We’re suckers for a good year-end list here at Boulder Weekly. As enthusiastic (some might say obsessive) consumers of culture, there’s no shortage of opinions around the newsroom when it comes to our favorite movies, music, performances and experiences in BoCo and beyond. So while we’re taking stock of 2024 and looking ahead to the new year, we asked staff and contributors to share their picks for the best of the year that was.
Shay Castle, editor-in-chief
BW arts story of the year
“Ticket masters: Why are concerts so expensive?” by Kaylee Harter
This one got lost in the post-election malaise, but BW reporter Kaylee Harter’s exploration of how and why concerts got so damn expensive is worth revisiting any time of year.
Book of the year
Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
Maybe it’s cheating to pick a book from 1946 as my read of the year, but 2024 felt like a good time to finally read this story of psychic survival in a Nazi concentration camp. How do we keep our spirits intact in a dangerous and cruel world? Victor Frankl’s account of his time in Auschwitz is one of the better guides I’ve found to doing just that.
Year of the Pop Girlies
Chappell, Charli, Olivia, et al.
In 2024, I saw only women (or women-led groups) in concert. I started strong with Chappell Roan at Boulder Theater, one of the last small venues she played before blowing up in a big way. The venue was packed; the drag queens were slaying and the vibe was queer joy. I followed that up with Caroline Rose at The Fox, Santigold at Mission and La Femme at The Gothic.
Women dominated my Spotify this year, too. Chappell’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, brat by Charli XCX and Short n’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter were on near-constant rotation alongside the latest from T Swift and Beyoncé.
The pop girlie who got the most play in was Olivia Rodrigo. Her album GUTSmight have dropped last year, but it was the soundtrack to my 2024.
Carter Ferryman, special projects manager
Album of the year
Here in the Pitch by Jessica Pratt
For the first decade of her career, you’d come up empty finding an official release by Jessica Pratt that includes more than two instruments: her voice and a guitar. That’s all she needed to draw me into her hazy, mysterious catalog, always centered around the concept of time: wasting it, savoring it, getting bored with it.
So when a drummer and bassist made themselves heard on “Life Is,” the lead single from Here in the Pitch, I was hypnotized. It felt like cheating — adding such buttery instrumentation to the toolbelt of an artist who never needed it. On “Empires Never Know,” distorted piano keys ooze in pockets between Pratt’s echoed crooning. “By Hook or by Crook” sounds like a b-side from the Punch-Drunk Love soundtrack— playing on faded speakers in the lobby of a hotel in Honolulu. Whatever the vibe, Here in the Pitch cements an already alluring songwriter as a titan of both psychedelic and folk music.
Song of the year
“2122 - Live” by Geese
Did the studio recording of “2122” release in 2023? Yes, but the live recording didn’t drop until 2024 — and this version makes me want to run through a brick wall, so I’m rolling with it.
When it dropped, “2122,” the incendiary intro to Geese’s 3D Country, dominated my music rotation. The live version from Alive & In Person, however, is on a different planet entirely. It’s the musical equivalent of witnessing a fist fight on the subway: objectively fucked up and confusing, but a polarizing moment you secretly hope you’ll one day see again, simply for that feeling you got in your gut when shit hit the fan.
Lead singer Cameron Winter is a madman. He possesses a voice I can only describe as “Sinatra meets angry cowboy,” belting lines about Kali Yuga, Osiris, Balarama and other gods. The band is nothing short of spectacular, jumping between tempos and levels of fury, stopping and starting, descending into madness and hopping back out again for a quick guitar lick or drum fill. It’s chaos, and I love it.
Jezy J. Gray, arts and culture editor
Concert of the year
Blood Incantation album release show at Boulder Theater, Oct. 4
Forbes isn’t exactly known for its extreme music coverage, so it was a surprise when the straight-laced business news outlet hailed the latest from local psychedelic death metal outfit Blood Incantation “one of the greatest albums of the 2020s, and possibly of this century.”
