2014 UMS Wrap-ups

Whew! Another one passes. The UMS continues to grow - and suffer growing pains along the way - but it remains Denver's finest, most diverse and most interesting music festival. I've talked with a number of people who attended in the week since the festival kicked off and to a person, we've had a hard time pointing to our specific highlights of the festival - not because of a lack of talent or good music though. My suspicion is that this is because it's not about going to see "that one big band" headlining as it is at so many other festivals. You can go see those headline acts at Fillmore, Ogden, Gothic, Bluebird, 1st Bank - whatever space they're big enough to fill (and most of these headliners are Bluebird-Gothic sized acts). It's about rolling around Broadway for 4 days and being immersed in a sea of music, like-minded music fans, and perhaps a drink or two (or three, depending on whether or not you hit up Trve Brewery). It's about catching that backyard party, that sweaty one-of-a-kind moment in the club, that late-night after party, that main stage act who's not coming back for a couple years or it's their first time in the city. It's about Residual Kid's leader on his back on the floor in the middle of the crowd at 3 Kings with his guitar feeding back as they close their set; it's about Itchy-O's set (that I missed!) for the competing Mile High Parley Festival; it's about all the bands you heard about but missed and will have to catch next year; it's about People Under the Stairs being so good on the main stage that I had to opt to miss 3 other bands playing the same time; it's about being sad that I cut out of Genders' great set at the Hi-Dive but then being happy that I walked into to Somerset Catalog playing a National song in heartfelt tribute to couple dear friends moving away (good luck Mary and Robert!). And so on. There's no way to quantify it or definitively explain it - you just have to go down a few nights and experience it. When I lived near 3rd and Broadway, I used to hate the festival. This was the weekend all "my" bars got taken over, that no bike parking was available ANYWHERE nearby except in my house, that the usual Broadway drunken weekend revelry got extended an extra two days and two hours on all days. But once I went it was all different and all that was dispelled. Trust me on this - whatever the politics happening, whatever your take on the validity of "underground" in the name, this festival is something special we have here in Denver and its success is what's created the space for it to spill over into a respectable competing festival occurring simultaneously on the same stretch of Broadway and a batch of unofficial side events in local backyards. Comparing it to South By Southwest is off base - this is far less whored out to major labels pimping their already-established big acts, far more focused on local music and the incredible diversity of Colorado's music scene. With respect to my pals in Austin, this is better than SXSW, even if I'm not gonna see Springsteen jamming here any time soon. Here are some pics of what I saw and dug.
- Patrick Brown

Somerset Catalog @ Irish Rover

The Blue Rider @ 3 Kings

Residual Kid @ 3 Kings

People Under the Stairs on the Main Stage

Impromptu side event

Another side event

Total Ghost @ The Safari Room

Miss America at one of the many unofficial back yard parties

Blonde Redhead on the main stage

2014 UMS Band Interviews #5

For everything you need to know about the UMS Click Here

Somerset Catalog 

Thu, July 24th 9:00 pm

Irish Rover

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS?

Thursday, July 24th, 9pm @ Irish Rover

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

Imagine illegal fireworks exploding with poor safety precautions taken mixed with very large taxidermied animals--think stuffed Giraffes--and heat and heat and sport and catharsis. That should loudly do it. One of us may hyperventilate.

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

Georgina bought the S/T LP from the Pretenders, and Bryce was tricked into buying Purple Rain by his sister when he really wanted use his allowance on candy. Kuker’s was either Enya’s Greatest Hits or Vanilla Ice’s first record--he can’t remember, he just knows he was in the VIP Posse before everyone else.

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far?

A tie: Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire for No One and St. Vincent - S/T

Do you have any advice for new bands?

Skip band practice and go for whiskey and ice cream together sometime. It’ll help with how serious all of this seems.

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

Blonde Redhead!  Unknown Mortal Orchestra! Real Estate. Good job, UMS bookers. Also, on the local front, definitely Hollow Talk, Joshua Novak, Poet’s Row, Glass Hits final show, and so many more.

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

Hot, Local, Houseparty (yes, we cheated a little.)

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date?

Seeing Black Heart Procession at the Mayan Theater in 2011. Also, Everything Absent or Distorted’s last UMS performance in 2009. It was very emotional and overwhelming for us. Rabbit Is a Sphere also played their very last show that same year at the showcase, so we were all a bunch of sad sacks.  Little did we know that we’d be joining forces 5 year  later.  Fuck Yeah! We will seriously fight you.

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the UMS experience even better?

