bandwagon magazine - may 2013

BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment magazine may 20134


ALBUM REVIEWS

5

Shady EldersNo Favors EP

Kid CudiIndicud

No Favors, Shady Elders’ debut EP, is a refreshing breath of reality to the Colorado music scene. Neither dreary nor meandering, these are simple pop tunes that are relatable and extremely catchy, never drowning listeners in sunshine or using flashy gimmicks. Labeled as shoegaze, Shady Elders speaks more as an old-fashioned rock and roll outfit using melody and strong vocals to keep the record fresh. Although not completely perfect, No Favors gives audiences a break from the bowtie rock that has been dominating Colorado airwaves.

Shady Elders started in 2011 by vocalist Britt Rodemich as a two-piece involving herself and a drummer. Eventually, Miles Eichner joined as a guitarist and a few months later Casey Banker came on as a bassist. After the original drummer moved out of town, Marlon Chance stepped in and the current line-up to the band took shape.

A defining characteristic of Shady Elders is each member’s history as the principal songwriters in their previous projects. Recently, in an

interview with Casey Banker about the album, he had this to say; “Everyone is really good at what they do in this band and everyone’s roles are very clearly defined. Also everyone can write in this band, which is nice when we are arranging together. It feels like this record was us just trying out this dynamic out but as things progress I feel like we’ll get better at writing and understanding everyone’s strengths and thus make some amazing music.”

There is a mature positivity to the EP that resonates well with the alternative crowd. The record is contemplative, speaking to those tired of the cookie cutter rock that has been bombarding the Colorado music scene. Recorded at Mammoth Studio in Denver by Tim Gerak, the album is polished and clean, avoiding the staleness of home recording.

“Schoolmate” is the stand out track on the album. Britt Rodemich’s vocals soar over the instrumentation in a way reminiscent to the soulful pop of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. Rodemich’s incredibly full voice combined with the subtly of a band who knows where to fit themselves gives the song a warmth that is reminiscent to Best Coast and The Walkmen.

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After Kid Cudi stopped smoking weed and decided to make a rock album, critics and fans began to question whether his music would ever be as successful as his early releases. However, when he announced that he was working on his newest album, Indicud, which he stated would be his “version of [Dr. Dre’s] The Chronic 2001,” speculation began that he had parted ways with sobriety and would begin rapping again. The speculations were confirmed when the first single, “Just What I Am,” was released. Featuring Cudi’s signature hazy, stoner production, the track is primarily about smoking marijuana with the words, “ I need smoke, I need to smoke,” repeated through the hook. It was obvious that the Cudi that fans had grown to love was back.

Shortly before Indicud’s April 16th release Kid Cudi announced his departure from Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music. He stated that he was leaving the label to focus on other ideas and work with other people. The track

list for Indicud revealed that none of his former label mates would be featured on the album, but that he had enlisted many new collaborators, including new stars, A$AP Rocky on “Brothers,” also featuring King Chip, and Kendrick Lamar on “Solo Dolo, Part II,” two of the strongest tracks on the album. While some expected guests like Kanye are missed, Cudi continues his habit of working with Indie acts like MGMT and St. Vincent on the track “Red Eye” where he features Haim. The song is also the only one not produced entirely by Kid Cudi, with guest production from Hit-Boy. The most unexpected artist on the record is Michael Bolton, singing the hook on “Afterwards (Bring Yo Friends)” another track featuring King Chip.

“Beez,” featuring RZA of the Wu Tang Clan, finds Cudi stepping into a producer role rather than the primary vocalist on the song, only rapping two lines, including, “Stings bitch, bzzzz.” Similarly, on “Solo Dolo, Part II,” Cudi only raps during one verse, while Kendrick takes care of vocals on the hook and the rest of the verses. Like Dre on 2001, he is the curator and

mind behind a collection of songs rather than the star of all of them. His approach makes him the true artist and songwriter and gives him complete control of the result. Because of this, the album is unified and sonically consistent in a way that most hip-hop records could never be.

Indicud proves that Kid Cudi has a distinct niche, but he does it so well that it could never be considered a rut in his career. His ability to cultivate unique ideas within a genre that is typically filled with various versions of the same thing is a testament to the creative power of the substance that spawned stoner rap. Although he thought expanding his music into a completely different genre would be a good idea, the fact is Kid Cudi is better when he’s rapping. And when he’s smoking weed.

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“I just hope that people really fall in love with the songs. I always feel like the best songs transport you to a different place when you hear them. I hope these songs really do that for people. I don’t want people to think of a “band” playing songs when they hear us but rather this collective force presenting something beautiful. I think with this record we just wanted to introduce ourselves and to get some music out there,” said Banker as to what he wanted people to take away from the record.

No Favors is a strong first big step for this band. With several shows in the immediate future, as well as one here in Greeley opening for The Epilogues on May 17th, their plan for the next year is to get back into the studio and continue to play shows. Catch this band at one of their many up and coming shows and pick up this album. It is the first taste of what will be without a doubt a bright future for this band.


WavvesAfraid of Heights

Modern surf rock’s darlings Wavves make a triumphant return to the record store with Afraid of Heights, their first full-length album since 2010’s King of the Beach. Released in March, these thirteen tracks are undeniably some of the band’s best. Their lo-fi, grungy sound, consistent with Wavves’ other releases, does not disappoint.

“Sail to the Sun” opens the album with a brief moment that leaves listeners questioning whether they’ve turned on a Wavves album at all, though. Jangly bells and soft guitar arpeggios sound more like The Polyphonic Spree than the California punkers. Then the drums and bass line kick in, followed by Nathan Williams’ signature surf punk power chords and those familiar washed-out and wet vocals singing, “I don’t wanna get left behind,” reminding everyone that, yes, this is Wavves and, yes, they still rock.

This album largely echoes King of the Beach in tone and style. The stoner/surfer-inspired lyrics are present and of course so are the relaxed musical elements. Few bands can take a fast power chord rhythm that would be at home on a hardcore punk album and turn it into chillwave. Wavves create the perfect blend of those two sounds on every album.

Songs like “Mystic” (which includes the amusing lyrics, “When I’m high / I can see right through / Windows”) and “Beat Me Up” speak to the

band’s punk side, with driving rhythm and bass beats, while the surfy, chill style comes out on tracks like “That’s On Me” and “Everything is My Fault.”

Some tracks, however, offer a seamless mix of the two. The title track (featuring hipster goddess Jenny Lewis) carries the signature Wavves sound: the precise midpoint between melting into a chair after bong rips and thrashing around at a punk show.

In some cases, there’s such a thing as being too chill. “Dog” harkens back to the album’s opening teaser with bells, a subdued, tambourine-heavy percussion section, and even a cello. To say this song is boring is wrong, but not far off. It’s unmistakably a Wavves song, to be sure, but it feels flat and lags, dragging the album down between songs that have much more kick to them.

Overall, though, this is a strong outing for the group. Afraid of Heights is not a bad album. In fact, it’s a pretty solid release from Wavves. That said, it is essentially more of the same—which is great, if you’ve become addicted to that sound. But if you’re looking for something new or inventive in the surf rock genre, this is the wrong direction to turn.

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BandWagon Magazine northern colorado’s arts & entertainment magazine may 2013 7

AnamanaguchiEndless Fantasy

Anamanaguchi, out of New York, is a band that fits in an odd niche. They create 8-bit music that feels like the dream you should have after playing video games all night. They found national presence by producing the music for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game. Endless Fantasy, their second full-length album (being released on May 14th) is intense, unrelenting, seizure-inducing, and oddly addictive.

For those unfamiliar with 8-bit and chiptune music, it is the process of modifying classic computer and gaming systems to create your own music. While the genre is nothing new, Anamanaguchi is bringing their version of this underground art to a new level.

