Nothing says Halloween better than vampires.  Except for Zombies maybe.  Never mind the fact that it wasn’t actually Halloween, it was Saturday night, and that’s close enough for those of us with jobs that keep us from partying it up on a Monday night.  Devotchka’s annual Halloween show always draws a crowd of the costumed and enthused, and last Saturday was no exception.  Add to the fact that Boulderites love a costume party more than most people with a killer (or undead?) theme like Vampires vs.

The term “trance-fusion” comes along with certain assumptions and associations depending on whose saying it. Perhaps the term was coined by Frank Zappa’s collection of guitar solos compiled just before his death in 1993. Generally the sub-genre refers to a collective of live improvisational bands that incorporate an electronic music element as key to their sound.

“This song is about interracial sex!” – That’s the raunchy greeting Karl Denson gave to the Boulder Theater crowd on this Halloween weekend.  Denson's Tiny Universe then immediately launched into the Rolling Stones’ 'Brown Sugar,' which was just as raunchy as Denson’s

If there’s any band out there that will make you go out on a school night and shake it, its Fort Collins based Euforquestra. Hell, I was running a fever that night and dragged my ass down to the party. Unfortunately I missed the first opening act Boom Chicken and most of Jet Edison’s set.

These days, it’s hard to define them, isn’t it?  In a musical world full of niche genres and file sharing — everyone’s product may have a better chance of being heard, and that’s great.. But it — as a result of a larger pie of musical choice, gets diluted in value.  I think that’s why the live music experience provides for so many, what the recorded medium cannot.

The 1990s were an excellent time to see live music. Not only were some of the oldest touring mainstays in their mature prime (i.e., Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers Band, Rush, Eric Clapton) but a legion of next generation bands were emerging as part of a new mentality of what it meant to have a tour following.

Since last spring when I missed Chromeo play the sold out show at the Ogden, I have been anxiously awaiting the dance party that Chromeo is.

The Front Range in Colorado has had a long lasting love affair with bluegrass. Something speaks so truly to the mountain-base dwellers that it could be the most active genre of music performed in much of the area.

Liam Finn released his second album, FOMO on June 21^st, a full three years after his breakout solo album, I’ll Be Lightning. One thing is for sure – though the album title is less obviously evocative, Liam Finn’s live show, and the new music, continues to electrify.

Pop music since the 2000s has gone through interesting evolutions and continues as a topic of focus. So many styles and genres have been amalgamated and fused together. It seems as if modern pop seeks to embrace non-style or attaining something off-blues. The trend almost seems be a sound that denies roots and style, as if that would make it more interesting inherently through its disobedience of definition. In light of this goofy paradox, artists that reach out to roots seem to captivate my interest more so.