Gabe Allen

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MusicAlbum Review: The Matterhorn Project – TravelerWhen the phrases “prog metal” and “solo studio project” occupy the about section of a band’s website, a couple of red flags go up. But Zahari Tzigularov, a Bulgarian-born long time Denverite and the mastermind behind The Matterhorn Project, has used his studio time well. Though his musicianship is apparent, his artistry is front and center. The 5-song EP is at once lush and foreboding. Tzigularov’s compositions weave between sludgy bass-driven riffs, wandering clean guitar melodies and fantastical whisper-growled lyrics.Gabe Allen · Jan 13, 2022FeaturesMom Rock Wants To Kiss You On The MouthIndie quartet of Berklee graduates is full of love for fans on their first ever national tour .Gabe Allen · Jan 7, 2022New Year’s Eve 2021 Shows: BandWagon’s Top PicksDance 2021 into oblivion with the best shows inGabe Allen · Dec 14, 2021FeaturesINTHEWHALE Gets Real on Vanishing PointWhat sets Eric Riley and Nate Valdez apart from other heavy acts isn’t their musicianship (though it is excellent) but their ability to translate unflinchingly raw moments into music. Starting with INTHEWHALE’s last EP, Dopamine, the band’s tone shifted from the sophomoric humor of their earlier releases to brutally honest explorations of the darker moments of life. These explorations continue on Vanishing Point. The band wrestles with pharmaceutical addiction, suicidal ideation and gentrification. The pain and anger is palpable.Gabe Allen · Dec 4, 2021FeaturesThe Velveteers: Nightmare Dream-Team Graduates from the GarageWhen The Velveteers (Demi Demitro, Baby Pottersmith and Jonny Fig) pulled up to a hip, all-ages venue in Detroit, they didn’t expect anyone to recognize them. “Most of the last two years we’ve just been doing the same thing we always do, which is the three of us practicing music alone in a tiny garage,” Pottersmith tells BandWagon. As soon as they stepped out of the tour van that day, the illusion of isolation was shattered. Maybe shattered is the wrong word. A fan, sporting Adidas flip flops, a Johnny Cash t-shirt and playing air guitar on a squash racket, was pacing outside of the venue and screaming the lyrics to the lead single “Charmer And The Snake” from their deliciously sinister hard rock album Nightmare Daydream.Gabe Allen · Nov 15, 2021FeaturesTrash Cat and the Absurdity of the Human Experience~ Greeley’s silliest band takes making good music seriously ~Gabe Allen · Nov 12, 2021FeaturesWreckno: B-Queen Drops it Like a BossAn unlikely icon has burst onto the EDM scene. Brandon Wisniski, known eponymously as Wreckno, creates earth-shaking bass drops, raps about pulling up on your dad and refers to himself as a “FULL TIME BUSSY BOPPER” on Twitter. He may be the biggest, loudest, gayest producer the bass scene has ever seen, and he’s just getting started. Wisniski’s music melds together the aggression of old-school gangster rap with the manic energy of bass music and the glamour of a drag show. It’s a perfect fit, but it has never really been done before.Gabe Allen · Oct 14, 2021MusicAlbum Review: The Crooked Rugs – THAT!There is a cultural, dad-inherited fondness for flipping through AM radio channels while driving late at night.Gabe Allen · Oct 5, 2021MusicAlbum Review: Jaguar Stevens – Jaguar Stevens[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]If you’ve ever gone out drinking with public school teachers, you know they’re a rowdy bunch. Maybe the job requires the same kind of youthful energy that carries you through to late night karaoke. Maybe the stress of attempting to get kids excited about global conflict or quadratic formulas makes you yearn for catharsis atGabe Allen · Aug 30, 2021FeaturesThe Infamous LP hits Edge Fest with Irreverent, Vulnerable Pop“I don’t think they could deal with what I looked like and what I sounded like,” LP tells BandWagon. “Jay-Z was there and L.A. Reid and everybody. They made me perform three or four songs in completely disparate directions. I was one of the artists dropped at the end of the session.” Fourteen years later, LP is at the height of her career as an international pop star. She has billions of streams to her name and devout fans from Italy to Poland, Mexico and all over the world. “It went from ‘who do you think you are?’ to ‘who are you?’,” she said. On August 28, LP brings her irreverent, vulnerable, one-of-a-kind pop to Edge Fest; a free show in Cheyenne’s West Edge District with special guest Tai Verdes.Gabe Allen · Aug 13, 2021MusicAlbum Review: Banshee Tree – Banshee TreeFor the past few years, Banshee Tree has played in barrooms, theaters and music festivals all over Colorado and Wyoming. Although the band’s music showcases each member’s impressive chops, the recurring theme is