As the region’s largest indie music festival, The UMS has been an ever-evolving creation since it moved to South Broadway five years ago. The festival, which continues today through Sunday in the historic Baker District, has grown and matured, and this year’s 10th annual Denver Post Underground Music Showcase is as expansive an exhibit on independent music and art as Colorado has ever seen.
From indie rock rising stars to Mexican wrestlers, burlesque performers to hip-hop MCs, photography exhibits to folk talents, FM-bound pop bands to stand-up comedians, The UMS is a potent showcase of a community’s spirit. And this year’s new and improved model includes bells and whistles that will make your body — and mind — move.
Here are three of 2010’s biggest additions to The UMS, which will showcase 325-plus bands in 25 venues over its four days:
The Sesh @ The UMS: For the first time, The UMS has put together music industry panels to coincide with the festival. These conversations will involve industry leaders in Colorado — from AEG Live honcho Chuck Morris to KTCL jock Josh Goodman — about Colorado’s thriving music community. The panels, running 2-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the basement of the South Broadway Christian Church, are free and open to the public.
Mexican wrestlers and burlesque beauties:The UMS is all about music, yes, but it’s also about the creative spirit. While the festival has featured stand-up comedians for years, it will now also spotlight two days of Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling) and a slinky hour-long burlesque review. The wrestling matches will take over the outdoor festival area near the Groove Automotive Stage on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and burlesque will warm up the Evergroove Stage at 3 Kings Tavern on Saturday night.
From the Mayan to the Brown Barrel: The UMS is built on a foundation of non-traditional venues — which is how the festival fleshes out 25 different performance spaces along its 11-block stretch of Broadway. The festival will welcome numerous new venues this summer including the majestic Mayan Theatre, the legendary Brown Barrel Tavern, the peaceful Fentress Architects Materials Garden, the new Walnut Room, the charming Club 404, the slick Moe’s Original BBQ and the expansive Import Warehouse.
Four-day UMS wristbands are available at the festival box office, at Broadway and West Archer Place, for $40. Single-day tickets are also available. For all schedules — for bands, burlesque, panels and Lucha Libre — and venue maps, see
Ricardo Baca: 303-954-1394 or rbaca@ ; @RVRB on Twitter
