PICK OF THE WEEK: Jackie Greene - Sunday, December 2nd - The Bluebird Theater, Denver, CO

Why You Should Go: It isn’t often that a 21 year-old stops a room cold with a soulfully mature voice that calls to mind a young Tom Waits or Otis Redding. But, that is exactly what happened when Jackie Greene took the stage at an open mic in Sacramento in the fall of 2001. At that point Greene had been gigging in bars and selling records out of his trunk for the better part of five years. Things took a turn for him when DIG Music owner Marty DeAnda heard him that night that night in Sacremento, signed him within days and gave the youngster the chance to get his music out to a much broader audience.

Since DeAnda took a chance on him, Greene has put out three acclaimed albums and electrified audiences all over the country. His blues soaked style of rock and his electric stage presence often steals the show as the opening act for established performers such as B.B. King, Taj Mahal and Susan Tedeschi.

Don't miss your opportunity to catch this fantastic performer in the intimate confines of The Bluebird Theater on Sunday night.

Stay tuned for a full length feature on Greene to be posted later in the week.

Jackie Greene


Venue: The Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80206 (303)377-1666

Doors:
8:00 PM

*Approximate Set Times:
The Wheel: 8:30 PM
Jackie Greene: 9:30 PM

*Price:
$15 (ADV)
$17 (DOS)
PURCHASE

*All times and prices are gathered from other sources and I am not responsible for mistakes or inconsistencies. They are intended only as guidelines. Please, always call the venue if you desire the most accurate information possible.

PICK OF THE WEEK: Polytoxic (Performing The Last Waltz) - Wednesday, November 21st - Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom, Denver, CO

Why You Should Go: With Thanksgiving right around the corner it is time to Celebrate one of the most storied concerts in Rock-N-Roll history with a recreation of The Band's Last Waltz. The event, immortalized by Martin Scorsese in the movie of the same name, originally took place at Winterland in San Francisco 31 years ago but comes to life on the stage of Cervantes right here in Denver each year featuring a 30 plus person cast of Denver Musicians and anchored by the band Polytoxic.

Polytoxic has thrown this party several times and The Westword called the concert the best local band concert of the year in 2005. If you have ever seen and enjoyed the movie documenting the event this evening will not be a let down. Polytoxic performs most, if not all, of the original setlist and may even throw a couple of extra songs in. They have the chops to pull it off and with three previous performances under their belt this is bound to be the best yet.

Last year the 30 guest musicians included Aaron Rose, who played the role of Neil Diamond, Jessica Goodkin, singing Van Morrison’s ‘Caravan,’ Christy Chambers playing Joni Mitchell and Cheyenne Kowal from the Reals reprising Emmylou’s role in the movie. The Toxic Horns also joined the band for evening rounding out the sound.

The Last Waltz Finale (Original)


Venue: Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom 2637 Welton Street Denver, CO 80205 - 303.297.1772

Doors:
8:00 PM

*Approximate Set Times:
Polytoxic: 9:30 PM

*Price:
$15
PURCHASE

*All times and prices are gathered from other sources and I am not responsible for mistakes or inconsistencies. They are intended only as guidelines. Please, always call the venue if you desire the most accurate information possible.

PICK OF THE WEEK: Zappa Plays Zappa - Friday, November 16th 2007 - The Fillmore, Denver, CO

Why You Should Go:

NOTE: Having not seen the production that Dweezle Zappa is putting on I have decided to let the following review of the show in Milwaukee, written by Cal Roach do the talking. This review was posted on a site that I regularly write for Jambase.com.

The general rule with tribute bands is that you go to see a moderately priced facsimile of something you love and leave yearning for the real thing. Band members often dress and coif themselves in the manner of their heroes, creating an aura of dissimulation that renders them subject to derision in the face of serious music. Frank Zappa's formidable reputation as a live performer suggests that trying to recreate his show would be a recipe for disappointment, but his son Dweezil has avoided these pitfalls with the Zappa Plays Zappa experience by not attempting to emulate Frank, just expertly play his music. There is an undeniable continuity between the guitar styles of father and son, but Dweezil has distinguished himself as a master in his own right. Not only can Dweezil play the hell out of his dad's compositions, but like his father, Dweezil has assembled a top-notch cast of musicians who do the Zappa legacy justice. The show is a tribute but it's not a caricature or a novelty. And, it's the closest thing to a Frank Zappa show that many people will ever experience.

