By Brian F. Johnson

Chuck Morris is The Great Uniter of Denver.

On March 18, at a chilly but sun-drenched press conference in Commerce City, Morris pulled together the City and State’s heavy hitters to officially announce his plans for this summer’s Mile High Music Festival, presented by SanDisk Mobile, which will be held July 19 and 20 at Dicks Sporting Goods Park.

Morris’s line-up is as huge as the 50,000-plus capacity venue, with acts ranging from headliners Dave Matthews Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, John Mayer and the Black Crowes to Spoon, Flogging Molly and the Roots, among others (see full line-up below), but what was really impressive was the support that Morris has garnered for the event.

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:: The Giraffes :: Larimer Lounge :: March 17 ::

By Brian F. Johnson

Few bands could get away with making spray painted “tour shirts” that read “Fuck in Jail” and “Touching is Teaching” but, then again, few bands have the take on rock and roll that Brooklyn, New York’s The Giraffes do.
The band’s web page gives some insight into that take with a rant that reads, in part: “Somewhere along the way rock and roll lost its edge and humor to a tawdry compromise with commercial success and the tired hackery that goes along with the trumping of ‘the next big thing.’” The rant goes on to unapologetically explain, loosely, who The Giraffes are and adds, “If you hate it, then go enjoy John Mayer and make sure to give him a reach around.”

If those last few sentences were your very first exposure to The Giraffes, you may very well have it in your mind that the four-piece rock-bordering-on-metal band is made up of a bunch of assholes, and in a sense you would be right. But what lies under that caustic, abrasive and over-the-top homo-erotic facade are a bunch of guys so fed up with the lack of fun in rock that they’ve gone out of their politically incorrect ways to throw their middle finger in the air to it all and simply make fun of it, while throwing down some kick-ass music in the process.

“It’s really tough because of motherfuckers like you who take words that come out of my mouth and put them on paper and make me sound like a deranged, child touching, coke snorting fucking clown,” said lead guitarist Damien Paris in a recent interview with The Marquee. “But we’re sick of how safe everyone plays it. How can you take them seriously? The only thing I take serious is that I’m going to practice so when I get on stage I can get up and do whatever I fucking want to. I’m only serious in that I don’t want to be a complete slouch.”
Since the 1990s, Paris has been taking it seriously. He formed The Giraffes in 1996, as a three-piece, almost surfy, hardcore band. “I was listening to indie rock and cock rock and it was doing things to me, man,” he apologetically said. Having a complete disdain for most lead singers, Paris originally belted out lyrics for the band. But when it got to the point that even close friends couldn’t say anything good about the band’s vocals, Paris found Aaron Lazar at a drunken party, where he made Lazar do an on-the-spot rendition of Prince’s “Kiss,” and The Giraffes as a four-piece were born.
“Aaron really changed my idea of the merits of what a great lead singer can and should be,” Paris said. He reinforces the melody. Most lead singers are so fucking annoying and ruin so many good bands. That’s why I don’t like (Iron) Maiden. Bruce Dickinson was a chump. He’s the Budweiser to Judas Priest’s Grolsch — a fucking third-rate (Rob) Halford.”
Lazar, in fact, has changed many people’s ideas of what a rock/metal band’s lead singer should be. Simply put, he’s the real deal, and his story is as twisted as the band’s sense of humor. At the age of 28, Lazar, who appeared to be in pretty good health, suffered what doctors call Sudden Cardiac Death. “I had two cardiac deaths in like six hours, oh, and a seizure,” Lazar said, when he also spoke to The Marquee. “But I was really only awake for the start of the first one, so I’m not that tough, just fucking lucky.”
Lazar is now 31 and is fitted with a pacemaker/ defibrillator to help keep his ticker on track. “So if I ‘stroke out’ again, as Damien calls it, or have another episode of cardiac death, this thing is supposed to kick in and jump start me back up. The problem is it’s a fucking machine so it lives by rules, and rules are weird,” he said. “If my heart rate gets too high it defibs any way, even if I’m not having a heart attack.”
Lazar exercises and rides his bike all over New York City without issues, but he said performing is different. At a show in Chicago, in fact, his heart rate increased enough that he got zapped by his internal device three times in 30 seconds, a dose of 30,000 volts — and he finished the fucking show! “The good news is that it’s over almost instantly. The bad news is that it freaks you out so your heart rate goes up even more and it hits you again … Take the feeling of an electric fence shock and then add to it the feeling of a horse kicking through your chest and hitting your heart,” he said.

Editor’s note: This story was recently turned into a video by director B.A. Miale.

“Prime Motivator” – The Giraffes from BAMiAM on Vimeo.

Luckily, he has his band to help him if it happens again. “Damien has said, ‘Don’t worry, if you stroke out again I’ll take pictures of you with my balls on your head,’” Lazar reported.