Plan to miss work on Monday...maybe take Tuesday off, too, for good measure.

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

Illegal Pete’s.  Gozo sounds good, so maybe we’ll try it. A Sputnik corndog is very likely.

What are your favorite shops on South Broadway?

Ironwood and Sweet Action

Who is your all time favorite Colorado band?

The Czars

Uphollow

Wovenhand

Denver Gentlemen

Joe Sampson

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

Sketches of Spain (Miles Davis), Soundtrack to Garden State, and anything by Ray Stevens...we kid, we kid. That Garden State soundtrack is terrible.

Is there anything we forgot to ask you about the UMS that you think people need to know?

“When’s your new video for Landing Gear coming out?” Soon, love children, soon.

Joy Subtraction 

Sat, July 26th 7:00 pm

Eslinger Gallery

Where/When are you playing for the UMS?

Joy Subtraction plays at 7 p.m. on Saturday night at Eslinger (118 S. Broadway).

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you / your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year.

Well, I guess I would have to say, when thinking about describing the music of Joy Subtraction and its live show, that it is really . . . [Ugh! That’s 25—I’m out of words. You’d think Twitter would have made me better at this.]

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

The Xanadu motion picture soundtrack, featuring Olivia Newton John and Electric Light Orchestra (referred to as “ELO” by those of us in the know).

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far?

I don’t think any albums have come out yet in 2014.

Do you have any advice for new bands?

Get out while you can. Seriously. Run.

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

We don’t really care: we’re hitting the venues with bags of rotten tomatoes, and it doesn’t really matter who’s playing or how well they’re jamming, we’re going to express ourselves.

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

We’d say “excruciating,” “unbearable,” and “horrific,” but we really want to be invited back next year, so we’ll go with “incredible,” “edifying,” and “crucial.”

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date?

Is this a trick question?

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the UMS experience even better?

Practice your pick-pocketing chops—there’s ample opportunity to break even on expenses (and sometimes even turn a profit!).

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

The dumpster behind Sputnik usually yields a pretty fine bounty.

What is your favorite shop on South Broadway?

Nooch Vegan Market. The staff often mocks you, but the goods can’t be beat.

Who is your all-time favorite Colorado band?

It’s gotta be String Cheese Incident. Just the name alone is enough to make you want to jump off a cliff—excuse me, I mean get off your ass and jam.

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

This is easy:

Welcome to Hell by Venom, because if you haven’t laid down your soul to the gods of rock ‘n’ roll yet, then you’re a fool.

Tutu by Miles Davis. It’s probably Davis’s worst album, but even Miles Davis’s worst album is better than most bands’ best album.

Bucketfulls of Sickness and Horror in an Otherwise Meaningless Life by Alice Donut, because sometimes you need a little pick-me-up.

Is there anything we forgot to ask you about the UMS that you think people need to know?

Yes—people should probably know about the Red Hour, which occurs every night of the UMS between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., during which time all crimes are legal and about twenty percent of UMS attendees are murdered. Also, the Hornet has killer burgers.

  

Gun Street Ghost 

Sat, July 26th 7:00 pm

Skylark Lounge

Where/ When are you playing for the UMS? 

Skylark at 7:00 on Saturday. 

In twenty-five words or less, describe what somebody who has never heard of you/your band might expect from your performance at UMS this year. 

Roots-country based music, 70's rock and spacey folk mixed together. Songs about the struggles of life, hard work, and drinking to numb the pain. 

What was the first music you remember using your own money to buy?

Led Zeppelin IV

What has been your favorite album of 2014 so far? 

Doom Abuse by The Faint

Do you have any advice for new bands? 

Sex, drugs and rock and roll seems to be the recipe that works the best. 

Have you planned out who you want to see at UMS this year? Who are some of your highlights?

I'm gonna try to soak up as much as I can. 

If you've been to UMS before, what three words would you use to describe it?

Many great bands. 

What has been your most memorable experience at UMS to date? 

I Sank Molly Brown's set at Moe's BBQ a couple years back. It's hard to describe. Impressed, I was. 

Any tips you'd like to give the novices for making the UMS experience even better?

Make sure you have all of your gear and it all works upon arrival. 

Is there any place you're looking forward to eating during UMS?

The potsticker cart. 

What is your favorite shop on South Broadway? 

The Goodwill

Who is your all time favorite Colorado band?

Porlolo

You're working the counter at Twist & Shout, and a customer is interested in expanding his music collection.  What three albums would you recommend?

Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska 

The Magnetic Fields - The Charm of the Highway Strip

Baroness - Blue