Tuesday, June 30 Code:Bear @ Larimer Lounge Git Some @ Hi-Dive Lovely Houses @ Walnut Room Meese @ Twist & Shout Wednesday, July 1 Bruce Hayes @ Swallow Hill Celtic Woman @ Red Rocks Amphitheater Chella Negro @ Larimer Lounge Grace Potter & The Nocturnals @ Fox Theatre Nightmare Of You @ Marquis Theater [...]
Phoenix show was great. Huge energetic showing for Phoenix from the sold out Denver crowd. In spite of hailing from France Phoenix sounds like the best American rock band on the scene. Hook after hook Phoenix set an upbeat tone to the evening and never looked back. Immediately after the show about half the crowd headed out leaving the remaining ample room to boogie. Kicking off with "Rock With Me" - my all time favorite Michael Jackson song - the mini-set of 8 Jackson tunes couldn't have gotten been more fun, and fitting. [...]
LA Times confirms : [Updated at 3:15 p.m.: Pop star Michael Jackson was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon after arriving at a hospital in a deep coma, city and law enforcement sources told The Times. [Updated at 2:46 p.m.: Jackson is in a coma and family have are arriving at his bedside, a law enforcement source told The Times. Jackson was rushed to a hospital this afternoon by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics. Capt. Steve Ruda said paramedics responded to a call at Jackson's home around [...]
A handsomely curved configuration resembling two amply nostriled noses in profile or two spoons poised to dig into some steaming porridge, the no. 66 casts a long shadow on the numerical landscape. On the dark side, it's two-thirds of the number of the Beast, according to the Book of Revelations, and it's the number of miles that made up the hell-on-earth route that was the Bataan Death March. It also has a special importance in the history of Great Britain, what with the Norman Conquest (1066), the Great Fire of London (1666), and the last year the Brits took the [...]
Weezer - "The Good Life" It's sad when a formerly adored band sinks by putting out progressively sub-par material. The worst scenario possible in such cases is when the new offerings are so bad they invite questioning on the songs you initially liked. Weezer is such a band. Ever since Weezer "returned" to the scene, marked in chronology as after Pinkerton and before the Green album , they've steadily found themselves failing into the despair of irrelevancy. Being that relevancy of any type needs, by definition, [...]
After many years of musical obsession completely removed from a record player, my pile of vinyl now grows incrementally, aided by the quality LP sellers of New York City. Baubles from the treasure chest will be posted here whenever it seems appropriate... The Minimal Wave vinyl reissue label continues to do the lord's work by exhuming all manner of European synth pop that's been forgotten by all but the most dedicated and marginally obsessed. One of their most beautiful releases of late (and wow, just look at the above painted cover by Lorenzo [...]
Phoenix will mercilessly destroy the Bluebird Theater and its broccoli-headed inhabitants on Thursday. Monday, June 22 A.A. Bondy @ Hi-Dive The B-52s @ Denver Botanic Gardens Bill Callahan/Julie Doiron @ Oriental Theater Tuesday, June 23 The Artery Foundation Across America Tour 2009 @ Marquis Theater Bachelorette @ Larimer Lounge Death Hickey Blues @ Bluebird Theater Deleted Scenes @ Walnut Room Summer Slaughter @ Gothic Theatre Telekenisis @ Hi-Dive Wednesday, June 24 [...]
Future of the Left - "You Need Satan More Than He Needs You" (live, @ Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms, 5.19.09) So, in the process of writing a short review yesterday, it struck me that Future of the Left's Travels With Myself and Another is sort of unbearably great. Andy Falkous' usual acid wit and his band's continual instrumental pummel is evident immediately, but it took real close inspection for me to get how immaculately produced and crafted the thing was. It's not really loose at all, but a painstaking pop record. [...]
Photos by Merry Swankster At almost the exact midpoint of 2009 there was no other show I was more excited for than Animal Collective at the beautiful Boulder Theater. From the squeeze felt by anyone making a play for scarce extra tickets, I clearly wasn't the only one stoked with anticipation. The experimental group's lone Colorado stop had sold out many months in advance. From the strength of a pair of challenging albums alone (2007's Strawberry Jam and this year's near perfect Merriweather Post Pavilion ) this shouldn't have [...]
