Jessica Slater of the Alltunators performs at the Denver Art Museum. Photo from MySpace.com.
It appears that, on the way to wrapping up another great season of backyard concerts in the spectacular outdoor stage, the venue may have run into some trouble with their Larimer Street neighbors. At least thatap why I was told that last Thursday nightap , , Jimbo Darville and the Truckadours and lineup was moved inside at the last minute.
And while the lineup definitely presented the alternately full and sparse basement with a well-mixed swath of Americana, straight up country and borderline shockabilly, the bands’ sets seemed a little rushed at times, and seemed to leave the audience with merely a taste, rather than a solid helping, of the bands’ various sounds.
Denver’s old-timey faves the Alltunators were up first, and the trio played a tight and warm set of their signature swing to an unfortunately loud audience, the largest crowd any of the four that played would attract that night. Andy Miller (vocals, guitar, mandolin), Jessica Slater (vocals, fiddle, guitar) and Pascal Guimbard (bass, brush bass) always deliver their sweet brand of Americana brilliantly, and that night they didn’t fail.
They closed their portion of the show with a version of Lee Hazlewood’s “Jackson” that they had no trouble making their own. The cover also finally quieted audience conversation, as the crowd allowed themselves a few minutes of signature Hazlewood pop-country entrancement.
Next on the low stage was a set of straight up truck-driving country performed by Jimbo Darville and the Truckadours. The band’s stage setup came complete with an honest-to-God chrome semi grill, behind which Jimbo and the boys (and girl) poured out a slew of perfect truck-driving country. Darville’s deep baritone often recalled the likes of C. W. McCall or Merle Haggard as he led the band, and the audience, on imaginary highways, alone with nothing but a rig and a radio for company.
Velvet Cash set up in the stage area next, the band I’d been anticipating most, and they also didn’t disappoint. Velvet Cash comes out of collaborations between local Denver scene veterans J. L. LeRoy (guitar, vocals) and Pete Sake (drums), of the legendary local ‘90s band Babihed, and Johnny Wade (bass) from Rorschach Test, joined by Cody Royale (guitar, vocals).
Thursday night they played a brand of rockabilly meets surf-psychedelia meets spaghetti western soundtrack that sometimes veered into the Cramps or Alien Sex Fiend soundscape. But Velvet Cash managed to maintain a certain clarity that neither of the other two bands ever seemed too concerned with. And that clarity came across as something even more sinister.
Closing up the night was a set of alt-country from New Ben Franklins that actually reminded me a little of Yo La Tengo, but rooted in Limon rather than Hoboken, N.J. New Ben Franklins’ instrumentation was sparse, yet melodically solid — similar to YLT — but with a western influence, as they serenaded a dwindling crowd up the basement stairs and out.
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Billy Thieme is a Denver-based writer, an old-school punk and a huge follower of Denver’s vibrant local music scene. Follow Billy’s explorations at , and his giglist at .
