Tool Returns To Red Rocks For First Time Since 2001

By: Joe Kovack

It started with an illuminated face addressing the crowd from a screen the length of the stage, “Think for yourself, question authority.” Legendary counter-cultural icon Timothy Leary repeated the unofficial mantra of the band. “Throughout human history, our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are or where we’re going in this ocean of chaos. It has been the authorities that comfort us with order, rules, and regulations; informing, forming in our minds their view of reality. To think for yourself you must question authority.” Leary spoke as if a manifestation of the wizard in the Land of Oz. As the words echoed of the walls of Red Rocks Amphitheater, the hum of celestial electricity began to build, leading into one of the bands most prolific and spiritual songs, “Third eye.”

As the darkness grew around the amphitheater, so did the intensity of the crowd. Once into the first song, it became clear that the band was in control, with their hypnotic rhythms enchanting a crowd full of smoke and fog. With psychedelic patterns filling the backdrop and their signature lasers creating a blanket of light above the masses, Tool found a way to elevate the consciousness of the amphitheater by opening with a song rarely played live, yet executed with such vibrant precision that its impression could be felt for days. Continue — Read more »

by Andrew Martin

Photos by Josh Elioseff/www.dancerproductions.com

I have been to many music festivals over the past 10 to12 years. Each one creates its own unique vibe and culture, fueled largely by the artists performing, the crowd in attendance, and the natural surroundings of the area. While I have had my share of memorable experiences at these other musical gatherings, I can honestly say that there is something very special about the Telluride Bluegrass Festival that sets it in a class all its own.

There are a variety of factors which coalesce to make Telluride Bluegrass a truly unique experience. There couldn’t be a more beautiful backdrop to hold a music festival. The stage is nestled in a valley surrounded on all sides by looming, dramatic mountain peaks. Varying shades of green spiral around the mountainside as the sun highlights the treetops. Once you hit tree line, these dazzling shades of green fade into jagged, rocky, snow-covered peaks. Basking under bluebird skies for four straight days, you have the makings of one of the most inspiring landscapes for musicians to create their magic.

Continue — Read more »

If Rose Hill Drive were a sports team back east, the big question on all of the talk radio stations today would be “Who the fuck is this guy?”

It was announced yesterday, after more than a year of hiatus, (with only one show in that time) that Rose Hill Drive is returning. But the local three piece that garnered so much attention opening for bands such as Wilco, The Black Crowes, The Who, Van Halen and Aerosmith, to name a few, is no longer a three piece.

During their hiatus, vocalist Jake Sproul put down his bass and picked up a guitar. Now, he and brother Daniel will both be toting six-strings, with their old friend Nate Barnes on drums. That leaves a hole on the low end, and it was announced yesterday that the position is being filled by bassist Jimmy Stofer.

Stofer has previously played with The Fray (as a touring bassist), Hello Kavita and Dualistics.

The band will unveil its new line up, and some brand new material next week in Boulder at the Sundown Saloon. While not normally a music venue, the Sundowner has hosted Rose Hill Drive before, for special “secret” shows in the past.

:: Rose Hill Drive ::
:: Sundowner Saloon :: Wednesday, June 9 :: (Free show)
:: Belly Up :: June 26 ::

Widespread Panic triumphantly returns to red rocks for sold-out run

:: Widespread Panic ::

:: Red Rocks Amphitheatre ::

::  June 25, 26 and 27 ::

By Hap Fry

John “Jojo” Hermann has had this night circled since Widespread Panic’s spring tour was in its infancy.

Yes, May 1 in Tulsa, Okla., indeed was going to be a special night for Hermann, the group’s keyboardist, and not just because the Kentucky Derby was staged earlier in the day.

“It may have been Richmond or it was Raleigh or I think it was even [Washington] D.C., when I looked up and saw Tulsa and said that’s where I’m going to get some sleep,” Hermann said. “I’m going to get some sleep in Tulsa.”

All things considered, Hermann and percussionist Domingo “Sunny” Ortiz looked well rested as they entered a dressing room at the BOK Center for an in-person interview with The Marquee. The fact that they even looked rested is saying something when you consider the week Hermann, Ortiz and the rest of Widespread Panic had. Continue — Read more »

Holy Fuck spin the virtual wheel of chance for their new release Latin

:: Holy Fuck ::

:: Larimer Lounge ::

:: June 12 ::

By Timothy Dwenger

It’s pulsing, majestic, and soaring; intricate bass lines weave seamlessly together with beautiful wordless melodies to create a sonic experience that is unique and thrilling. It’s the music of Holy Fuck and it’s a sound that the indie rock website Pitchfork summed up perfectly when they wrote, “We often say casually that bands are ‘awesome’ without thinking about the true meaning of the word — Holy Fuck actually inspire awe.”

