By Danea Sharpe and Nikki Steele
For music freaks Halloween is by far one of the biggest festivities of the year, and not surprisingly Colorado has a killer line up of shows to take part in this year.
Here are The Marquee’s picks for wicked shows, on this wicked night.
| CHERUB |
Jordan Kelly and Jason Huber of the Nashville based duo CHERUB, blend colorful sounds and infectious electro-pop with carefree, exuberant lyrics.
Earlier this year their single “Doses and Mimosas” charted at number 43 on Billboard‘s Rock Airplay chart, and at number 23 on the Alternative Songs chart. “Doses and Mimosas” also topped The Hype Machine chart and has more than a million YouTube views. Along for the evening are the “tropical grit pop” of Ghost Beach and Brooklyn-based producer Gibbz.
| METHOD MAN and REDMAN |
The fiery East Coast duo of Method Man (Wu-Tang Clan) and Redman (Def Squad), two of hip-hop’s most indelible emcees, seem to be celebrating every big musical holiday in Denver this year. Following their smoking 4/20 performance, Mef and Red have embarked on the Smokers Club Tour — a nationwide, 37-city tour that includes artists such as Curren$y, Ab Soul, Juicy J and Big K.R.I.T. The Grammy-Award winning Method Man and partner Redman have been a team since the early ’90s. The night also includes Cypress Hill’s front man B-Real, and rappers Berner and Mick Jenkins.
| MIMOSA |
Born Tigran Mimosa, the Armenian hip-hop and dubstep producer Mimosa grew out of the Los Angeles and San Francisco music scenes. SPIN named Mimosa one of the Top 10 Acts at Bonnaroo 2012.
Mimosa put out his latest release Future Trill Vol. 1 on his own label False Idol Music, which distributes the music to fans for free.
The Motet is Colorado’s premiere party band and will once again put on a musical costume for what has become a consistently sold out event for the group year after year. In years past, The Motet Halloween shows have focused on the canons of such iconic artists as Stevie Wonder, P-Funk, Jamiroquai, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters, Prince, Tower of Power and others, and last year featured “Mixtape 1980.” For 2014 the 7-piece ensemble will perform “Mixtape 1975” — a collection of songs from that year. Early in 2014, The Motet released it’s seventh full-length studio effort in their 12-year career. Also on the bill for the night is Springfield, Mass. native DJ Mikey Thunder.
Colorado loves Widespread Panic. The jam-band heroes hold an unprecedented record of 45 consecutively sold-out shows at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The band, in fact, is so popular here that June 27 has been named “Widespread Panic Day” in Denver County. But despite their relationship with Colorado, they have never played Halloween shows here, until now, and Halloween will be the first of a three-night run for the group.
The Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 shows were sold out but tickets were still available for the final show of the run on Nov. 2, as of press time for this issue.
It’s been a busy year for The Grant Farm. The band released their impeccably-recorded Plowin’ Time this summer, and just last month released a collaborative EP with Fruition titled Meeting on the Mountain. Additionally Tyler Grant took home third place in the National Flatpicking Championship this year at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kan. Grant grabbed the championship for that event in 2008 and this year was his first year of eligibility since that victory. The Halloween Hoedown will also feature Colorado bluegrassers Ragged Union.
Omaha Diner is four storied musicians attempting to re-define TOP 40 — a format that forever perverted the way we experience music. Seven-string guitar whiz Charlie Hunter, trumpeter Steven Bernstein, drummer Bobby Previte and saxophonist Skerik will perform songs that have all touched, however briefly, the #1 spot on the Top 40 pop charts.
Musketeer Gripweed is returning to their hometown stomping grounds for their annual soiree, Halloween and Gasoline. For 2014’s Halloween and Gasoline III, which they’re billing as a Fort Collins Freak Show, the rock and roll revivalists will be joined by The Yawpers, and Bill Smith. Earlier this year, Gripweed released its latest studio effort aptly titled Floods and Fires.
GWAR founder and frontman Dave Brockie, who performed as Oderus Urungus, died earlier in 2014 of a heroin overdose, leaving the band without any of its founding members. But the space traveling mutants have added two new members. The Berserker Blóthar and Vulvatron are the latest intergalactic warriors to be banished to the pathetic mudball known as Planet Earth. Blóthar; a fat, filthy, frozen space viking, will take over as GWAR’s lead vocalist. The official title of the red-hot cybernetic spitfire known as Vulvatron is\ listed as “Head Bitch In Charge,” but her musical contributions have not yet been defined. GWAR will share the stage with Decapitated and Havok.
In 2008 Eufórquestra moved from Iowa to Colorado and in doing so immediately went from playing dive bars to clubs (their first gig in Colorado was opening for The Motet at The Fox Theatre). The transplants have grown deep roots here, and this year released their fifth full-length album Fire, which was produced by The String Cheese Incident’s Kyle Hollingsworth.
Lollipop has described Secret Chiefs 3 as an “outside-the-box journey into sights and sounds from far and deep into the imagination, and a fascinating antidote to the often stultifying dearth of vision and ambition in so much rock music today.” The instrumental rock group is led by guitarist/composer Trey Spruance (formerly of Mr. Bungle and Faith No More).
Ohio’s The Werks are on the road with Southern jamtronica act Zoogma for a co-headlining tour that hits The Mile High City on Halloween.
Founded in 2007 in Ohio, The Werks rose quickly through the jam scene with multiple appearances at major music festivals. Zoogma’s live-tronica explorations, coupled with a top-notch light show adds a rock flare to the dance music tradition.
The two groups will play Oct. 31 as well as Nov. 1.
