We have usually shied away in the past from naming a band of the year. This year we decide to recognize a band that left blood, sweat, and tears on the stage with every performance. This group of gentlemen provided Denver with a message that was much needed in light of our current political climate. Sharing positivity and love throughout their sets, it was an easy choice to name Los Mocochetes our band of the year. The band had huge presence this year playing an abundance of shows all over our state (we had a chance to see them three times), they blend an array of sounds from Latin beats to funk to politically charged lyrics, add a high energy stage performance and you are guaranteed to dance your ass off. Cut from the same cloth as bands such as Rage Against The Machine and Ozomatli the band is looking to top their year in 2019 with their debut album. We look forward to seeing the band continue to ride their current wave and can’t wait to see what they have in store for the new year. Viva La Raza!!!!!!
Denver Music The Year In Photos 2018
Here are some random photos taken throughout 2018 of some of our favorite bands. Photo Credit: Robert Castro
Ultra5280's Best Of 2018: Top Shows
2018 brought us some amazing shows. From comebacks to the unexpected to the rebirth of a local festival. Denver finally got it’s own big festival after months of rumors with Grandoozy. Red Rocks continued to impress with probably its best lineup in years. It’s hard task when asked to name your Top 5, but we sat down with some of our friends and finalized our lists. The consensus from our panel would be that David Byrne returned in 2018 with the best show of the year, landing number one on many lists. Taylor Swift toured with her amazing production landing a few spots on the list. Other notable shows were Janelle Monae, Childish Gambino and a few new faces such as CupcakKe and Jungle. With 2019 announcements already starting to roll in we expect it to be bigger and better. Thank you to our amazing friends at Live Nation, AEG Presents, Illegal Pete’s, Do303, The UMS, Levitt Pavillion, Open Air, Behind The Scene Podcast, without you we wouldn’t be able to attend so many amazing shows. Until next year…..
Robert Castro / Editor In Chief Ultra5280
Janelle Monae- Austin City Limits Music Festival
Travis Scott- Pepsi Center
David Byrne- Austin City Limits Music Festival
Taylor Swift- Mile High Stadium
Childish Gambino- Pepsi Center
Amy Osgood / Certified Peace Sign Thrower
SZA- Coachella
Taylor Swift- Mile High Stadium
Beyonce- Coachella
Janelle Monae- Paramount Theatre
Florence and The Machine- Grandoozy
Bruce Trujillo / Programming Assistant at Open Air
Los Mocochetes/Pink Hawks/Vic N The Narwhals- Hi Dive
Tammy Shine (of Dressy Bessy)- Sally Centigrade
Ms. Lauryn Hill- Red Rocks
Paul Simon- Fiddler’s Green
Childish Gambino- Pepsi Center
Tobias Krause / Event Director at Underground Music Showcase
DUCKWRTH- Underground Music Showcase
PPL MVR- Underground Music Showcase
Dragondeer (as Bowie)- Globe Hall
Childish Gambino- Pepsi Center
Madge- Underground Music Showcase
Zoe Lanterman / Marketing Manager at Live Nation Colorado
Jungle- The Gothic Theater
Rolling Blackout Coastal Fever- Larimer Lounge
Cold Cave- Marquis Theatre
Sylvan Esso- Red Rocks
BROCKHAMPTON- The Ogden Theatre
Peter Wallace / General Manager at Do303
David Byrne- Red Rocks
Big Gigantic (Rowdytown 3D)- Red Rocks
PHISH- MGM Las Vegas
Travis Scott- Life Is Beautiful Music Festival
Dave Chapelle- Summit
Joel Rekiel / Levitt Pavillion Denver
David Byrne- Red Rocks
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats- Levitt Pavillion Denver
Godspeed You Black Emperor-The Ogden Theatre
MGMT- The Fillmore
Rainbow Kitten Surprise- Velorama Music Festival
Shon Cobbs / Host of Behind The Podcast
The National/Sharon Van Etten- Red Rocks
Jesus and Mary Chain/NIN- Red Rocks
Ghostpulse-Syntax Opera House
The Milk Blossoms- Lost Lake
Beach House/Sound of Ceres- The Ogden Theatre
Virgil Dickerson / Fun Pusher at Illegal Pete’s
David Byrne- Red Rocks
Lizzo with Maggie Rogers and Haim- Red Rocks
Janelle Monae- Paramount Theatre
Cupcakke- Marquis Theater
Shannon and The Clams- Crescent Ballroom
Ryan Garbarino- Marketing Manager at AEG Presents
David Byrne- Red Rocks
Khraungbin- The Bluebird Theater
The War on Drugs- Grandoozy
John Prine with Nathaniel Rateliff- Buell Theatre
Taylor Swift- Mile High Stadium
Rikki Aston / Talent Buyer at Live Nation Colorado
David Byrne- Red Rocks
Pearl Jam- Safeco Field
Against Me!- Summit
Janelle Monae- Paramount Theatre
Sofi Tukker- Gothic Theater (can I have 5 more!!!)
