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