A twenty-two-track adventure of an album, Anamanaguchi blasts through Endless Fantasy, taking all the things that

were great about the music of classic video games and cranking it up. The length of the album leaves a lot to take in and the songs bleed together for the average listener, but after a couple of listens the nuances of the detailed compositions do stand out. In a recent email interview with Ary Warnaar, guitarist and programmer of band, when asked what they wanted their listeners to get from the album, he simply said, “A whole bunch of different emotions and feelings! It’s twenty-two songs, it goes deep, listen to it for a while! There’s a lot there!”

The band was not wrong about this either. The melodies are adventurous, telling a narrative in themselves much in the way classic Nintendo games used their music to move their stories forward before actual vocals could be recorded.

The album was written over the last three years, and everything was recorded mostly on their own. “When it came to the ‘live’ recording process: drums were

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recorded in Carriage House Studios, Stratosphere Sound, Shout It Out Loud Studios, Swan 7 and guitars were recorded in our basements and bedrooms (can’t do that ish in studios. Too stressful, too ADD),” said Warnaar.

To Anamanaguchi, using their 8-bit hardware to write music is as natural of a song writing process to them as it is for other musicians to use the guitar or the piano. According to Warnaar, for the band “It’s the quickest, most natural way to get ideas out–then we flesh out full tracks later. Low-resolution sounds and visuals are very aesthetically pleasing to us. There’s a sort of cutesy-cyberpunk side to working with small computers.”

To truly understand Anamanaguchi is to know they are an overall package just as much as they are a

band. The videos and online content they have produced brings the music to life in a way that anyone who had fun as a child will enjoy. That is where Anamanaguchi is trying to take Endless

Fantasy. “The immediate next steps are making this album more than just an album; cool art, cool videos, new live setup, etc, MAKING ENDLESS FANTASY A WORLD PPL CAN ACTUALLY LIVE IN.”


Vinyl lovers have a new haven in Fort Collins. The Bizarre Bazaar is a relatively new record and book store located on Linden Street, run by Jane Makarchuk and her husband Scott. Makarchuk said her family is from the northeast and had run a bookstore before.

“We decided to move out of the northeast area for all sorts of family reasons and climate and such,” she said, “so we decided to just transplant our business to Colorado.”

In the year and a half the Bizarre Bazaar has been open, Makarchuk said they’ve been growing their inventory and in general have had an amazing response from the local community.

“Because, I think, we’re one of the very few record stores in northern Colorado, the response has been absolutely fabulous.” Makarchuk said, “We’re now selling new records, we order records for people, we get a lot of really great response and support for the bookstore aspect, we have quality books, so it’s been remarkable.”

While the store does take in used books and records, the only new media the Bazaar sells are new records. Everything else is used, or as Makarchuk said, “previously owned, gently used.”

“We’re very selective of what we buy in terms of the quality and in terms of the content,” she said “We’re just very selective so that people don’t have to sift through lots of inferior types of media. Everything we have in here is quality. We’re not a thrift store.”

As Makarchuk explained, it’s very easy to sell stuff to them. The store is open seven days a week with no special buying hours – “any hours we’re open we’ll buy.”

The store will take in DVDs, CDs, Books, comic books and records. The store offers people cash or 50 percent more in store credit.

“They can use the store credit in anyway they want to use it,” Makarchuk said. “It’s not a percentage-based system. If you have $20 in credit, you can buy anything valued at $20, including a new record.”

Among the virtues of The Bizarre Bazaar, Makarchuk said, along with reasonable prices and a refined collection

of media, the store has also done a good job of giving back to the community.

“We’re a small, independently-owned family business,” she said. “We also support our community in a lot of different ways. We offer free space to community groups for fundraisers, yoga, homeschoolers, local bands who want to do CD release parties here, and we also carry local artists’ CDs, and we don’t take any cut from it. I think that it’s a great idea to support your local independent books and record store, as opposed to buying online or as opposed giving your money to a large corporation and the money goes elsewhere.”

The success of the store hasn’t resulted in Makarchuk resting on her laurels. There are plans to open a small café with the store, and subsequently have late night hours, giving the store a unique position in Fort Collins.

“We’ve had a lot of live music here, but when the café opens we’ll have more of that, and you can be here late at night.” she said, “There are very few cafes open late at night in Fort Collins, so we’re kind of filling that void. We’re not going to be a bar; we feel that there’s enough bars, but if there’s somebody who wants to not go to a bar and be out at night, get a nice pastry or a nice dessert and a latte, then we’re filling that void.”

Those interested in checking out The Bizarre Bazaar in person can head to 254 Linden Street in Fort Collins, or check them out online at FortCollinsBazaar.com.

Jay WallaceBandWagon Magazine

Local Business Profile

TheBizarreBazaar

Photos by Jay Wallace


BLUES

JAM


To the Wonder

FILM REVIEWS

2013 - 112 minutes – Rated R

Nothing takes a backseat to couples brunch drama. Not even the end of the world.

It’s A Disaster is set up like any formulaic situational comedy: The awkward new boyfriend. The controlling girlfriend. The sexually open-minded and drug crazed couple, constantly pushing the boundaries of normal social interaction. The married couple who are getting a divorce, but trying to keep it a secret. And you wondering how they ever became friends to begin with. When will it all come to a head? And will they be able to get through it all and still remain friends?

That’s all fascinating and original and all, except for some reason sirens are blaring, the power goes out, cellphones and landlines are down, and the neighbor is running around in a hazmat suit. Apparently biological weapons have been deployed and our gang has to spend the last moments of their lives hashing out their issues and expressing their petty feelings about each other.

And that’s where this movie really shines: in the characters’ whimsical dismissal of the fact that they are all running out of

Since 1954 the world of cinema has had a definition for filmmakers who use the medium to generate “high art”. The Auteur Theory has been championed by directors like Francois Truffaut, Jean Renoir, and Alfred Hitchcock over the years. The theory asserts that an auteur makes films that share a common aesthetic and break through the wall of studio interference to generate a work of moving art. Terrence Malick is perhaps the best example of an auteur in present cinema. With only five films under his belt Malick is responsible for some of the most important films in the last few decades. In 2011 Malick released Tree of Life, reinventing his style with a more angelic approach to story-telling. His latest effort, To the Wonder, takes all the style of Tree of Life and none of the brilliance.

To the Wonder is the story of the love that binds Marina, a Ukrainian woman living in Paris played by Olga Kurylenko, and her American partner Neil

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It’s a Disaster2012 - 88 Minutes – Rated R

time and clean air, because of course commitment issues and cheating are more important, while every once in awhile getting a taste of their own mortality. It’s like a Ben Stiller flick meets Armageddon.

It’s funnier than that sounds. Honest.

David Cross (Arrested Development, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) gives yet another great performance as Glen Randolph, the new boyfriend. With his usual awkward timing and amusing befuddlement he really helps bring this comedy out of the realm of predictability. While the rest of the gang are getting caught up in their differences, he seems to be the only one trying to keep things in perspective. But things aren’t what they seem.

If you’re looking for a romantic comedy with a touching ending and a loveable cast of characters, look elsewhere. This truly is a disaster. It brings to mind Jean-Paul Sartre’s absurdist existential play, “No Exit,” and its main theme: “Hell is other people.”

All the classic goofs are present: I can’t believe she slept with him, while I was sleeping with her, and the goody-goody science teacher (America Ferrera) is now cooking ecstasy on the kitchen floor using

(played by Ben Affleck). The couple move to the United States with Marina’s daughter and settle into life in rural Oklahoma. Soon Neil falls for an old fling (played by Rachel McAdams) and drifts in and out of his previous love while battling his ability to do the right thing, a common theme of the movie. Javier Bardem shows up as a priest feebly staving off the loneliness that comes with being a man of Christ. Bardem’s scenes don’t connect to the main plot, though they are easily the most compelling parts of the film. Everyone in To the Wonder is fighting off their natural instincts in order to get to a truer form of love, even if it might not exist.