vibrant energy. Dancefloor denizens will sway to neo soul for one song and spin their partner to gypsy jazz for the next.Gabe Allen · Aug 9, 2021FeaturesYawper Goes West: Nate Cook Defies Death; Cycles Nation-Wide for Musicians’ Sweet Relief“I’m terrified. The scope of this is insane and it’s going to be heavily publicized,” The Yawpers’ front man Nate Cook tells BandWagon. The last time he attempted a feat a quarter as intense, he stated: “I was absolutely certain I was going to die.” This summer, Cook’s attempts a nation-wide, musicians charity bike ride stretching from Greeley Square in NYC, through Death Valley in August, to LA in September with live gigs along the way. With characteristic dark wit, he quips: “I’m concerned about failing, although, I feel like if I get hit by a car or something it will drive donations even more.”Gabe Allen · Jul 2, 2021CommunityMake More Everything: FoCo Film and Music Collide and Connect“A lot of people that are emotionally driven tend to gravitate towards the arts,” musician Maxwell Tretter tells BandWagon. “But, then they also hit this pivotal moment between the path of isolation or the path of connection. I’m sick of hearing about the tragic origin story. I want to hear about the well connected, like, ‘life went great for me and I made amazing shit’ story.” And thus sparked Make More Everything, a “game of telephone between writers, musicians and visual artists.” Tretter collaborated with film-slam organizer Jesse Nyander, culminating in a bonanza, multi-media event Friday, July 2nd at The Lyric in Fort Collins.Gabe Allen · Jun 30, 2021FeaturesFlobots: Our Patriotism Is Future-FacingAs footage of the capitol riots circulated online, James Laurie, aka Jonny 5, watched with a unique kind of discomfort.Gabe Allen · Jun 7, 2021MusicSingle Review: Cole ScheifeleCole Scheifele writers heartbreaking music and delivers a soaring melody with unrestrained emotion. Behind his voice, an ambient brew of siren-like drones creates texture while he keeps time on an acoustic guitar.Gabe Allen · May 10, 2021MusicAlbum Review: VYNYL – The World Is On Fire, and I’m LonelyIn Denver, a hyperactive, fashion-forward group is making music that could just be the cutting edge of this pop punk resurgence. Though VYNYL strayed into synth-pop territory with their first EP, Pink, 2021’s aptly titled The World Is On Fire, and I’m Lonely is full of grit without losing any of the hookiness of the band’s earlier work. Catchy melodies are paired with crisp production and colossal energy, making it a good case as the perfect bittersweet summer soundtrack into the final stretch of the pandemic.Gabe Allen · May 6, 2021CommunityFailure to launch: Shuttered Venue Operators Grant application is delayed after months of anticipationFor the past three-and-a-half months, independent venue owners around the country have anxiously awaited an application for the now $16 billion in grant funds that the U.S.Gabe Allen · Apr 13, 2021MusicAlbum Review: Ellsworth – EllsworthDenver’s Ellsworth has struck a vein with her eponymous 11-song LP, traversing anxiety, self-doubt and lost love in gorgeously graceful strides. Soft but with immense conviction, her quiet tone conveys intimacy, like an earnest conversation meant for one person’s ears in a crowded room. “When we push away our feelings of sadness or anxiety, we are in fact pushing away a part of ourselves,” says Ellsworth. In just a handful of masterfully crafted folk songs, she taps into the shared trauma of a generation.Gabe Allen · Apr 7, 2021CommunityJust Wanna Have Funds: Did the Colorado Arts Relief Grant Support the Organizations it Intended?Over 63 days, Colorado Creative Industries (CCI), created a set of criteria, launched an application, administered the selection process and allocated just under $6 million to organizations and businesses state-wide including music venues. “We were given the charge to distribute the funding as quickly as possible,” a CCI spokesperson told BandWagon. This hasty allocation of public funds was met with cynical speculation from independent venue owners who were not awarded money. Until now, the controversy over the grant has remained purely speculative. No one has pointed to specific evidence of nepotism or neglect on CCI’s part. But, thanks to the Colorado Open Records Act, BandWagon was able to obtain a copy of the scoring rubric used to evaluate grant applicants.Gabe Allen · Apr 5, 2021MusicAlbum Review: Shwarma – Loveworthy LiveOn (yes) Valentine’s Day, Colorado’s funky genre-hopping Shwarma continued their saga of madness with the Loveworthy Live EP, debuted as a live stream. In the video, the overtly-silly mix of tightly-arranged funk jams and melodramatic ballads is accompanied by a revolving door of meticulous costumes, sets and effects.Gabe Allen · Mar 5, 2021