Sometimes, music can be an awesome addendum to other activities without being the whole raison d’etre for a festival.

In 2019, Amazon put together a spectacular lineup for Intersect—with Foo Fighters, Beck, and Kacey Musgraves among the biggest names—which was essentially an extension of the e-commerce giant’s company conference in Las Vegas. In Arizona, Innings Festival and Extra Innings Festival have emerged as tentpole events in the desert by using live music to draw in baseball fans visiting the area for spring training. In Las Vegas, SEMA Fest has treated motorsports lovers to large-scale rock concerts, in between thrilling scenes of car and bike stunts.

Over the last three years, Outside Days has begun to make its mark in the category of not-just-a-music-festival festivals. In this case, the three-day event is built on top of Outside Magazine’s professional conference, which brings together brands and companies from the outdoors industry with active-lifestyle enthusiasts and those either working therein or looking to break into the field.

This year, all of those same brands—from REI and The North Face to Capital One, Jeep and many more—got additional exposure via marketing activations and booths spread across Auraria Campus in downtown Denver, while the previous location (Civic Center Park) underwent renovations.

Though film screenings and panel discussions were also part of the proceedings, the vast majority of the 30,000 attendees seemed rightly focused on the acts performing on the stage that dominated the Tivoli Quad at Metropolitan State University of Denver. From one day to the next, there were no misses; only superb sets played (nearly) perfectly for a citizenry that’s turned Denver into one of America’s great hubs for live music.

Friday’s lineup brought more of an indie bent to the air, thanks in no small part to Death Cab For Cutie. Ben Gibbard and company leaned into their new album, I Built You A Tower, with an opener of “Riptide” and the live debut of “Trap Door.” Those songs, as well as “Punching The Flowers,” “Stone Over Water,” and the title track from their latest release, fit seamlessly alongside tried-and-true Death Cab classics like “The New Year,” “I Will Follow You Into The Dark,” “Crooked Teeth” and “Soul Meets Body.”

Japanese Breakfast and Goth Babe both did their part to warm up the crowd for DCFC. The former peppered the populace with indie pop favorites like “Paprika,” “Picture Window,” “Everybody Wants To Love You” and “Be Sweet.” The latter followed that up with feel-good songs like “Mexico,” “Encinitas” and “Weekend Friend,” as well as a cover of Weezer’s “Undone – The Sweater Song.” That is, when they weren’t busy encouraging fans to crowd surf on camping mattresses or doling out household appliances as prizes for cheering.

Saturday took a decisive turn toward jams—a prime pivot, given the Mile High City’s proclivities for musical improv. My Morning Jacket certainly seemed to understand that assignment. The outfit’s sprawling, two-hour set incorporated seemingly every highlight from their discography, starting with “Wordless Chorus” and ending with “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream Pt. 2.” In between, the Louisville-based group broke into “Off The Record,” “Anytime,” “Gideon,” “One Big Holiday,” “Circuital”, “Victory Dance,” and a version of “Spring (Among The Living)” that included a sprinkling of The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence.” Even with a setlist so jam-packed, lead singer and guitarist Jim James managed to squeeze in not one, but two callouts of the full moon that was on brilliant display in the Denver sky.

That all came as a thrilling finale to a day that saw Karina Rykman take her bass out for much more than a walk in the park, Eggy egg on the jams with “Laurel,” “Waiting Game” and “Through The Mist;” and Dawes put an L.A.-style spin on jam rock with “Time Spent in Los Angeles,” “When My Time Comes,” “Most People” and “All Your Favorite Bands.”

The only fly in the ointment on Saturday showed up at the start of The Flaming Lips’ allotted time. Lead singer Wayne Coyne announced that a piece of the band’s equipment had blown out, prompting a 15-minute delay. That didn’t stop them from pulling out most of their usual theatrical stops, from the towering inflatable robots for both parts of “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” and giant eyes and lips for “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)” to an American flag cape for a cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs,” a blowup rainbow during “Do You Realize??”, a bubble for Wayne on “A Spoonful Weighs a Ton,” and various other stage toys along the way.

(Perhaps, though, the technical difficulties were a bad omen for The Flaming Lips’ hometown team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, whose NBA title defense came to an end that night, while most of the band wore the team’s jerseys onstage.)

Sunday at Outside Days was tailor-made for those seeking an edgier approach to rock music. Girl Tones gave the audience an early taste of Bowling Green, Kentucky’s punk spirit, courtesy of sisters Kenzie and Laila Crowe. GROUPLOVE infused the day with a bit of pop sensibility by way of a well-tested combination of “Tongue Tied” into a Beatles-esque cover of The Top Notes’ “Twist and Shout.”

Tash Sultana stepped up as, arguably, the single most talented musician to take the stage at Outside Days. The Australian multi-instrumentalist emerged with a full band for a cover of The Wailers’ “I Shot The Sheriff” before eventually shifting toward their usual solo show, with loops of drums, keys, bass and synths laid behind vocals, guitar riffs, bits of trumpet and saxophone to form songs like “Milk & Honey,” “Notion,” and “Jungle.” At one point, Tash took a moment to acknowledge a rainbow in the distance, speaking about it as a sign of her recently departed dog looking out from the heavens.

As much as Outside Days knocked it out of the proverbial park with marquee acts, the festival and its organizers also did well to create time and space for local artists and bands. On Friday, that slot fell to Wildermiss, a Phantogram-esque indie rock band led by Emma Cole on vocals and synth bass, Joshua Hester on guitar, and Caleb Thoemke on drums. Saturday saw The Brothers of Brass—who bill themselves as Denver’s only New Orleans-style brass band—add to the ambiance with brassy covers of Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You,” Bill Withers’ “Just The Two of Us,” Aaliyah’s “Try Again” and Destiny Child’s “Survivor,” both onstage during their main set and during some interstitial busking on the festival grounds. Come Sunday, the lineup included spots for both the indie rock of The Mañanas and the edgy pop provisioned by N3ptune.

