October 2026 issue out now

Pick up a copy Advertise

Pick up a copyAdvertise with us

Aggie Theatre

BandWagon Magazine has covered Aggie Theatre in Fort Collins, CO in 75 stories since 2012, including 41 features, 6 reviews and 16 photo galleries.

75 stories · Page 2 of 4

A large folk ensemble performs under green and blue stage lights, with banjo, guitars, upright bass, fiddle, and keys.

CommunityUPLIFT: FoCo – New Generation on the Rise“My thinking was, ‘Yeah, get me off this bus,’” Andy Whilden said. He decided to leave touring as a musician for a job at The Matthews House, a place for underserved youth. Starting the Uplift: FoCo festival two years ago gave Whilden more personal satisfaction than he expected. The benefit festival will feature acts that are acoustically driven. “They can play any genre,” Whilden said of the house band, though the 2021 installment will also deliver something different, and, well, a little less tenured.Dan England · Dec 2, 2021

Photo for “Wreckno: B-Queen Drops it Like a Boss”

FeaturesWreckno: 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, 2021

Three smiling men stand together laughing in front of a red brick wall, one wearing a knit beanie and plaid blazer.

FeaturesBirth of The Band: Delvon Lamarr Steps Into the Spotlight with DLO3.“When you believe in something, you don’t have to sell it,” Delvon Lamarr tells BandWagon. The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio were playing festivals before they had recordings and the way Lamarr shreds across the keys and seamlessly grooves the organ pedals with his feet, you’d think he had been doing this his whole life. But he didn’t even touch an organ until his early 20s. And with guitarist Jimmy James and drummer Dan Weiss on board, Lamarr says “the combination felt unique and connected. No one person makes the band, but what puts it in perspective is all of us.”Valerie Vampola · Sep 15, 2021

Four men in black shirts and dark pants stand on railroad tracks, backlit by bright sunlight.

MusicAlbum Review: We Are William – We Are WilliamListening to Fort Collins-based We Are William gives a refreshing perspective on just how difficult it is to play progressive metal, and the band deserves props.Dan England · Sep 7, 2021

Performer in a dark wide-brimmed hat and black shirt gestures at a microphone under purple stage lights.

FeaturesIf You Build It: That 1 Guy on Making an Instrument and Setting Songs FreeMike Silverman – AKA That 1 Guy – knew what it would take to make it. Only his band wasn’t willing to live that hard life. So he did it himself. “I was working so hard to fill this cosmic space,” Silverman said of the bass, “and I was playing on this thing that wasn’t meant to do that.” So he built an instrument that would help him create a big sound. “It was very hard,” he said. “Some instrument builders study their whole lives to do this.”Dan England · Sep 3, 2021

Three men in dark and gray shirts stand against a red metal wall, hands in pockets, with no instruments visible.

MusicAlbum Review: Ms. Nomer – TAOTUNUFusion and rock group Ms. Nomer are releasing their debut full-length album TAOTUNU (IE; “things are on the up n up”) July 16 at the Aggie.Valerie Vampola · Jul 9, 2021

Empty red picnic tables face a large outdoor movie screen under a dramatic storm sky at sunset.

FeaturesInto The Great Wide Open: NoCo & WY Venues Hopeful for a Full-Capacity FallPresident Joe Biden believes we’ll have smaller gatherings with family and close friends by the Fourth of July.Dan England · Mar 31, 2021

Four men pose between tall brick pillars at night, lit in red, wearing dark casual clothes and looking toward the camera.

FeaturesBattle Profile: Lady Denim“We were starting to get the ball rolling, you know, the snowball effect,” recalls Lundeen, Lady Denim’s lead vocalist, of the band’s momentum heading into March 2020, “and then it all got paused.” Lundeen looks back on the band’s last headliner at the Aggie Theatre in Fort Collins, where the band walked out to a crowd of 450. At a show a month later on March 13, just as news of COVID-19 began to flare up, the band walked out to a crowd of less than 50. “The silver lining of it all was that we were able to set aside time and record,” Lundeen reflects. Trading rehearsals for recording sessions not only brought the band closer, but also yielded the seeds for what Lundeen said will be their next release.Diego Felix · Feb 15, 2021

Black-and-white overhead view of a person in headphones at a home studio with monitors, keyboard, and speakers.

FeaturesDIY Kick: Colorado’s Recording Industry Takes It HomeIndependent artists made more music online and at home during lockdown, and recording studios have adapted. Mike Davis was uniquely prepared for this shift, founding Koncept Jewel Studios, an itinerant collection of recording equipment and instruments that operates wherever Davis happens to be living at the time. “It’s kind of an amorphous thing. I’ve moved around since I started it and plan to continue moving around,” he said. This can-do, remote DIY sentiment is echoed by Ben Behrens of Wright Studios: “It doesn’t matter how cheap or weird your gear is. If it works, we can make something cool with it.” Stone Cottage studios in Boulder has even turned its space into a stage for live-streaming artist performances online.Gabe Allen · Jan 6, 2021

Musicians play guitars on a lit outdoor stage at night while a crowd watches from behind metal barricades.

FeaturesThe Thin Black Line: Venues Fight To Survive“It’s nowhere near the money I need to sustain, but I was lucky,” says Travis Ragan. Ragan was a partner in the Roxy Theater in Denver and the Mesa Theater in Grand Junction, booking shows in 15 different markets. Now he hauls equipment for his brother, a construction manager out of Colorado Springs. “I know venues are closing down, and yet, we have no leadership backing us and supporting us. We have no one telling us what we should do as opposed to what we shouldn’t do,” Ragan says. “The place is not made to be at a 250 person capacity,” Renee Jelenik says of The Lincoln Theater in Cheyenne, “and even then, it’s not like we sold out those shows. People just aren’t coming out.” “We’ve been asked to shut down, or told to shut down, for months now,” says Ely Corliss of The Moxi Theater in Greeley. “We’ve done that, and where are we now?”Dan England · Dec 3, 2020

Cars fill a drive-in lot at dusk while a large screen shows three musicians playing upright bass and guitars.

