Music of Denver

From the 1920s-50s, Welton Street in Five Points was home to over fifty bars and clubs, where some of the greatest jazz musicians such as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, and others performed.

The Denver Hip-Hop and Rap scene, took a drastic change in growth in the early to mid 2000s, and has continued to grow since; with musicians such as Tag Team (group), Jomeezius, Trev Rich, Young Doe, Flobots, Air Dubai, 50/50innertainment, Stryker & MFT, 3OH!3 and The Procussions.

It was opened by Barry Fey, who went on to become one of the most influential music promotors in the world, and Chet Helms and Bob Cohen of Family Dog Productions, who were at the center of the hippie and psychedelic rock movement in San Francisco, running the famed Avalon Ballroom.

[3] Led Zeppelin made their North American concert debut in Denver on Dec. 26, 1968 as the first of a three band bill that also featured Vanilla Fudge and Spirit.

Queen also made their North American debut in Denver at the Regis Field House on April 16, 1974, opening for Mott the Hoople.

Like Seattle and a number of other cities who experienced the grunge boom, Denver fostered the genre in the early nineties before it quickly died out after the fall of the band Nirvana.

A direct result of many local metal fans fusing together with the vibrant jazz/funk and indie communities, the "jam band" style became prominent in Denver during the late nineties.

Using similar methods and popularized in trendy underground LoDo pubs, stoner metal was what many local hard rockers referred to as "the real product" of their endeavors.

John Tipton, an active member in the blues/jam scene since the early nineties, has been praised in local papers such as the Westword for his skills on guitar.

Since the international punk surge in the late seventies, the style had been common place in the diverse underground, but had not had enough of a boom to gain regional popularity.

While still somewhat alienated by the Denver mainstream today, local punk rock remains a staple in the genre's national scene, especially in respects to the metro area's reputation for lively hardcore concerts, such as that of the Aurora-based band Several Crowded Ghost.

For many EDM fans, it is considered a pilgrimage to visit Denver and see their favorite bass artist headline a show at Red Rocks.