Malick has become known for his editing practices. He is notorious for editing a film’s dialogue to the bone and replacing it with imagery or performances that tell the message of the film better than words. To the Wonder is no exception. There is little dialogue from the many famous actors in the film which may come as a shock to those not familiar with Malick’s style. Unfortunately, To

sleeping pills and decongestants, with the added flavor of the constantly-gnawing presence of impending death. A lot like spending the most recent end of the world shindig in 2012 with my family. Only there was a lot less homecooked ecstasy.

Julia Stiles (The Bourne Series, 10 Things I Hate About You) plays the uptight counterpart to Cross. She’s really quite good at playing this type of role. You never get a good read on her character though, and she never has you rooting for her. Come to think of it, you’re really not rooting for anyone. Well, I suppose it’s a good thing they’re all about to die then.

It’s A Disaster was written and directed by Todd Berger, who also appears briefly as the overly-prepared neighbor whose invitation to the couples’ party got lost somewhere along the way, making for a fun scene where he explains to the unaware group about the attack on LA while simultaneously making everyone feel awkward for the social faux pas.

What makes this film even more impressive is that the sense of doom and devastation happens without ever leaving the house. All of the panic, desperation, and end-of-the-world-ness happens in the dialogue, through the characters and their (d)evolving interaction with one another. It’s witty, but not pretentious. It’s funny, but dark.

the Wonder does not pull off the silence as beautifully as Malick’s previous films, and especially feels like a failure to people who loved Tree of Life. Rachel Weisz, Michael Sheen, and Jessica Chastain all had large parts in To the Wonder and are not present in the film whatsoever due to Malick’s unforgiving editing process. Ultimately, the To the Wonder could have used a few more actors help pull it out of a dull narrative and its own preciousness.

It’s hard to describe exactly what makes To the Wonder fail where so many of Malick’s other films have succeeded. The film’s dialogue is mostly told in narration and becomes massively redundant after the first act. The gorgeous cinematography is worth noting, but again falls flat when compared to Malick’s other gems. Even a talented group of actors are unable to save the film. To the Wonder pays the price for Malick’s auteuristic nature in ways that his previous films never have by simply being a boring film. It’s beautiful, lyrical, and boring.

10


HOUSE

AD


Sarah Redman graduates this year from the University of Northern Colorado. Her senior ceramics show was recently seen at John Galt Coffee and was instantly intriguing. Her bio explains the journey that most young artists take: one of trying to create that which the world knows is acceptable and beautiful while also creating that which expresses one’s inner self. Her crystalline ceramic bowls are beautifully crafted. They are the type of bowls you keep on your wall for aesthetic pleasure, while neglecting their functional value. She explains how she transformed this traditional art into something more significant to her life by making abstract expressionist ceramics. These works are titled with roles, such as “Men” and “Child,” further giving you the idea that she truly is embedding her story into the art.

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Local Artist Profile

Sarah Redman

Photos by Kendra Hamman


The members of local band Fierce Bad Rabbit have played music together since 2009. Chris Anderson (lead vocals and guitar,) Alana Rolfe (viola and vocals,) Max Barcelow (percussion,) and Dayton Hicks (bass) create music with catchy upbeat melodies and inspiring lyrics. The passionate sound of the viola, poppy guitar riffs, and the resonating vocals from Anderson and Rolfe have given them a large following with a fan base that continues to grow. Fierce Bad Rabbit scored “Best Local Band” at 2012’s Best of CSU awards. Their music was featured in a national commercial for New Belgium, and they recently played a lively show at FoCoMX in Fort Collins. They have also toured nationally since their start, hitting big cities like Lincoln, Nebraska; Kansas City, Missouri; Davenport, Iowa; and Chicago, Illinois.

Although they are certainly established and thriving, Fierce Bad Rabbit is looking at a new chapter in their music. As they begin to start families, they

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are considering their future as a band. Chris Anderson is relocating to Boston later this month, on the tail end of a two-week midwestern tour. For many bands, the frontman moving away could be a death sentence, but Fierce Bad Rabbit doesn’t see it that way.

“There are some challenges that play into the move, but we are at the right time where this is a step we can take confidently,” Anderson said. He is following his wife to Boston so that she can pursue her career, and plans to work on Fierce Bad Rabbit from Boston. “Bands are your family, and then there is your actual family. We’ll make the band work around that,” Anderson added.

Fans of Fierce Bad Rabbit don’t need to worry as good things are in the future for this popular Colorado band. In December of 2012 the group released their second full-length album The Maestro and the Elephant to excellent reviews. Working on new music when the front man is thousands of miles away would be another daunting challenge for any other band. However, Anderson said that each of the band’s members can work on new music their own, then

bring the different pieces together to create one of their signature uplifting indie-rock tracks. They recently signed a three-year deal with Round Hill Music out of NYC, and they are excited about the opportunities it can bring them as a band.

“We want to get our music plugged into key film spots and commercials. It’s about upping exposure,” Anderson stated. “Look at the movie Garden State... As soon as Natalie Portman mentioned The Shins, their music took off. Fun. had a song in a Chevy commercial and now they are winning Grammys.”

Anderson makes a good point. It is smart for these already successful musicians to consider their future, and do what they can to grow even more. Fierce Bad Rabbit are clearly not rookies in the music game anymore, and with the help of their already loyal following and additional exposure, Fierce Bad Rabbit has a bright future ahead of them. If you want to check out the hype, see Fierce Bad Rabbit perform one of their signature engaging shows on May 11th at the Mercury Cafe in Denver. Learn more online at FierceBad.com.

Local Band Profile

Fierce BadRabbit

Concert photo by Rachel Waltman


wolf

concert

A musician’s status is usually measured by the number of record sales, number one singles, and sold-out shows they achieve, but the indie duo Capital Cities has found success without even releasing a full-length album. Their first single, “Safe and Sound,” has been in heavy rotation on alternative and pop radio since its release and has continually grown in popularity. The infectious synth heavy melody, pounding steady drum beat, and catchy vocals lead into a prominent trumpet riff that carries the huge chorus, making the track immediately memorable. The elaborate video for the song is equally mesmerizing, featuring Capital Cities’, Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian dancing through decades of dance styles while singing the track.

Capital Cities call Los Angeles home. Though in a city already flooded with larger-than-life musicians, they have found popularity after releasing just a few songs. When asked if they imagined their music would become such a huge achievement, Simonian simply replied, “I’ve always been optimistic.” That positive attitude is reflected in the fun, upbeat sound of both “Safe and Sound” and their second single, “Kangaroo Court.” Both tracks were featured on the compilation Pop Up #1 by Internet gossip blogger Perez Hilton. But fame isn’t the driving force for Capital

Cities.“Music made me want to make

music. Some of my favorite musical influences are Pink Floyd, Chopin, Depeche Mode, Suede, Underworld, Royksopp and MGMT,” said Simonian. Their love for a large variety of music and true desire to simply make good songs shows in the polish and passion heard on all the material they’ve released so far.

In a Tidal Wave of Mystery, the pair’s debut album, is due out this June. With so little material out (just an EP and two singles,) it’s hard to anticipate what the album will sound like, but Sebu says, “There will be a lot of danceable, melodic, alternative-electro sounding songs on the album. But we do feel like we touch upon a diverse range of styles. Overall, the vibe is fun and positive, but we also like to venture to the dark side with some of our sounds, chord progressions and lyrics.” For an act with such a contagious sound already, expanding into a larger variety of styles can only make them more intriguing and exciting.

Although they found popularity suddenly, Capital Cities hasn’t simply stepped into the limelight. They have put in hard work and are currently on an extensive tour to promote the upcoming album.

“The tour has been great. We’re about to play our 7th stop. Our RV is

parked just outside the House of Blues in New Orleans, so at the moment, I’m most excited about tonight’s show and the jambalaya we’re about to enjoy,” said Simonian, clearly enjoying each experience as they come. Included on their long, full tour schedule are four Shows in Colorado; The Black Sheep in Colorado Springs, Belly Up Aspen in Aspen, The Aggie Theater in Ft. Collins and The Gothic Theater in Englewood, May 21st through the 24th, respectively. “We played twice in Colorado already. Both shows were great. We made lots of friends out here. In Colorado Springs, we were treated to an epic late night pizza and hot wings feast at Johnny’s Navaho Hogan. We love this state,” said Sebu.

