Neutral Milk Hotel and St. Vincent top our picks of best Colorado shows this week. We’ll be seeing you there, and if you don’t make it out, follow the music musings and our
5) … And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead — April 3, Summit Music Hall
As part of only six tour dates this year, respected rock band … And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead will stop at Denver’s Summit Music Hall on April 3. On this tour, the band is playing the entirety of 2002’s “Source Tags & Codes,” and along with a few other huge markets, Denver is one of the lucky stops. The somber and explosive band has had its fair share of struggles since forming in the late ’90s. Throughout eight albums — most recently 2012’s “Lost Songs” — the band has faced strife among its members and labels and managed to stay true to its sound.
4) Covenhoven — Hi-Dive, March 28
The stomping and clapping, tough-guy-with-a-heart folk of Covenhoven has been on our radar for the last year. With his log cabin-inspired project, Joel Van Horne has become one of Denver’s most promising upcoming new acts. His headlining show at Denver’s Hi-Dive on March 28 will be an emotional journey of woodsy and flannel wearing proportions. Need a better idea of what this will sound like? Just read what he lists as his influences: “the wind through the trees, the crackle of the campfire, the damp, crisp mornings of the Medicine Bows.” Yeah. You feel like you’re sitting in a forest already. Glowing House and Sawmill Joe — two equally ruggedly-named acts — will open the show.
3) The Black Lips — The Bluebird Theater, April 2
Like your music to be straightforward rock music that sounds like itap being played from your neighbor’s basement party at 2 a.m. on a Tuesday? Then Black Lips is for you. The Atlanta lo-fi rock group released its seventh studio album, “Underneath the Rainbow,” on March 18 and stops in Denver to debut the new tracks about two weeks later. While the promise of new material is tempting, the real reason to catch the Black Lips on April 2 at the Bluebird Theater is for the band’s infamous live shows. While they weren’t as rowdy in Denver when they played here in 2009, we’re hoping for their 2014 appearance to be filled with spit, puke, blood and distortion. Fingers crossed.
2) St. Vincent — March 29, Ogden Theatre
We were pretty impressed with St. Vincent when we caught her set at SXSW this year. Her tour in support of the excellent new self-titled release sticks with the same themes of the album to bring a theatrical production on stage. While a beautifully executed performance, St. Vincentap Annie Clark is most importantly a phenomenal musician to watch perform live. She’ll execute complex, geometrical guitar solos, dance like a crazed puppet, lounge on stage and more — all while singing and fronting a host of talented backing musicians. She performs on March 29 at the Ogden Theatre.
1) Neutral Milk Hotel — March 30-31, Boulder Theater and Ogden Theatre
Having abruptly disbanded in 1999 after only two albums, Neutral Milk Hotel’s career seemed to have been brief and beautiful. In the years since the band went on hiatus, its two albums, “On Avery Island” and “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea,” have become regarded as iconic moments in indie-rock. Thanks to this growing popularity among (mostly hipster) circles, the band has been coaxed out of its hiatus and has embarked on a lengthy reunion tour. In addition to a stop at Denver’s Ogden Theatre on March 31 and the Boulder Theater on March 30, the band will appear near the top of this summer’s biggest festival lineups. Earlier this week, tickets for both sold-out Colorado shows were selling for up to nearly $200.
