Beards, Bruises and Beer: Surviving The 2016 UMS

Another year, another UMS. If you convinced your boss to give you all four days off, you’re probably looking a lot like us, hiding in the bathroom stall at work and drinking coffee from a styrofoam cup trying to count your weekend’s whiskey gingers. Just kidding, we’re not still hungover. It’s Friday. Sighs. We’re more likely suffering from PUMS-- Post Underground Music Showcase syndrome. Although WebMD does not officially recognize PUMS, we’ve seen widespread cases of poor concentration, fatigue, headache, shin splints, and breast tenderness (for the last one we blame the pit at Thee Oh Sees’ set on Saturday). 

John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

The Underground Music Showcase has been bringing Denver’s local acts to the forefront of our attention for 15 years running now, showing the public at large what goes on behind closed doors in places like RocketSpace, Denver’s practice space for local bands to experiment (not with sex or drugs, but rock and roll, you sly and dastardly person). 

iZCALLi proving why The UMS is important. (Photo Credit: Andrew Rios)

Olivia Rudeen at the South Broadway Church (Photo Credit: Maddie Casey)

UMS is a festival which proves that Denver rivals the city which claims to be the alt-music mecca: Austin, Texas. UMS, like SXSW, occurs all over the city in bars and music venues and showcases a wide variety of performances, this year spanning from Casey James & the Burning Angels to Decollage. Across South Broadway over a dozen venues opened their doors for swarms of music lovers and over 400 bands, allowing their floors to become sticky seas of sweat, beer, spirits and everything else you can imagine that tracked in. Illegal Pete’s showcased dozens of acts and buttcracks (on the stage and on the free mechanical bull in the Pete’s parking lot).

Straight up honky tonk country. (photo Credit: Maddie Casey)

Taco Cat send all kinds of glitter punk vibes (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

Singer-Songwriter showcase was brilliant. (Photo Credit: Maddie Casey)

Noah Shomberg of The Yawpers. (Photo Credit: Andrew Rios)

Friday saw weather that was surprisingly tame with a slight breeze rifling through the many coifed manes of bandmates and attendees. The Allah-Las gained a large draw around sunset, and onlookers shimmied and kicked complacently, their Breck Brews and cocktails far from spilling in their mild sways to the even milder licks. Mid-set, the sprinklers lining the grass along the sidewalk turned on and surprised the dazed audience, and some frolicking ensued as people tried to pass through without getting soaked.

Saturday afternoon was sunburn inducing, and Youth on Record’s station saw the drenching of both Amy Osgood and Virgil Dickerson. The water reportedly, “Did not taste good”, but still remained a mildly tempting method of beating the heat. Saturday night saw light showers of blood, sweat and tears. Thee Oh Sees kicked off the night on the Mainstage before back to back sets at Hi-dive, with Dirty Few, Dudebabes, Spells, Ned Garth (who pelted us with champagne, silly string, glow necklaces and confetti) and ended with Bud Bronson, a rapid fire succession of sets that lasted from 9 PM until last call. Nothing says “I love music” like romping around, losing shirt buttons in three layers of mosh-pit nastiness and glow stick taste on our tongues.

The dunk tank was a huge hit this year. (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

All proceeds went to Youth on Record. (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

We resurrected ourselves on Sunday for Decollage, Couches, LSD Bags, Anthony Ruptak, and POLICA, whose stunning vocals ended our UMS with a big, synthesized bow. All in all, we saw an amazing conglomeration of people. Shout out to all of the weirdos who reared their heads and made the festival what it was: a celebration of the good, the strange, and the beautiful. 

Take a peek from our photographer’s lenses and see for yourself our top performances of this year’s Underground Music Showcase. 

Austin's own The Bright Light Social Hour. (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

Until next year, 

The Ultra5280 Team

Best Places To Do ____ During The UMS on South Broadway

As many of you embark on the journey known as The Underground Music Showcase, we wanted to spotlight some of the finer establishments on South Broadway for you to check out while battling the hot pavement. From delicious ice cream to receiving a tetanus shot, we've got your back. And who knows, after four days of music some of you may get the urge to drop by one of these places to regain your hearing, charge your phones, and stay fueled with burritos. Please support local business!

Best Place For Ice Cream:

Known as one of the finer ice cream establishments in the country, you should make an attempt to take a break and patiently wait three hours in line to get a scoop of the fine whiskey bourbon ice cream to keep you tipsy while you wait to take in your next band. It's a great spot for people watching as well. 

Best Place To Drink For Cheap And Play Drunk Skee Ball:

Ahhh where else can you play Skee-Ball and get rewarded with shots? Barry's on Broadway of course. We will admit we have done some things at Barry's which we have all vowed to never talk about.....ever. But if you want cheap drinks, an awesome jukebox, and love to chill out with a vagabond or two, this is your go to.

