By John Hendrickson, Reverb
They came with their pets and their piercings, on their skinny tired bikes, in their skinny legged jeans. And they came despite an early evening rainfall that soaked the beginning of the 2010 Thursday night.
The annual music festival — presented by The Denver Post — celebrates its 10th anniversary this summer and will host more than 300 local and national acts over four days. What began as a one-night engagement at the Fox Theatre in 2001 now spans 25 stages in Denver’s South Broadway neighborhood.
UMS Day 1 slideshows:
AUDIO SLIDESHOW of Flashbulb Fires playing the first night of The UMS. Slideshow by Dan Petty and Deven Swartz, The Denver Post.
“People were told the box office would open at 5:30 and there was a line at 5:30,” said volunteer coordinator Ger Ree Hinshaw.
Patrons made their way into Sputnik nightclub by 6:30 p.m. to hear a happy hour DJ set from Dave Wilkinson of Denver’s legendary Wax Trax records.
“I feel more a part of it than I would other (festivals),” said Ryan Demers, 34, a Denver-based filmmaker at the end of the bar inside Sputnik. “A lot of times I’ll meet up with a friend, but it’s sort of an individual experience,” Demers said, adding that he was looking forward to seeing local bands Dovekins and Paper Bird later in the evening.
Further up the block, Chella Negro’s booming vocals pierced the Broadway sidewalks as the first act of the night at The Hornet bar.
Originally from Wisconsin, the folk singer has called Denver home for a decade and performed to a charmed crowd against a low-lit backdrop. Her long green tablecloth dress and sleepy country hymns evoked the likes of Patsy Cline and new country favorite Neko Case.
The pit-pat of the drummer’s wire brushes and Chella’s liquidy country yearn felt like a Thursday night in a far-off Texas roadhouse.
Local indie/punk act China Venture created a starkly different atmosphere down the street at 3 Kings Tavern. The band played a fast, loud, oft-distorted set of post-modern skater rock against the struggle of a still-filling venue.
But the absence of a mosh pit wasn’t enough to deter one fan near the front of the stage from head-banging and fist-pumping during a well-executed “Cigarettes.”
Across the street at the Hi-Dive, owner Matt LaBarge stood and watched the crowd file into his venue, the unofficial city hall of the UMS.
Inside, the largest crowd of the first round of showcases packed in to catch the local psychedelic swing act Dovekins. Upright bassist Blake Stepan plucked his strings with a Native American feather strapped to the back of his head and led the band with rompy, walking bass lines atop Griff Snyder’s warm guitar tones.
Once the music was well off and running, Hinshaw was all smiles outside at the box office.
“We had a moment of rain,” she said “but everybody just laughs and stands there getting wet. Everybody comes to the UMS expecting a good time and not demanding a good time. They make the good time happen.”
More UMS coverage on the next page …
VIDEO of Paper Bird’s Hi-Dive set — featuring many UMS veterans! Video by Mahala Gaylord, The Denver Post.
The UMS Q&A: By Lynette Zilio, The Denver Post
Names: Jamie Mitchell and Bobo (NOTE: Bobo gestured and wrote down his answers to most of these questions, because he could not see or talk through his gorilla costume.)
Q: What do you do?
Jamie: I play guitar and lap steel for our country-rock band 4H Royalty.
Bobo: *Motioned that he plays bass for the band.*
Q: Bobo, do you always dress like a gorilla?
Bobo: *Shook his head.*
Jamie: He just walks around like that. He doesn’t perform like that.
Q: First time at UMS?
Jamie: Yes, for both of us.
Q: Favorite Denver band?
Jamie: The Raven and the Writing Desk. (They play The UMS Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Skylark Lounge.) And my other band, Toad King.
Bobo: *Wrote down that he likes the band Houses.*
Q: What are you most excited about this weekend?
A: Performing with our band 4H Royalty at the Skylark at 6 p.m. on Sunday.
***
Name: Bibi Bordeaux
Q: What do you do?
A: I’m a performer in the UMS Burlesque show, Saturday at 9 p.m. at 3 Kings Tavern.
Q: How tall are you?
A: 6 feet.
Q: First time at The UMS?
A: Yes, and I’m, coming all four days.
Q: What’s the best band you’ve seen so far?
A: Well, I’ve only seen three bands, but the best one has been Shapes Stars Make!
Q: Favorite Denver band?
A: My favorite Denver band is DeVotchKa.
Q: What are you most excited about this weekend?
A: Performing and meeting the girls I’m performing with this weekend.
***
Name: Macon Terry
Q: What do you do?
A: I play upright base for Paper Bird.
Q: Did you make your vest?
A: No, I bought it at the Buffalo Exchange.
Q: First time at UMS?
A: Yes.
Q: Whatap the best band you’ve seen so far?
A: I just got here, but I’m going to see Ian Cooke and Paper Bird at the Hi-Dive.
Q: Favorite Denver band?
A: Radical Knitting Circle. (They’re performing at The UMS on Saturday at 10 p.m. at the Skylark Lounge.)
Q: What are you most excited about this weekend?