The Rave was packed with Zappateers of all ages for the fourth show of the current tour, which lacks ex-FZ band members Terry Bozzio, Steve Vai, and Napoleon Brock Murphy, who played with the group in 2006. The set opened with tight-but-standard versions of "Echidna's Arf (Of You)," "My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama" and "Dirty Love." What happened next was a unique and somewhat surreal concert experience. The big screen behind the band lit up with the image of Frank shredding through "Black Napkins," his recorded solo lancing through the air as the live band backed him. For anyone not prepared, it was an emotional shock. The band pulled it off brilliantly, staying perfectly in step, grooving with Frank's ghost as he wailed the way no one else ever could. It's hard to think of a better way to avoid having to live up to an impossible standard than this novel move.

The performances that included Frank produced some obvious highlights of the evening. He returned for "Montana," singing and careening through a monstrous guitar solo, and the Yo! FZ Raps stylings of "Dumb All Over," endearing himself to the religious right by proclaiming that "God is dumb," then punctuating the sentiment with some nimble fret work. The coolest moment had to be during "Cosmik Debris" when Frank lights a cigarette and jams silently as Dweezil plays a fantastic melodic solo of his own. Then, Frank throttles his guitar and blows minds. These were communal experiences for fan and band, admiration radiating from all corners of the dingy room, bringing the tribute concept to its most reverent end.

Dweezil has amassed an impressive cast of relative unknowns to play the complicated Zappa canon. The frenetic proto-metal prog of the "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" suite was thrilling in its precision and power. "Pygmy Twylyte" was a tight full-band workout that showed remarkable synergy. "Dupree's Paradise" featured solos from all members and some eerie vocal/percussion madness, where Billy Hulting's xylophone work was particularly engrossing and Jamie Kime's guitar solo was blistering. Scheila Gonzalez (sax/flute/percussion) was brilliant throughout. The only weak spot came from Joe Travers on drums. While very talented, his style often leans toward arena rock, almost too straightforward for much of Zappa's material, though it rarely detracted from the performance.

The biggest energy boost came from guest vocalist/guitarist Ray White, who toured with Frank in the '70s and '80s. White played most of the set, bowling the crowd over upon his entrance on "City Of Tiny Lights." His stage presence was monstrously joyful, and his voice was overwhelming. His performance of "Advance Romance" was a loving conjuration of Captain Beefheart's original madness, and his outrageous interpretation of "The Illinois Enema Bandit" induced rapturous applause. There was a clear bond of respect between White and Dweezil, who was in total command of the show and played some rapturous guitar solos as well.

"Cheepnis" was amazing, showing some Frank influence but with a more melodic sensibility, almost Jimmy Page-esque. "Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy" was another Dweezil highlight, indicating perhaps a bit of Vai rubbing off as he played around the rhythm section and reached some tremendous peaks. In the end, Frank naturally won out with his Baby Snakes solo during the essential "Muffin Man" but Dweezil still held his own.

It's useless to rate ZPZ against FZ. You know going in that it can't stack up, and toward the end tunes like "Joe's Garage" and "San Ber'dino" really pronounced the absence of their creator. But, overall, this is a nostalgia trip that brings a lot of happiness to those who miss Frank. His presence is there in his songs, and anything that brings them to life is a blessing.


Zappa Plays Zappa


Venue: The Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 Clarkson Street, Denver, CO 80218 - (303)837-0360

Doors:
7:00 PM

*Approximate Set Times:
Zappa Plays Zappa - 8:30 PM

*Price:
$45.00
PURCHASE

*All times and prices are gathered from other sources and I am not responsible for mistakes or inconsistencies. They are intended only as guidelines. Please, always call the venue if you desire the most accurate information possible.

FEATURE: Sea Wolf is Making Waves in the Indie Folk World

There’s a new face on the Indie folk circuit these days. The face belongs to Alex Brown Church and he has emerged from the Silverlake district of Los Angeles, a recent hotbed of activity in the Indie music community. Church is Sea Wolf in the same way that Sam Beam is Iron & Wine and, like Beam, Church rarely performs solo and relies on a diverse cast of backing musicians to flesh out his songs.

When Church first put Sea Wolf together he was an active member of Irving, another band native to Silverlake, and needed an outlet for more of his own material. “Sea Wolf is my songs and Irving is more of a group thing where I only had a few songs on each record,” Church said during a recent interview with Listen Up Denver! that was plagued by the lack of cellular coverage in Southern Oregon as he drove from San Francisco to Portland for the second gig of Sea Wolf’s marathon fall tour with his current bandmates.