Despite the fact that their “awesome” sound is largely made on cheap keyboards run through a wide array of effects pedals, it is startlingly current. “A lot of the beats that you hear on the record, a lot of the blips and bloops and things are made by little keyboards you could probably find in any pawn shop for a couple bucks,” said Brian Borcherdt when The Marquee caught up with him and bandmate Graham Walsh just after they finished an extended sound check in Manchester, England. “They may very well fall apart midway through the tour and then you’ve got to find another one. But finding these things is part of the fun.” Continue — Read more »

The Melvins close in on 3O years together, and about as many albums

:: The Melvins ::

:: Ogden Theatre :: June 29 ::

By Joe Kovack

The Melvins have permeated the musical collective subconscious for nearly 30 years, bringing with them a controlled chaos that’s always fresh.

The concoction that’s kept them so volatile year after year, centers greatly around Buzz Osborne, or “King Buzzo” as he’s affectionately called, the eccentric lead singer/guitarist who’s the creative catalyst of the group.

Dale Crover is Osborne’s right-hand man and partner in crime, drummer extraordinaire and the only other original member who has stood the test of time and weathered 26-plus years with Buzz. And then there are the boys of Big Business — a like-minded sludge metal band who recently began to lend their talents to support the Melvins with another drummer and bassist. Continue — Read more »

The Giraffes reach year ten of their ongoing dick joke with new DVD

:: The Giraffes ::

:: Bluebird Theater :: June 18 ::

::  Larimer Lounge :: June 18 (late night) ::

By Brian F. Johnson

It’s no wonder they named their band after an animal with a long neck. Something that sucks as much cock as this beast does has to have a deep throat.

Now see, anyone who doesn’t know The Giraffes might find that to be a horribly offensive statement. Those in the know, however, understand that it’s precisely comments like that — and the unwritten permission for the band to dish it back — that makes the group one of the most purely cathartic acts left in rock and roll.

The Williamsburg, Brooklyn-based punk-metal band views the music industry as this safe little retarded baby and, without apology, they want to shake that baby until the business becomes irreverent and fun again. Continue — Read more »

Jake Shimabukuro changes perception of ukulele with 5 million youtube views

:: Jake Shimabukuro ::

:: Colorado Music Festival at  Chautauqua Auditorium :: June 29 ::

By Karen Maye

Some people may be quick to dismiss the ukulele as a novelty instrument — an accessory for grass skirts and coconut-shell tops. But world renowned ukulele artist Jake Shimabukuro is on a mission to change that image.

Shimabukuro uses the instrument in a new and unique way to explore every possible music genre, not limited to classical, blues, funk, jazz, bluegrass, flamenco, folk, and rock. Through his work, he is creating a new image of a solo instrumental ukulele musician. Continue — Read more »

Springdale Quartet focuses on live shows while getting debut CD prepped for release

:: Springdale Quartet ::

:: Cervantes Other Side :: June 6 ::

:: Fox Theatre :: June 17 ::

By Sheila Moriarity

An air of inevitable good times resonates within the presence of Springdale Quartet. They are able to channel that spontaneity into an intricately structured and harmonized instrumental bliss and  controlled chaos.

Springdale Quartet hails out of Boulder and while most Colorado bands rush to make it on a national level, Springdale Quartet is content working on solidifying their homebase following before branching out.

Despite their spot at the recent Mishawaka Waterfront Music Festival, Springdale Quartet insists they are “not nearly as bluegrass as you think.” Continue — Read more »

From the barstool of the publisher

It dawned on me this month, as I was writing the CD review for the Grateful Dead’s Crimson, White and Indigo (page 25), that I miss the super-mega giant stadium shows that I used to see on the East Coast.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m in love with the outdoor venues that we have around here. Red Rocks, the Mish and Planet Bluegrass Ranch are some of the most amazingly wonderful and intimate places in the world to see outdoor shows. But as gorgeous as those places are, seeing the DVD from the Dead’s most recent release made me truly miss sharing a concert with 100,000 or more people.

The J.F.K. Stadium show that I wrote about and attended in Philadelphia in 1989 stands as the largest crowd I’ve ever been in — 120,000 people, or more than a dozen Red Rocks, which holds just around 9,000. The field alone held more than two Red Rocks worth of crowds.

I think about it in retrospect and I can’t believe there were ever such large gatherings of people that didn’t end with utter disaster — although one could easily argue that South Philly in ’89 was already a disaster.

But what really struck me, as I took in the CD/DVD set, was the attachment that I felt to that stadium and many of the other monsters on the East Coast which were my summer stomping grounds.

R.F.K. Stadium in Washington, D.C. (where I saw my 21st Dead show on my 21st birthday), Giants Stadium in north Jersey (which was just demolished in May), even the coliseums of the northeast — the Philadelphia Spectrum (where I saw 13 shows), the Boston Garden (one show) and Nassau Coliseum (a dozen shows) — they all had something that few places we see shows in today have — history.

