Denver ROCK CITY

Nestled among the Rocky Mountains, Denver is best known for a mildly disturbing obsession with John Elway and being really high up. The air is thin around here, but Mile Highers know it’s the city’s music scene that’ll leave you breathless. This landlocked and often overlooked burg is producing a steady stream of diverse and compelling sounds that goes far beyond breakout acts like DeVotchKa, Flobots, and the Fray.

LOCAL HEROES

Besides overseeing early recordings by acts like grunge godfathers the Fluid, local producer Bob Ferbrache deserves kudos for capturing the goth-inflected “Denver sound.” Bands such as ¹⁶ Horsepower and Woven Hand have waxed their scorched-earth Americana at Ferbrache’s Absinthe Studios, located in the macabre setting of his late mother’s house.

Despite the dwindling CD market,
Paul and Jill Epstein’s Twist & Shout
record store has managed to thrive
since its inception ²⁰ years ago.
Though the store impresses with
its expansive selection and staff of
music obsessives (who offer just
a dash of nerdy smugness), locals
also flock here for in-stores from
DeVotchKa and Rose Hill Drive.

Four years ago, frustrated with the amount of effort required to transfer songs from vinyl to the digital format, Jonas Tempel and a small army of Denver DJs formed Beatport.com to sell dance-oriented

MP³s. Since then, the company, which recently launched Beatsource. com, its hip-hop counterpart, has become a kind of baggy-pantsed i Tunes of the dance world.

Directly inspired by Suburban Home, Denver’s venerable punk imprint, Dan Rutherford and Adam Lancaster founded Morning After Records in 2004, releasing music by indie up-and-comers Hot IQs, Born in the Flood, and the Photo Atlas. Morning After’s success helped ignite the city’s rock scene, energizing a slew of Denver labels like Public Service and Needlepoint.

Every good music scene has its own look. And while designer Jonathan Till isn’t as well known as rock art stars Lindsey Kuhn or Leia Bell, his colorful collages (see below) deserve similar acclaim. Featured on an array of releases from Denver bands Hot IQs, Black Black Ocean, and Flobots, Till’s designs have helped define the city’s anything-goes aesthetic.

BARS AND CLUBS
Planes Mistaken for Stars
at Larimer Lounge

Larimer Lounge
2721 LARIMER ST., 303-291-1007
Despite being around only six years, the Larimer Lounge already
feels like an institution. In ²⁰⁰², Scott Campbell, who booked the
White Stripes early in the band’s career at the crosstown ¹⁵th Street
Tavern, opened this dingy, poster-lined cave, which has hosted rockers
ranging from High on Fire to the Killers to the Hold Steady.

Fox Theatre
1135 13TH ST., 303-443-3399
The Fox Theatre is 30 minutes from
Denver in neighboring Boulder.
But the venue’s flawless sound and
perfect sight lines are worth the drive.
Famous for breakout shows by the
Dave Matthews Band, the regal club
now fills its calendar with acts like Girl
Talk, TV on the Radio, and Calexico.

hi-dive

7 S. BROADWAY, 720-570-4500
Inspired by their old haunts,
ex-Brooklynites Matt and Allison
LaBarge opened this no-frills,
low-lit, skinny-jeans magnet in
²⁰⁰³. Since then, it has served as a
launching pad for local buzz bands
Widowers and d.biddle, and a prime
destination for national acts like
Vampire Weekend and Dark Meat.

The Church
1160 LINCOLN ST., 303-832-3528
In the right state of mind, a club can
seem like a cathedral. It’s easy to get
into that headspace at the Church,
once an actual house of worship. If
you’ve ever wanted to dance to top-
notch DJs surrounded by stained-glass
windows while the beats bounce off
vaulted ceilings, this is the place for you.

The Marquis Theater
2009 LARIMER ST., 303-292-0805
Formerly a pawnshop, then a blues
club, this all-ages venue has a long
and winding history. Located in the
LoDo (Lower Downtown) nightclub
district, close to the Rockies’ Coors
Field, today the Marquis is a
sparkling haven that books the type
of hardcore and metal you’d expect
to see in a dank, gritty warehouse.

KNOW
YOUR
HISTORY

A quarter century ago,
on a dreary day in June,
an up-and-coming Irish
band played in front of
a half-full house at Red
Rocks. The now-legendary
set, immortalized on the
Under a Blood Red Sky
live album, turned U²
into flag-waving legends
and elevated the naturally
formed amphitheater
onto the bucket list of
must-play venues.

CLOCK WISE FROM TOP: JASON ROSCOE SHEATS/BASURA BLANCA PHOTO; G. WIGLER; JONATHAN TILL