When In Rome/The Psychedelic Furs
There’s an art to concert-going, and after nearly five years in this job, you learn a thing or two – one of them being that not all concerts are equal. Most are worth being there from start to finish. Catch the opener. Stay for the headliner’s encore.
But some are good for only a song or two. Such as when Olivia Newton-John played Denver a few years back. We heard the country stuff and “Xanadu,” and so we left, 30 minutes into her headlining set.
The poorly attended ’80s bill at the City Lights Pavilion on Saturday was one of those affairs. Devo was headlining, and they’re great but have been touring heavily in this market for years. The other two bands on the bill were such ’80s oddities, they made the entire show with only two songs – and they came within minutes of each other.
When in Rome closed its bizarre set with an elongated “The Promise,” and it was as fulfilling as it was sad. That single hit 18 years ago, and while it’s still great, the band is very much changed – they lost the guy who used to sing the chorus.
The Psychedelic Furs sounded tremendous throughout their set, but the highlight came during the first track, the ’80s staple “Love My Way.” Sure, “Pretty in Pink” has the title, but “Love My Way is the better song, and singer Richard Butler sounds as good as he ever did on record.|Ricardo Baca
Ben Harper
Ben Harper’s passion poured out during his Aug. 23 show.
Twice, following songs, he stood before the Red Rocks crowd, catatonic, staring for minutes at a time as the cheers grew louder, embracing the atmosphere. During one song, Harper dropped to the floor screaming into the microphone. He even tried singing sans mic once, screeching at the top of his lungs to the last rows to ask if they could hear him.
The result: an invigorating, organic experience most jam bands offer. The difference with Harper is his passion. While most jam bands indulge in a partylike atmosphere, Harper changes as much as his musical tastes. In the middle of his set, Harper sang solo two tear-jerkers, “Walk Away” and “Another Lonely Day.”
Before long, Harper’s backup band The Innocent Criminals returned, and they swung the emotion in a different direction, singing Bob Marley covers alongside his opener Damian Marley.
By the end, Harper had shown his complete spectrum of talents. He sang softly during “Faded,” while playing a commanding slide guitar. He showed outrage during his song “Black Rain,” a reaction to Hurricane Katrina almost at the storm’s anniversary. And he jumped around stage without an instrument while singing “Diamonds on the Inside.”|Scott Lieber
The Minders
It was a virtual indie pop festival at the Larimer Lounge on Aug. 25 when The Minders headlined a toothache-inducing night of sugary music fit for a candy store.
The Minders are dismissed by some as masters of hooks and little else. But the band proved at the Larimer its melodic brawn, its pop stamina, its vast catalog with a set that hardly relented on delivering the goods. The night was heavy on “It’s a Bright Guilty World,” the Portland band’s new record, but it included some older pop treasures and nostalgic moments that recalled frontman Martyn Leaper’s days in Denver – including a track featuring an ebullient Tammy Ealom, Dressy Bessy’s intrepid singer who was a part of the earliest incarnations of The Minders.|Ricardo Baca
