I've written about Colorado music on and off for 25 years, and our fertile, fearless indie and DIY artists continue to amaze me. But I'm also impressed at how the state's int'l music profile has risen over the past decade-plus. So who's repping the state in the mainstream? More at @denverpost.com

You don't tour Europe with "West Side Story" without learning a few things about theater. Now Denver native #RyanFitzgerald is back with his Buell Theatre debut as part of the Tony-winning "Shucked." How'd he get there? More for @denverpost.com

#OffCenter, the experimental arm of Denver Center for the Performing Arts, is done. They did Camp Christmas, David Byrne & Mala Gaonkar's "Theater of the Mind," groundbreaking VR shows, etc. This comes after layoffs in June at the DCPA that officials declined to describe. More for @denverpost.com

"You are taking in the Human Centipede of Content, and from the very very end of the line, all while the folks at the front laugh and laugh, consume and consume" #AI www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

Denver Film Festival lineup features new John Elway documentary amd spotlight on Delroy Lindo, Gus Van Sant and more: www.denverpost.com/2025/10/04/d... by @johnwenzel.bsky.social

Radio has served as a medium for live music since its inception. In Colorado, radio stations have featured bands big and small over the decades, through in-studio performances and regular sponsored shows at local venues.

"Brain rot" has lost cachet but as a descriptor for AI-creep in otherwise savvy creative people it's pretty spot on. I concur w/Dawn here; artists using AI slop in promo speaks poorly of them in every way and makes me wonder what other gen-AI imagery/text they haven't disclosed

Old Denver music heads: this one's for you (and me, since I moved to and started seeing shows here many moons ago). Via George Tanner and @denverpost.com #denvermusic

The hilarious thing about this article is that Bonnie Raitt ended up at Denver Coliseum due to poor weather at Red Rocks (this was written for @denverpost.com before that). What about Paul McCartney, Haim & Lorde? Plus a few more to take a chance on as the snow looms for Denver.

Dave Matthews has the opportunity to do the funniest thing.

2026 concerts are ALREADY on sale and filling up Denver calendars, so here are a few biggies I've seen so far, from My Chemical Romance (at Coors Field, with The Breeders!), to Cardi B, Ed Sheeran, Black Violin and more, for @denverpost.com

"America may not be an actual autocracy. But it increasingly seems to be playing one on TV." [giftie] www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/a...

I was lucky enough to work in the old-school @denverpost.com newsroom with Virginia and learned a ton from her about writing obits and cracking hilariously dark jokes. This excellent obit from Susan Green reminds me Virginia was also a deeply empathetic and trailblazing journalist. Well worth a read

The metro area's mega-venues (2,000 cap+) sell the most tickets, but artists are increasingly playing multiple dates along the Front Range, so why couldn't you see the same show elsewhere? Ticket prices matter (and vary from venue to venue), so here's a handy roundup for @denverpost.com

Film commissioner and producer Donald Zuckerman, who headed the Colorado Office of Film, TV & Media -- and was a major force in bringing #Sundance Film Festival to Boulder -- has departed his job, with deputy Arielle Brachfeld stepping in as interim. More below, for @denverpost.com

“What we’re seeing is an unprecedented attempt to silence disfavored speech by the government,” said Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Dartmouth College. “Donald Trump is trying to dictate what Americans can say.”

The FTC and a group of state attorneys general — including Colorado’s Phil Weiser — sued Ticketmaster and Live Nation, alleging they deceive artists and consumers by advertising lower ticket prices than what consumers must pay and falsely claiming to impose strict buying limits.

Great fun to write this piece and update the state of Denver's indie label scene. News on Unit E, Needlepoint, Snappy Little Fingers and more punching far above their weight, for @denverpost.com

In the mid-1970s, Robert Redford wanted to launch a film festival in Boulder. “I never got any response,” he said. All is not lost for Boulder, as the Sundance Film Festival will move from Utah to Boulder in 2027. Unfortunately, Redford won’t be around for Boulder to greet him with open arms.

Lotta people know the Beatles story in Colorado. Not a lotta people have actually reported it out, as @denverpost.com's @samtabachnik.bsky.social did. Plus lots more weird Colorado music lore!

I only eat fancy very sporadically, but man, am I glad I spent that money at #BaroloGrill for my 15th wedding anniversary with my wife. New: They also nabbed a well-deserved Michelin nod, which my colleague Miguel Otárola covered today (see comments). Read about both at @denverpost.com

A preview, with photos, of Denver's #FederalTheatre renovation, and a look at what's to come. You should be excited (for real). For @denverpost.com

Recently wrote liner notes for an upcoming vinyl comp of Denver indie acts (which is all I can say rn) and Barbara was one of my favorites. Such a dreamy, melodic, unabashedly confident sound. Check out @laurenpenington.bsky.social's great @denverpost.com profile.

