IT’S GOOD MUSIC EVEN IF IT WAS BORN IN A COOP

With recent success from bands like The Fray, DeVotchKa, Flotbots, and 3OH!3, Coloradans are constantly on the lookout for the next big band to emerge from Colorado. But good music is good music despite the era or area, and we should all just keep looking for good music even if it’s old, brand new, or from outer space.

Local can definitely be good, but the best things often come from other places as well. Twice a year, for the last 10 years, I’ve religiously gone to see the wonderfully strange guitarist Buckethead when he rolls into town. He was born in a chicken coop, but reborn through ash and flame like a phoenix. He’s going to be whaling out some deep fried licks at the Gothic Theatre on Friday the 28th, so I’ll see you there.

The newest band I can’t stop listening to is a band from Cleveland called Mr. Gnome. In a concert watch article on a show they did back in April at the Hi-Dive I wrote, “A rhythmic, psychedelic rock pulsed from within the stage cradled by dark curtains, grabbing attention with its precise sound [making].” They’re new, but not from Denver. I’m also listening to a lot of albums from the Melvins. I never listened to them in the 90s, but I should have. They did a show a few weeks ago at The Bluebird Theater.

The only newer Denver bands that I truly like are the Flobots and DeVotchKa. The Fray is even more local to the Auraria Campus, but I just don’t dig their music.

The first band from Colorado that I noticed was Bighead Todd and the Monsters that had some success when The Fray was still singing the G.I. Joe theme song in their pajamas. They played to a sold-out crowd along with The Barenaked Ladies at Red Rocks Amphitheatre last June with new music from 2011 album 100 Years Of Robert Johnson.

Don’t completely neglect Denver music because it would be the most awesome thing in the world if Denver became known for music like Detroit and Seattle. Support your local bands just like your brewery, but don’t compromise supporting good music for okay music just because they are from where you currently reside.