The South Park Music Festival, which takes over the picturesque mountain town of Fairplay this weekend, is fast becoming one of the more satisfying music outings in the United States.
Some festivals and conferences lack focus and flow. But in its third year, South Park’s lineup is thoughtfully curated and crafted with some of the state’s finest independent musicians – with a healthy dose of national talent, to boot.
Yet bizarrely, most of Denver still hasn’t heard of the festival and conference that is bringing 150 bands and 40 music-industry experts to Fairplay – a fact executive director Matthew Fecher is out to change.
“I’m most excited about the discovery of bands,” said Fecher, “people seeing bands for the first time – especially people from out of town seeing great Colorado bands like Slim Cessna’s Auto Club and Munly & the Lee Lewis Harlots and Vaux.
“Last year, Swayback played this amazing set at South Park, and right after that people from all over were talking about them, and I think the festival had something to do with it.”
This year’s lineup is impressive. Of The Denver Post’s recent Underground Music Poll, which ranked local musicians, each of the bands in the top 10 are playing South Park, including Bright Channel, Hot IQs, The Photo Atlas, Born in the Flood and Swayback.
Hot national acts include Detroit garage-rock troubadours The Paybacks, Nashville synth-rockers AutoVaughn, East Coast punk pioneers The Queers, soulful L.A. indie rockers Whispertown 2000, London slashers The Thieves UK, Brooklyn dance-rockers Man in Gray and Americana singer-songwriter Otis Gibbs.
The obvious draws are the scenery and the name recognition, the latter playing off the adult-themed cartoon set in South Park. But the festival’s reputation is evolving. Bands know they’ll have the chance to meet important people in the music world at the festival – and connect with a base of fans who truly care about music.
Reps from Interscope-Geffen, Universal and Atlantic will be on hand at the industry panels at South Park, but so will the founders of a couple influential indie labels.
Jello Biafra, the former Dead Kennedys frontman and Boulder native, will be in Fairplay to talk about his label, Alternative Tentacles, and the future of music. On the same panel is Slim Moon, the founder of Kill Rock Stars, an indie-darling label that has been home to Bikini Kill, The Melvins, Elliott Smith, Sleater-Kinney, Xiu Xiu and The Decemberists.
“Chances are 90 percent of the bands playing the festival don’t have the opportunity to go to South By Southwest and CMJ,” said Fecher, “and even if they do, they won’t have the direct face time with these people that they’ll have in South Park.”
Pop music critic Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
With more than 150 bands playing the South Park Music Festival, the schedule can be overwhelming. Here are a dozen don’t-miss bands playing this weekend to help lead the way:
1. The Paybacks: Unruly Detroit garage rock. 12:45 a.m. Saturday, Fairplay Hotel.
2. Slim Cessna’s Auto Club: Part alt-country, part tent revival. 7 p.m. Saturday, Front Street Stage.
3. The Queers: Keep it silly, stupid. 2 p.m. Saturday, Skate Park Stage.
4. The Photo Atlas: Dance your feet sore. 12:15 a.m. Sunday, Fairplay Hotel.
5. Cat-A-Tac: Infectious, local, smart and intoxicating. Midnight Saturday, Alma’s Only Bar.
6. Down For Five: This is just-try-looking-away metal. (It’s impossible.) 3 p.m. Sunday, Skate Park Stage.
7. The Dirty Novels: Unabashed pop-glam fun. 8 tonight South Park High School.
8. Meese: Thoughtful and danceable? Yes! (Intelligent, too.) 9 p.m. Friday, Park Bar.
9. AutoVaughn: Like The Killers? Watch out for these Nashville kids. 6 p.m. Saturday, South Park City Stage.
10. Whispertown 2000: Beautiful white soul from L.A. 3 p.m. Saturday, South Park City Stage.
11. Otis Gibbs: Fine-tuned Americana from the heartland. 8 tonight, Fairplay Hotel.
12. Eagle Seagull: Alt-country-esque, and it rocks. 3 p.m. Saturday, Front Street Stage.
– Ricardo Baca
