Flobots, One Republic and Devotchka to bowl at Flobots.org's Bowling Ball Oct 8th

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ians, including hip-hop artists Molina and Bianca Mikahn. The indie-roots band Churchill will lead a hootenanny style-jam session before the final round. With so many musicians in the house, who knows what will happen? Expect some once-in-a-lifetime performances from some of Colorado's finest artists.

One Republic Joins Flobots, Devotchka, Colorado Rapids, Air Dubai, Rocky Mountain Rollergirls and more at Bowling Ball 3, Sponsored by Microsoft Store

Saturday, October 8, Lucky Strike Lanes Belmar, 6 pm

One Republic will be among the celebrity bowlers at Flobots.org's annual fundraiser for youth empowerment programs, presented by Microsoft Store, on Saturday, October 8. Led by songwriter and producer Ryan Tedder, the Denver-based band has sold more than two million albums and been nominated for multiple Grammy awards. As a producer, Tedder has crafted hit songs with Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson and and Leona Lewis, whose "Bleeding Love" which was ranked by Billboard as one of the most played songs in the history of radio.

Hosted by Channel 93.3 KTCL's morning jock Goodman, Bowling Ball 3 is a knock-down, drag-out celebrity bowl-off that will pair hometown heroes Flobots against One Republic and other Denver luminaries while raising money for music-based empowerment programs for youth. Teams representing community groups and Colorado businesses compete for a chance to bowl with the celebs in a final round.

New this year, Bowling Ball 3 will feature appearances from some of Denver's most beloved music

Now in its third year, the Bowling Ball 3 supports Flobots.org's music and empowerment programs for youth in Colorado public scools and in youth residential treatment centers Previous participants include the Fray, Rise Against, Matt Morris, the Denver Nuggets and he Colorado Rapids. Last year's winners, the Epilogues, return this year as celebrity judges.

Tickets include beer, wine, cocktails and all-you-can eat tasty bites from Wahoo's Fish Taco. This event sells out! Community members are encouraged to register their teams today.

ABOUT FLOBOTS.ORG

Founded in 2007 by the internationally known Denver hip-hop collective Flobots, Flobots.org connects underserved youth across Metro Denver with music and empowerment education. Led by a network of professional musicians, artists and educators, Flobots.org programs are designed to harness the power and those who love it.

Our partners include Denver Public Schools, the Mayor's Office of Education and Children, Denver Children's Home and a network of residential treatment centers for youth.

For more information, visit www.flobots.org.

Solitaire Movie Premiere at the Gothic Theatre

By Brandy Cordova

First off, I would like to give a big thank you to The Gothic Theatre for the shows they book. I’m always impressed with the performances, whether it is a local music show, national act, or a film/movie premiere. The capacity it holds is an amazing site to see when the house is packed. The Gothic Theatre was named best live music venue in Denver by 5280 Magazine's Top of the Town 2011, and it’s easy to see why.

Not only is the ambiance outstanding, so are the familiar staff faces. I’m always intrigued by the artistic cuts and lines of the architecture, the rounded walls and wonderful recessed coves, and the mural paintings on the ceiling, all mixed with a dedicated staff. It is truly one of a kind.

In 1998, the Gothic was reborn to its glorious state which it is now, when two friends with love music and dreams, purchased the building out of bankruptcy and saved it from the wrecking ball. The new owners remodeled and rebuilt the theatre from the foundation to the roof, retaining the Art deco accents, created a wrap-around balcony, refurbished original marquee, and added a brand-new state of the art sound and light system; transforming the theatre into one of the premier music venues in the world.

Once again, I was able to revel in the ambiance of the Gothic Theatre Thursday, September 15, 2011 for the film debut of Solitaire; a back country skiing, snowboarding, and telemark film from Sweetgrass Productions. The house was packed, sold-out to be exact, and once again I was greeted by some of the familiar faces at the door and bar.

Narrated in Spanish with English subtitles, Solitaire follows an anonymous team of back country skiers and snowboarders across the rugged South American landscape of the Andes Mountains. The stunning imagery was broken by the movie's minimalist narration, a moody and amplifying Spanish reading of Joseph Conrad's novella, "Heart of Darkness." This seemed to draw the audience in deeper to the story that was unfolding before their eyes. As the title implies, Solitaire illustrates the truth that adventure lays not just in the destination, but through the journey of each individual as well.

Though surrounded by 999 fellow snow enthusiasts, I felt secluded and felt the solitary treks of the individuals in the film resonate through me as I silently watched each scene play into the next. The audience held court in silence as they watched the breath-taking footage from the remote areas of the Andes Mountains. The only sounds from the audience were of exalted cheers as they let loose as an awe-inspiring shot of a skier flying over a cornice and landing deep in powder played upon the screen; or when a snowboarder cut fresh, tight lines between rocks on super steep mountains that jut up from Mother Earth.

With the minimal narration, I was left in suspense throughout the entirety of the film. The imagery was spectacular. The length was great. And the music blended beautifully with everything else. I truly can say I was impressed! I can’t wait to watch the film again. The one critique that I, along with others that were standing in front of me, was that the subtitles were a little small and did not stay on the screen long enough to read all of it, especially when having to bob and weave to look over others shoulders and hair.