That spirit of revery was in the air when the Boulder-born, Denver-based act took the stage at Boulder Theater on Oct. 4 to mark the release of Absolute Elsewhere, the band’s out-of-this-world fourth LP. The sold-out crowd was practically levitating with excitement as the cosmic quintet ripped through the record’s brainy, blistering universe of blast beats and synth-drenched side quests. It was one of those shows you know will ring in your head forever — the perfect band at the perfect time and place.
HONORABLE MENTION: The Japanese House at Boulder Theater (Aug. 6); John Moreland at Fox Theatre (Sept. 17)
BW arts story of the year
“Camp royalty: Queer pop superstar Chappell Roan chronicles The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” by Lauren Hill
“It’s Chappell Roan’s sparkly, glitzed-out world, and we’re just living in it.” When former BW intern Lauren Hill kicked off her human-level profile on the queer pop queen with these prophetic words, we didn’t know how true they were. Publishing ahead of Roan’s sold-out Boulder Theater performance last April, the interview came what seemed like seconds before the Missouri native catapulted into the stratosphere as one of the biggest pop stars in the world.
Paired with profiles on the local drag queens opening the bill, this story wasn’t just a stroke of luck in bagging a big-time phoner at the last possible second the artist’s management team would let her speak to a humble alt-weekly such as ours — for my money, it’s the best artist profile I read this year.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: “‘Loud bark, deep bite’: Marisa Dabice of Mannequin Pussy has got that dog in her” by Lindsay Temple; “Older and wiser: Indigo De Souza on self-trust, nature and being your own best friend” by Kaylee Harter
Movie of the year
I Saw the TV Glow (dir. Jane Schoenbrun)
A monster movie about loneliness and a love letter to longing, I Saw the TV Glowis a mesmerizing work of neon-drenched nostalgia and critical gender theory. Produced by Emma Stone under her Fruit Tree banner, the sophomore effort by emerging filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun is a fresh and freaky sendup of ’90s TV pop-horror staples like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Are You Afraid of the Dark, marrying the sleepless delirium of a teenage slumber party with the dreamy swagger of an uncanny David Lynch masterpiece — and perhaps the greatest soundtrack of the century, to boot.
HONORABLE MENTION: The Substance (dir. Coralie Fargeat)
Local album of the year
how we dig in the earth by A Place for Owls
When I called up A Place for Owls frontman Ben Sooy ahead of the band’s performance at Southwest Emo Fest this summer, he put it simply: “You’re going to feel big feelings when you listen to our band.”
Big feelings abound on the Front Range quintet’s sophomore LP, how we dig in the earth, recorded earlier this year at Lafayette’s Coalesce Audio. From the unexpected uplift of “broken open seed” to the warm and wistful “tattoo of a candle,” the latest from the Denver emo standard bearers is a must-listen for anyone with a beating heart.
Kaylee Harter, reporter
Book of the year
Good Material by Dolly Alderton
“This is a story of boy meets girl, but you should know upfront, this is not a love story,” so the movie 500 Days of Summer begins. The same applies in this rom-com-but-not-quite in the style of old favorites like High Fidelity following a 35-year-old comedian as he tries to make sense of a recent breakup.
I read Dolly Alderton’s other books (the more-famous Everything I Know About Love and Ghosts) after this one, but neither hit quite like Good Material. It’s silly at times, sharp at others and is guaranteed to make you feel some feels as any good rom-com should.
Audiobook of the year
There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib
This book technically centers around basketball, but even if you’re not a Sports Person (I’m not), it’s worth your time. Like everything poet and essayist Hanif Abdurraqib writes, it’s also about culture, race, grief, belonging and the people who make us who we are. It’s beautifully written, and hearing it read by the author makes it all the more moving.
Hanif is one of my favorite writers of all time (and gets extra points for being a fellow Ohioan) — 10/10 recommend any of his stuff.
HONORABLE MENTION: Down the Drain by Julia Fox — a wild ride and very brat.
