MUSICMARAUDERS

Civic Center Park Fort Collins, CO Words, Photos & Video By Nicholas Stock Beyond a few puppy pulling wookies, dogs are rarely allowed at concerts. This is most definitely not the case at the Bark and Bluegrass Festival in Fort Collins. In fact the dogs are the honored guests with pools and volunteers passing out treats, it is obvious that dogs are most definitely welcome. This is my second year in attendance and of course my dog’s second show. Set in the Civic Center Park in Fort Collins, this is their third year putting on the show to benefit the Larimer Humane Society. This year was a step back from last year’s two-day event with one night of music and a more centralized lineup. Headlined by Emmitt-Nershi Band there was plenty of music and fun to fill up an entire day. I was flying in from Vermont for work, so I raced up to town to catch Bluegrass Delta Force at 4:00 pm. The Bluegrass Delta Force are a traditional string group that really impressed. Former WhiteWater Ramble fi...

Dazzle Restaurant & Lounge Denver, CO Word By J-man Photos By Carly Marthis & J-man When legendary organ grinder, Joey DeFrancesco passed through Denver, there was one club suited to host such an event. Dazzle Restaurant & Lounge presented two evenings (four shows) with Joey D's Trio and we were fortunate enough to catch the very last of the performances! The trio took the stage inside the intimate club to a half filled room of folks dinning, drinking and anticipating an hour of absolute in your face jazz. A short glance at the fairly extensive menu and our dinner and drinks arrived with a delightfully decorative approach. The lights went down and Music Director Kevin Lee took the stage, as he always does, to welcome everyone to Dazzle, lay down a few straight-forward policies and to introduce the talent. The Trio began and as Joey smiled, I clutched the table, as I knew what we were in for. The trio came flying out of the gates with wailing instrumentation. This was wo...

Golden Hall San Diego, CA Words By J-man Grateful Dead Live at Golden Hall on January 10, 1970. Setlist: China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Me & My Uncle, Dire Wolf, Hard To Handle, Casey Jones, Mason's Children > Black Peter, Good Lovin' > Drums > Good Lovin', Cold Rain & Snow, Turn On Your Love Light The transition from the 60s to the 70s was much more seamless for the Dead than other decades to follow. One of the first shows of the year, it's an absolute barn-burner. The recording opens with "China Cat" into "I Know You Rider" to fire up the experience! There is some debate over whether or not it the complete recording, though it sounds complete in it's composition. The highlight of the show is a twenty six minute "Lovelight" that features Pigpen herding cats when the psychedelically influenced band took off instrumentally. Enjoy the cleanliness of this soundboard coupled with some great moments from this ke...

Downtown Fort Collins, CO Words & Photos By Nicholas Stock Bohemian Nights is the cornerstone of the summer in Fort Collins. It is a celebration of music and highlights some of the incredible homegrown acts in Colorado. The musical performers are a literal smorgasbord of everything this great state has to offer. The nice thing for any music fan is that you can pick and choose your experience to suit your tastes. Being a fan of bluegrass and jam it was easy to cull through the offerings and check out what was appealing to my preferences. In addition to the great local acts performing across six stages, New West Fest brought in several headliners that are some of the most sought after live acts touring today. With over ninety concerts over three days there was a lot to take in for everyone in attendance. -Friday August 10th, 2012- On Friday I made the choice to stay at the main stage for Dubskin, Euforquestra, and the headliner Michael Franti with Spearhead. Dubskin began the night w...

Highland Tap & Burger Denver, CO Words By J-man Photos By Carly Marthis Sure, it sounds unbelievable... Members of the world renowned reggae band, SOJA (who played Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Sunday) would be hosting an evening at The Highland Tap & Burger? This is precisely what happened Monday in Denver's Lower Highlands. Nestled into the beautiful neighborhood overlooking the Denver skyline, we arrived at The Tap to find a touring class bus parked in the dirt parking lot next to the row of businesses. It was an odd site for any small neighborhood, and clued me in to how the evening may unfold. Inside the Tap there was a different crowd from our typical music nights. These folks were sporting dreadlocks and reggae t-shirts. It was a nice change of pace. Following the fairly extensive set up of gear, it was time to plug in and fire up. A night of acoustic covers, is not so much my forte, in fact I expected it to be somewhat lost on me. With the energy that grew and the addi...