Late last year, Capital Cities signed a record deal with Capitol Records to release their debut album and promote their tour, but after they wrap up all their current endeavors, Simonian said they will “see where the wind takes us, but there will definitely be a lot of touring, and whenever we are in town, we’ll be working on videos and subsequently more new music.” With such a large agenda of things to accomplish in the next couple months it’s amazing that these driven individuals are already thinking about what’s next, but if their hard work continues to pay off like it has so far, we can expect even bigger things from these up-and-comers.

by mikey unruh


Sea Wolf is a band led by Alex Brown Church which features a folk sound renovated for a modern era. Combining a light finger picking guitar style and his signature voice while not shying away from rock

Post Paradise is composed of Nick Starr Duarte on guitar and lead vocals, Amy Morgan on cello, Chris Prosio on bass, and Mark Roshon on drums and backup vocals. May 18th will be the release of their latest album Digging Secrets

“Put the Gun Down” has been echoing across radio waves in regular rotation since her album Til the Casket Drops in October and has now climbed to the number 40 spot on the Billboard

With their first full-length album Cinematics that came out last year, The Epilogues’ popularity has been spreading across the States. Having long been established in Colorado, The Epilogues have been perfecting their craft, taking their synth enthused rock and roll to new heights with each performance.

The second single from the album, “Paradigm Shift,” has started to receive regular radio play on local channel KTCL 93.3 and is a shining example of the band’s versatility.

Their sound harkens back to an era of radio rock that pushed more emotion with their distortion such as The Smashing Pumpkins and Filter. As the national spotlight on them grows, their time in Colorado is shrinking so see them now while they are here.

elements like synthesisers and electric guitars, he has developed a strong fan base around the world.

Originally from Los Angeles, California, Sea Wolf is currently touring in support of their latest album, Old World Romance and will be performing in Fort Collins at the Aggie Theater on the 27th for a show not worth missing.

at Hodi’s Half Note in Fort Collins where they will be opening for Denver favorites Rachel and the Kings. Post Paradise’s alternative rock sound, highlighted by the classy sounds of the cello has strong energy to it, ready for bigger audiences. Come check out this up-and-coming band before their new album takes them to a new level.

Sea WolfMay 27th @ The Aggie

post paradiseMay 18th @ Hodi’s Half Note

zz wardMay 29th @ Bluebird Theater

the presetsMay 18 @ Ogden Theatre

the epiloguesMay 17th @ Moxi Theater

upcoming concerts you need to seespotlights

The Presets are an electro band hailing from Sydney, Australia and have found massive success around the world over their extensive career. With the release of Pacifica, their latest full-length album, their popularity in the United States has blossomed into a cult following few electro artists have. Pacifica is a traditional electro album in an era of dubstep, reminding Americans that womping is not the only way to party. What they bring to the table is a maturity and classic sensibility in a genre muddled by cliches.

Alternative Songs chart. Featuring collaborations with prominent hip hop acts like Kendrick Lamar and Tyler, the Creator, Til the Casket Drops has been turning the heads of press and fans alike. As a vocalist, she seems larger than life lifting each song into pop gold no matter what genre she chooses.


James GarciaBandWagon Magazine

Greeley got national media attention on the week of April 29th when a group of anonymous residents purchased two billboards, posting a picture of three men in classic Native American clothing with guns, with accompanying text: “Turn in your arms. The government will take care of you.” The chosen imagery and implied message have created a national controversy, both because of the gun rights implications and the accusations of insensitive comparison to Native American genocide.

A comment on the Denver Post’s article says, “I am a Navajo Indian and I am not offended by the billboard. The billboard merely points out broken promises by the U.S. government.”

Though account executive Matt Wells, with Lamar Advertising in Denver who sold the billboard space to the anonymous residents, suggested it wasn’t about the Native American plight at all, but about gun rights, saying, “I think it’s a bit extreme, of course, but I think people are really worried about their gun rights...”

Another Native American internet poster said about a similar argument made in an online forum three months ago, “If you are trying to compare the genocide of Native Americans to Americans being forced to have stricter gun laws, you should just go walk in front of a bus and remove yourself from the gene pool.”

Talking with CNN, executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, Dudley Brown, supported the billboards’ message, asking, “Where can we send a check to support more?”

Irene Vernon, a Colorado State University professor and chairwoman in the ethnic

studies department Vernon told the Associated Press that the plight of Native Americans history with the U.S. is far more complex than Native Americans being forced to turn in their arms.

In this most recent media storm, the most cited reference of forced Native American disarmament is The Wounded Knee Massacre, which took place on December 29, 1890. The US 7th Cavalry Regiment, commanded by major Samuel Whitside, detained a traveling group of Miniconjou Lakota and after forcing them to set up camp, attempted to disarm them. There were approximately 500 troopers versus the 350 Native Americans, 230 of whom were women and children. The camp was surrounded by troops and four rapid fire M1875 mountain guns.

A struggle reportedly broke out, with a soldier trying to take a gun from a deaf Native American, Black Coyote, who did not understand the order. In the scuffle, his gun was discharged and around five young Lakota men revealed weapons that were hidden under their clothing and opened fire on the troops. The Lakota women, children and unarmed men (including the ill chief, Spotted Elk) who fled were hunted down and killed.

At least 150 Lakota men, women and children were killed, with 51 wounded (some dying from injuries, putting the approximate death toll to upwards of 300). 25 troopers were killed, with 39 wounded, many from what was thought to have been friendly fire from the mountain guns and the confused close range shootout.

So are we talking about Native Americans’ sensitivities or gun control laws? The community seems to be just as split on the offensive nature of the billboard as it is on the issue of gun control itself, and the combination of these two topics seems to muddle both points even further.

greeleybillboardsparks controversy


COLORaDO CONCERT CALENDAR

Wednesday may 1stA Sonnet to Silencew/ Voices, Six Reasons to Run@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 7:00pm

Giant Angry Bugs AFTER PARTYw/ Mikey Ultra, Rhyme Progression@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 11:00pm

Har Mar Superstar @ Hi-Dive, Denver - 9:30pmw/ Kitty Crimes, Tommy Metz

The 8 Turns @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pmw/ Cascade Kinzie, Jack’s Smirking Revenge, Jacob Russco

For All I Am @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 6pmw/ Eyes like Tide, Hateface, Bridges

THURSDAY May 2ndBlack Prezw/ DJ Sylent EFX, F.L.Y. Movement@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 7:00pm

The Milk Carton Kvids @ Bluebird Theater, Denver - 8pmw/ The Barefoot Movement

Red Fox Run @ Hi-Dive, Denver - 9pmw/ Instant Empire, Anthony Ruptak

Hatrick Penry @ Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 8pmw/ Head Injuries, Convalescents, and Swashbuckling Doctors

Prezident Brown @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 8pmw/ Reggae Angels, Dj Bushy Bush

Alex Clare @ The Ogden Theatre, Denver – 8pmw/ The Knocks

Papadosio @ The Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins – 8pmw/ The Malah

Crystal Castles @ Gothic Theatre, Englewood – 8pmw/ Pictureplane

friday May 3rdWest Water Outlawsw/ Carols, This Side of Paradise@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 7:00pm

The Symbols@ Grabo’s, Greeley – 9pm

The Squid Kids@ Chippers Classic Lanes, Greeley – 9:00pm

Papadosio @ Bluebird Theater, Denver - 9pmw/ The Malah, Bass Physics, Soulacybin

Chris Charpentier @ Down Under Comedy Club, Greeley - 8:30pmw/ Rick Desimone

Adam Cayton-Holland @ Hi-Dive, Denver - 9:30pmw/ The Knew, In the Whale

J FLASH @ Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 8pmw/ Los Rakas, Seth Abrumz

