As Reverb looks back at the the albums, songs and shows that defined 2014, we wanted to take a moment to step away from our headphones to recall the happenings of the music world that shaped our Colorado music scene this year.
We’ve gone through our archives to find the biggest Colorado music news stories of 2014 that have fundamentally changed the local scene and even moved into the national conversation. For good or bad, these are the stories that shaped Colorado in 2014:
10) Major local album releases
While Colorado artists are releasing music every day, a few local acts released music that either put them in the national spotlight or helped brighten their already growing careers.
Denver favorite, Nathaniel Rateliff, released his sophomore solo album, “Falling Faster Than You Can Run.” , Rateliff released his new album on a temporary label before he signed a record deal with Concord Music Group, who will release his next four albums — including the Night Sweats.
Along with a national tour and a stint opening for HAIM, Tennis released its third album, “Ritual In Repeat” with the help of some big name producers: Patrick Carney (The Black Keys), Jim Eno (Spoon) and Richard Swift (The Shins). We spent some time with the indie-pop duo before they went out on tour, and to write the album.
After a four-year hiatus since its last proper album, emerging Denver hip-hop act, Air Dubai, released “Be Calm,” its first album on L.A.-based label, Hopeless Records. As we wrote in our “Air Dubai occupies a rare space not just in Denver but nationally. The band’s sound isn’t abrasive enough to stand comfortably next to many punk or garage-rock acts — even if thatap where a lot of its fans come from — but not so smooth that its music would fade into the background of the average car commercial.”
Other big releases of 2014 included albums from the Fray, Itchy-O and Ark Life.
9) Jack White’s love affair with Denver
We spent most of the summer . Remember the picture of sad Jack White at a Cubs game? Well, we wanted to show him a good time in Denver. He ended up and looked like he had a blast. His fun in Denver continued when he
8) It’s SnowBall! Minus the snow…
Originally envisioned as a winter mountain getaway, SnowBall music festival , marking its third home in four years. The festival found itself at Sports Authority Field at Mile High after bouncing around different locations in the Rockies and being plagued by arrests, complaints and more.
“My original dream was to hold the festival in the mountains, and certainly it wasn’t harder on anyone than me to make the decision to move the festival,” “We didn’t have the opportunity to do this festival at the time we wanted in the mountains. What was most important to me was that the festival continued on.”
In Denver, SnowBall than previous years.
7) Denver bands break up, change lineups
While this year saw a continued growth in the lively Denver music scene, it also marked the end of a number of promising local acts.
After forming in 2012, garage-surf band Thee Dang Dangs
The same week that Thee Dang Dangs disbanded, . But the band gave fans some hope, “This is not the end of the book… just a chapter.”
After a brief and bright run that included an official spot on the 2014 SXSW lineup, and early comparisons to the Lumineers and Churchill, You Me & Apollo has
In September, Denver’s Esme Patterson , the indie-pop band that she had been a member of for eight years. She moved on to pursue her own solo career, which this spring had her performing with Shakey Graves.
6) Is Red Rocks too loud?
This year marked an ongoing debate concerning noise ordinances at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. After receiving noise complaints from neighbors about the volume of EDM shows, the city and county of Denver
In May, officials gathered to and decided it “really wasn’t very loud.”
5) AEG-owned AXS becomes the exclusive ticket provider for Denver venues
The city of Denver has finalized a five-year contract to make the AEG Live-owned AXS the exclusive ticket seller for all city venues,
The contract guarantees the city and AXS each about $4 million in net revenue over five years. The deal covers all city-owned venues, including Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Denver Coliseum, Boettcher Concert Hall, Ellie Caulkins Opera House and the Buell Theatre.
AEG Live Rocky Mountains currently runs most of the non-municipal professional music venues in the Denver/Boulder area, including, Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre, the Ogden Theatre, the Gothic Theatre and Bluebird Theater. AEG Live, in partnership with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, also runs the 1stBank Center in Broomfield.
4) For Sale: One famous piece of music history
The legendary Caribou Ranch property, iconic for its place in music history, After the sale, the new owner said it will close the ranch’s gates and focus on rebuilding the brand.
“This gives us a good chance to focus on our ranch in Montana and Caribou’s induction into Colorado’s Music Hall of Fame later this year,” said Will Guercio, son of music producer Jim Guercio who sold the property last month for $32.5 million after more than 40 years of ownership.
Under Jim Guercio’s care, the 1,600-acre mountain property north of Nederland served as a getaway recording studio for some of the past century’s most famous musicians.
But changes in the music industry and a studio fire in 1985 altered the ranch’s identity.
Will Guercio says his family is currently taking inventory of artifacts from the ranch and studio that have ties to music icons including Elton John, Chicago, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder.
The family plans to give about half of the memorabilia to the Colorado Hall of Fame. The objects will be featured the hall of fame’s new home at the Trading Post at Red Rocks, which is set to open later this summer.
3) Planet Bluegrass Ranch beats the odds and dries out
After working tirelessly for 10 months, Planet Bluegrass Ranch miraculously rebuilt its flood-ravaged festival grounds in time for in time for RockyGrass on July 25-27.
From our story about Planet Bluegrass Ranch:
At first light on Sept. 12, 2013, Ferguson and his family climbed the cliff overlooking and watched in horror as a 500-year flood ripped through the grounds, bringing fences, debris and entire structures with it. His daughter filmed videos that , showing the once-tranquil home to and sitting under 4 feet of water, littered with lumber, dirt and destroyed vehicles.
At that time Ferguson could think only one thing: “As long as that stage stands we can put on our show.”
Read the full story
2) Gunman fires at Schoolboy Q after Red Rocks show
A man armed with a rifle fired multiple shots into an SUV carrying Schoolboy Q and three others after a performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in June. Though Schoolboy Q was not injured, the story quickly gained national attention as police sought the shooter.
“We heard more than eight gunshots in a row,” said Patricio Illanes, who was outside of Red Rocks during the shooting. “Then we saw an SUV take off and we paused for a minute.”
“We didn’t hear anyone yelling or anything,” he said. “At the time we were thinking the situation might have been fireworks.”
You can our
1) Riot Fest vs. Byers
In late June we broke the story that Riot Fest’s future at May Farms in Byers might not be so certain. Arapahoe County at the location on Sept. 19-21. Byers locals were , which made its debut the previous year.
“Byers might become the wrong kind of town for families and farmers!” read an ad from opponents of the event.
After getting input from the community, Arapahoe County
As the struggles of the festival became national news, Riot Fest vowed that it would take place and
“We were duped,” he said in a statement. Itap disgusting and these people should feel ashamed.”
At the last minute, the festival moved to Sports Authority Field at Mile High, where
“Without question this was the most well mannered and well behaved crowd of all music festivals we’ve had,” Sports Authority Field at Mile High general manager Andy Gorchov
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