Best Place To Get A Tetanus Shot After Peeing At The Three Kings Restroom:

Safe to say we have all peed in some weird places during one of our drunken adventures. From bushes to alley's to our neighbors porch (I was really drunk). nothing gives you that "I may have just contracted an STD" feeling like urinating at one of the restrooms at Three Kings Tavern (Hi-Dive you were a close second). Luckily for us we have an Urgent Care nestled right in between a sushi place (more on that later) and Buffalo Exchange.

Best Place To Ride A Mechanical Bull:

Pay no attention to the crowd in the picture above, instead picture tattooed hipsters and beer junkies. This year Illegal Pete's on Broadway will transform their parking lot into a poor man's carnival of sorts. Who knows you may catch Virgil Dickerson swallowing flaming swords. Aside from being best place for a burrito, house margarita, place to get your mist on, breakfast tacos and more, you won't find a mechanical bull any closer to UMS than Cheyenne Frontier Days!

Best Place To Get The Meat Sweats:

One of the new kids on the block this year Dae Gee is serving up their fine Korean BBQ at their newest establishment on South Broadway. What's better than enjoying a music festival in triple digit heat than sweating profusely the fine delicacy of pork bulgogi. I'm sure you will catch us here on more than one occasion, after all we are big fans of all you can eat establishments.

Best Place To Get A Tattoo:

Nothing says RAGRET more than receiving a tattoo of a rainbow unicorn on your ass cheek (if you are wondering if I have one, that may have answered your question). Think Tank Tattoo on SoBo has long been established as one of the best places to get a tat here in Denver. If colorful unicorns aren't your style you can always get that cute Pikachu on your ankle you have always wanted, right Mcclain?

Best Place To Set Your Mouth On Fire:

If setting your mouth of fire is more of your thing swing by Thai Monkey Club. Don't get it confused with the fight club that pits primates in the secret underground warehouse in Rino (We have said too much). This place has been serving up traditional Thai speciliaties such as drunken noodles, to their Tom Kha (coconut soup). Make sure you order that Thai Hot. We heard it's not spicy at all (wink, wink).

Best Place To Get A Slice Of Pizza:

At first glance it may seem that your pizza has been sitting there for days, not too worry, they heat it up in their ovens and it comes out pippin' hot. At $2.50 a slice for a Pepperoni slice you can't get a better deal on a budget! This quirky establishment serves up traditional thin crust slices of heaven. We suggest you give them a try, side note they have a rather impressive selection of beers as well. We can now safely include "Shut Your Pie Hole" in our award reading articles.

Best Place To Take A Nap:

It gets hot during UMS, you will often find us camped out right in front of the Goodwill doors just to catch the rare heavenly breeze of cool air emitting from their air conditioned palace of second hand goods. If you want to take it a step further, we hear they have an array of furniture downstairs that is usually on clearance for you to take that little siesta while everybody is outside melting. We can't guarantee a few bedbugs here and there, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Best Place To Find A PokeStop:

It's kind of embarrassing writing about this, but truth be told all of our staff is playing this game. In fact South Broadway will be the first time nerds and musicians will be battling for bragging rights of this Pokemon filled stretch of land. We plan to bring the peace between both factions! I mean might as well play Pokemon while you wait for hours to get into the Hi-Dive every night!

Best Place To Grab A Beer And Worship The Prince Of Darkness:

South Broadway is full of dive bars and watering holes, but if you want quality craftsmanship beer with a little hint of darkness be sure to check out TRVE Brewing Company. Inside the satanic beer kingdom you will be greeted by the finest heavy metal music to wash down your delicious pint. What say metal more than a Foeder-Fermented Mixed Culture Saison with Watermelon (Solid Hex).

So there it is folks, while the music is playing make sure to get into one of these fine establishments to enjoy some of the more finer things in life. Have a safe UMS!

Catching Up with UMS Artist Allah-Las

Photo Credit: Laura-Lynn Petrick

Kicking off our series of UMS Artist Spotlight, we had a chance to catch up with the members of Allah-Las this week in preparation for their performance on Friday night on the main stage during this years Underground Music Showcase. 

(U5280) You guys are about to drop a new album on September 9th. What will be different about this album than previous releases in terms of writing process, touring, songs, etc?

(Allah-Las) Almost all of the songs on the record were written individually, as opposed to collectively as many of the tracks from the second and almost all of the tracks from the first record were written. We also spent a lot of time demoing and experimenting with production on this record, and it shows in the variety of the tracks.

(U5280) A few of you used to work together at Amoeba Music, what was that like, I can picture a scene from High Fidelity. Any weird stories you want to share from working there? (encounters, sightings, perks, etc)

(Allah-Las) Lots of strange folks working there, lots of strange Hollywood burnouts making regular rounds.  Also a great record shop.

(U5280) You guys have worked with Nick Waterhouse in the past, what is he like?

