With so many bands to see at FoCoMX you can’t catch them all. So here are five more acts that will blow your mind and fill out your festival schedule. Bitchflower FOR THE FREAKS Friday 10:00 p.m. @ Aggie Theatre Fort Collins psych punk outfit Bitchflower takes the Aggie Theatre stage for FocoMx this year, […]
Music festivals have gone through a lot changes in Colorado. Once a cash cow of the state’s live music industry, the summer festival circuit was brought low by the outbreak of the Covid pandemic in 2020. While many festival promoters had good intentions, there was the uncomfortable feeling of an unsustainable money grab. If was […]
The Ft. Collins celebration of Colorado music known as FoCoMX is back on April 25-26 and to help you navigate this 400-plus band festival we are highlighting just a few of our northern Colorado favorites. With so many acts across so many genres looking at the schedule can be overwhelming so here a few hidden […]
If you notice a particular sweetness in the vocal harmonies soaring above the sludgy riffs, ripping guitar and ruthless drums of Denver rock trio Pink Fuzz, you’re on to something. If you pick out stylistic parallels to another Denver trio The Velveteers, you’re getting even warmer.
The sound you hear in the voices of John and LuLu from Pink Fuzz is called blood harmony. That sounds pretty metal, which is appropriate, but it’s a term used to describe the unmatched accordance that happens when blood relatives sing together.
Holdfast.’s new album Movies brings their expected electro dark-pop and rock aesthetic but leans into other styles that open their doors to new fans.
Singer Charlie Maddocks demonstrates a dramatic contrast in dynamics, one that MUSE’s lead Matt Bellamy is well known for, though Maddocks’ tone is undoubtedly his own, becoming one of Colorado’s most recognizable lead vocals. Holdfast. continues to deliver strong songs while experimenting with new sounds and textures.
Music seldom tells you what to imagine in a concrete, absolute way. It requires you to fill in the gaps — sometimes thin, sometimes wide. Young Habitat’s debut EP In First Person Perspective, is a meditation on this idea.
Riley Sbarna and saxophonist Hayden Farr (Trash Cat, The Burroughs) have long riffed about a potential musical collaboration, but the inspiration to finally follow through came from an unlikely source: the pandemic.
Though In First Person Perspective retains the emotional vulnerability of Sbrana’s previous work, the sonic landscape is a left turn. Understated vocals often devolve into heavily affected opacity. The instrumentation is reminiscent of lo-fi hip hop with frequent saxophone odysseys provided by Farr. It’s one part contemporary Bon Iver and one part Porches with a sprinkle of neo soul. It’s both melancholic and beautiful.
Taking place on Sundays this month at the historic Holiday Twin Drive-In, FoCoMX: Drive and Jive continued its live offerings last month with further programming into August and beyond. Reimagining the series to feature a mix of established veteran Colorado acts as well as “discovery” artists from the region, Drive and Jive aims to build engaged audiences and more.
In light of yesterday’s news that the Bohemian Foundation’s recently announced Bohemian Light Music Festival is now in fact cancelled due to COVID precautions, the Drive and Jive series offers a live music format which has proved to function well under pandemic restrictions.
This weekend, in lieu of the real, re-scheduled thing, FoCoMX will offer “A Digital Retrospective” of photos taken by fans as well as rare backstage shots by FoCoMX staff on September 4-5 via the festival’s social media channels. The festival wants to celebrate the fan perspective and involvement as well as host live, in-person music to folks in their cars every Tuesday via Drive & Jive, pulling from its scheduled lineup of more than 400 acts.
