:: Girl Talk ::
 :: Ogden Theatre :: October 31 ::

By Lisa Oshlo

Gregg Gillis finally quit his day job. Better known as Girl Talk, Gillis has spent the better part of the last six years touring relentlessly while working 9-to-5 in the brainiac field of biomedical engineering.

Making music since his adolescence, Gillis began the Girl Talk project while a student at Case Western University in Ohio, never expecting music to be more than a side project and creative outlet. But as word of his talent spread, it became clear that making music was his primary fate.

Gillis’ main focus is on mash-up style remixes, wherein he deconstructs pop songs and creatively restructures them into new art, at once recognizable and unique. The end result is the kind of pants-off dance-off that makes everyone want to join the party. Continue — Read more »

:: Fleet Foxes ::
 :: Oriental Theatre :: October 15 ::

By Cornelia Kane

Fleet Foxes represent a new breed of rock and roll. The five-piece Seattle band builds tunes around lush vocal harmonies and delicate melodies that are more reminiscent of CSN&Y’s  Déjà Vu (released in 1969) than the Raconteurs’ latest. Don’t let the long hair fool you, though, these guys are not some hippie throwbacks. Rather, they are one of the first bands in a long time to successfully meld harmonies, pastoral imagery and traditional instruments such as mandolins into something that appeals to both hardcore hipsters and their parents.

The band has enjoyed an almost meteoric rise from the time the current lineup (which is less than a year old) signed with renowned Seattle indie label Sub Pop in January, to June when their self-titled debut full-length was released and reached number 83 on the Billboard charts, to today, which finds them in the middle of a seemingly never-ending tour that continues into next year and will take them to at least three continents. Continue — Read more »

:: Crooked Fingers ::
 :: Bluebird Theater :: October 19 ::

By Timothy Dwenger

It’s been three years since the gravelly-voiced wordsmith Eric Bachmann dropped a Crooked Fingers record on his adoring fans and for many it’s been much too long. He’s done his best to pacify the masses by touring as a solo act and releasing To The Races, the stellar stripped-down solo record that won critical acclaim, but now he’s finally back with a full band for the Crooked Fingers record that will leave many who weren’t “in the know” scrambling for his back catalogue.

Forfeit/Fortune is “sort of a finishing of the last Crooked Fingers record, Dignity and Shame,” said the group’s creative mastermind Eric Bachmann in a recent interview with The Marquee. “Dignity and Shame is really just the major stuff and this record has a lot more minor keys because a lot of the darker songs were taken off of Dignity and Shame and actually ended up on this record. I guess this is more the shame half of it.” Continue — Read more »

:: Silver Jews ::
:: Bluebird Theatre :: October 5 ::

By Timothy Dwenger

Silver Jews are David Berman. Sure, he has additional players on his albums and on stage with him when he tours, but he is the tortured soul behind the quirky alt-country that has been produced under the Silver Jews moniker for nearly 20 years. With six critically acclaimed albums under his belt, Berman has had his share of ups and downs.

Until his most recent album, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea, Berman had concentrated on largely autobiographical lyrics that left at least one journalist wishing he knew where Berman lived so he could “knock on his door, give him a hug, and tell him everything is gonna be okay.” Continue — Read more »

:: Spring Creek ::
:: Gold Hill Inn :: October 17 :: 
:: Hodi’s Half Note :: October 18 :: 
:: Salida Steam Plant :: October 24 ::
:: Chautauqua Community House :: October 25 ::

By Kathy Foster-Patton

Spring Creek Bluegrass Band isn’t resting on their laurels. After winning the prestigious 2007 Telluride and RockyGrass band contests, they have spent the last year hustling around the country, working to get their music heard. All that hard work paid off last month when they signed a recording agreement with Rebel Records. Bassist Jessica Smith took a few minutes out from a rest day on the road in Texas to share their experiences with The Marquee. Continue — Read more »

One of the best nights of the year for music takes over Friday, the 31st

By Mike Hedrick

New Year’s Eve and Halloween are traditionally two of the best nights of the year to see music, but for the last few years Halloween has fallen mid-week, which has led the “holiday” to be stretched thin over multiple nights.
This year, however, with Halloween falling on a Friday night, promoters have stepped up huge and Friday, October 31, 2008 could end up going down as one of the best of the best.
Below is a list of (not every, but) a lot of the shows taking place on the Front Range that night: Continue — Read more »

From the Barstool of the Publisher

If this appeal doesn’t work we’re all completely screwed.