Again, only their playing is taken seriously. So seriously, in fact, for their forthcoming release, the band’s eighth release (counting some EPs and a vinyl seven-inch), they traveled to Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree to record. The studio has previously been home to Daniel Lanois, Queens of the Stone Age and The Eagles of Death Metal, and where the various artist recordings of The Desert Sessions, founded by Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, were set down.
“When you listen to The Desert Sessions you can hear this wonderful weird little aura around everything,” Lazar said. “I always thought it was some production trick or some little secret mastering thing that nobody knows about. But we got there and Drew [drummer Andrew Totolos] hits the kit and I was, ‘Oh, it’s just this place sounds like that.’ It’s bizarre. And I’m a huge hater of the word ‘vibes’ but there really truly is something special about the place.”
The recording of the new album, Prime Motivator, went well and has even garnered some potential label interest, but as of press time the band was uncertain if it will be picked up or if they will release it independently. “Your album is like your children and you want your children to go places and hopefully not turn out retarded,” Paris said. “God knows the only law is Murphy’s Law, so who knows what could come back to me and botch it, but hopefully someone who puts out records will put it out and, if not, we’ll put it out and it’ll still be a damn good record.”
If the new track posted on the band’s myspace page, “Louis Guthrie Wants to Kill Me,” is any indication, the new record could show the band pulling out some different sounds than their previous work. “We weren’t afraid to slow it down and do some things that are risky, because risk always translates so fucking well in the music industry,” Paris sarcastically said.
While Paris writes the majority of the music and Lazar pens the lyrics, they said that the band as a whole is very collaborative in their approach. “Really, the only rule I have is that if I write a rocking riff, don’t make the song about ponies — unless they’re on fire,” Paris said.
Lazar said that the writing process for The Giraffes is a slow motion version of their live show. “Typically, Damien does way too much, goes way too hard and flips his fucking brain and then I grab him by the neck and force him to stand still in one place, or slap him around or something and then everyone reacts to what’s going on there,” he said.
While John Rosenthal played bass on the album, he has since left the band and been replaced by Denver native Jens Carstensen.

Recommended if you Like:
• Big Sleep
• The Limbs
• Eagles of Death Metal

:: Blind Melon :: Fox Theatre :: March 28 ::

By Karen Schneider

For many, the name Blind Melon conjures up visions of an awkward tap-dancing bee girl, or a long-haired, shirtless Shannon Hoon singing in the middle of a sunny field. Hard as it may be to believe, over a decade has passed since the smash hit “No Rain” propelled Blind Melon into rock and roll history.
It all started in 1990 in Los Angeles, Calif., when a small group of transplants decided to form a band. Singer Shannon Hoon (from Indiana) and guitarist/harmonica/mandolin player Christopher Thorn (from Pennsylvania) hooked up with guitarist Rogers Stevens, bassist Brad Smith, and drummer Glen Graham (all from Mississippi). Smith’s father used to refer to his not-so-likely-to-succeed neighbors as “Blind Melons,” inspiring the name of the band.
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:: Pela :: Hi-Dive :: March 10 ::

By Timothy Dwenger

Though their first full length album was released only 10 months ago, the Brooklyn, New York-based band Pela has a history that goes back to the early ’90s when lead vocalist and guitarist Billy McCarthy met Christopher Herb. Herb, who has spent his life playing music and working with the disabled, has the unique distinction of being both the man who brought the band together and the newest member of this post-punk quintet.
“Billy and I have been best friends for half our lives,” said vocalist Herb in a recent interview with The Marquee as he sat smoking a cigarette in front of his computer in his Lower East Side apartment. “We traveled around the world together playing music in countless bands up until 2002, when I left to go to Australia for five years.”
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::  The Whigs :: Larimer Lounge :: March 6 ::

By Tiffany Childs

The Whigs are a band that has enjoyed the luxury of a slow and steady rise in the music industry — which is pretty unusual in itself. Even more unusual is that their initial success has come based solely on a self-released effort. With a second album, Mission Control, barely out on the shelves, the three-piece continues to tour extensively and spread their explosive rock around the world.
For any band, the release of a second record always brings up the possibility of the dreaded sophomore slump. However, in a recent interview with The Marquee, guitarist/ vocalist/keyboardist Parker Gispert and drummer Julian Dorio told The Marquee that wasn’t the case for The Whigs, who are rounded out by Tim Deaux on bass. “I think the sophomore slump is due to pressure, but for us, you know, we didn’t have a lot of people looking for our release. We were still small enough that it was exciting rather than daunting to make our second album,” said Gispert.
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:: Brother Ali :: Fox Theatre :: March 6 ::

 :: Bluebird Theatre :: March 7 ::

By Lisa Oshlo

Hip-hop needs more of the likes of Brother Ali. With his feet on the ground and his spirit sky high, this devout Muslim channels his beliefs into some powerful lyrics and very big beats. As an albino, he has a hard time flying under the radar in life, but manages to do so in the hip-hop world. Nobody familiar with his music would be surprised if it didn’t stay that way for long.
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:: These United States :: Hi-Dive :: March 29 ::

