STATE OF THE ARTS: City's pop music scene
The Gazette's second State of the Arts section is a look at how music, dance, theater and the visual arts are faring in the Pikes Peak region. This year's theme - "On the Move" - reflects movement, both figurative and literal, in the local arts scene. Cottonwood Artists' School is moving its huge collection of studios. The Manitou Arts Theater is moving out of Manitou Springs. And many segments of the arts community are moving forward in ways we couldn't have imagined a year or two ago.
The local scene continues to get louder, richer and more diverse, despite dead spots.
The big acts, as always, are coming to the World Arena and the Pikes Peak Center.
If you want edgy, there's always the Black Sheep. This club has been consistently booking national-level metal and screamo bands. We could tell that the level of act had risen considerably over the past couple of years because we started getting professional publicists pitching stories for the opening acts.
The Thirsty Parrot, which took over the space of 32 Bleu - the greatest rock venue in town - had been a cover-band bar, but has recently gained some ambitions of its own. It has been booking many fascinating national acts, the most recent one being Friday's Billy Bob Thornton concert.
Another great new downtown venue, on the intimate side: the Rocket Room, which has been bringing in a fascinating, eclectic mix of rock, alt-rock, industrial and electro-country.
Hip-hoppers have been hopping over to SoDo, which seems to have a direct pipeline to some of the hottest New York, Chicago and L.A. MCs.
Roots music has been among the region's greatest growth industries, with the Black Rose Acoustic Society (which has concerts at the Black Forest Community Center and Bennet Hill Center) and the Mountain Acoustic Music Association (concerts at Ute Pass Cultural Center) scheduling regular shows that keep banjo players off the unemployment lines.
Beyond that, roots music fans are finding some cool alternative venues. Kinfolks, the Manitou wine bar, has been getting serious about music, mixing the best local original acts with some fascinating national groups.
Even Front Range BBQ has been booking Creating a Newsense and other great roots music to go with your ribs and brisket.
This summer, the outdoor concerts at First and Main and America the Beautiful Park have been happening scenes. Too bad they don't last all year long.
The biggest holes in the local music scene may be jazz and blues. For blues, at least there's Jimbo's Take 2. But what we lack in clubs, we've been almost making up for in festivals, notably the Rednote Jazz and Wine Festival at Smokebrush, the Earl Klugh Weekend Of Jazz at The Broadmoor, the Dave Valentin concerts at the Antlers Hilton (which we think of as an annual festival) and Blues Under the Bridge festival.