Lina Skrzypczak / Lifestyle and Music Writer at Ultra5280
Black Moth Super Rainbow- The Bluebird
Washed Out- 420 Block Party
Childish Gambino- Pepsi Center
Mac Demarco- Red Rocks
Tycho- Summit
Danny Sax / Talent Buyer at AEG Presents
Bouncing Souls- The Bluebird Theater
Highly Suspect- The Ogden Theatre
Dropkick Murphy’s/Flogging Molly- Fox Street Compound
Mac Demarco- Red Rocks
Rancid/Bad Religion/Pennywise/The Interrupters/Mad Caddies/Potato Pirates - Fiddlers Green
Geoff Brent / Talent Buyer at Live Nation Colorado
Itchy-O Hallowmass- Summit
Against Me!- Summit
Turnstile & Culture Abuse- Marquis Theater
BROCKHAMPTON- The Fillmore
The Frights- The Bluebird
Ultra5280’s Best of 2018: Top Albums
We have nailed down our lists of Best Albums for 2018. We also asked some of our best friends for their selections as well. Without further adieu we give you the 2018 edition of The Best Albums of 2018 presented by Ultra5280. Cheers to an amazing year in music and hopefully 2019 brings in the same.
Robert Castro / Editor In Chief Ultra5280
Amy Osgood- President of The Tobias Krause Fan Club
Florence and The Machine- High As Hope
Kanye West- Ye
Kacey Musgraves- Golden Hour
St. Vincent- MassEducation
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats- Tearing At The Seams
Bruce Trujillo- Programming Assistant-Open Air
Mountain Man- Magic Ship
Black Panther Original Soundtrack- Kendrick Lamar
Lucero- Among The Ghosts
La Luz- Floating Features
Vic N The Narwhals- Los Narwhals
Tobias Krause- Event Director -Underground Music Showcase
Deezie Brown- Self Titled
SiR- November
Unknown Mortal Orchestra- Sex & Food
Oxeye Daisy- Self Titled
Dragondeer- If You Got The Blues
Zoe Lanterman- Marketing Manager- Live Nation Colorado
Snail Mail- Lush
Beach House- 7
Jungle- For Ever
Moaning- Self Titled
Superorganism- Self Titled
Peter Wallace- General Manager- Do303
A Star Is Born Soundtrack (with dialogue)
Kacey Musgraves- Golden Hour
Houndmouth- Golden Age
Brent Cowles- How To Be Okay Alone
Morgan Saint- Alien
Joel Rekiel- Marketing Manager- Levitt Pavillion Denver
Rainbow KittenSurprise-How To: Friend, Love, Freefall
Fucked Up- Dose Your Dreams
CupcakKe- Ephorize
MGMT- Little Dark Age
Muse- Simulation Theory
Shon Cobbs- Host- Behind The Scene Podcast
Machu Linea- Girl
Kramies- Of All Places Been And Everything The End
The Milk Blossoms- Dry Heave The Heavenly
Curta- End Of Future Park
Four Fists- 6666
Virgil Dickerson-Fun Pusher-Illegal Pete’s
Anderson Paak- Oxnard
Shannon and The Clams- Onion
Janelle Monae- Dirty Computer
CupcakKe- Eden
Father John Misty- God’s Favorite Customer
Ryan Garbarino- Marketing Manager- AEG Presents
Mastersystem- Dance Music
Twin Peaks- Sweet 17’ Singles
Hop Along- Bark Your Head Off, Dog
Amen Dunes- Freedom
Typhoon- Offerings
Rikki Aston- Talent Buyer- Live Nation Colorado
Nombe- They Might’ve Even Loved Me
Lizzo- Big Grrrl Small World
Parcels- Self Titled
Greta Van Fleet- Anthem of The Peaceful Army
Kikagayu Moyo- Masana Temples
Lina Skrzypczak- Music Lifestyle Writer-Ultra5280
Black Moth Super Rainbow- Panic Blooms
J Cole- KOD
Cardi B- Invasion Of Privacy
Kanye West- Ye
Anderson Paak- Oxnard
Danny Sax- Talent Buyer- AEG Presents
Zeal & Ardor- Stranger Fruit
The Interrupters- Fight The Good Fight
Daughters- You Won’t Get What You Want
Pig Destroyer- Head Cage
Behemoth- I Loved you At Your Darkest
Geoff Brent- Talent Buyer- Live Nation Colorado
The Frights- Hypochondriac
Culture Abuse- Bay Dream