All in all, Solitaire was a beautiful, breath-taking film, for lack of better words. Most ski and snowboard premieres are packed full of music covered “segments” portraying energetic skiing and riding that amps you up for the new season. Solitaire managed to amp me up, but in a whole new way. It has made me think deeper into why else I snowboard, and a lot of that is solitary confinement in the beauty that Mother Nature holds for us. The Gothic Theatre was the best venue to premiere this film, and I am glad to have been a part of it.

Colin Wilson of Australian Pink Floyd Interview

By Groovey

Often called “The best tribute band in the world” Aussie Pink Floyd has in their 20 year history sold over 3 million concert tickets in 35 countries, been internationally recognized as the definitive Pink Floyd tribute experience, and on top of all that they have had the honor of playing David Gilmour’s 50^th birthday party. Aussie Pink Floyd is bringing their massive high tech live show to to the United States with the first concert of the tour being at the Paramount Theater in Denver on October 7^th. I spoke with Colin Wilson (bass/vocals) about what it takes to be in an internationally successful tribute band.

How close are you guys sonically to Pink Floyd?

Colin Wilson: Well we like to think that we are pretty close. We have spent a lot of time trying to get the sounds as accurate as possible so not only playing the notes correctly and the chords and the arrangements but also getting the individual instrument sounds sonically as accurate as possible. With multi-track recording software you can run the original recording back to back with a live recording of ours and kind of follow where things are falling in perfectly and where they are not. We use all that kind of stuff to really analyze what we are doing and where we are doing things well and where we are doing things that need improvement. We certainly didn’t learn the songs 20 years ago and stopped learning. Every year we are analyzing and every year we discover new things about Pink Floyd music. It keeps it exciting for us because we are discovering new things all the time.

Do you use the same instruments?

Colin Wilson: We try and it’s a good place to start to look at what equipment and instruments they used definitely. We use the same guitars for the most part that they used; did and do. Things like what was used in the recording studio we always try and find that stuff out. If it’s possible to get that stuff and use it then we do but often, especially when you are going back to the older material, it may be available but it’s pretty expensive to maintain and it’s not very reliable. With playing so many concerts every year we need gear that’s gonna power up and work perfectly every time. So we tend to use some newer gear that replicates the sound of the older stuff.

What are some of the harder songs to play?

Colin Wilson: They fall into different categories. Some songs are difficult for different reasons. A song like “Echoes” or a song like “Dogs” off of the Animals album are difficult in the sense that they are long, the arrangements are quite complex, the different feel during the song is sometimes hard to really nail but then there are other things that may seem on the surface to be very very simple but they are actually not and some of the early Syd Barrett stuff is like that. The songs are pretty simple songs, they have three or four chords and the arrangements are fairly standard pop music arrangements but the sounds they used, because it’s going back so old now, and there were things that happened in the studio, there were mistakes that were made in the studio and it’s some of those that are very very hard to replicate. For an example if Syd Barrett’s guitar wasn’t perfectly 100% in tune then you try and play that song with a guitar that is - you’re never going to sound like his chords. Figuring out to what degree Syd’s guitar was out of tune is almost impossible. Little things like that are really really difficult to get down, some of the newer stuff is easier in that respect because it was recorded digitally. Everything is perfectly in tune, so in some respects even though they sound more complicated they are easier to recreate.

How do you yourself adapt your playing to the different styles over their whole catalogue of music?

Colin Wilson: We kind of do it song by song. I just sit back and try to listen to it with fresh ears and analyze what was being played at the time, on what instrument and what kind of sound and do it a song at a time. It’s certainly challenging in a certain sense. We did a festival show in Switzerland just a couple of days ago. The set that we played there was no breaks in it and there was one part of the set where I played “Arnold Layne” from the The Piper at the Gates of Dawn album and then straight off that we played “Careful With That Axe Eugene” which is a real cryptic 70’s Roger Waters kind of thing and then straight after that we did “What Do You Want From Me?” from The Division Bell. So bass playing wise you have Roger Waters playing a Rickenbacker in 1967, then he’s playing a Precision bass in the 70’s and it’s all very trippy, and straight off of that I’m into the Guy Pratt era 1990’s bass playing. It struck me at the time that there is no time to adjust between songs. Bang bang bang you’re playing different styles. We’ve been at it for several years now and we’re experienced at doing that and we can do it but years ago it would definitely have been harder to do it flawlessly.

There’s a brand new stage show for the upcoming tour correct?

Colin Wilson: It’s the biggest live show we have ever had. There’s more lights than ever before there’s new video that is projected in 3D. The audience actually gets 3D glasses when they come in and take their seats. In the second half of the show we have these films that are shown in 3D and it’s like being in the movie theater. So that’s all brand new. It really is the biggest and most ambitious thing we have ever done. We’ve toured it already through Europe and the UK. We cannot wait to bring it to the States now and see what you guys make of it. The Paramount in Denver is actually the first show of the U.S. tour so you guys get to see it first.

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FREE concert 09/24/2011 @ Parker Library

Enjoy a performance by Highlands Ranch-based indie artist Danny Huber @ 2pm on Saturday, Sept. 24, in Room A at Parker Library as part of the library's Live Local Music Series.

Here's our two-part interview with Danny ...