Hey, Kelli Douglas, the site's all-around girl Friday has a touch of Handsome Furs fever after a Denver gig, and demanded that I post this video. It's a few weeks old, but I'm powerless to resist. A tiny note from her below... The Merry Swankster will have a Handsome Furs show review posted in a few days. Until then you can keep yourself happily occupied watching their video for "I'm Confused". The video itself is not confusing, as it's pretty simple to see we are dealing with zombies. Zombies are fun, and [...]
[David Byrne - Photo cred ] David Byrne designed bike racks in NYC: David Byrne and the New York City Department of Transportation, in conjunction with New York art gallery PaceWildenstein, have unveiled nine unique bicycle racks designed by DB and installed in various locations throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. An avid bicyclist for almost 30 years, Byrne was invited to join the panel of jurors selected by the DOT to judge a design competition for outdoor and indoor bicycle racks. Inspired by the city's initiative, he submitted some original [...]
photos by Devon Banks OK, so this show became instantly infamous , not for any performance that went down, but for a snit between Northside Festival organizers and independent promoters Strength in Numbers. Devon and I were out covering the show for the L, who obviously considered it part of the larger festival. I understand why, if feeling super aggrieved they wouldn't want to give a promoter/venue more free press, buuuuuuuuut man, what a set from Magik Markers. Shame to let it go unremarked, and for all these pretty [...]
Photos by Merry Swankster A miserable rainy Monday night could not keep Denverites away from the loveliest band from Scotland. Camera Obscura and the always subdued live experience of the 7-piece group is an exercise in preciousness, from lovable banter in hard to understand accents to the decidedly unfashionable look of the group, which falls more in line with librarian couture than anything synonymous with rockstar gear. No matter the nerdy schoolteacher looks, when singer Tracyanne Campbell adorably refers to wafts of skunky air as originating from "jazzy cigarettes" all is forgiven. [...]
Sorry, Texas. And to think, all this time, all of the forward-thinking states blamed you for the nation falling into a era of duress. But with the ex-Prez's ever-increasing tight-lippedness, it is becoming more evident on a nearly daily basis that the whole thing was Wyoming's fault, (by virtue of the "He who smelled it, dealt it" rule). W and Laura, accepting my apology. Sorry, also, for dropping the ball on the June concert listings. Once again, the blame does not go [...]
Starting tomorrow, L Magazine --which MS readers might know as my sometimes employer, who I mention a lot--will be launching their inaugural Northside Festival around the legit, kinda legit, and seriously sketchy venues around Williamsburg. I'll be flitting about, taking notes on dozens of sets, and filinf morning reports over on the mag's website . Sounds like there will be six or so correspondents out and about for their coverage (including, apparently MTV's John Norris?!?), so that will be your one-stop for a comprehensive look at the previous night's goings on. The full schedule of gigs is [...]
Hey, so last Friday I didn't really super formally mention that I was at the Mercury Lounge DJing during the last night of the Art Brut run, both because I was a bit busy in the run-up, and I thought there were no longer tickets on sale. Except then there were. Oh well, que sera. I do take a moment to note now, in a timely fashion, that I'm Djing in Greenpoint next Saturday, as part of L Magazine 's sprawling Northside Festival. This show is free as a bee sting, so [...]
Sent to me by Klein, via the Powerpop blog , and reaffirming my long held belief that there is something seriously wrong with Dutch people. Usually, I'm pretty anti- the You Tube videos that are the old obscure songs I'm looking for but with slow moving picture montages rather than actual live footage, but in this specific context I think it probably grants our fish-lipped Pantherman a little bit more diginity. "I'm am your pantherman, I am your pantherman, I'll show you my paws!" A little bit more...
Monday, June 8 10 Years @ Marquis Theater The Infamous Stringdusters @ Walnut Room Rickie Lee Jones & Alejandro Escovedo @ Denver Botanic Gardens Tuesday, June 9 Blue Foot Fool @ Larimer Lounge Broadway Calls @ Marquis Theater Dead Science @ Hi-Dive James Van Praagh @ Paramount Theatre Joe Cocker @ Denver Botanic Gardens Reik @ Ogden Theater Rickie Lee Jones/Alejandro Escovedo @ Chautauqua Auditorium Triple Cobra @ Walnut Room Wednesday, June 10 [...]
Sasquatch Dancing Man I've watched this video about 10 times now and it kinda makes me want to launch an independent study on human behavior. I'll call it Mob Mentality vs. the Self Consciousness of the individual.
Merry Swankster
Bison - Quill
Shinichi Osawa – Big Beach Mix 2012
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Mr Fogg - Eleven