“I’ve been playing with this line-up since March and while it’s hard to say how permanent anyone is, everyone seems pretty good to go for now,” said Church. “I’ve been out on the road with these guys a couple of times and we are pretty familiar with each other at this point. We are really getting along pretty well. We all really like each other and it is a good group but being stuck in a van with anybody for that long a time can make you start to hate your best friend. It’s just the way it goes on the road.”

Before cementing the current line up of Sea Wolf Church called on members of the so called “Ship Collective” to fill out his sound both in the studio and on the stage. “The ‘Ship Collective’ was a group of bands from Los Angeles that included the Silversun Pickups, Great Northern, Earlimart, Irving and a couple of others,” Church said. “We were all friends and we created this sort of community. We practiced within a block of each other, played on each others records, hung out together and just really supported one another.”

While the importance of the “Ship Collective” has faded, and Church is now a year removed from Irving, he has found Sea Wolf to be much more creatively rewarding for him and he maintains a good relationship with his ex-bandmates. “Those guys have been really supportive of Sea Wolf the whole way, we’re definitely still pals,” he said. “Sea Wolf was just getting a lot of attention building momentum and Irving wasn’t. It got to the point where I felt like I wanted to go with Sea Wolf full time.”

The attention that Church is referencing has been coming in several forms. On the live front, his friends in Silversun Pickups invited Sea Wolf to join them on a high profile tour this past summer. On the radio front, Church has become a darling of NPR and has been featured at least twice in the last year on the World Café program. And, most recently, Church got the opportunity to reach a much broader audience when Jimmy Kimmel invited Sea Wolf to perform in the Pontiac Garage on his late night television show. Much of the attention has been as a result of the bands first single “You’re a Wolf” from their debut album Leaves In the River. Ironically, it’s a song that Church wrote when Sea Wolf was a very new idea for him.

“I wrote ‘You’re A Wolf’ about four years ago,” said Church. “It’s been a while and I think that I had the idea as I was humming along and the words ‘you’re a wolf’ just kinda came out. I really liked the idea of that being the song and I thought about what it meant and tried to figure out why it registered with me.” He didn’t want to elaborate much about the meaning of the song but did acknowledge that, in addition to liking the implied message the lyrics convey, he was playing on the name of his band.

When asked about the origin of that name, Church reflected on his childhood growing up in Northern California. In a home without a television he was often reading and stumbled upon the work of Jack London, the author of the famous maritime tale, The Sea Wolf. “The name of the band comes from Jack London’s book ‘The Sea Wolf,’” he said. “I grew up in Berkeley and Jack London is from Oakland and is sort of this mythological figure in the Bay Area. I grew up with Jack London Square in Oakland and a restaurant not too far from my house that had pictures of him everywhere. He was very present in my childhood and I felt this connection to him in that way.”

Though Church now makes his home in Los Angeles, it was fitting that he started his first national headlining tour as Sea Wolf so close to his childhood home. “The show was about what I was hoping it would be,” he said. “We just put out our first record and we haven’t played in San Francisco very much, but there were a couple hundred people there.”

The tide seems to be changing for Church and after years of gliding below the radar of most major media he has broken through and his music is getting the notice that it deserves. Chances are it won’t be long until he is taking the next newcomer to the indie folk world under his wing and showing them the ropes.

Spectate If You Gravitate:

• Iron & Wine
• Band of Horses
• Earlimart

REVIEW: Neil Young - November 5th - The Wells Fargo Theater, Denver, CO

The Scene: When I walked into the Denver Convention Center, home of the Wells Fargo Theater the prophetic words that Neil Young first sang in 1979 immediately came to mind. That mantra, as it has become to many, “it’s better to burn out, than to fade away,” has followed Young throughout his career but upon gazing on the absolutely characterless atrium out side the theater I began to wonder if this legend was fading away or more accurately, becoming someone very different from the man who wrote those words so many years ago.

I have been fortunate enough to see Young several times in my life at some great venues including Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado and The Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Upstate, New York. In each instance, before Young even took the stage, there was an electricity in the air that was completely missing at The Wells Fargo Theater. Several things contributed to this, the sterile atmosphere, the inescapable truth of the fact that it was a Monday night, the fact that absolutely no drinks at all were allowed into the theater and the militant way in which the heavy solid doors to the theater were guarded during the songs to prevent anyone from entering the hall until there was a break in the music. Suffice it to say that The Wells Fargo Theater and its incredibly strict policies sucked the rock show energy from the crowd before they even took their seats.