By Timothy Dwenger

“These United States” are three words that are full of pomp and circumstance. Three words that, linked together, conjure up feelings of patriotism and visions of red, white and blue no matter what your political leaning may be. Soon, these three words will also conjure up feelings of longing and of passion, not for a particular cause or candidate but for an unmistakable and unique brand of music; the music of D.C.-based band, These United States.
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:: Serj Tankian :: Ogden Theatre :: March 21 ::

By Jeffrey V. Smith

Serj Tankian is the rock star of the future.
The passionate, college-educated poet, multi-instrumentalist and experimental musician is known for his commitment for speaking out against violence and social injustice, his environmentalism and being a vegetarian. He’s also known as the vessel for one of rock’s most unique, melodic and commanding voices.
As the vocalist and keyboardist for System Of A Down, the Lebanese-born Armenian-American emerged as an uncongenial musician and melodic visionary. He became known for his immense, versatile voice, capable of what his bio calls “soaring light speed through the heavens, striking chords from every cloud and raining from the heart.”
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:: Justin Townes Earle :: Larimer Lounge :: March 25 ::

By Brian F. Johnson

Getting canned from your dad’s place of employment is something that lots of sons have done — some have even mastered it. But if you’re a talented musician touring with your famous dad’s national band and you get the axe, you really have to screw up hard. And screwing up hard is something that Justin Townes Earle learned early on in life.
The son of the great Steve Earle, Justin, who is also named after the late legend Townes Van Zandt, blew a record deal while he was still in his teens, wrote and lost a ton of songs and damn near died before turning it all around. “That’s one thing my dad and I have in common, it just happened to me at a much earlier age and a more rapid pace. I was 18 and 19 years old and out on the road playing with my dad and I had a bad heroin and cocaine problem. He managed to put up with it because I rode with the crew, but it came to a head, a point where I was waking up and cracking a beer and getting high and trying to work and it got to where it wasn’t working,” Earle said in a recent interview with The Marquee from his home in Nashville.
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When talking about musicians, people always seem to say the same thing; that they’re “just normal people.” But if they’re so normal, why is it that they do things that blow the minds of other seemingly normal folks?
I personally think that musicians’ brains are wired differently than the rest of ours, much in the way that rocket scientists’ brains differ from your average Joe Schmoe, and a story that I recently read in The Week kind of backs up my feelings.
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By Brian F. Johnson

The Fox Theatre has a legendary mystique that’s made the local venue stand out during its decade-and-a-half of existence. The vast majority of that mystique is due to the number of — and magnitude of — bands that have stood on the stage.
While he vacated his position as head talent buyer at the Fox last summer to take on the role of Vice President of Live Nation’s Rocky Mountain Division, Eric Pirritt’s legacy will always be intricately interwoven with the Fox because, for five years, he was the man responsible for putting the bands on that stage.
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Highly Depressing — Citing decreasing advertising revenue, changes in the music industry and the economy, No Depression magazine, which has covered American roots music and more since 1995, announced this month that their May-June issue will be the last print copy of their magazine. The mag’s website www.nodepression.net will continue. In its time the magazine, run by a skeleton staff of three along with a team of freelancers, has featured such performers as Son Volt, Drive-By Truckers, Whiskeytown, Johnny Cash, Ralph Stanley and Elvis Costello, among many, many others.
Clear Channel settles in fire suit — Clear Channel Broadcasting has agreed to a $22 million settlement with survivors and relatives of those killed in the 2003 Rhode Island nightclub fire during a Great White show. Hundreds of victims sued after the February, 2003 fire at the West Warwick Club, which occurred when pyrotechnics used by the band ignited flammable soundproofing around the stage, killing nearly 100 people. With this most recent settlement, Clear Channel has paid more than $70 million to victims and families. Clear Channel was sued because one of its radio stations sponsored the show by running on-air advertisements.
Blogs over Myspace — A recent study by New York University’s Stern Business School showed that blog chatter, not myspace hits, helped to sell more albums. The study tracked 108 albums for four weeks before and after their release dates. The results showed that if 40 or more blog posts were made before an album’s release date, sales ended up being three to four times the average for both indie and major releases, while myspace had “a weaker correlation to sales.”
That being said, it was also reported last month that myspace, or more directly News Corp., has plans to begin distributing digital music on-line. Reports stated that music may be free, supported by advertising dollars on the site. A time frame has not been officially announced, but one source said that one of the major labels could be “two weeks” away from inking its deal.
Dead get political — Despite coming of age in the ’60s, the Grateful Dead have remained relatively apolitical throughout their career. However, last month, Dead members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart reunited for a concert to support Barack Obama. Billed as Deadheads for Obama, the show was the group’s first since 2004’s reunion tour.
Grammy Schmammy — The 2008 Grammy Awards show garnered the lowest rating in more than a decade and showed a slip of 17 percent from last year. Overall viewers are estimated at 18.2 million, down from about 20 million in 2007.