Music | James Bay and Elle King | The Ogden Theatre | May 7, 2015

words by Maddie Casey, experiences and photos from Robert Castro

Unless you’ve been successfully hiding under a rock for the past few months, it’s become hard to ignore the track “Hold Back The River” from James Bay. With the voice of a soul singer, awesome guitar skills, and a unique brand of lyric writing, James Bay is certainly holding his on in the singer/songwriter genre right now. Playing Denver for the first time this week, Robert Castro got the opportunity to see him play at The Ogden Theatre, and it’s safe to say that our whole team hopes he’ll keep coming to Denver as often as humanly possible. 

Opening the night was the young and budding vocalist Elle King. The “Ex’s and Ohs” singer appeared a few drinks into the evening by the time she appeared on stage. Blaming it on our city’s altitude, this didn’t stop Ms. King from luring the crowd into her snares with her soulful, almost rustic voice. Mentioning that many of her songs were based on an ex boyfriends, you could hear the passion in her voice as she sang songs like “America’s Sweetheart”, and an impressive cover of Khia’s “My Neck, My Back”. Her music is perfectly pop-kissed Americana, with hints of rock and roll and banjo-riddled blues sprinkled throughout. We are firmly impressed with Ms. King’s first performance here in Denver, and can’t wait to see her come back as “Ex’s and Oh’s” continues to skyrocket onto radio stations across the country. 

James Bay certainly held his own despite the impressive set from his opener. Backed by a bassist, drummer, and keys player, Bay’s set showcased his entire Freshman release Chaos and The Calm over the course of the set. Mentioning how happy we was to have finally released his record at the end of March, Bay was excited to have the opportunity to play his music for the world, and thanked fans throughout the night for taking the chance to listen to it. Playing a few songs solo in the middle of his set, the audience at the Ogden got the opportunity to hear the raw power of this Englishmen’s voice. The band re-entered the stage one member at a time to join him on the song “Need The Sun To Break”, a powerful and moving musical and visual build-up that peaked when the band to broke into the final chorus. Ending the night with an encore that included a crazy amazing cover of Alicia Key’s “If I Ain’t Got You” (complete with masterful guitar solo in the middle of the song), followed by “Hold Back The River”, the crowd seemed enthralled beginning to end of the set. We got the opportunity to watch James Bay open for Hozier last October at The Fox Theatre, and it’s been so very great to see him these two very different settings, watching the performer grow from opener into a rocking headliner, holding his own. We don’t have a date for when Mr. Bay will next be back to Denver, but I do hope it’s soon. An impressive first record paired with an even more impressive live show has certainly sky-rocketed him to the top of our list of artists to watch throughout the rest of 2015.

Music | Interview with Life In Film + Ticket Giveaway!

by Maddie Casey

Love the feel of effervescent indie pop with driving rhythms and catchy lyrics? Welcome to the land of Life and Film, a young quartet straight off the fine island of Great Britain, coming to the Ogden Theatre near you this Saturday evening. 

This group of minstrels from the UK produce a blend of alternative, indie rock perfect for pairing with long summer drives with the windows down, or fun-filled evenings along the preppy, sunkissed eastern shoreline. Music Editor Maddie Casey took a few minutes to chat with the boys of Life In Film this week about their upcoming show in Denver, touring with countrymen The Wombats, and of course, Jesus. 

Ultra5280 is running a ticket giveaway for you to see Life in Film open for The Wombats this Saturday (5/9) at The Ogden Theatre.
Simply "like", "share", or comment on our Facebook and Instagram posts about the band TODAY for your chance to snag a pair of tickets. Winners will be announced Friday afternoon (5/8). Good luck!

for the purposes of this interview, questions from Ultra5280 will be indicated with a "MC" for Maddie Casey, and answers from the band will be indicated by "LIF".

MC: Your debut record Here It Comes just released in March - how does it feel to finally have this LP available to the world? 
LIF: Its extremely exciting to have our first album out. it encapsulates a lot of different experiences for us; we're very proud of the way it has come together.

MC: This record comes after 2 EPs. What was the biggest difference in recording this full length compared to the EPs you previously released? Any big lessons learned? 
LIF: Our concentration was split between a lot more tracks, and (the task of) switching between different emotions and tempos between songs sometimes required us to refocus quite dramatically. Stephen was always great at making us feel at ease though which helped us to express ourselves.

MC: Your music embodies a lot of what the world sees as the trademarks of excellent UK Indie Rock. Do you feel like working with producer Stephen Street had anything to do with that? 
LIF: It was great working with Stephen, but I guess being in an indie band and living in the UK means that we absorb whats going on around us to a certain extent... maybe we would sound different if we came from somewhere else?! Stephen helped us crystalize a lot of what we were aiming for which is sometimes hard to perfect in a damp rehearsal space.

MC: For listeners that are unfamiliar with Life In Film, what do you want listeners to take away from the record? 
LIF: We never try and pursue a theme when we approach writing but i guess we just want to write songs that people can relate to. A lot of the songs have a bittersweet feeling and some speak of looking back and the passing of time.

MC: Do you feel like this tour has spurred growth in your group? In what ways? 
The floor of the tour van has certainly started growing things. We've already seen a lot of amazing stuff and met some really sound people. I think thats something we will take away with us and will no doubt have an impact on future writing. The scale of this country has quite a cathartic effect and it does feel like we can really spread our wings here.

MC: Describe your live show for someone who’s never seen it. (Even better, try and do so in one word). 
LIF: buyaticketandseeslashhearforyourself

MC: Let’s have a little fill in the blank fun: touring with the Wombats is _________ because ____________. 
LIF: Touring with the Wombats is fun because we get to fill in the blanks.

MC: This is Life in Film’s first US tour. What’s it been like touring outside of the UK/Europe for the first time? 
LIF: T
he satisfaction of having your passport stamped is such a dizzying high that it is going to be hard when we return to Europe and it's stampless ways.

MC: What are three of the records your band has been listening to quite a bit while on the road? 
LIF: We've been enjoying Twin Peaks, White Reeper and The Sonics.

MC: Seen any weird or stereotypically American things yet?
LIF: Lots of billboards telling us Jesus is real, which is good to know . A lot of road kill,  and we ate something called scrapple in Philadelphia, which was an eye opener.

MC: What’s next for Life In Film? Will we see you back in the States sooner than later? 
LIF: We're going to finish off this tour with The Wombats, but we are heading back over (to the U.S.) in August for our own headlining tour, so check for dates and times very soon!