Concert of the year
Violent Femmes at Copper Mountain, Sept. 7
The Violent Femmes were my mom’s second concert ever sometime in the mid-80s, and I always loved listening to her CD of the band’s eponymous debut album as a kid. So when I saw the folk-punk group was playing a free show at the base of Copper Mountain, it was only right to head up with her.
The show was swimming with college kids, and one older dude griped pre-show that anyone who wasn’t alive in the ’80s should kindly fuck off to the back of the crowd. But once the Violent Femmes took the stage, an intergenerational mosh pit began and everyone sang along. There has never been greater peace between Gen Z kids and their elders.
My mom and I got a spot on the rail, and they played that first album we both love from front to back. I had never been to a concert with my mom before, and I couldn’t imagine a more special and fitting first.
BW arts story of the year
“Ska City, USA: Understanding a maligned genre ahead of inaugural Front Range fest” by Jezy J. Gray
This story explored the history and current moment of a decidedly “unserious, undignified and — perhaps worst of all — uncool” genre ahead of Denver Ska Fest in June. The result was a sort of You’re Wrong About look at the subculture that was in equal parts funny, fascinating and heartwarming.
The cover for this story, created by BW graphic designer Chris Sawyer, was also my favorite of the year — pick it up, pick it up, pick it up!
Tyler Hickman, reporter
Concert of the year
Caroline Rose at The Fox Theatre, April 27
I’m a sucker for a small show. That’s why, for me, Caroline Rose at The Fox beats out seeing Khruangbin at Red Rocks — which was a surreal experience on its own. The show started slow, and admittedly I was a bit bored, but it exploded into an energetic, extremely personal performance. It was the kind of show that makes you fall in love with an artist’s music, not for the bops (“Jeannie Becomes a Mom” is a certified banger though) but because you feel like you know the person making it.
Not to mention, it was my first experience being the wave in a crowd surf — at the end of her show, Rose disappeared from the stage and re-emerged in the pit, one of us, and the crowd sent her down a river of hands back to the stage. No chance of that happening at Khruangbin.
BW arts story of the year
“Hold the world hostage: John Moreland comes back to life” by Jezy J. Gray
Our arts and culture editor’s ability to create space for a character on the page is unparalleled. His profile of John Moreland was a fresh look at why the Oklahoma folk darling unplugged from the world to create his new record, Visitor. Jezy doesn’t always have time to write lengthier pieces for us because his editing duties can be all-consuming, but when he does it’s always a must-read.
Pizza slice of the year
Crosscut in Nederland
I’ll be upfront here: I have eaten at Crosscut Pizzeria and Taphouse many times before this year. But as someone who hails from the pizza capital of the world — otherwise known as New Haven, Connecticut — I feel obligated to give respect where it’s due.
The best pizza I had this year was the Giardiniera. Spicy pepperoni and housemade pickled garden veggies with a vodka sauce base: This blend of classic Italian-American staples on my favorite disc-shaped food brought me back to my East Coast roots. Salvatore Consiglio, founder of the world renowned Sally’s Apizza in New Haven, would be impressed by these alpine pies.
Chris Sawyer, graphic designer
Album of the year
Shinbangumi by Ginger Root
This album feels like being woken up in the middle of the night to a TV channel you don’t remember leaving on, before you are lulled back to sleep by what sounds like re-runs of old Japanese City Pop music videos. It’s an easy 32-minute listen that’s synth funk candy for your ears.
Concert of the year
Ginger Root at Summit Music Hall
Believe it or not, my favorite concert this year was also Ginger Root. The absolute obsession that consumed me after seeing them live is something to be studied. I had listened to the band here and there throughout the year, but after this show … BRUH! I was absolutely hooked. The performance was so good I went on a nonstop bender, catapulting GR to my Spotify Top Artist of the Year. Somehow, from the show in mid-October until the end of October (the last full month of data collection for Spotify Wrapped) I logged 2,994 minutes of just Ginger Root. The concert was just that good.