Neil Young: At the stroke of 8:30 Young walked out onto the stage to a standing ovation and I was able to catch a glimpse of him before an usher secured the doors, turned around and had the unenviable job of telling about 40 hardcore Neil Young fans who had shelled out between $80 and $150 dollars per seat that they had to wait in the lobby while Young opened the show with the Harvest Moon gem “From Hank to Hendrix.”

As the last muffled notes passed through the heavy doors we were finally allowed to enter the cavernous room. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness I saw that there in the center of a tremendous stage sat Neil Young flanked by a semi circle of acoustic instruments. Dressed in a slightly rumpled light colored suit he was returning one guitar to its stand and reaching for another as we latecomers struggled to find out seats.

As we got settled and the crowd quieted, Young began a foray into the 70’s, that lasted for nearly an hour, by delicately picking out the melancholy introduction to the 1974 classic “Ambulance Blues,” from his legendary On The Beach Album. The line “you're all just pissing in the wind” drew one of the most enthusiastic reactions of the entire evening from the attentive crowd. The diehards in the crowd were then treated to “Sad Movies,” the first of three unreleased songs from his prolific 70’s sessions that Young would play on the evening.

He then picked himself up out of his chair and purposefully walked over to a grand piano that occupied a spot on the right side of the stage. On top of the piano sat a synthesizer and Young utilized both in a rare and haunting performance of “A Man Needs a Maid,” from 1972’s Harvest.

As Young moved through the acoustic portion of the evening, he took occasional pulls on a beer bottle and ran through Harvest, Love Is A Rose, and several other, more obscure, selections.

The highlight of the hour-long set came about 40 minutes in when Young took the stool at the upright piano for a truly moving version of the sparse and tender “After The Goldrush.” He was in top voice and the passion that seeped through the performance proved yet again that this is a man who has no intention of fading away. He tipped his hat to the state of the world today, and got a huge reaction, when he adapted the line “look at Mother Nature on the run in 1970’s” to “look at Mother Nature on the run in the 21st century.”

Young then returned to center stage and surprised everyone when he aborted “Love Art Blues,” a few bars in, choosing instead to pluck out “Mellow My Mind,” on the banjo saying “I’ll get to that one a little later.” A little later proved to only be about 5 minutes when Young played the song uninterrupted as the next selection before the country blues of “Love Is a Rose,” picked up the mood a bit.

Young chose to close the set out with the massive crossover hit “Heart of Gold.” While it is a song that has truly stood the test of time and a great choice for a closer, the moment that made the most lasting impression on me was the way his high tenor seemed to transport me back in time as he sang of the archer splitting the tree during “After The Goldrush.” When the last notes of “Heart Of Gold” had faded away, Young stood up, waved to the crowd and headed into the wings of the stage to gather himself and his band for the electric portion of the evening.

After a brief break, Young took the stage with long time friends Ben Keith, Rick Rosas, and Ralph Molina, on guitar, bass and drums respectively. The old friends brought the crowd to their feet when they launched headlong into “The Loner.” The crowd remained standing as a painter who was working in the back replaced a canvas on the right edge of the stage that had the words “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” paired with a abstract scene. The painter worked as the band played, and replaced the canvases on the easel before each song as a way of introducing them without words.

In sharp contrast to the song selection of the acoustic set, the electric set introduced the audience to several songs from Young’s recent Chrome Dreams II. The band raged through “Dirty Old Man,” and “Spirit Road, early in the set before returning to the 70’s for a trio of songs that shared the central theme of abandonment and loneliness; “Bad Fog of Loneliness,” “Winterlong, and “Oh, Lonesome Me.”

The band closed out the set with two more songs from Chrome Dreams II. “The Believer” and the 15 minutes of trademark ragged glory that is “No Hidden Path” again brought the audience to their feet as Young stomped around the stage coaxing beautiful, distortion saturated screams from his electric guitar, proudly displaying the type of playing that earned him the moniker “Godfather of Grunge.”

When Young and his band mates returned to the stage for the encore they dipped back into the hits and brought a nostalgic smile to the face of many as they wailed on “Cinnamon Girl” and a monstrous rendition of “Like a Hurricane” that closed out the show and proved once and for all that, despite the choice of venue for Denver’s tour stops, Neil Young isn’t about to fade away and he sure doesn’t appear to be burning out just yet.

