Westword Music Showcase | Recap and Photo Essay

Girl Talk getting the party started at the Westword Music Showcase main stage (photo credit Justin Schoenborn)

The annual Westword Music Showcase took up residence last Saturday in Denver’s Golden Triangle district for its eighteenth consecutive year. The long running one day festival has again proven to be successful as local and national top musical acts across the country filled the day. With packed venues lined down Broadway and its surrounding streets, many took refuge in the cooler indoor stages than brave the scorching temperatures of the main stage. The main buzz were venues such as Stoney’s which hosted some of Denver’s early sets from Eldren, In The Whale, Caleb Slade, Take To The Oars. Bop Skizzum, and The Epilogues had the place packed. While that was taking place, the main stage hosted Denver fan favorites My Body Sings Electric and Churchill (I feel something big brewing in the Churchill camp). 

The afternoon performances didn’t lose steam as some of the Denver DJ’s took over Vinyl and it’s rooftop patio, with Ginger Perry, Mu$a, and Boyhollow taking over the 1’s and 2’s.  One of this year’s sponsor’s, Deep Eddy Vodka, kept the crowd buzzing and hydrated with their sweet tea vodka and soda water cocktail. Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe’s tribute to The Beastie Boys was out of control. 

The duo of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis hit the stage right before the headliner and just wowed those in attendance. Hailing from Seattle, the uncut raw party anthem lyrics hit hard with the loyal fans. Soon after, the night’s headliner, Girl Talk, took the stage with his usual confetti, toilet paper, strobes, and and abundance of sweaty hipsters on stage for two hours. In all, it was another successful event for the Westword despite the record breaking heat.

Top performances:

In The Whale (joined by Brandon Whale of MBSE)

Cobraconda (They grilled on stage and throw wieners out to the fans, NBD.)

Churchill (packed the main stage for an early set)

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe (Beastie Boys tribute, what else can I say?)

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (definitely rocked the crowd hard)

Girl Talk (out out of control dance party with new mashups!)

Scorchnig temperatures didn't keep the crowds from enjoying a day of great music (photo credit Robert Castro)

 Check out our slideshow for the rest of the pics below.

Photo credit: Justin Schoenborn and Robert Castro