As we were going to press the future of Jammie Thomas was uncertain. Thomas is the woman who the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is suing for sharing a total of 24 files over the peer-to-peer network Kazaa.

Last year she was convicted and a jury in Duluth, Minn., ordered her to pay $222,000 to six record companies. Imagine that. You think iTunes’ price of 99 cents per song is too much? Imagine paying $9,250 per song! Continue — Read more »

Kane moves up in Aggie organization — Long-time Marquee contributor Cornelia Kane, who wrote her first story for the magazine in 2003, has recently been appointed as the head publicist for the Aggie Theatre in Fort Collins. Kane, who in addition to contributing to The Marquee, books shows under the moniker Semi vs. Diner, has been a bartender at the Aggie for several years, and also works down the street at the crispy-crunchy CD/smoke shop Rock N’ Robins. Congrats Cornelia! Continue — Read more »

Metallica
Death Magnetic
Warner Bros.

4 out of 5

:: Pepsi Center :: Nov. 4 ::

Metallica has been a soap opera of a band for the past 15 years. You could say they have had a 15-year slump which started after the “The Black Album” had run its course with 22 million albums sold (25th all-time top seller), and numerous sold-out stadium world tours.  However, in the 15 years following the “The Black Album” (which is actually a self-titled release) Metallica became embroiled in the Napster controversy, which resulted in heavy fan-backlash. They fired bassist Jason Newstead, frontman James Hetfield entered rehab for substance abuse, and they released the borderline embarrassing band documentary Some Kind of Monster. They also managed to release three very lackluster studio albums which all sold less than each previous release. Continue — Read more »

U2
Live: Under a Blood Red Sky

Interscope/Island/UME

5 out of 5 stars

Let me preface this review by saying that I am not a U2 fan, but take a look at the number of stars up at the top of this review and you’ll begin to understand how crucial this recording is. It’s so critical, in fact, I think they should make it a law for everyone in the state to own this — because as Colorado goes, there is no recording anywhere that I am aware of, that captures Red Rocks so perfectly.

Many of you are probably asking why I’m doing this review now, since Under a Blood Red Sky was released in November of 1983, just five months after the epic show in Morrison. Well, this album and DVD combo isn’t the same. It’s a new release with some tracks that have never before come out, and yes, it includes a DVD of the show with five previously unreleased songs. Continue — Read more »

Yarn
Empty Pockets

Ardsley Music

4.5 out of 5 stars

Attention folks: there is a band on the Americana music scene that deserves to be given a good listen and that band is the Brooklyn-based group, Yarn. They just released their second studio album, Empty Pockets, last month and it is a mighty fine piece of work.

Recorded at Excello Studios in Brooklyn, N.Y., the album doesn’t sound like something a bunch of city-folk would have recorded, rather, a backwoods jamboree of country songs with intricate bluegrass instrumentation. Empty Pockets is one of my favorite releases of the year thus far. Continue — Read more »

Calvin Locklear
Watch Them Dance

Independent

3 out of 5 stars

:: Calvin Locklear :: The Ginn Mill :: Oct. 4 ::

Singer/songwriter Calvin Locklear has added a drummer and bassist for his release Watch Them Dance and the results are fathoms worth of depth added to his acoustic-based poppy sound.
Locklear is still young and that can lend itself to  some rather trite phrasing from time to time, but his youth is also listed in his assets column, as it gives a bouncy exuberance to his songs.
Watch Them Dance is a fine acoustic pop album and lays some good groundwork for Locklear to build an even stronger catalog.

:: Calvin Locklear :: The Ginn Mill :: Oct. 4 ::