School Knights @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pmw/ Hindershot, Pacific Pride

Soja @ The Ogden Theatre, Denver – 9pmw/ Rootz Underground, Euforquestra

Deadwood Saints @ Road 34, Fort Collins – 9pmw/ Jami Lunde Band, Kate Graves

Flobots @ The Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins – 8pmw/ Wheelchair Sports Camp, We Like Monsters

HaneyStock Chris Haney Memorial Show @ Gothic Theatre, Englewood – 6pm

Dreadnought @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 8pmw/ The Flight of Sleipnir, Ghosts of Glaciers, Wayfarer

SATURDAY May 4thDéjà vu EDM PARTY@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 7:00pm2 Stages - w/ Dirt Monkey, ArisDUHkats, & More

Pipin Hot Ghost Peppers (RHCP Cover Band)@ A.F. Ray’s, Greeley – 9pmw./ Mojo Kamikaze

Crystal Castles @ The Gothic Theatre on 5/2/13 in Englewood


Soja @ The Ogden Theatre, Denver – 9pmw/ Air Dubai and Los Rakas

Chris Tomlin @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison – 7pm

P-Nuckle @ Road 34, Fort Collins – 9pmw/ AOks, Atom Age

Katchafire @ Gothic Theatre, Englewood – 9pmw/ Maoll, tatanka

IAMDYNAMITE @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ The Virginmarys, The Royal

Sunday May 5thConfess your S.I.N. Sundays @ The Library , Greeley – 9pmw/ DJ Anomaly

EP Blake aka Essay Ponta @ Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 9pmw/ Mossburg Pimp’N, Poetic, Toxic, Lucid & Ruthless, Zone-G Dirty

Devendra Banhart @ Gothic Theatre, Englewood – 8pmw/ Rodrigo Amarante

Hell or Highwater @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ Astreya, Calder Revolvers

Monday May 6thShabazz Palaces @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pmw/ THEESatisfaction, Malimob

Pierce The Veil and All Time Low @ The Ogden Theatre, Denver – 6pmw/ Mayday Parade, You Me At Six

Attack Attack @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 6pmw/ The Plot In You, Get Scared, Dangerkids

Tuesday May 7thBen Rector @ Bluebird Theater, Denver - 8pm w/ Alpha Rev

Metz @ Hi-Dive Denver – 9:30pmw/ No Joy, Accordion Crimes

Paramore @ Fillmore Auditorium, Denver - 6:30pm

Maps & Atlases @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 8pmw/ Young Man, Confluence

Yngwie Malmsteen @ Summit Music Hall - 7pmw/ Ethan Brosh, Burning Heat

Faun Fables @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 8pmw/ Chella & the Charm, Might owl

Wednesday May 8thDuchovny@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 7:00pmw/ Leghounds, Silver & Gold, Mike Ring and the Connection

Armin Van Buuren @ Fillmore Auditorium, Denver - 7:30pm

The Appleseed Cast @ Hi-Dive Denver – 9:30pmw/ Varlet, Doubters

Genetics: Performs the music of Oysterhead. Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 9pmw/ Kyle from Good Gravy!!

Bleeding RainBow @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pm

w/ Shady Elders, Salads & sunbeams

Zack Brown Band Zack Brown Band @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison – 7pm

Big Boi of Outkast @ The Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins – 8pmw/ Killer Mike, Qbala

Millionaires @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ Ashland High, Trace Cyrus, Beneath the Sun, Lancifer

THURSDAY May 9thHippie Man (Live Comedy)@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 7:00pmw/ Chris Charpentier, Brad Schlagenhauf

Making Movies @ Hi-Dive Denver – 9:30pmw/ Soundrabbit, War Over Water

Pipin Hot Ghost Peppers @ A.F. Ray’s on 5/4/13 in Greeley

The Holler @ Mishawaka 5/4/13 in Bellvue

Papadosio @ Bluebird Theater, Denver - 9pmw/ YAMN, bioLuMigen

Chris Charpentier @ Down Under Comedy Club, Greeley - 8:30pmw/ Rick Desimone

Ken Zimlinghaus @ Hi-Dive Denver - 8pm

Pretty Restless Dance Party @ Hi-Dive, Denver – 10:30pm

Euforquestra @ Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 8pmw/ Jet Edison

The Outfit @ Larimer Lounge, Denver 9pmw/ The Wales, Bloodhound

The Holler! @ The Mishawaka, Bellvue – 8pmw/ Equally Challenged


The Nadis Warriors @ Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 9pmw/ Star Count

Vietnam @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pmw/ Ashen Embers

Jim James @ The Ogden Theatre, Denver – 8pmw/ Cold Specks

Hippieman @ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 8pmw/ Chris Charpentier, Brad Schlagenhauf

Zack Brown Band @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison – 7pm

Nathan Ryan @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ The Broadway, Aim2Miss

Friday May 10th

Rock The Block / Friday Fest Go-Cup Kickoff@ 9th St. Plaza, Greeley – 5:00pm

Trichome@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 7:00pmw/ Mitch Black, Electric Stair Child

Five Day Rhetoric @ Penalty Box, Greeley – 9:00pm

Duchovny @ Chippers Classic Lanes, Greeley – 9:00pm

The Nadis Warriors @ Bluebird Theater, Denver -9pmProper Motion, Digital Beat Down

Curt Fletcher @ Down Under Comedy Club, Greeley - 8:30pmw/ Don Morgan

Cutthroat Drifters @ Hi-Dive Denver - 8pmw/ Dead Pay Rent, The Patient Zeros, the Jane Thatcher Band

Juno What?! Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 9pmw/ Kinetix

Caitlin Rose @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 8pmw/ Daniel Romano, Bare Bones

RL Grime @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pmw/ Vinnie Maniscalco, K-Mac

The Meter Men @ The Ogden Theatre, Denver – 9pmFeat. Page McConnell, George Porter, Leo Nocentelli

Trichome @ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 7pmw/ Mitch Black, Electric Stair Child

Zack Brown Band @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison – 7pm

Aspen Hourglass @ Road 34, Fort Collins – 9pmw/ Solterra

Dead Floyd @ The Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins – 8pmw/ Mama Lenny& The Remedy, The Echo Chamber

Places & Foxfield Four @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ Rachel & the Kings

Saturday May 11thDraghoria@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 7:00pmw/ Midgard, Stratagem, Dysorder

Petals of Spain @ A.F. Ray’s, Greeley – 9pmw/ Attic Attack, Indigenous Robot

The Thermals / The Builders and The Butchers @ Bluebird Theater, Denver -9pm

Curt Fletcher @ Down Under Comedy Club, Greeley - 8:30pmw/ Don Morgan

Josh Dillard CD Release @ Hi-Dive Denver – 9:30pmw/ Joshua Novak, Miss America

Two Cow Garage Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 9:30pmw/ Chad Price, Imaginary Points & Erin Cookman

Real Magic Mancub @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pmw/ Rumtum, CC/NN

Juno What?! @ Hodi’s Half Note on 5/10/13 in Ft. Collins

The Meter Men @ The Ogden Theatre, Denver – 9pmFeat. Page McConnell, George Porter, Leo Nocentelli

The Epilogues @ Road 34, Fort Collins – 9pmw/ The Limelight District

T-shirts For Tomorrow @ Summit Music Hall - 7pmw/ Calibrate Me, Rumors Follow, Grits & Gravy

Futaba @ The Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins – 8pmKill Paris @ Gothic Theatre, Englewood – 9pm

The Nuns of Brixton @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ The Trade Ins, Royal Dead

Sunday May 12THConfess your S.I.N. Sundays @ The Library , Greeley – 9pmw/ DJ Anomaly

Speedwolf @ Hi-Dive Denver – 8:30pmw/ Negative Degree, Gravetorn, Civilized

Black Pus @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pmw/ Floor Freakers, Echo Beds

Prince @ The Ogden Theatre, Denver – 8pm & 11:30

Living With Lions @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ False Colours, Landlocked, Parkview


