Our Top Ten Must See Acts For The UMS 2021

Our favorite weekend of the year is upon us and we are celebrating our tenth year covering this amazing festival. The Underground Music Showcase is set to return to the streets of South Broadway this weekend and we have made our annual list of who to see. So without further adieu we present our “Ten Must See Acts”.

ERIN STEREO | OASIS STAGE AT IMPORT MECHANICS | FRIDAY 6:00-7:00 PM

We have had the pleasure of seeing Erin Stereo on various occasions throughout the years and there hasn’t been an empty dance floor needless to say. She commands and is in full control of her sets and is able to adapt on the drop of a dime. Let’s get this UMS started off right on Friday with her amazing set.

Citra

CITRA | STONEY’S CANTINA | FRIDAY 10:50-11:40 PM

Our favorite Denver rock act returns to melt your face. We always love when bands play early in the festival because it sets the bar for other bands that weekend to top what this four-piece brings. It’s going to get loud, it’s going to get rowdy, and it’s going to be an all out party. Be prepared.

The Grand Alliance (Photo: Anthony Maes)

The Grand Alliance | Showcase Stage at The Goodwill | Saturday 2:40-3:30 PM

The cat is out of the bag as The Grand Alliance has landed and is setting the pace for what is our early favorite for “Band of The Year”. Mixing elements of funk, hip hop, r&b, with a twist of afro-funk the band combines three Denver locals (who each have their own amazing solo projects) to give us an intergalactic dancer party. We suggest dressing up in your favorite space garb for this one, you never know what will go down.

NEOMA | SHOWCASE STAGE AT THE GOODWILL | SATURDAY 3:50-4:40 PM

It’s been a whirlwind couple years for Neoma, the Ecuadorian outfit has cemented their place in Denver as one of the most exciting live bands to see in the last couple years. Led by songstress who also goes by the name Neoma, she manages to capture the audience with a unique ability to sing in English and in Spanish rarely seen in pop music (think Selena meets Rosalia). Their set will leave you falling in love and appreciating every note from their infectious dance set.

POUT HOUSE | THE HORNET | SATURDAY 7:40-8:30 PM

Garage Rock isn’t dead yet. Just ask the members of Pout House who deliver a sound that is hard to compare with any other band. Utilizing their affection for early garage acts such as The Strokes, The White Stripes and to top it off throw in a hint of Blondie and The Velvet Underground. If you are seeking a sound reminiscent be sure to check out their set Saturday night to get your evening started for the late night heavy-hitters.

ADIEL MITCHELL | COCHINO TACO | SATURDAY 10:00-10:50 PM

Adiel Mitchell put on one of the most electric performances of UMS 2019, and now the prodigal son Is back for more. Wit a more polished set and mature sound, Mitchell has been honing his skills during the pandemic to give us what is set to be another epic performance. Fresh off an opening set for Bishop Briggs, Adiel Mitchell is going to turn your Saturday night into an unforgettable evening.

IZCALLI | STONEY’S CANTINA | SATURDAY 12:20-1:10 AM

At this point we can safely say IZCALLI are UMS veterans. Over the years we have had the pleasure of seeing this amazing Spanish rock outfit bring some of the most memorable live performances we have had to chance to cover. Not much has changed as the band continues to give us a mix of music the way it was supposed to be played….in all languages. The band has established itself as the festivals late night headliners and you will see why on Saturday night.

LEVI DOUBLE U | OASIS STAGE AT IMPORT MECHANICS | SUNDAY 5:00-6:00 PM

Producer/DJ/Drummer/…….we can literally go on. Levi Double U wears many hats among the Denver music scene, but it has been his DJ sets that have elevated him to one of the elites among the city’s best. With a love of house music, Levi Double U can spark a dance floor at the drop of a beat setting off a dance party that even you want to participate in. Look for Levi Double U to continue to set forth a blaze among the scene amongst his different projects.

ELEKTRIC ANIMALS | HI-DIVE | SUNDAY 7:40-8:30 PM

We are going to be honest here, we had never heard of Elektric Animals until an email reached our inbox back in July of 2020. We featured a song called “Reckless” that just blew our mind. We were the midst of the heyday of the pandemic so music was our only vice we could really enjoy. The band has grown on us and has become a regular on our playlist here at the office. This will be our first time seeing them live and we cannot wait. If you like rock music at its core you won’t want to miss this set.

VYNYL | STONEY’S CANTINA | SUNDAY 11:10-12:00 AM

One of Denver’s best pop acts will end our UMS this year. VYNYL gives us feel good rock that portrays their penchant for the love of music they have adopted as their own. With infectious riffs and heart felt lyrics, the band gives us our own version of what rock should sound like. We are excited to see these guys play as it has been way too long and we are craving some feel good music to end our fest this year.

Don't Call It A Comeback: UMS Returns In August

 

Our favorite weekend of music is back after a year break (still did an amazing job virtually) the annual gathering of music on South Broadway is set to return in late August. In what has become one of the most exciting independent music festivals in the country we cannot wait to gather with our friends this year and celebrate this amazing event.

UMS IS BACK FOR 2021. We're hitting the streets of Broadway from August 27 - 29th for a year unlike any other. It's our duty as the Underground Music Showcase to provide the stage for Denver's music community and to let your voices be heard. We're rising from the ashes of 2020 in full color and we're counting down to best weekend of the summer.

We'll be announcing artist applications shortly. Stay tuned for more details on how to apply to this year's edition of Underground Music Showcase.

P.S.: Presale tickets go live on TODAY – tell your friends!

Go buy your tickets today!