There was something magical about seeing a big show at the same field where Jack Dempsey lost the heavyweight boxing title in 1926. It was special to be in the hallowed halls of the Spectrum, where the Flyers won their second Stanley cup in 1975 (and where, in 1994, I witnessed the City of Philadelphia unveil a tie-dyed banner in the rafters of that building commemorating the Grateful Dead’s 50th show at the venue).

True, Red Rocks has the history to back up its legend, but so many new venues these days have comfy seats, clean bathrooms and all the historical significance of a one-hit wonder. Maybe I just forget how bad those places smelled, but damn it, I miss them and am grateful for the memories.

See you at the shows.

Grateful Dead

Crimson, White and Indigo: Live at JFK Stadium, July 7, 1989

Rhino Records

5 out of 5 stars

It was miserable and pure paradise all rolled into one.

July 7, 1989 was one of the hottest days of the Philadelphia summer — we’re talking East Coast, humid and muggy hot — the kind of heat that you feel in your lungs with every breath.

On that day, 120,000 people  (that is not a typo) piled into the famed John F. Kennedy Stadium in South Philly — a classic, old fashioned, gladiator-style horseshoe football stadium built in the 1920s, which unbeknownst to the fans was on its death bed. Across the street at the then Philadelphia Spectrum, Ringling Brothers was hosting its circus. The collision of smells was a brutal, relentless hell.

Meanwhile, hot on the heels of their career’s largest commercial success, the Grateful Dead were being reborn. With their popularity at an all-time high and with Jerry Garcia in one of the most healthy phases of his life, the band stepped into dangerous territory for this show.

You see, J.F.K. stadium held 102,000 people in the bleachers, and another 18,000 on the field. As the massive crowd started to swim their way through the thick, palpable heat, the old stadium started to give way. Newspaper reports days after the concert talked about burst pipes that were pouring out onto the field, bathrooms so grotesque that they were simply unusable, and scariest of all, large structural cracks in the concrete columns that supported the mammoth stadium.

Despite this, or maybe because of it, the Grateful Dead played one of their best shows of the year that day. Nineteen songs and nearly three hours long, the concert was a picture of beauty. As the heat of the day slowly subsided it gave way to a picture-perfect view of the sun setting behind the skyline of Philadelphia.

I sat at the way, way back of the horseshoe at the top of the bleachers (on purpose), taking in the entire panorama all at once — like all of the fans there, oblivious to what was unfolding (or crumbling) beneath our grungy feet.

Now, however, 21 years after the show took place, Rhino has lovingly released the show on three HDCDs and one DVD — shot by the same crew that filmed the legendary Truckin’ Up To Buffalo DVD.

The audio on this collection is spectacular, mixed from the 24 track analog master tapes, but the multi-camera shoot for the DVD is the real magic of this release —bringing fans up onto the stage, and peering over the shoulder of the musicians to highlight the incredible magnitude of the scene.

The set list here is almost inconsequential, but the band was “on,” firing through first-set gems like “Iko Iko,” “…Memphis Blues Again,” “Loser,” “Let It Grow,” and “Blow Away.” Set two was highlighted by a “Scarlet>Fire” and a riveting version of “Standing on the Moon,” as well as an “Other One>Wharf Rat>Lovelight” set closer. But the encore of “Knockin on Heaven’s Door” was a magical experience.

It was the last song ever performed at J.F.K.

Less than a week later, the stadium was officially condemned by Mayor Wilson Goode. In 1992, it was demolished to make way for a modern-day indoor stadium now known as the Wachovia Center.

This event has always been a special one to yours truly, and Crimson, White and Indigo couldn’t be a more memorable eulogy for both the legendary band and the legendary stadium.

— Brian F. Johnson

Richard McGraw

Burying The Dead

Non-Utopian Records

4 out of 5 stars

It may have started as a joke — when New York songwriter Richard McGraw replaced the  words “Chelsea Hotel” with  “Balmville Motel” and went on to tell his own story of teenage lust and rejection — but even with comedic roots, the resulting remake of Leonard Cohen’s classic tale of love “Chelsea Hotel #2” is nothing short of masterful.

Like Cohen, McGraw’s songs could mostly stand on their own as poetry, but on Burying the Dead he thankfully ads music worthy of accompaniment of these great lyrics. In addition to remaking Cohen’s song, McGraw tackles another cover by putting his own spin on Billy Joel’s old song, “My Life.” It takes a careful listen to “get it” but when it finally comes through, the cover tune ironically highlight’s McGraw’s ample skills as an original songwriter.

The remaining ten tracks on Burying the Dead are by McGraw, himself, a self-described anti-anti-folk artist. With soaring and mournful vocals and exquisite phrasing, both musically and lyrically, McGraw shows that he’s worthy of the praise he’s earned to date.

His 2003 debut was good enough to put him in front of industry legend Rick Rubin. His sophomore release was hailed by Performing Songwriter magazine as “a true masterpiece,” which begs the question, ‘What in the world will they have to say about this one?’ All I can say is ‘Wow!’ … and thank you.

— Brian F. Johnson