A: I’m excited about watching the Beaten Sea perform. (Fans can catch them on Friday at 8:15 pm. at the Goodwill Parking Lot and Saturday at 8 pm. at the Hi-Dive.)
More UMS coverage on the next page …
The UMS: Day 1, by Mike Long, Reverb
At 8 p.m. on a Thursday night, South Broadway was already experiencing far more foot traffic than you’d see on an average weekend night. A pleasantly surprising amount of people were all ready to kick off the 10th annual UMS.
Rising star Chella Negro was one of several acts picked to go on at the beginning, and she rose to the occasion, her powerful voice cutting through a chatty midsummer dinner crowd at the Hornet. Playing with the same two musicians she’s used in the studio recently, Negro played to the room’s high ceilings, which created a nice sound for her songs that were well written, performed and received. I will say this, though: Seeing her show in a quieter, more intimate setting would be better.
Hot White — or at least the half of Hot White (a two-man band) that actually made it to 3 Kings Tavern for its set — played a short 10-15 minute set of off-the-wall laptronica. There’s a fine line these days between irony and humor, but the line in one of the songs started, “When I was in high school …” and reminded me that, intended or not, itap as much a go-to line in indie rock songs as “I woke up this morning” is to blues songs. It sets the damn table.
In the 10 p.m. slot at the Hi-Dive, Texas trio Shapes Stars Make put on an excellent, technically impressive show. Reminiscent at times of Explosions in the Sky, Radiohead (at least, vocally) and Sunny Day Real Estate’s Jeremy Enigk’s solo work, all three members displayed excellent chops. The guitarist, listed only as Michael on the band’s MySpace page, created a one-guitar wall of sound, along with several pedal effects, his wrist a blur while strumming at Johnny Ramone velocity. The drumming was loud, thunderous, and it included some clever, unexpected beats. He came close to overplaying a little, but he stepped back just before doing so. An unexpected treat.
Playing in the 11 p.m. spot (at the same time as several other popular acts), the Omens battled some sound problems and played a rousing, almost face-melting set. It was loud, although hardly by 3 Kings standards, and their ’60s garage rock sound wouldn’t have sounded as well (or been as much fun) if played at a lesser volume. The Farfisa-sounding keyboards made the show, distorted to perfection, carrying the songs in between some blistering guitar. And the always-welcome snotty vocals? And a monstrous, tight rhythm section? They’re essential to ’60s garage rock, right?
The end of the evening saw a variety of bands playing The UMS. The string-dominant Roger, Roll at the Skylark showed some potential with their instrumentation, vocals and pleasant songs. While, at the other end of the spectrum, Kingdom of Magic, a power trio (bit of an understatement there) who never disappoint live, were loud and brash — the sonic equivalent of a well-deserved kick in the groin.
More UMS coverage on the next page …
The UMS: Day 1, by Cassandra Schoon, Reverb
With so many bands breaking up last year, and so many new bands on the table, planning the rounds at this year’s UMS has been a weird exercise for me. I can’t help but admit to feeling pretty out-of-the-loop when I didn’t recognize so many artist. But in one case, I’m happy to report, the method of just picking a band because their name sounded cool turned out to be a very rewarding one.
After a quick brew at Sputnik to survey the territory and get acclimated to the sticky heat of Thursday’s post-storm weather, I wandered over to check out the triumphant return of Porlolo at the Irish Rover. Though I was glad to see former Hot IQ Eli Mishkin and a few other familiar, mid-2000s faces in the crowd, the heat in the packed bar was just too oppressive to stick around for long. I headed back north to join the boy at Hi-Dive, where he was taking in Shapes Stars Make. He’d picked them purely based on their unique, ethereal name. Good choice.
Shapes Stars Make makes fuzzy, relentlessly beautiful post rock, with all the ambient grace of Explosions in the Sky with the slightly mechanical edge of Mogwai. There must be something in the water in Texas that causes boys with guitars to decide to make such symphonic, elegant sounds.
Onward to 3 Kings, where the crowd was thick with heat, sweat, and metal fans (a bit of a contrast from the rather staid crowd at Hi-Dive) for Omens and Kingdom of Magic. The Omens are a band I’ve always known of, but have always missed. And I love that they’re doing something really off the wall, mixing sped-up surf rock with a kind of screechy, early punk vocal sound. Perhaps this will be the UMS where I finally get around to seeing all the bands I’ve heard about — and finally put a sound to their names.
I ended the night observing the absolutely amazing mosh pit in front of Kingdom of Magic, who were even louder, tougher and tighter than I remembered. While the mass of dreadlocks and fingers folded into devil horns flew to the harshly melodic songs, I realized that it had been a very, very long time that being at a rock show at midnight felt like an incredible new beginning, rather than time to go home.
Check back at Reverb for more UMS coverage all weekend long. Festival wristbands are on sale at The UMS Box Office, which sits at Broadway and West Archer Place next to the Baker neighborhood’s Goodwill store. The festival continues today from 5:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. — and it runs all day Saturday and Sunday on the walkable stretch of Broadway between Alameda and Sixth avenues.
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