The lineup for this years Underground Music Showcase has arrived. The annual gathering of music is set to take place once again along South Broadway to the tune of some of the best local and national acts. Our favorite weekend of the year boasts headliners Jamila Woods, Emmit Fenn, Crumb and more. Tickets are available now by clicking link below.
Austin City Limits Music Festival Announce Lineup and Daily Lineups
Our favorite festival is set to take its annual two week residency at Zilker Park once again this year. This years lineup boasts an array of some of the best acts in music, from Kendrick Lamar to Shania Twain. The festival is one of the premier festivals in the country well known for amazing music and the hospitality the fest and state brings to its visitors.
Tickets for the festival sell pretty quickly and the fest has many tiers to chose from. Another one of the amenities the fest has to offer is in the form of amazing food and drinks. Austin Eats focuses on locally owned restaurants to fulfill any festival appetite. The craft beer hall gives many options under a shaded tent to beat the heat.
TICKET INFORMATION
Kilby Block Party Returns To Salt Lake This Weekend
One of the up and coming niche music festivals is set to take place this weekend in Sal Lake City. In only its fourth year the festival has grown leaps and bounds with this years lineup boasting an impressive lineup usually only seen with the bigger festivals across the country.
The Kilby Block Party is a music festival that started in 2019 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Salt Lake City’s longest-running, all-ages venue Kilby Court. Keeping with the spirit of this iconic venue, KBP aims to bring together SLC’s music community with some of our favorite internationally renowned artists. The firstt two editions of this festival were actual block parties on Kilby Court’s adjacent street of 700 South in downtown SLC. KBP1 and KBP2 were headlined by longtime friends Death Cab For Cutie and Young The Giant who both performed at Kilby Court in the beginning of their careers. In 2022, they took a chance and moved KBP3 to Library Square to host a 2-day festival featuring headliners Phoebe Bridgers and Mac DeMarco. With thanks to the incredible Kilby community, the festival sold out both nights in less than a week and the KBP3 weekend proved to be one of the best large scale indie music festivals to ever occur in downtown SLC. We are excited to be expanding this festival once again in 2023 by moving to the Utah State Fairpark for a 3 full days of music, art, food, culture, and more.
Set Times:
Festival Map
The Underground Music Showcase 2022: Things You Missed
Crowds gather around the Underground Stage during The UMS (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)
UMS weekend came and went, and our biggest complaint? Three days of the Underground Music Showcase was not enough for us! Denverites came out in droves to South Broadway for this year’s UMS despite the August heat.
This year’s UMS saw some growing pains, and some venues experienced long lines managed by stressed bouncers trying to keep under capacity. The festival’s growth has continued to fulfill the mission of its founders: giving local bands their deserved visibility. Friday and Saturday night were particularly fraught as South Broadway buckled under the traffic of thousands vying to get inside the small, packed venues.
The Underground Music Showcase was founded back in 2001 as a single day festival to promote and support budding Denver artists, and to showcase the talented musicians that make our city unique. Since 2001, UMS has grown into a three-day affair that balances local acts with nationally recognized headliners. The beauty of UMS is that while you might be drawn to the festival by a band you’re listening to on a daily basis, you’re subsequently drawn into a small, intimate venue by the sound of some local act that quickly becomes a staple in your daily rotation.
Packed crowds spilled over to the club venues each night during The UMS (Photo Credit: Aly McClaran)
The original ethos of the festival is alive and well, but as it grows in size and popularity, we’re curious to see if South Broadway will still be capable of hosting its favorite.
Some venues allowed wristband-clad folks entrance to acts they had expected to draw smaller crowds. This unfortunately contributed to the capacity issue, as lines were nearing thirty to forty five minute waits at various open door venues. Requiring wristbands for all venues participating in UMS during the festival might streamline things.
But on the other hand– who doesn’t love the egalitarianism of free things? The price of admission could be a limiting factor for some. Venues which took an open door approach feel aligned with the festival’s ethos, and it’s arguably more fair anyway, allowing those who might not be able to afford a full ticket to still attend some shows.
Anyway, we’re going to break down our stand-out local acts before getting into our favorite headliners.
Friday:
The annual Denver independent music mainstay returned to South Broadway, where more than 150 artists descended on 14 venues from Friday through Sunday. And just as complimentary as the brewski-soaked Bud Bronson Skylark set, new festival co-owners Youth on Record provided sober activation spaces throughout the weekend, including an Artist Care Lounge at Chaos Bloom Theater, as an alcohol-free alternative that didn’t lose its edge.
Levi Double U
Producer for breakout Denver acts Neoma and Adiel Mitchell, Levi Double U is a force in his own right. And though the free donuts may have been the lure, it was the tasty house music of his outdoor Friday set at northernmost outpost Banded Oak Brewing that got festgoers kicking off the night at 128 bpm.
Cheap Perfume performing at The WQ during The UMS. (Photo Credit: Aly McClaran)
Cheap Perfume
“Just be mindful … of everyone’s space around them,” Cheap Perfume’s Stephanie Byrne reminded the crowd at HQ before launching into the next song of the feminist punk band’s intense and unrelenting set. From fan favorite “It’s Okay to Punch Nazis” to guitarist Jane No’ scorching implore to burn it all down on “Put the Devil to Bed,” it was a fitting powderkeg of a throwback to the space of 60 South Broadway’s roots as legendary punk and metal venue 3 Kings Tavern.