Those acts, in particular, lent additional heart and soul to an event that, while very much corporate in nature, didn’t leave attendees drowning in a sea of brand marketing. If anything, the music of it all made it more than held its own as the strongest gravitational force on the grounds. (Save for, perhaps, the Cotopaxi booth and the Capital One lounge, both of which had perpetual lines that seemingly extended into infinity.)

Still, in the grand scheme, it was impressive to see Outside Days not only put together a top-flight event in just its third year, but also draw such a substantial crowd given the competition in town—between Morgan Wallen at Empower Field and FAN EXPO Denver at the Colorado Convention Center.

With any luck, Outside Days will continue to grow in both scope and lineup strength in the years to come. And even if it doesn’t, it’s always worthy of being a staple on anyone’s live music calendar, especially for those who call the Rocky Mountains home.

Below, check out a selection of photos from the 2026 edition of Outside Days via Josh Martin.

​​​​​​DENVER (KDVR) — The first weekend of June features high summer heat with record warm temperatures possible Saturday in the Denver weather forecast.

Other regions in northeast Colorado will come close to hitting record high temperatures Saturday, with some towns in Weld County potentially nearing 100 degrees. That said, any clouds may provide just enough shade to keep temperatures in check.

Denver weather tonight: Very mild

Skies will be mostly clear to partly cloudy overnight Friday.

Temperatures will also be quite mild in metro Denver with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s. Winds will be a bit breezy from the south with gusts up to 20 miles per hour possible.

Denver weather tomorrow: Record high watch

Denver’s average high Saturday is 80 degrees, but middle 90s are forecast. It’ll be close to tying that record in the afternoon.

Mostly dry weather is in the forecast, but a couple isolated storms may form east of metro Denver in the late afternoon. It’ll remain breezy with southerly winds gusting up to 30 miles per hour.

Looking ahead: Staying hot

The record high temperature in Denver is 98 degrees in 2006, but it’s unlikely it will be that warm with another day in the middle 90s expected.

It will remain breezy with wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour again. Rain is unlikely.

Temperatures briefly dip to the upper 80s Monday with a slightly better chance for some pop-up showers and storms.

It will stay hot most of next week. Temperatures will be in the mid-90s Tuesday and Wednesday and possibly Thursday. Winds will help mix up the air, but gusts of 30-35 miles per hour will persist.

It’s early, but there are some early indications that it’ll cool back to seasonal heat Friday into next weekend.

A lot of changes could be in store for the Denver Nuggets over the next few months depending on how aggressive this front office wants to be in their offseason moves.

Those moves could even include a trade surrounding Christian Braun––their young wing that they just gave a $125 million extension to less than 12 months ago––yet may be on his way out if there’s a returning package that makes sense for the Nuggets to entertain.

The list of suitors for Braun could be slim. He’ll be making over $20 million next year, coming off a season in which his stock considerably dropped, and might be seen as an added risk to take on for whatever team might be on the receiving end of his services.

However, when surveying the market of those who could decide to take interest later this offseason, the Dallas Mavericks might be a team in search of that two-way presence on the wing next to Cooper Flagg. And if they are indeed interested in a swap, Denver has an ideal package they can try to obtain.

What a Christian Braun-Mavericks Trade Would Look Like

When looking at the Mavericks’ cap sheet and the players they have on the books, only a select few would make sense from Denver’s perspective to pursue, while also being valued comparably to Braun.

One of those top players who could be a strong fit for Denver in a Braun deal is P.J. Washington, who’s on a similarly long contract for the next four seasons, but makes a little less than $20 million for the 2026-27 season–– which tends to help out the Nuggets a bit in their current cap situation.

Here’s a look at what the total trade could look like for both Denver and Dallas if a Washington-for-Braun swap were truly in play:

One important factor to note about the deal is that it’d have to come after the draft takes place later this month. Braun has a poison pill restriction on his extension that lasts until July, and they can’t trade their first round pick until after making the selection due to the Stepien Rule in place.

However, if this trade were to have a bit of traction, it checks a lot of boxes for what the Nuggets would be looking for by swapping out Braun for a more versatile wing defender in Washington.

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He’s a bit cheaper, has a better size to place him on the wing as a multi-positional defender, can be a positive floor spacer that fits with this elite Nuggets offense, and is still under contract for multiple seasons that rids of any concern that this is a short-term rental.

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It’d only be a trade done if the Nuggets feel like Braun won’t be trending upwards any time soon, and their upcoming extension will only be a hinderance to their long-term growth. On the surface, it feels like Denver might not have reached that point with their young wing following one bumpy season just yet.

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However, that doesn’t mean a deal like this doesn’t have value that the Nuggets could heavily consider.

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Especially in what would be a great way to bolster their defensive upside next season, adding Washington could effectively allow Denver to lift off the ground as better than a bottom-10 defense in the league like they were in 2025-26.

The Nuggets adding in a first-round pick to sweeten the pot might not be totally preferable. But for where Braun and his value currently stand, walking out of a deal like this without giving up draft compensation feels pretty unlikely.

A 26th-overall pick, while valuable, isn’t the end of the world for the Nuggets’ forfeit, and might actually be what tips the Mavericks over the edge to be onboard with a move like such.

Iif the Nuggets want to truly maximize their roster on both ends, adding Washington offers a good chance of being able to do just that. So if the Mavericks were one of the select teams willing to take on the risk that Braun has baked in, this could be a deal Denver considers pulling the trigger on.

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