FeaturesHighway To Heaven: Drive-Ins Revive The Live Music Experience“I’ve reset my expectations with everything we do in the music business,” said Adam Aijala. “The best attitude is to just roll with it.” The last time his group Yonder Mountain String Band played was March 12, 2020. Then coronavirus hit. With band members scattered across different time zones in the lower 48, they made video collaborations. But then, their agent called. They had a gig. A live one. Blue Pig Presents in Cheyenne took a chance and installed a drive-in theater set-up at Terry Bison Ranch, booking Yonder Mountain live. The idea of drive-in concerts spread almost as fast as the virus itself, with The Holiday Twin Drive-In Movie Theater in Fort Collins collaborating with FoCoMX to fill the festival void with their Drive & Jive concert series.Valerie Vampola · Jun 30, 2020

Socially distanced crowd in chairs watches a band perform on an outdoor stage near a red MOXI sign.

FeaturesGoing For It: Live Music Returns, At A DistanceThe Mishawaka Amphitheatre’s second live show during the pandemic happens at the night before Independence Day – and it’s not for the money. For independent music venues and clubs across Colorado, July 1 is perhaps as important as the day we celebrate our independence as a nation. Governor Polis’ new guidelines take effect that day, allowing the assembly of crowds which make live music possible, if not exactly feasible.Dan England · Jun 29, 2020

A bearded man in a dark hat and red sunglasses adjusts his hat against a bold concentric-circle backdrop.

FeaturesMarco Benevento: The Fourth Voice In A TrioAn instrumental jazz pianist at heart, Marco Benevento has always searched for new sounds, musical tools or ways of composing, though his newest discovery is that of his own voice, and that’s worth a champagne toast. Benevento calls his vocals a direct extension of his composing. “It’s just like another instrument,” he says. “It’s the fourth member of our trio, but it’s still the trio.” The Marco Benevento Trio play The Aggie Theater on Thursday, February 6.Kevin Johnston · Feb 2, 2020

Eight musicians play guitar, banjo, fiddle, and mandolin around a central sunrise graphic with trees.

FeaturesBreaking the Cycle – UPLIFT: FOCO Plucks For a Good CauseAndy Whilden knew exactly who to turn to when he was putting together a house band for his first music festival: bluegrass players.Dan England · Dec 13, 2019

Photo for “Video Premiere: The Great Salmon Famine – Ebekeneezer’s Tweezers”

PremieresVideo Premiere: The Great Salmon Famine – Ebekeneezer’s TweezersSpace Exploration, goofy rhymes, fantasy cartoons and reggae-nspired funk.Kevin Johnston · Dec 9, 2019

Photo for “Album Review: The Great Salmon Famine – Kelp!”

MusicAlbum Review: The Great Salmon Famine – Kelp!The Great Salmon Famine’s newest release ‘Kelp!’ along with their recent, packed Aggie Theater CD release party are helping to solidify their place among the Burroughs, Silver & Gold and other stellar Northern Colorado bands of note. From breakneck speed funk to deep grooves, ‘Kelp!’ is a record no lover of good times can afford to miss.Daniel Thompson · Dec 8, 2019

A man in a blue jacket plays a blue electric guitar while seated on a Fender amp against a peach backdrop.

FeaturesThe Lone Vulf: Cory Wong Ventures Outside The PackAs much of a beast as Cory Wong is on the guitar (and how catchy his composing and songwriting is) “Motivational Music For The Syncopated Soul” isn’t exactly a pedestal of attention for himself. Instead, he collaborated with several well established musicians, evoking a collaborative vibe like that of his other band Vulfpeck. Wong (with support from Paris Monster) play sThe Aggie Theater on Halloween night as well as Boulder and Denver November 1 and 2.Valerie Vampola · Oct 21, 2019

A bearded man in a white cowboy hat, sunglasses, and western shirt stands before desert scrub and mountains.

FeaturesCharley Crockett: Full Of The Fire – The Old Sounds Of StruggleCharley Crockett spent a decade on the street, making a living off tips he earned as a busker.Dan England · Aug 5, 2019

Photo for “311 Plays The Aggie and S.A. Martinez is ‘Bout it ‘Bout it.”

Features311 Plays The Aggie and S.A. Martinez is ‘Bout it ‘Bout it.My reaction to 311 playing the modest Aggie Theatre was probably similar to other locals. ‘What!? How!? It’s so small. These guys sell out Red Rocks and have their own 311 cruise for god’s sake.’ But I quickly remembered the same people who book the Mishawaka Amphitheater took over the Aggie’s booking in March, so maybe they really wanted to kick off the concert season with a bang?Kyle Eustice · Apr 20, 2019

Gogol Bordello members pose on leather couches against a blue geometric backdrop, some in jackets and sunglasses.

FeaturesGogol Bordello – An American Band Of GypsiesEach member of Gogol Bordello’s multicultural melange grandstands throughout, exuding practically nuclear energy. From Russian-born Pelekh’s dizzying solos to Pedro Erazo’s spitfire Ecuadorian rapping en Español, native Ethiopian Thomas Gobena’s rich, reggae bass and more, the whole band take the spotlight with a prowess that commands respect, invigorating Gogol’s crazy crowds. Catch their New Year’s shows at The Aggie December 30, The Ogden December 28 and 29, and The Boulder Theater December 31.Kevin Johnston · Dec 21, 2018