Plasma Canvas
Holy shit, self-styled “loudest band in the world” Plasma Canvas lives up to the billing. Exploding through tracks from Side One Dummy debut KILLERMAJESTIC (recorded/produced at The Blasting Room by punk rock royalty Bill Stephenson), the Hi Dive shook from their fuzzed-out combo of Strung Out, Less Than Jake and a cinder block to the face.
Green Druid
You can almost see the edges of the amps glowing like embers in a pipe during a Green Druid set. The Denver doom/stoner stalwarts dredged the transfixed audience through a reverb- and fuzz-soaked landscape that keeps breaking down even when you think it can’t break. Down. Any. Further. Weed not required - but it doesn’t hurt.
Native Daughters
Surprise! Fresh off their Bluebird Theater headliner and recent Meow Wolf show, Native Daughters are officially back from the beyond. With two drum kits front and center, the Denver heavyweights pull no punches about what you’re about to get pummeled by. As surprise headliners to close down UMS Night One, they delivered with trademark precision and aggression… you know you’ve been to a Daughters show when you leave ears ringing, even after wearing earplugs.
BBGT
As an embrace to the next chapter of normalcy, UMS Night 1 felt like a kind of surrender. Only fitting, then, that the back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back*-to-back-to-back UMS champs implored the crowd to launch into their best Rick Nielsen, sore and soaring into a temporary orbit above the reimagined Skylark’s Bobcat (née Pool) Room to close out Friday:
“Mommy’s alright, Daddy’s alright, they just seem a little weird…”
In an extended outro that was more than a Cheap Trick, they barked back in staccato that “IT’S-ALL-ALRIGHT.” And though it indeed may not have been in the grander sense of the word, for one beautiful mess of a weekend, it was about to be.
Saturday
First Listen: Elektric Animals "Constant Static Noise"
One of our favorite Denver locals Elektric Animals have dropped their latest project and we have the “First Listen”. The band approached this one with a whole new perspective and delivers with a catchy and unique production that will see the single take on several variations in the coming weeks.
For this track we decided to go outside our usual Garage Rock/Blues Rock sound and work with producer Stayloose (fka Stelouse) who is mostly known for his EDM work. We recorded the bare bones of the track then handed him the keys to produce and mix however he saw fit. After the release of this version we are also releasing another mix from our usual producer Eric Everhart who took it in a more live band direction. We also will be doing a stripped piano version with local legend Aaron Rothe and releasing them all together.
As far as lyrical content on the surface it feels as if it could be a typical love song. But, as it digs deeper it is more a song of trying to hold on for something or someone to change. Knowing that it will not and they will not and eventually you’ll have to let go. But, at the moment you don’t know when that time will be and your heart still says … forever
Influences include: Cage The Elephant, The Black Keys, Royal Blood, Arctic Monkeys, Young The Giant, Glass Animals, Alt Rock of the 90s, Pop of the 80s.
Texas’ largest independent promoter Disco Donnie Presents announces: Ubbi Dubbi 2023
The award-winning, highly-recognized leader in the electronic music event space, Disco Donnie Presents, is excited to announce the 4th installment of Ubbi Dubbi, returning to its original home at Panther Island Pavilion in Fort Worth, Texas. On April 22-23, fans are invited from all corners of the globe to this dazzling electronic music paradise featuring over 40+ artists including Kaskade, Liquid Stranger and Rezz. Tickets are on sale Tuesday, 11/15 at 10AM CT. Fans can also sign up for one hour exclusive access to early bird tickets before they go on sale to the public, starting at just $26 down.
Ubbi Dubbi celebrates the friendship between two music-loving friends, Ubbi and Dubbi. Dubbi, who loves dubstep and trap, taught Ubbi about electronic music and now he loves house and techno. The 2023 lineup reflects the best of Ubbi and Dubbi’s favorite genres, from the bass blistering beats of Rezz and Zomboy, to the euphoric sounds of SLUSHII and San Holo (DJ Set), the house-centric grooves of Dombresky and MIANE, and main stage favorites like Deorro, Timmy Trumpet, and Bonnie x Clyde. Ubbi Dubbi has no shortage of rising stars, featuring bass house queen Capozzi, high-octane tech house purveyor Cloverdale, and the bass-friendly, effervescent electronic pop productions of Moore Kismet. This year, Ubbi Dubbi features an EXPANDED festival site, adding a NEW 4TH STAGE to accomodate this Texas sized lineup.
“We’re thrilled to bring back Ubbi Dubbi to Panther Island Pavilion and this lineup is going to be rowdy! Can’t wait for you to see all that we have in store for this year :)” - Disco Donnie
Philanthropy is one of Donnie’s biggest values, as is his commitment to Texas. Since DDP started keeping records about its Texas operations eight years ago, the company has generated over $1 billion dollars in total economic impact and over $1.5 million in charitable donations to local nonprofits. In total, DDP has donated over $500,000 to local charities where the festivals are operated, reinforcing their commitment to giving back and supporting the communities that support them.
Ubbi Dubbi welcomes everyone, from the most experienced festival goer to the newbie attending for the first time. Ubbi Dubbi is all about community, and growing your Ubbi Dubbi family a little bit bigger every year! Join old friends and make some new ones at Ubbi Dubbi 2023!