Pritzker says the press should be asking this question, too, and he's right.

i have a crazy idea that might just fix this

Denver's Wax Trax Records is expanding into the Highlands. “It’s high rent over there, which is all I’ll say. But I do think it’s one of the best places to be west of I-25,” co-owner tells @johnwenzel.bsky.social

Best value in Denver theater: a behind-the-scenes tour of the #DCPA, for about $15, and man does it (literally) go deep. For @denverpost.com

This is a real photograph of Washington, DC this week, where the United States president has ordered military occupation in peacetime, and ordered the display of colossal portraits of himself. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Praise for Levitt Pavilion, The Galentines, Meow Wolf, Dazzle, Pon Pon and more music favorites in Denver, assembled from Denver Post staffers. Is yours on there? For @denverpost.com

Hard to choose just 25 of the most classic Denver restaurants (as absurd as that may sound), but I think this is a pretty solid list. For The @denverpost.com

Every Denver music venue that's not on this list: please don't hate me. I could only pick 6. (But they're all fantastic IMO). More for @denverpost.com www.denverpost.com/2025/08/05/b...

“This consolidation... risks weakening a commercial anchor institution like 9News at the very same time that our public media, which is a lifeline for many rural areas, is facing its own funding crisis," Colorado Media Project director Kimberly Spencer tells @johnwenzel.bsky.social

If you're a first-timer, #RedRocks can be overwhelming, as heavenly as the setting is. Here are some tips from someone who's seen dozens of shows there over the years (me) for a concert season that will stretch through November, for @denverpost.com www.denverpost.com/2025/08/19/r...

Some really great journalism in here - honored to work alongside so many super talented folks www.denverpost.com/2025/08/18/c...

Honored to have won 1st place in A&E Column Writing from @coloradopress.bsky.social. Thank you to all the folks there, judges, my editors, my Features/A&E ride-or-dies (everywhere) and most important, readers of @denverpost.com for continually recognizing how crucial daily arts coverage still is.

My band #Undersale has a new album out tomorrow, "Long Con," with 12 tracks of densely layered, moody instrumental indie rock and synth and help from a constellation of friends and musicians hailing from Colorado, Ohio and Oregon. Stream free now on Bandcamp! undersale.bandcamp.com/album/long-con

I've never felt (or looked) more like a narc than at Red Rocks while asking people if we could identify and photograph them while they were doing drugs. #Nitrous, in particular, which is a growing scourge and health crisis, experts say. More for @denverpost.com www.denverpost.com/2025/08/06/n...

Always always always check the source and don't let scammers tell you different than what your eyes can plainly see (which feels like the scourge of these times). For @denverpost.com www.denverpost.com/2025/08/01/z...

Who's going to lead Denver's biggest arts and culture funding district? A little background on #SCFD's new leader, Andrea Albo, who's replacing the beloved Deborah Jordy. For @denverpost.com

New: Dragon Boat Fest may leave Sloan's Lake over environmental concerns by @johnwenzel.bsky.social ‬⁩ www.denverpost.com/2025/07/30/c...

If there are one or more dogs sitting outside your retail establishment, I'm very likely stopping in. (Good thing I actually needed something from this place.) For @denverpost.com's #StaffFaves www.denverpost.com/2025/07/28/m...

You should check out the final #UMS via undergroundmusicshowcase.com and give some love to the people and bands that make it so great. Semi-related: @denverpost.com just published our all-local, subscriber-only music mag (online in the coming weeks) which I'm very proud of! Happy listening/reading

Suddenly paying more attention to this season of #SouthPark

For all its rightful resurgence and love, #Clueless is still a deeply underappreciated, influential comedy that I'd argue is in the Top 10 or 20 of all time. Seeing it with its star sounds pretty awesome. And more things to do this weekend, for @denverpost.com

Tax dollars at work, baby!!!!! www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

#DenverSweet had picked up a lot of slack from the closure of the Denver Wrangler in 2018, but even it couldn't survive post-pandemic. Sucks for the Mile High LGBTQ+ community, particularly bears.

More and more, the Trump administration is accusing journalists of inciting violence or lawlessness by simply reporting the news. These claims are baseless, but they’re not harmless.

This is my jam since I stopped drinking alcohol. Too much my jam, my kids might say. Way too much.

The first big programming ripple of #Sundance coming to Boulder has arrived: the Boulder International Film Festival is pushing back to April to give some "shoulder" to Sundance. Was that a hard decision was that to make? More for @denverpost.com

MSU Denver creating ‘Juilliard of mariachi’ in new music major https://trib.al/IthaDaw