SETLIST
Set 1 (Acoustic):
From Hank to Hendrix, Ambulance Blues, Sad Movies, A Man Needs a Maid, No One Seems To Know, Harvest, After The Gold Rush, Mellow My Mind, Love Art Blues, Love is a Rose, Heart of Gold

Set 2 (Electric)
The Loner, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Dirty Old Man, Spirit Road, Bad Fog Of Loneliness, Winterlong, Oh, Lonesome Me, The Believer, No Hidden Path

Encore (Electric):
Cinnamon Girl, Like A Hurricane

Energy: B+

Sound: A

Musicianship: A

Stage Presence: A-

Set/Light Show: A

Overall: A-

FEATURE: The Hold Steady Resurrect Bar Room Rock

Craig Finn of The Hold Steady is a member of a dying breed of writers; the bar-room poet. Finn’s words talk of betting on the ponies, high school dances, acid trips and religion while introducing us to some of the most well developed characters in modern rock music. After a short time with The Hold Steady you feel like you know Charlemagne, the strung out addict, Gideon, the skinhead, and Holly, the hoodrat who found religion. Finn has a way of telling a story that really worms its way into your soul.

With lyrics like "If they ask about Charlemagne be polite and say something vague," or "Holly was a sexy mess. She looked strung out but experienced," he ushers you into the world of "Penetration Park," "The Party Pit," "Ybor City" and "Hostile Massachusetts." It isn't a world that many of us would venture into on our own but hand-in-hand with The Hold Steady it's a hell of a ride.

This world that Finn has created is set to a soundtrack of raucous barroom rock that is largely masterminded by guitarist Tad Kubler and keyboardist Frank Nicolay. Despite lyrics riddled with adolescent angst, it’s this raw sound that attracted a more mature fanbase to the band when they were first playing together. “As we get bigger there are more young faces in the crowd but when we were starting out it was people our own age who were coming to the shows,” Finn said in a recent interview with Listen Up Denver! as he rode a train from New York to Boston.

“The kind of rock-n-roll we play references the E Street band, The Replacements and other bands that people our age probably grew up with.” Finn continued. “We basically make music that we would want to hear. At 36 years old there are a lot of people that have taken different paths than I have in life. A lot of the people that I went to college with have 3 kids, a big house, a good job, a mortgage, dogs . . . all that. Those were the people that I would get into rock-n-roll with when I was a kid so when you look at it that way it is not entirely surprising that they are into our music today.”

In 2004 Finn and his bandmates dropped the first sampling of their brand of rock in the form of Almost Killed Me. The album introduced us to Holly, Gideon, Charlemagne and several of the other characters and themes that appear repeatedly in many of Finn’s lyrics. While many critics and fans speculate that he writes from personal experience Finn is quick to put that notion to rest. “People have this idea of a songwriter as someone who is always telling the truth,” he said. “The characters in my songs are kind of archetypes that can move the story along. They all represent different types of people. One character isn’t based on one particular person in my life and while personal experience does influence my writing, I am not writing about my life.”

Instead, Finn plays the role of a narrator who is telling tales about the lives and experiences of young men and women as they struggle to find their identities. The lives he is writing about are frequently inextricably tied to drugs, wild parties and promiscuous sexual experiences. Basically just a beer drinking guy himself, Finn maintains that these stories are not autobiographical and that he tends to focus on the tumultuous lives of young adults because of the perspective he can bring to their situations.

“I’m 36 right now and can look back and see what is unique about being 17. When you’re that age you are just starting to have a lot of freedom and people are starting to treat you like and adult. You might have a car and you might be living alone for the first time. You think you know everything but you don’t. Turns out you’re really pretty stupid,” he chuckled. “There is potential to get into all this trouble and I think that’s why I find that age fascinating to write about.”

A prolific songwriter, Finn and his band have cranked out 3 complete albums in their relatively brief history together. With Almost Killed Me in 2004, Separation Sunday in 2005 and most recently the critical darling Boys and Girl in America in 2006, the band has been on a remarkable pace that couldn’t last. “2007 will be the first year without a new record for The Hold Steady,” Finn said, confirming what many have suspected. “Things really caught on in Europe this year and we hadn’t really had that part of the world in our touring schedule before. As a result we effectively doubled our touring and spent a ton of time in England, France, Germany and Scandinavia this year. We’re hoping to have a record out in Spring of 2008.”

The success in Europe came as a bit of a surprise to the band. “I think that we all thought we’d be starting over in the European market but almost right away it got up to the level we are at in the states,” Finn said. “Some of the bigger shows that we’ve been able to play have been in the UK are at least as big as the ones we play in the big cities in the US.” It is looking like The Hold Steady can expect that the new record, when it does hit shelves, will receive an enormous amount of attention on both sides of the Atlantic.