The UMS Artist Spotlight: Red Fang

Red Fang (Photo Credit: Tim Tronckoe)

Your mom thinks UMS is cool.

Well, maybe not your mom. But Aaron Beam’s mother holds the 17-year-old sonic takeover of South Broadway in high regard; enough so to encourage her son to play it, anyway.

The bassist and co-vocalist of Portland, Ore. heavy rockers Red Fang said that bit of maternal approval helped lock the band in as co-headliners this year at The Denver Post Underground Music Showcase. The Bedlam in Baker is bringing 300 plus acts to more than a dozen South Broadway venues from July 27 through 30. Red Fang—made up of Beam, singer/guitarist Bryan Giles, guitarist David Sullivan and drummer John Sherman--will close out an evening of particularly hefty aural pyrotechnics on the main stage Friday night, July 28.

“My mom is actually not like super well-connected to the hip parts of the music scene,” Beam said. “But she actually was very encouraging and was like, ‘Oh, that’s one of the biggest music festivals.’ We haven’t really done a lot of festivals in the U.S. and it’s nice to get asked to play a well-established festival that does well enough that my mom knows about it.”

Beam knows a thing or two about the Front Range. The tall, bearded frontman with a professorial visage went to junior high and high school in Fort Collins in the late 80s and early 90s. He played in his first bands there, drawing heavily from the music being made in the Pacific Northwest at the time. (Soundgarden covers were an early staple.)

Ma and Pa Beam still live in Denver, part of the reason the rocker recently came out for a week-long Colorado visit in advance of his band’s UMS slot. (In a case of excellent timing, his girlfriend’s band, Helms Alee, was also in town last week. They helped Mutoid Man steamroll a sold-out crowd at Larimer Lounge July 16.) Boosting his Colorado bona fides, Beam has a go-to South Federal Boulevard pho joint: Pho Le. If time allows, he always tries to get out and spend some time in the woods—or, more appropriately, “the rocks”—when Red Fang plays CO, a throwback to the days he used to hike around Horsetooth Reservoir and other natural areas around Fort Collins. And Beam--a man who people pay to see sing on stage --also has a favorite karaoke spot in Denver: Charlie Brown’s Bar & Grill.
 
“A weird, old wooden bar,” he said. “It’s kind of changed. Now it’s like piano karaoke.”

Red Fang will follow three Colorado-based acts July 28, all hailing from the weightier side of the musical spectrum. Things start in skull-caving fashion at 6 p.m. with Boulder-bred Call of the Void. The four-piece’s screamed vocals, crushing riffs and shifting tempos are bound to leave many in the audience with sore necks on Saturday. Next come critical darlings, Khemmis. Trafficking in doom metal blended with soaring guitar harmonies and flecks of classic rock, Khemmis has a knack for banging heads and breaking hearts in equal measure. Just before Red Fang gets their chance to tear a chunk out of the Denver crowd, Planes Mistaken for Stars will return to the UMS. The Denver-by-way of Peoria, Ill. post-punks came in No. 1 in the Denver Post’s UMS poll in 2003 (back when the Post did such a poll). The evocative, raw hardcore outfit—easily identifiable by frontman Gared O'Donnell’s rasp—released “Prey,” their first album in a decade, last year. Their guitars may be the least over-driven of the bunch, but Planes still packs a helluva punch. All told, the four Friday night bands represent the heaviest slab of main stage performers UMS has possibly ever seen.

Beam, for his part, loves the depth and breadth of dark side of music the lineup represents.

“Having a festival like this, that’s generally not a metal festival, have a sort of a day of heavier music is encouraging to me,” he said. “I think that a lot of times people sort of lump everything into the sort of ‘heavy metal’ category and then decide that they don’t like heavy metal at all. I feel like there is enough diversity in the heavy music scene now that it’s a lot less of a niche genre.”

Beam and his bandmates don’t label their sound. It can be hard do to anyway. The punk and grunge influences are obvious, as are elements of slow-downed metal forerunners like the Melvins and even bits and pieces of fuzzy garage rock. (“Sometimes someone will say, “You’re my favorite sludge band” or whatever. I didn’t even know what sludge was the first time I heard that,” Beam said.) But whatever is going into the blender, the results are distinctly Red Fang. The band doesn’t shy away from hooks for the sake of rattling bones either. “Cut it Short,” the lead single from their 2016 “Only Ghosts” record, features a riff just as likely to get listeners to swing their hips as pump their fists.  That said, the song off “Only Ghosts” (A record Beam is happy to label the band’s best and most coherent.) the four-stringer enjoys playing live the most is “The Smell of the Sound.” That little number is anchored by a fuzzed out bass line heavy enough to create its own gravity. Hear it in all its glory Friday.

“You know, it’s important to have those sorts of categories to drop different kinds of music into so it can help you organize things in your own brain or when you’re recommending something to someone. You can say, ‘They’re sort of like new grunge mixed with like classic stoner,’ or whatever,” Beam said. “Of course, the most effective way is just to listen to the music.”

With more than 300 bands making a ridiculous amount of noise –heavy, poppy and everything in between-- over four days, that’s what UMS is all about.

-Words Joe Rubino

 Red Fang

Friday July 28th / Main Stage / 9:00-10:00 PM

Joe Rubino grew up in Denver's Ruby Hill and Harvey Park neighborhoods. He spent a bulk of his adolescent years browsing the discount metal CDs at the Media Play by the Southwest Plaza Mall. He then spent a bulk of college career slanging weenies at Mustard's Last Stand in Boulder. He's been working in journalism around Colorado for the last 6 years.