Movie of the year
Digimon: The Movie
OK, so I know this may seem like a bit of a troll pick, buuuuut they just happened to re-release the Digimon movie for the first time on Blu-ray this year. Not only did this ’00s classic get an HD upscale, but it also got some brand new English dubs.
Time for useless knowledge about the anime industry in the early 2000s. The original Digimon movie came out on the heels of Pokémon: The Movie. However, unlike the first Pokémon movie
— a 1:1 English dub of the Japanese release — the English dub of Digimon: The Movie is an amalgamation of three separate films. 20th Century Fox wanted one full-length feature, so the studio did their best to create a cohesive plot between three separate, unrelated Digimon movies. For the first time ever, Digimon fans in the West got new English dubs of these three movies (with the original cast) as well as an upgraded version of the U.S. release.
Lindsay Temple, freelance contributor
Concert of the year
Soul Glo at Bluebird (May 4) and The Aggie (May 5)
My boyfriend is a jazz drummer specializing in Cuban and West African diasporic styles, but back in the day, he was a follower of grunge and ’90s alternative sounds. This spring, we went to see Mannequin Pussy and their opener Soul Glo at the Bluebird Theatre in Denver. I expected him to observe while I let loose in the crowd … but guess who started the mosh pit immediately? My boyfriend! I couldn’t decide if I wanted to film the band or him, bouncing around the pit with the biggest grin on his face.
The next evening, I rode to Fort Collins with friends to catch the bands again. I texted the group chat, saying I’d be taking it easy. That lasted for moments. Inspired by my boyfriend’s joyous display the night before, I was the one sprinting to the front of the stage, thrashing and screeching with the rest of ’em. Soul Glo vocalist Pierce Jordan even crouched in front of me on stage and dapped me up!
Coffee shop of the year
Middle State CoffeeNeeding to kill an hour before my next engagement one Sunday morning, I plugged in “coffee shop near me” in my phone and let my GPS guide me. As I walked toward the Denver shop on Santa Fe Drive, I imagined myself finding a corner where I would spend a little time sipping a matcha latte while catching up on emails and to-do lists.
I realized Middle State Coffee had different plans for me as I approached their front doors and saw the line of patient caffeine fiends tumbling out into the street.
The menu? Sophisticated in its limitations. With offerings like a con panna and seasonal specialty waffle, Middle State’s passion is apparent and palatable. I ordered a dalgona: instant coffee whipped together with sugar and hot water to create a stiff foam, which is then scooped over milk — a delectable treat absolutely worth savoring. I enjoyed it with a book, taking a photo of my incredible beverage after every sip.
Restaurant of the year
The CryptA mostly-vegan, horror-themed bar and eatery with the best beef burger in Denver? I’m game! Except on Halloween, when the place is packed, and I’ve had enough to drink that I’m scared some horrifying zombie creature is waiting til I’m at my most vulnerable to burst from the out-of-service urinal in the unisex restroom, covered by a trash bag. I’ve never peed so fast, or laughed at myself so hard after escaping the looming danger of the broken toilet.
Toni Tresca, freelance contributor
BW arts story of the year
“Ticket masters: Why are concerts so expensive?” by Kaylee Harter
I remember sitting down at Big Daddy's Bagel, picking up the latest edition of the Weekly, and reading Kaylee Harter's whole story in one sitting. The piece taps into a universal experience: being frustrated by how expensive and inaccessible concert tickets have become.
The story examines the economic conditions that created the current state of the Colorado live music industry. Joe Craig, a CU Colorado Springs professor and chair of the economics department, argued for higher ticket prices, which I found particularly interesting. It is a must-read for anyone who attends concerts in Colorado.
Concert of the year
Chappell Roan at Boulder Theater, April 9
This concert was the same day Shay and I interviewed Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde and her team for the Ballot Issue 2A story; that evening, we both made our way to worship at the altar of Chappell Roan. And what an experience!