MOnday May 13thDamien Jurado @ Hi-Dive Denver - 9pmw/ Patrick Dethlefs, The Maykit

Daughter @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pmw/ Jeremy Messersmith

Prince @ The Ogden Theatre, Denver – 8pm & 11:30

Tuesday May 14thTurntUpTuesdays – Trap / Hip Hop / Bass Music@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 8:00pm

Boris @ Bluebird Theater, Denver -8pmw/ Pallbearer and Black Sleep Of Kali

Natural Disaster Tour @ Hi-Dive Denver - 9pm

Moon King @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pmw/ The Wales

Fabolous & Pusha T @ The Ogden Theatre, Denver – 8pmw/ The Life is so Exciting Tour

Mushroom Head @ Summit Music Hall - 7pmw/ Corvus, Lydia Can’t Breathe, Lonia

Marina and the Diamonds @ Gothic Theatre, Englewood – 8pmw/ Charll XCX

Ra Ra Riot @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 8pm

WEDNESDAY May 15th

Stornoway @ Hi-Dive Denver – 9:30pmw/ Horse Thief, Porlolo

Laura Stevenson @ Larimer Lounge, Denver 9pmw/ Field Mouse

W MOB Reunion @ Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 8pmFeat. Members of Futaba, Lindsey O’Brien Band, The Nu Classics.

Thursday May 16th

Digitalism (LIVE) @ Bluebird Theater, Denver -10pmw/ Flashlights, Boyhollow

Champagne Charlie @ Hi-Dive Denver – 9:30pmw/ Two Tone Wolf Pack, The Hooks, and The Hollows

Everyone Orchestra @ Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 9:30pmw/ Marcellus Wallace

Chrome Sparks @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pmw/ Rumtum

Imagine Dragons @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison – 7:30pm

Hanzel Und Gretyl @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 8pmw/ Broken Image, Undun, DJ Slim FadEy

FRIDAY MAY 17thThe Epilogues@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 7:00pmw/ The Shady Elders, futurebabes, They Call Me Hero

The Seers @ Chippers Classic Lanes, Greeley – 9:00pm

Black Moth Super Rainbow @ Bluebird Theater, Denver - 9pmw/ The Hood Internet and Oscillator Bug

The Jekylls @ Hi-Dive Denver – 10pmw/ Faking the Dream, Saturn Cowboys

Band of Heathens @ Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 9pmw/ The Deadwood Saints

Brown Bird @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pmw/ Last good tooth, The Ghost of Joseph Buck

The Epilogues @ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 7pmw/ Duchovny, futurebabes, They Call Me Hero

Delta Fusion @ Pourhouse, Loveland – 9pm

Flux Pavilion @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison – 7:30pmw/ Excision

Bill Smith @ The Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins – 8pmw/ Nunchuck, Funky Tunk HeroesZomboy @ Gothic Theatre, Englewood – 11:30pmw/ Bare, ETC!ETC!

Kill Paradise @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ Carson Allen, At Large

SAturday May 18thSound Alliance@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 7:00pmK-Mac:, Five Day Rhetoric, Dr. Mandible Lecture, Whyte-Out:, Sintax, Austie Frostie & DJ Dabble

Limp Bizkit @ Fillmore Auditorium, Denver - 8pm

Kate Nash @ Bluebird Theater, Denver -9pmw/dresses

Known Pleasures: A Joy Division Tribute for the Benefit of Mike Marchant@ Hi-Dive Denver – 9pm w/ Emerald Siam, Hindershot

Post Paradise @ Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 9pmw/ Rachel and the Kings & Shatterproof

The Technicolors @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pmw/ Fictionist, Burning Girls

Head for the Hills @ The Mishawaka, Bellvue – 8pmw/ Drew Emmitt Trio, Andy Thorn & Andy Hall

The Presets @ The Ogden Theatre, Denver – 9pmw/ Dragonette, Classixx

Tech N9ne @ Summit Music Hall, - 7pmw/ Krizz Kaliko, Brotha Lynch Hung, CES CRU

Imagine Dragons @ Red Rocks on 5/16/13 in Morrison


Sunday May 19th

Confess your S.I.N. Sundays @ The Library , Greeley – 9pmw/ DJ Anomaly

Sarah & the Meanies @ Hi-Dive Denver – 8pmw/ Coles Whalen, Sarah Slaton, Mesha Reynolds

Monday May 20th

Telekinesis @ Hi-Dive Denver – 9:30pmw/ Deep Sea Diver, The Whicker and Pine

Half Moon Run @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pmw/ The Centennial

Turbonegro @ The Ogden Theatre, Denver – 8pmw/ The Dwarves

Of Monsters and Men @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison – 7pmw/ Vampire Weekend

Pato Banton and the Now Generation @ Road 34, Fort Collins – 9pmw/ Rudie Clash

Black Rebel Motorcycle club @ Gothic Theatre, Englewood – 8pmw/ Thenewno2

3 Inches of Blood @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ Black Acid Devil, Arise in Chaos, Malakai

Tuesday May 21st

Cadaver Dogs @ Hi-Dive Denver – 9:30pmw/ Warhawk, Twin Peaks

Filligar@ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pm

Kylesa @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ Blood Ceremony, White Hills, Lazer/ Wulf

Wednesday May 22ndIdeas Of Gemini @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pmw/ In the Company of Serpents

Rehab @ The Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins – 8pmw/ BNMC, Angels Cut

No Bragging Rights @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ Being An ocean, Legion, Verah Falls

Thursday May 23rdTommy Malone (of the Subdudes)@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 7:00pm

Lola Black / The Dreaming (Members of Stabbing Westward)@ Bluebird Theater, Denver - 8pmw/ Glass Delirium and Broken

Image

Harlequin Dreams @ Hi-Dive Denver – 9:30pmw/ Oro Oceans, the Host Club

“Stampede” Omega @ Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 9pmw/ The Acidophiles, Dalco

Capital Cities @ The Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins – 8pmw/ Goldfields

Rehab @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 8pmw/ BNMC, Angle’s cut, Filthy T

Friday may 24thMoses Jones Band – Friday Fest Go-Cup@ 9th St. Plaza, Greeley – 5pm

Retro – Ultimate 80’s Tribute Band@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 7:00pm

Left Foot Green @ Chippers Classic Lanes, Greeley – 9:00pm

Green River Vibe @ Bluebird Theater, Denver -9pmw/ One Drop, ATOMGA, Drop Switch

Jenny Mac @ Down Under Comedy Club, Greeley - 8:30pmw/ Peter Cohen

Land Lines @ Hi-Dive Denver – 10pmThe Seven Hats, Esme Paterson

Dawes @ The Mishawaka, Bellvue – 8pmw/ Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

Logic @ The Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins – 8pmw/ Skizzy Mars, C Dot Castro, Quest

Capital Cities @ Gothic Theatre, Englewood – 9pmw/ Gold Fields

The Casualties @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ Violent Affair, Potato Pirates, Plan B Rejects

Saturday May 25th

Ben Pu & Crew @ A.F. Ray’s, Greeley – 9pm

Averse To The End @ Bluebird Theater, Denver - 9pmw/ Accretion, SWAMI, G.L.E.N.