Anderson Paak- Oxnard
nothing, nowhere- ruiner
Let’s Eat Grandma- I’m all Ears
Khruangbin Ends 2018 On A High Note In Denver
We may as well call 2018 “The Year of Khruangbin”, it was a coming out party for the Texas trio (formed of Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald Ray "DJ" Johnson Jr. on drums) as they ended their US tour in our fair city this past Saturday night. The band has been around for a couple years but this year they managed to put the world on notice. The trio brought their unique musical blends of genres to a sold out house and managed to turn the venue into their own dance party. Relying heavily on their influences of soul, funk, rock, hip hop, psychedelia, disco, and Thai influences, the band took us on a two hour musical journey. With the opening chords of “Bin Bin” to the last rousing applause of “Maria Tambien” that evoked an emotional response from the band as they laid their instruments down one last time for a well needed break, toss in one of the best instrumental mash-ups we have ever heard and it made for a magical December night at The Ogden. Opening the night was one of our favorites from SXSW this year The Marias, the LA band was a last minute opener and meshed well with their soul influenced roots that won the crowd over.
Words and Images- Robert Castro
Astroworld Invades Denver Thanks To Travis Scott!
If you are not familiar with Astroworld, let’s get into a brief history lesson. Astroworld was a Six Flags themed park (think Elitch Gardens) in the city of Houston that was demolished in 2005, it was one of the main attractions in the city of Houston and was known to introduce the very first water rapids ride. It was also home to many prototype rollercoasters that featured many twist and turns while suspended in the air. It was only fitting that Travis Scott took the amusement park from his hometown and brought it to life on this tour. After his performance here in Denver let’s just say he nailed it. Flanked by two stages one that resembled a circle-shaped apparatus suspended chair that took Scott in a 360 degree turn all while belting out lyrics. The other was a mini suspended roller coaster that was located right down the middle of the crowd suspended in the air.
The show got off with a bang as Scott tore through several songs accompanied by flames and pyrotechnics that are usually reserved for a Fourth of July celebration. While many expected him to appear from the main stage, he actually popped out from the back without anybody’s knowledge (we dropped hints to those by the stage during the openers set, you welcome kids). Opening up with a whirlwind as he danced across the stage with a frenzy (briefly mentioning the altitude, but who doesn’t).
The show was non-stop turbulent energy from beginning to end. Hits including “Antidote”, “Stargazing”, “Goosebumps”, and our nominee for song of the year “Sicko Mode”. Fans truly got their dollars worth with this performance, aside from the performance Scott has been one the true pioneers of the streetwear scene all evident by the most impressive selection of merchandise he offered. Lines stretched far and wide for an opportunity to sport the coveted “Wish You Were Here” $95 dollar hoodie. Astroworld although demolished was brought back to life for one special night. The night got off to a rowdy start by impressive openers Sheck Wes and Gunna Gunna who got the crowd all primed up for the main event of the night.n’t