Over and Under
One big show, one smaller
Even in Denver, Aspen’s X Games feel a world away. (More accurately, 200 miles and several times as many dollars.) But if you’re willing to forgo the frigid, neck-twisting action in person (taking place Jan. 25-28), Vans has you covered. On Jan. 25, the shoe brand will host a pop-up party at Denver’s Ogden Theatre, including a premiere of its firstever snowboard film. The night’s live music will give altrock fans a shiver, too: Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore will spin a DJ set, and headliner Dinosaur Jr. will shred a different kind of gnar in the form of J. Mascis’ guitar acrobatics. The best part: It’s free. The downside: You’ll still have to wait in line, regardless of the weather. RSVP for the show at vansdenver.queueapp.com. All ages. In the age of the Whole Foods DJ night, hipster producers are a dime a dozen. But New Jersey-based sound collagist Flamingosis, a.k.a. Aaron Velasquez, is a bird of a different feather. Velasquez has a penchant for dusting off obscure soul samples from the attic of your local record dive and pulling them into the 21st century. In “Finesse (Hey Baby),” a typically glossy rump-shaker, the Lovelites’ relic “Love So Strong” whirs up between sticky hip-hop breakbeats. It’s a bridge from dance music’s wide-as-the-night-islong present to its simpler, funkier past. That bridge clamps down at the Larimer Lounge on Jan. 20. Denver’s RUMTUM will open the show. Passes are $15.75-$18.75 via ticketfly.com.