Jenny Mac @ Down Under Comedy Club, Greeley - 8:30pmw/ Peter Cohen

The David Mayfield Parade @ Hi-Dive Denver – 9:30pmw/ Oliver Bravado, The Longest Day of the Year

Real Life Actual @ Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 9:30pmw/ Free Range Pickens

Jet Edison @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pm

Ryan Bingham @ The Mishawaka, Bellvue – 8pmw/ Wild Feathers

Bad Brad and the Fat Cats @ Purhouse, Loveland - 8:30pm

The Other Black @ Road 34, Fort Collins – 9pmw/ Wasteland Hop

Trapt @ Summit Music Hall - 7pmw/ No 1 Left Standing, Resonance, Strip the Stars

Cory Gunz @ The Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins – 8pmw/ Indastreet Misfists

Chief Keef @ Gothic Theatre, Englewood – 8pm

Halocene @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ White Flag Raised, The Coast Is Ours

Sunday May 26th

Confess your S.I.N. Sundays @ The Library , Greeley – 9pmw/ DJ Anomaly

Your Own Medicine @ Bluebird Theater, Denver -8pmw/ Dimmer Switch, Random Hero, Ashfield

Mindshot @ Hodi’s Half Note, Fort Collins – 9:30pmw/ Special Guests

Cracker and Roger Clyne @ The Mishawaka, Bellvue – 7pm

w/ the Peacemakers, Hickman Dalton Gang

Randy Rogers Band @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison – 5:30pm

The Noise Tour Powered By Journey’s @ Summit Music Hall - 7pmFeat. Marianas Trench, Air Dubai, The Good Natured, DJ Protector

Dawes @ Gothic Theatre, Englewood – 8pmw/ Sera Cahoone

Escape the Fate @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ The Color Morale, Glamour of the Kill, Thick as Thieves

Monday May 27th

Beth Orton @ Bluebird Theater, Denver -8pmw/ James Bay

Mini Mansions and Wire Faces @ Road 34, Fort Collins – 9pm

Sea Wolf @ The Aggie Theatre, Fort Collins – 8pmw/ Savoir Adore

Tuesday May 28th

TurntUpTuesdays@ Moxi Theater, Greeley – 8:00pm

The Detroit Cobras @ Larimer Lounge, Denver 9pmw/ Pangea

Arctic Monkeys @ The Ogden Theatre, Denver – 8pmw/ Mini Mansions

Make do and Mend @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7:30pmw/ Cheap Girls, Diamond Youth, Black Dots

wednesday May 29th

ZZ Ward @ Gothic Theatre, Englewood – 8pm

Torche @ Larimer Lounge, Denver - 9pm

Thursday may 30thThe Green @ Bluebird Theater, Denver -9pmw/ The Expanders, Long Miles

The Postal Service @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison – 8pm

The Neighbourhood @ Gothic Theatre, Englewood – 8pmw/ Lovelife

Glass Cloud @ The Marquis Theatre, Denver – 7pmw/ Intervals, Dead for Denver, In Chase For The Sky

Friday May 31st

Fox Street All Stars – Friday Fest Go-Cup@ 9th St. Plaza, Greeley – 5pm

The Sammus Theory @ A.F. Ray’s, Greeley – 9pmw/ Resonance, And Paradox Afterlife

Atlas Genius @ Bluebird Theater, Denver -9pmw/ The Postelles and Haerts

Tommy Malone @ Moxi Theater on 5/23/13 in Greeley


2013 Home Bout Schedule May 3-4 Mayday Mayhem Tournament Featuring: SDG Prime Cuts Junction City Roller Dolls Pueblo Jailhouse Jawbreakers Foco Girls Gone Derby Pacific Roller Derby Sioux City Roller Dames Central Coast Roller Derby Cheyenne Capidolls May 18 SDG Bone Saw Bruisers vs Naughty Pines June 15 Home Team Bout Aug. 24 Home Team Bout Sept. 28 SDG VS Ark Valley Double Header Oct. 5 SDG Primecuts VS Castlerock Nov. 16 Home Team Bout Dec. 7 7th Anuual Snow Brawl

@ the Kill Floor237 22nd St, Greeley CO

www.slaughterhousederbygirls.com

ROLLER DERBY


Pa said I could marry anybody, as long as I had permission first. Pa said I should pick a man who knows how to drive cattle but keep a gentle hand for his wife, a man who could crack the whip on stubborn rough hide but also deliver a colt with patience and tenderness. “A horse knows a man’s intentions,” Pa would say. A horse needs a gentle hand sometimes, or even whispered words. Some people think it’s superstitious to talk to animals because animals can’t understand. They think animals are stupid and can’t tell between cruelty and kindness. Some of the boys who used to work on our ranch were like that. They would knock around an animal and think it felt nothing. Pa fired a man who used to kick the turkey out of the way during feedings. The turkey would stand by the entrance all fluffed up, showing off shiny bronze tail feathers, and that man would give it a hard kick in its chest. He wanted to make it clear who was in charge.

“You kick my turkey one more time and I’ll kick you all the way to Texas,” my pa told him. “You can’t fool a turkey. You walk in there aiming to kick, it’s gonna know.”

We bought and raised that turkey to sell for meat, but Pa never told that to the turkey. He talked to it as if it were one of his cowhands. “Good morning turkey, lookin’ good this morning,” he’d say. The turkey only ever gobbled nonsense in return, but he was loved, even if he was born to be a meal.

I grew up outside Fort Collins, Colorado on a working cattle ranch. My pa grew up on that same ranch and learned how to take care of the land from his father. He knew where to take the cattle in the spring and the winter. He grazed them on golden prairie grass.

“The prairie used to hold thousands of buffalo,” he told me once. “They kept the grass short. Now we don’t have buffalo, but the cattle are doing the job.” That’s what his pa taught him anyways.

On our land we had hundreds of birds. Naturalists paid five dollars just to look at birds on our land. We used to let those people in for free, until more of them took an interest and we started seeing two or three cars out there every day. In the winter we had some white bird roosting on the horse barn. All the naturalists came out with long cameras and heavy-duty binoculars. You didn’t need those things to see that bird. It was white as snow, an owl with yellow eyes. It survived a blizzard in mid-December. Some of our cattle died that year and we found them frozen in the dry creek bed. Pa had rounded up as many as he could and some of them came home on their own, but some of them we found stiff and empty-eyed in the creek bed. The bird stayed through the storm. Ma worried it would die and even thought we could catch barn mice to feed it. Pa said snowy owls are built for blizzards. He was right. It stayed on our land the whole winter.

After that bird appeared, Pa said everyone who wanted to be out on his land needed to pay five dollars.

Then the naturalists wanted to get specific: five a person or five a car? Some of them complained that land should belong to everyone, but Pa knew that if everyone started coming to see birds on his land, they would be out trampling his prairie and leaving their trash and God knows what else. Some of those men brought rifles to shoot birds to take to the museum, and Pa didn’t like that they were taking from his land and not giving anything back.

“Don’t marry one of those bird men,” Pa said. “Makes no sense, they want to waste daylight looking for birds. Don’t these people have jobs?”

“I think it’s fun to look for birds,” I said. I never noticed the birds until this man was looking for birds by our house and he said he saw one called a painted bunting down along the creek bed. He said it was red and blue and green. I must’ve been sixteen then. I thought I wanted to see that bird too.

“You marry a ranch working man, or a scientist maybe—like a doctor who makes good money and doesn’t waste his time. But no bird men,” Pa said.

I didn’t really have marriage on my mind at that time. Even when I left home for college in Greeley, I wasn’t thinking about marriage. I got a scholarship to study there and become a teacher. It would take five years to finish unless I took summer classes. I didn’t because I knew summer would be the best time to be home. It was after my freshman year that it finally hit me how lonely school was. I had some friends, but they didn’t talk to me much outside of class. It was hard to tell if I wanted a really good friend or a marriage, because I thought marriage might mean having a really good friend. My ma married my pa when she was only eighteen, and she said she did it because he was her best friend and she couldn’t stand not to have him around. They got along because they were both raised on the prairie. They both knew what it meant to work hard with the wind whipping up dust in your face. They both knew what it meant to lie still in prairie grass and listen to the sounds of nature: the whisper of grass sparrows and the howling of distant coyotes.

I came home the summer after my freshman year and met this boy Willie on the ranch. He was twenty-four years old and never went to college. After high school, he worked on a ranch in southern Colorado. He came up here because he said it was closer to his home. He grew up real close to our ranch. Pa hired him because he had experience. He knew how to drive cattle and throw rope. He even knew how to break in a horse. Pa asked him to break in the black colt my mother named Skippy. I watched Willie out there with his saddle and rope. He whispered to the horse then yelled and Skippy spooked. Skippy went bounding to the other side of the pen. It didn’t seem fair in the end, the way Willie shoved the saddle on Skippy and pulled that horse to its knees in submission. He was a powerful man, and confidant too. He saw me watching from the fence.

