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| Boot buddies |
Patrick Brown’s take on this year’s UMS:
Once again, the best music festival
in town has come to a close; an exhausting four days in sweltering July, loaded
with more music than you can possibly see even if you caught only one song of
each band, and once again I am left with the same impressions as in previous
years: Denver’s music scene is an embarrassment of riches and it’s a real
service to the music community at large that this festival exists, has
continued at the level it is at, and that it caters so much to local musicians. And the food! Did I mention the food? So many restaurants, vendors, and food trucks put on their best faces for the four days, even if I kept getting drawn back magnetically to Socorro's Street Tacos. While there were, of course, several national acts who turned in great
performances – highlighted for me by experimental hip-hoppers Shabazz Palaces,
New Orleans Bounce performers Big Freedia & the Divas, and indie rockers Imperial
Teen (whose drummer lives here, so we can count them as local too) – the focus
of the festival is a thriving music scene and the social and musical community
that the festival represents.
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| Esme Patterson |
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| GoStar with Abi Miller of Wheelchair Sports Camp |
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| Imperial Teen |
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150945676405636.426962.541535635&type=3&l=896b375865
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| Montbello Drumline |
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| oOoOO |
Adam's take on this year's UMS:
I only made it down to the UMS on Friday night and caught great sets from Black Moth Super Rainbow, Imperial Teen, Bad Luck City, and A Shoreline Dream. But what I really want to talk about is a an artist whose set I just missed. I got to the Skylark just as Ross Etherton and His Chariots of Judah were packing up. Formerly of Red Cloud West, Ross has been a fixture on the Denver music scene for a long time now, but he also spent a few years back in my hometown of Cleveland, OH. That's where I met Ross as we worked in the same bookstore together for a few months before I, coincidentally, moved out here to Denver. Then a few years later Ross moved back. We've been trying to reconnect for a while now and finally made it on Friday night. So instead of running around trying to catch more bands, I hung out with Ross on the Skylark patio. We caught each other up on the last decade of our lives as well as going over the host of mutual acquaintances we have in both Denver and Cleveland. So why am I writing about all this when I'm supposed to be telling you about music? Because it dawned on me later that this is what a great local music scene is all about. More than the music itself, it's all the people you get to know and the true community that develops. Music is where it starts and everything else flows from it. We've got a great music scene here in Denver with a lot of great people both making the music and supporting it. We've also got UMS, a great annual fest to show it all off.
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| Shabazz Palaces |
Jack Brown's take on this year's UMS:
Well Thursday started out with only being able to see a hand
full of acts for scant periods of time. Bad Weather California was a pleasant
surprise for the evening. Kudos to the fellas for an energetic performance and
a packed house. Patrick and I also caught a "retro" style set by
Ginger Perry down at the Compound, I tip my hat to anyone who plays Yes, LFO,
and Sheila E b2b! Thanks for the trip down memory lane Ginger!
Friday started with the sludge of Il Cattivo blasting their
way through tough shards of punk inspired metal. I can see why these dudes are
quickly bubbling from the underground! Next up was the sounds of Le Divorce who
took us all back a bit with their 90's inspired sound. That is by all means a
compliment. Over on the main stage Black Moth Super Rainbow quelled the Friday
evening heat with ethereal, vocodered
rock. Just a hop back over to 3 Kings for Imperial Teen,
with its upbeat sound and one of the best performances on Friday in my own
opinion. 0O0OO played at midnight Friday at the Compound bringing the
"witch house" sound to Denver - kinda interesting in a live setting
but to be fair I got distracted so I didn't give it my full attention.
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| Patrick Brown, DJing at Sputnik to cap off the weekend |
Saturday started with the destruction of A Place To Bury
Strangers. These guys were awesome, but the set was plagued by sound problems.
Native Daughters brought the doom sounds to 3 Kings and made the crowd pay –
And pay they did sir! Shabazz Palaces brought this interesting psychedelic hip
hop to the main stage and put on an electrifying performance. Now over to the
Hi-Dive for Theesatisifaction’s set of sweaty laidback soul/hip-hop. Today's
youngsters could learn a thing or two by seeing these ladies.
Sunday afternoon was punctuated by the soothing indie sounds
of Esme Patterson (of Paper Bird) - good job Esme! Hot Apostles kicked out the
jams at 3 Kings with 70's influenced riffs and glam style rocking. Our own
Patrick Brown pumped up the indigenous African jams at Sputnik, which swung
into 80's r&b jams and hip-hop. Next door Morning Clouds treated the crowd
to a shoegaze style set against the heat of the afternoon. Glass Hits cranked
it up to 11 with a white hot set of punk loudness with Jesus Lizard style
intensity! A fine way to end a sweltering weekend.