After a hectic summer of touring and playing some huge festivals, this fall has provided a rare break from the road for the band and they have taken advantage of the time to work on some new material that may land on the new album. “We have been writing a lot on this break and we’re trying to get some new songs together to road test on the upcoming tour with Art Brut,” Finn revealed.

The tour, dubbed “NME Rock-N-Roll Riot Tour,” will be bouncing around the country for a month with the two bands being supported by a hand picked opening act each night. “Art Brut reached out to us after getting turned on to our music,” he said. “They wanted to come over to the states and partner with someone for a tour supporting their new record. I am a fan of theirs and the call couldn’t have come at a better time for us. We were looking to step it up a notch for this tour as it is our third one for this record in the states and jumped at the suggestion of teaming up. We play last every night but their set will be pretty long as well as it is basically a co-headline.”

With two acts on the bill whose popularity is currently surging as they resurrect classic barroom rock, this is not a tour for the weak of heart. Hailing from England Art Brut mirrors The Hold Steady in their raw sound, outrageous energy and front man Eddie Argos’s vocal delivery. While neither singer has a classically beautiful voice they have both harnessed what they’ve got and are using it to the best of their ability to communicate with who ever will listen.

People are obviously listening as several shows on the tour have sold out in advance and fans are coming out of the woodwork. Even Bruce Springsteen, one of Finn’s heroes and obvious influences, revealed himself to be a fan of The Hold Steady at his own tribute concert. He handed Finn the reigns to his classic “Rosalita” and stood by like a proud papa as The Hold Steady vocalist nailed the first two verses before standing back and letting Damon Gough (aka Badly Drawn Boy) take over.

Are Finn and his bandmates the second coming of The E Street Band as some have speculated? No. There's no doubt they draw inspiration from Little Steven Van Zandt and the rest of Springsteen's crew, but they are The Hold Steady; a truly unique band that loves every minute doing playing rock-n-roll that will leave you breathless and begging for more.

Spectate If You Gravitate:

• Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band
• The Replacements
• Ted Leo and The Pharmacists

PICK OF THE WEEK: The Hold Steady / Art Brut - Sunday & Monday, November 11th & 12th - The Fox, Boulder & The Ogden, Denver, CO

Why You Should Go: Because Rock-N-Roll is back! These two bands are resurrecting Bar Room Rock. With E-Street style guitar hooks and piano runs, The Hold Steady have caputured the hearts of so many as front man Craig Finn speak sings his way through tales of drug pushers, prostitutes and skinheads. For the most part Finn's songs about lost youth struggling to find their way and his characters are so well developed that you immediately feel attached to them.

With lyrics like, "If they ask about Charlemagne be polite and say something vague," or, "Holly was a sexy mess. She looked strung out but experienced," Finn ushers listeners into the world of "Penetration Park," "The Party Pit," "Ybor City," and "Hostile, Mass." It isn't a world that many would venture into on their own, but hand-in-hand with The Hold Steady it's a hell of a ride.

Hailing from England, Art Brut mirrors The Hold Steady in their raw sound, outrageous energy and front man Eddie Argos's vocal delivery. While neither singer has a classically beautiful voice, they have both harnessed what they've got and are using it to the best of their ability to communicate with whoever will listen. The last time they strutted their stuff on a Colorado stage Argos and Art Brut thrilled the crowd at September's Monolith Festival at Red Rocks and definately won over some new fans.

This is a powerful double bill and though The Hold Steady will be closing out the festivities both nights, Art Brut will be playing a long set as well. So buckle up, prepare to call in sick the next day and head out to a true Rock-N-Roll show!

The Hold Steady


Art Brut


Venue:
Sunday: Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St, Boulder, CO 80302 - (303) 443-3399
Monday: The Ogden Theatre, 935 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80218 - (303) 830-2525

Doors:
Sunday: 8:00 PM
Monday: 7:00 PM

*Approximate Set Times:
Sunday
The Blood Arm - 8:30 PM
Art Brut - 9:30
The Hold Steady - 11:00 PM

Monday
The Blood Arm - 8:00 PM
Art Brut - 9:00
The Hold Steady - 10:45 PM

*Price:
Sunday
$16.00 (ADV)
$18.00 (DOS)
PURCHASE SUNDAY

Monday
$17.00
PURCHASE MONDAY

*All times and prices are gathered from other sources and I am not responsible for mistakes or inconsistencies. They are intended only as guidelines. Please, always call the venue if you desire the most accurate information possible.