“A horse has got to know who’s in charge, otherwise it takes advantage,” he said to me. He walked over and put his arms on the top post of the fence. He had a lot of

muscle and freckles on that arm. “A horse knows if you’ve got a weak spirit and will take advantage.”

He was real handsome, with red hair just long enough for the wind to play with. His nose was angular, bent at the top like maybe he’d broken it once. When he looked at me I didn’t dare move, like his eyes were holding me down. I saw he had a few wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, and that made me think he was a real experienced man.

“It’s good to have a gentle spirit,” I said.

“No, maybe with women, but not with animals.” He winked.

“Just don’t kick our turkeys. My pa will get rid of you if you kick the turkeys.”

He lived in the house across the field with the other summer workers. Sometimes I looked out my window to see if their lights were on. Those lights went out early except on Fridays, when I knew the boys would be drinking and playing card games and telling jokes I wouldn’t like to hear. I started wondering about Willie, if he was that kind of boy who made bad jokes about women. I wondered if he’d been with other women, because if he had I shouldn’t have been thinking about him. That’s where I went wrong, thinking about him at night.

I hung out around the horses where I knew I’d run into Willie. He cleaned the stalls and fed the horses and we talked about anything. He’d talk about growing up only five miles or so from my pa’s ranch. I asked him if any naturalists ever asked to be on his property.

“All the time. My father said no at first. But they didn’t listen and they drove around our property anyways. So my father started carrying his rifle around for show. He never intended to shoot it. If a car went blazing down the road he would go stand by the gate with his rifle out and wait for the car to come back the other way. He’d lift the rifle and pretend like he was going to shoot. People would swerve or step on the gas, but they never came back.”

“You must’ve had some good birds on your property. Did you ever have a white owl?”

“A white owl? You’re making that up. The owls on our property are dirt brown and ugly. They sound like old women hooting in the night.”

“Those are the Great Horned owls,” I said. “I’m talking about the white owl.”

“Well aren’t you a smart little lady,” he said.

I didn’t like how he didn’t believe me about the owl.

“I am in college you know,” I said.

“I know, Paula. You’re a real intelligent young woman. I know that.”

We were leaning on the swing door to Skippy’s stall. Skippy looked beaten, his head down, sheepish eyes flitting from us to the window. Skippy had a cottonwood tree outside his window and I could hear the yellow warblers. I don’t think Willie noticed them. He put his arm around me and I stepped back.

“I was just gonna kiss you,” he said. His eyes looked hurt. I wasn’t sure if he was playing or serious. He tried to put his other hand on my

cheek all romantically and I turned my head away.

I tried to peel his hand off my waist but he grabbed harder and he did it right then. He put his hand over my mouth and undid his zipper and shoved me against the barn wall. I could still hear the warblers. I cried through muffled screams. I saw only his nose twitching sometimes because he was trying so hard. He smelled like horse manure. When he was done, I was just lying on the floor crying, not wanting to scream now and embarrass myself. I had been a clean girl until then. Like Pa always said, I was saving myself for marriage. I wasn’t clean anymore. Nobody could know. Willie put a finger to his lips. I never noticed before but they were skinny lips, hardly had any lips at all.

“You won’t tell a soul. Remember, it was you who came to me,” he said with a smile. He kicked up some hay in my direction and zipped himself back up. “You better put yourself back together,” he said. He nodded towards my own undone pants. I felt sore on my arm where he had held me. I should have fought harder. I did try to kick him but he had me so hard against the wall. If my pa had walked in right at that moment he could’ve stopped it. But he didn’t. There was only Skippy who didn’t know any better, watching from his stall.

After that, I thought I should marry Willie, not to make it right for God but to make it right for my father. All those things my father told me were like ghosts in my ear at night. If there was a baby, then there had to be a father to receive it. If there wasn’t a baby, then the marriage was only to settle my conscious. I was a dirty woman otherwise. No man would take a girl knowing she had already spilled her blood, and in a barn of all places. Unless he was a city man and I never liked the city or its people.

At the end of July I told Willie we should get married because I thought there was a baby. I lied. There wasn’t really a baby, I would’ve known. I would’ve been sick. He agreed we should get married, because my pa would find out anyways who the baby belonged to. Willie would lose his job and all the ranchers and farmers nearby would hear about it, and he’d have to move far away to get a job anywhere else. I told Willie we’d better ask my pa first and Willie said he’d handle it. My pa liked Willie so far because he knew how to break horses in fast. Around Pa, Willie was sweet as honey and he’d whisper to the horses that everything was alright. Pa was just too busy with the cattle in summer to keep a constant eye on every worker. He saw how Willie got the job done and trusted that he was doing everything right.

My pa didn’t notice yet how the horses were shy around Willie, waiting for his heavy hand to fall upon their skin. Sometimes it wasn’t even his heavy hand, but his heavy words, the way he shouted anger to make a horse hear him.

“You goddamned horse, you’re gonna do exactly as I say,” I heard him say to Skippy once. In that violent way he made Skippy into a broken horse for riding. I should’ve taken Skippy out for a ride. We were both dirty horses.

A creative story bySaraiya Ruano

The Wind SWeepS Over The prairieI didn’t go back to college. Willie

said I could still go and come home for breaks and over summers, but I couldn’t be there with the other young girls knowing they still had the chance to find someone gentle in their lives. Their doors for marriage and jobs were wide open. I could still be a teacher, but I didn’t think I should be teaching little children after what Willie had done to me. I didn’t want to pass those things on to children. Children can tell when you got dark secrets to keep.

Willie built a house with some of the other workers and now we live just a mile west of my parents’. Pa gave us Skippy because Skippy was never good for much. He couldn’t be taken on cattle drives because the bucking of calves or the flinch of cow haunches would spook him into a frenzy. I rode Skippy out onto the prairie and down into the creek bed. Sometimes we meandered through the forest of Russian olive trees and I listened for the different birds I heard the naturalists talking about. There was some kind of owl with long ears that roosted in the olive grove. At night in the early spring I sometimes could hear their screams. If I didn’t know any better I would have said they were ghosts. I sometimes imagined they were the ghosts of my grandmother and great grandmother, screaming for shame and all the things the world did to them as women. I would be among them, was already among them.

There were wild turkeys out there too. I liked to see them outside of a cage. They could walk wherever they wanted and fluff up their feathers and strut. Sometimes I tied Skippy up to a tree and went and sat behind a bush just to see how close a turkey might come to me.

Now I’m sitting out on the prairie, on this bluff that overlooks the land. The cattle are spread out and feeding to the south. I can see Pa and Willie out there on their horses. They are specks. But way far out there isn’t anything but yellow grass and wind sweeping over the prairie. Sometimes it’s a gentle wind, a hopeful wind. Other times it’s rough and blows my hair all over and chaps my cheeks. I’m thinking how men are like the wind. Some of them are soft and gentle like that, and some of them wear you down and carry you away piece by piece. Some of them talk so much and so loud that you can’t hear your own voice over them, like storm wind. I married the wrong wind. I made that choice. My mother said you always have to live with your choices. You can’t put the blame on other people.

I like to forget my life after that day near Skippy’s stall. I can still remember how I felt before I met Willie, when I thought I would be a teacher and when Pa gave me advice on what to look for in a man. He doesn’t tell me things like that anymore. He says I married a fine man, but he hasn’t seen yet how Willie handles Skippy. Or maybe Pa just doesn’t care anymore now that I’m married, now that I’m not his anymore. Sometimes I think I will walk out over the prairie and keep on walking into the wind. Eventually the prairie will end and I will find something better if I keep walking.


GAMES

SUDOKU © 2013 Knight Features. Reprinted with permission of Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.WORD ROUNDUP by David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek © 2012 Reprinted with permission of Universal Uclick. All rights reserved.

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