My friend Mac and I purchased our tickets in 2023, before Chappell's meteoric rise in 2024 from Olivia Rodrigo's GUTS tour and her late-night appearance. However, we heard from other attendees who paid over $1,000 for the same standing-room-only tickets. While waiting in line, multiple people offered us an insane amount of money to sell them our seats.
The atmosphere inside the theater was electrifying, starting with performances by local drag artists. Chappell performed what felt like her entire discography in a raucous set lasting just over two hours. After the concert, my friend and I went to Taco Bell and then returned to my apartment to watch more of her videos online in an attempt to recreate the feeling of the show.
Book of the year
The Spamalot Diaries by Eric Idle
While listening to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, I was struck by how his guest Eric Idle, the legendary member of Monty Python and writer of the Broadway musical Spamalot, discussed the act of adapting Holy Grail into a musical. He shared how he and director Mike Nichols struggled over tone, direction and songs, as documented in a diary he discovered during a recent move.
The Spamalot Diaries starts with the show's first read in New York and goes through the announcement that Spamalot won Best Musical at the 2005 Tony Awards — and all the fights along the way. To be honest, Nichols was correct in forcing Idle to tone down the fart jokes and cut a disastrous "Cow Song," but Idle was also correct in pushing back against Mike's notes to add more of a "message" to the show to appeal to critics.
Creativity requires vision from all collaborators, and if you truly believe in something, you must be prepared to fight for it. But, as Idle notes in The Spamalot Diaries: If you are working with people who also have a strong vision, you must be prepared to fight for what you believe in.
Theatrical production of the year
The Android's New Soul by Dana Cain
The world premiere of the original sci-fi musical The Android's New Soul has been in the works for 50 years … yes, really! Dana Cain wrote the score for this campy, absurdist post-apocalyptic rock opera when she was a teenage girl and has been fighting to get the show staged for decades. She finally fulfilled her dream in September at the Bug Theatre in Denver, and what an experience!
Opening night was a spectacle from the moment the audience arrived, with a line out the door and quirky "Android Boyfriend Survival Kits" containing kitschy stickers and Atomic Fireball candies. The 100-year-old theater had been transformed into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, with elevated production values rarely seen in smaller venues.
The plot revolves around Dr. Stacy Starr, a scientist who works in an android factory. After a devastating bomb falls, she reprograms an android to be her romantic companion and help her navigate the radium-poisoned world and battle clones. My favorite scene was the "Funky Disco Andriod Sex Song," which, while not high art, is a lot of fun. It is a testament to the team's dedication that the dramatic beats in the second act work so well. If there is any justice in the world, we will see a lot more of this musical.
HONORABLE MENTION: For a Boulder County production, I'd nominate Local Theater's acts of faith. I saw both runs of the show (at The Aurora Fox in 2023 and at The Dairy in 2024) and the remount improved on the original in every aspect.
Favorite TV Show
The Penguin on HBO
When it was first announced that Colin Farrell would be reprising his role as the villainous Penguin from the 2022 film The Batman, I responded with a massive eye roll. Is creativity in Hollywood so dead that they are making a mini-series about a corny Batman villain?
Boy, was I wrong. Showrunner Lauren LeFranc pitched this eight-part series not as a vehicle for gratuitous fan-boy cameos, but rather as a meditation on how a shady crime boss can exploit a failing political system to line their own pockets and secure power. Add in a star-making turn from Cristin Milioti as the misunderstood Sofia Falcone (er, Gigante), mommy issues, gorgeous world-building and dysfunctional relationships galore, and you've got the formula for the next HBO smash hit that I devoured in real-time each Sunday as new episodes dropped.
Though the show begins with Oz Cobb's deformed leg and troubled past, by the end of the series, the writing has transformed the character into an unstoppable monster. When the Bat Signal appeared in the final shot of the show, I cheered because I now need Batman to beat the shit out of this fucker.