(Allah-Las) Nick is a good friend of ours and we knew him before any of us had our music projects going. He's a great guy to work with, very knowledgeable and professional, and also a contemporary of ours who we feel comfortable with in the studio. 

(U5280) You guys are about to embark on a fall tour starting here in the states then concluding in Europe, any memorable touring stories you want to share?

(Allah-Las) Too many. There was the time in Texas where we left Matt on the side of the road because we didn't realize he had climbed out the back of the van when we stopped for a pee break. Took us about half an hour to realize. He didn't have a phone or wallet with him, so it was good that we noticed eventually. One time in Germany we were escorted out of our hotel by police at 3am and ended up making friends with them, gave them records and all that. They were much cooler than the kid at the front desk who had called them.  

(U5280) What can your fans of Denver expect this coming Friday at The UMS?

(Allah-Las)We rented that Tommy Lee rig that flips around so we're gonna have Matt up on that, massive pyrotechnics show, people flying around suspended by wires, we borrowed some tigers from the local zoo.  Gonna be wild wild wild.

(U5280) Finally if you guys had to put together a super band (past or present) 1 vocalist, 1 guitarist, 1 bass player and 1 drummer, who would it be?

(Allah-Las) What? We already did. 

Allah-Las is composed of Pedrum Siadatian (vocals/lead guitar), Miles Michaud (vocals/rhythm guitar), Matthew Correia (vocals/drum), and Spencer Dunham (vocals/bass). The band was formed in 2008 while three of the members were working at the legendary Amoeba Music record store. “We were all music fans before we were musicians,” says Correia. “We’ve spent a lot of time listening to music, and understanding what works for us and what doesn’t.” Their 2011 self-titled debut was nominated for independent album of the year by the A2IM Libbys. Of the debut, Pitchfork said, “it sounds like an effortlessly wistful batch of starry-eyed, minor-key beauties that gently ruminate on the usual young-guy subjects: sex, freedom, the ways the former can interfere with the latter and vice versa.”

In 2014, their sophomore LP Worship The Sun received critical acclaim from The Los Angeles Times who said the album “…lets the band’s trippy vintage rock absorb all sorts of new Southern California influences. Latin drumming, L.A.’s midcentury avant-garde beach culture and Laurel Canyon harmonies.” LA Weekly has noted, “their sound is steeped in the pop sensibilities of The Zombies and The Kinks, laced with Northern Soul, lo-fi funk and the ever-enduring influence of Arthur Lee and Love.” 

The band has toured extensively with sold out tours and high profile festival dates throughout North, Central, and South America, Europe, South Africa, Russia, Mexico and Israel. For the upcoming North American dates will have the group TOPS supporting in September and October. See below for full tour dates. 

Music | The UMS Lineup Announcement

Our favorite local music festival (The UMS) has announced its first wave of acts, and we couldn't be more excited. South Broadway will once again be transformed into a music lovers mecca. The lineup was announced this morning via Reverb and well we wanted to share as well. Make sure you purchase your tickets today.

The 16th Annual Denver Post Underground Music Showcase presented by Schomp MINI
 announces the first round of artists including Polica, Thee Oh Sees and Allah Las
Lee Fields & the Expressions, San Fermin, The Bright Light Social Hour, and Denver’s own,
The Yawpers, also lead an initial lineup of local and national talent to play the 2016 festival.

The UMS is the largest indie music festival in the Rocky Mountain region with more than 400 local, national and international artists taking part. It is a community party that has proven to be a yearly highlight of the Denver cultural calendar.

From Thursday, July 28 through Sunday, July 31, the 2016 UMS will offer a four- day celebration of the region's thriving local music scene as well as hosting emerging artists from around the world.
In addition to some of the top music venues in town, the UMS presents music fans the opportunity to catch these acts in unique rooms such as art galleries, restaurants and a historic church.

Net proceeds from the event continue to benefit the Denver Post Community Foundation and Youth on Record. The Denver Post Community Foundation’s goal is to improve and enrich the quality of life through support of programs that benefit children, the arts, literacy and education and the provision of basic human services. You can learn more about the foundation and DPCF Signature Events at denverpostcommunity.com

Music | UMS Early Bird Tickets On Sale Now

This region's premier independent music festival.  Taking place over 4 days on multiple stages in Denver's Historic Baker Neighborhood, The UMS will present over 400 performances of local, regional and national talent.

 “Every year the festival forces you to give in, to lose yourself in the scene and relax among the chaotic urgency of discovery and music.” -Matt Miller, The Denver Post

Get your tickets now while supplies last!  Please note: The presale launches today and this pricing is only available until 3/30/16. Tickets can be purchased HERE. For a mere $40 dollars you get 4 days of awesome music, or you can also go with the $55 bundle that gets you all four days of music and a swanky t-shirt.