Explosions in the Sky, a Prince tribute and Bob Mould are our picks for the best shows around Colorado this week. See you there, and if you don’t make it out, follow our music musings on Twitter and our selfies on Instagram. Oh, our editor has a Snapchat, too. Add “dylanacious” to see him turn musicians’ faces into dogs, tacos and spiders.
Explosions in the Sky — Ogden Theatre, May 10 + 11
Explosions in the Sky has redefined the limit of scale for instrumental rock bands. Since forming in 1999, the Austin-based band has played their ethereal post-rock suites in Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium, a sold-out Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden, where they opened for Death Cab for Cutie late last year. “Wilderness,” their sixth and latest album, catches the band reexamining and patiently pushing their sound to new frontiers. The band is already renowned for their live shows, and their new album has driven demand at their Ogden Theatre show into two-night stand. Tickets are $25-$30 and are available .
Prince Tribute — Red Rocks Amphitheatre, May 12
As the wealth of cover songs and tributes keep rolling, it’s clear that the music world is still reeling from Prince’s unexpected passing in April. With the help of a veritable who’s-who of local artists and comedians, the Denver Film Society’s Film on the Rocks series will launch a comprehensive tribute to the Purple One at Red Rocks on May 12. Poet will join eleven local musical acts like , , and more to pay homage to the artist, including an all-acts rendition of “Purple Rain” that will precede a screening of the film it was written for. Comedians Nathan Lund and Stephen Agyei will M.C. Tickets are $15-$65 and are available via .
Bob Mould — Boulder Theater, May 7
As the frontman for Minneapolis band Hüsker Dü, Bob Mould helped move the needle on hardcore music. Under Mould’s purview, blistering thrash gave way to melody, which isolated the band’s early fans, but elevated Hüsker Dü to something more than just an innovative hardcore band. After the band broke up, Mould ran further afield of the genre purist’s with his contrarian solo debut, “Workbook,” a minor alt-rock masterpiece that folded acoustic guitar, technical vamping and songs that could be into his baseline of angst-y verve. Twenty-seven years later, Mould has released “Patch the Sky,” which has him filing the soft edges of his “Workbook”-era catalog back into the knotty barb of the artist’s Hüsker Dü yesteryear. Catch him with Denver’s South of France at the Boulder Theater on Saturday. Tickets: $20-$25 via .