Quixote's True Blue Denver, CO Words By J-man Photos By Carly Marthis Arriving to a fairly packed Owsleys' courtyard is not typical given the early hour of the night. Most opening bands draw a handful of people, with folks streaming in as the night gets later. At about 9:30 pm on that summer Saturday evening, the courtyard was crawling with music fans looking to get their first glimpse of one of Denver's newest bands, The Recovery Act. That evening would mark the band's debut and with more well known staples of the scene, Shakedown Street, Springdale Quartet, Atomga and Artist at Large Pete Wall (Particle, Textiles) on sax, the evening was sure to be at least a moderate success. Our arrival came a couple of songs into The Recovery Act's set and they were already getting to it with the classic soul tune, "Son of a Preacher Man." Not many bands take on such iconic and challenging material on their first gig, yet here we were and lead singer Lindsay French wa...

Words By Scott Shrader( J. Scott Shrader Photography ) Bluegrass music has deep roots in the North Carolina mountains and, in line with that tradition, this coming September the mountain town of Pinnacle, NC will welcome the 1st annual Jomeokee Music & Arts Festival. The three-day festival will be nestled into a natural amphitheater at the Jomeokee Campgrounds. The festival will feature two side-by-side stages that will alternate sets of live music all weekend. One stage will showcase the bluegrass, string, and Americana side of the line-up, while the second stage will cater more to the funk, jam, and world music vibe. The festival will take place on September 14, 15 & 16. It will feature world class acts such as The Del McCoury Band, Stephen Marley, Yonder Mountain String Band, Keller Williams with Travelin' McCoury's, Jimmy Herring Band, Lettuce, Emmit-Nershi Band, Midnite, Floodwood, Patterson Hood & The Downtown Rumblers, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, ...

Highland Tap & Burger Denver, CO Words By J-man Photos By Preston Heffley ( IdeaZign Media ) Wednesday's Free Music Showcase welcomed an extension of The Highland Tap musical family, and supergroup, Vital Organ. Led by Joey Porter (Juno What, The Motet) his group consisted of Garrett Sayers (GST, The Motet, Kyle Hollingsworth Band), Dan Schwindt (Kyle Hollingsworth Band) and Daren Hahn (formerly of Ani DiFranco & The Eels)! What began as a rare treat of one or two dates with Vital Organ, will hopefully grow into a staple for upcoming Music Showcases at The Tap! As the band set up near the front garage door style window of the restaurant, excited fans began to stream in and claim tables. Before we knew it, the Tap was packed. The quartet launched into their two hour set, as owner Paul Brown and I moved tables to accommodate the growing crowd. The packed Tap loved what they were hearing, and maybe more so than ever, they danced with approval. The combination of four of the ha...

Roscoe Maples Pavilion (Stanford University) Palo Alto, CA Words By J-man The historical value of this show is enough to justify it's pick for today's column. Despite the fact that it was The Dead's one and only show at Roscoe Maples Pavillion, it was a hard-hitter. By one account, this was pottentially the first time that The Dead played a sizable show in the Bay area that wasn't produced by Bill Graham, but instead The Associated Students of Standford University, Special Events Program. With it being located in the University basketball court, the motion of the crowd made for a lot of bouncing throughout the show. Additionally, the band's sound system took a full two days to set up with European audio technicians spending hours listening to white noise and testing full spectrum response to tune the system... and tune it they did. Grateful Dead Live at Stanford University on February 9, 1973. Set One: The Promised Land, Row Jimmy, Black Throated Wind, Deal, Me And...

Highland Tap & Burger Denver, CO Words By J-man Photos By Carly Marthis Videos By Tony Whaley ( DMTv ) & Jhonette Purdue & Brian Rempel ( BiggerGuyProductions ) MusicMarauders is all about perspective. How we tell each story, is based on how we experienced the events in which we write about. Sometimes we are merely a fan in the back of a massive concert field and other times we are staring down from a rooftop on a sold out crowd for an event in which we helped to promote. For this piece, it was the latter. LOHI Music Festival was an overwhelming success. This is the story of that success... of the people who poured their time and passion into attempting something bigger than we had ever taken on. Since The Highland Tap & Burger's big entrance onto the Lower Highlands scene, it has been a place of community, passion for food (service), and music. 2011 would mark LOHI Productions' first attempt at a festival and although it went alright, there was much to be lear...