The Underground Music Showcase Shines Under New Leadership

Crowds Enjoy The Underground Music Showcase. (Photo Credit: Aly McClaran)

Another year and another Underground Music Showcase in the books. The funnest weekend of the year for us once again had us scouring the streets of South Broadway taking in some of the best national and local acts in music today. Under the new ownership of Two Parts, the festival took on its own identity while keeping the traditional elements of the long standing institution. For us it was our eighth year in a row covering this festival and quite possibly the funnest. Each year brings new memories and discoveries, this year was no different. The festival switched from a four day format to a three day format this year and added a slew of bigger stages tucked away among the gritty yet majestic Baker neighborhood. (Scroll Down For More)

Gallery by Aly McClaran (All Rights Reserved)

Los Mocochetes playing to the Sesh Stage crowd at The UMS. (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

With three main stages this year attendees had more opportunities to see more than just music. A beer-centric stage that combined Two Parts's successful Sesh Festival combined with a music stage adequately named the Sesh Stage gave us an opportunity to enjoy our favorite session beers all while listening to the likes of bands such as The Velveteers, Slow Caves, and Los Mocochetes.

The Imagination Stage provided with some adequate amenities during the fest. (Photo Credit: Aly McClaran)

Another crowd favorite was the Imagination Stage tucked inside Import Mechanics. The area was a delightful oasis with an array of activities, murals, and shaded lounges to enjoy. Modular music installations as well as a record shop on wheels were amongst the favorite attractions. An El Camino with a ball pit in the the bed made for some rather interesting moments all weekend as well. 

Friday night headliners The Overcoats got things started off. (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

PPL MVR (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)

After dusk the streets of Broadway turned into a music lovers paradise with venues such as Three Kings Tavern, The Hornet, Illegal Pete's, Gary Lee's Motor Club and The Skylark hosted a who's who of some of the most talented bands in our city and surrounding areas. Although crowded and sometimes impossible to get into, it was the sidewalks where conversations and yearly reunions took place all while the blaring sounds reached far beyond the the clubs and into the streets.

The Denver All-Stars (Photo credit: Robert Castro)

Wes Watkins of The Other Black. (Photo Credit: Aly McClaran)

The buzz amongst festival attendees was pretty consistent as many enjoyed this year and had nothing but praise for the new direction the festival is headed into. As for us we cannot wait until next year to celebrate once again one of the best weekends our city has to offer. 

Words - Robert Castro

UMS AWARDS

1. Best Dressed Band: Tyto Alba (matching baseball tees), Wildermiss (dem gold jackets), iZCALLi (Karate Kid themed ensembles) The Corner Girls (prom dresses) Parallelephants (fringe on fleek) Yasi (denim queen) Madge (boxing outfits).

2. Best performances: Madge, Panther Martin, Nasty Nachos/Rumtum, Optycnerd, Tyto Alba, Hot 8 Brass Band, ALVVAYS, Bud Bronson & The Good Timers, Bison Bone, The Guestlist.

3. Best use of advertising: iZCALLi (wood screen printed signs, and numbered) Honorable Mention: The Trujillo Company, The Hollow (don't ask).

A pool full of teddy bears. (Photo Credit: Aly McClaran)

4. Best venue: Imagination Stage

5. Best place to grab a bite: Illegal Petes (a lifesaver every night)

6. Most common phrase: "Where are you?", "Is there a line?".

Gallery by Robert Castro (All Rights Reserved)

First Look: Deezie Brown "Drive" Video Premiere

Based out of Austin, Texas, Deezie Brown delivers a very edgy, dark, and rebellious depiction of Alternative Hip-Hop and Electronic Pop. Deezie Brown was exposed to hip-hop at an early age while he rode around with his dad listening to some of the great artists of the South such as OutKast and UGK. Fresh off the heels of his recently released album Judith, Brown delivers a unique sound that is evident in the video above. 

Deezie Brown presents his video for the single "Drive". The Texas native is set to bring the heat this upcoming weekend to The Underground Music Showcase here in Denver. He will playing on Saturday at 8:00 PM at The Blue Ice Lounge. 

Q & A With The Talent Team Behind The Underground Music Showcase

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The 2018 edition of The Underground Music Showcase is mere days away and set forth to take over the streets of South Broadway once again. Under new leadership by Two Parts the festival is one of the ever-growing music events in our country. The talent team behind the event has been hard at work booking bands, creating daunting schedules and working on making it one of the most exciting years for the fest itself. Introducing new elements while maintaining the core of the music festival will be one of the highlights this year. An array of new stages are set to debut and provide for a true music festival experience. We had a chance to chat with the amazing team behind bringing and coordinating the amazing talent we will get to see. Tickets are still available and we also have a discount code for your three day pass. Use code: ULTRA5280 for $25 off a three day weekend pass.

TOBIAS KRAUSE / UMS EVENT DIRECTOR

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U5280: Who are you excited to see this year? 1 local and 1 national.

TK: National - I am over the moon excited about seeing Parallelephants and Deezie Brown. Both from Texas, they are two of the most unique acts on the bill. Locally, Motion Trap, RUMTUM, Nasty Nachos, wait... you said one? 

U5280:  Moving from a 4 day fest to a 3 day fest, did that make it easier for
booking?

TK: Not necessarily. With shortening the festival a day, we also decided to grow and expand within the three-day period. The allowed us to focus our efforts on packing in programming within those three days!

U5280: What new elements is UMS bringing this year as opposed to years past?

TK: Stay tuned... there will be a ton of new features, activations, pop-ups and more. But, we have a dream partner in Oskar Blues -- they are an ideal partner for the UMS, and have been incredibly helpful and supportive throughout this process.

U5280: Is there plans to feature music panels, guest speakers, workshops in the future?

TK: Yes. Hell yes.

U5280: In the past it seems like crowds wouldn’t venture farther north than say The Hornet, what do you haven place that will make them want to go further out this year?

TK: Multiple venues, and two outdoor stages. There’s a ton of stuff to do up North, and I encourage EVERYONE to check out what we’ve got in store. (See map layout info here)

U5280: How has the Baker community response been to this years festival and what are some of the more common issues you face with putting a festival of this nature in the neighborhood?

TK: They’ve been great, and super supportive.

U5280: With Two Parts taking over now, what does the future of The UMS look like going forward?

TK: Stay tuned...

JAMES IRVINE / HEAD TALENT BUYER / THE UMS

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U5280: Who are you excited to see this year? 1 local and 1 national.

JI: Tough call choosing one band out of this meaty lineup…but…I’m excited to see Alvvays headline our main stage on Sunday. They were the first act we confirmed this year.  Personally I’ve been following the band for a few years now.  Their trajectory is astonishing; selling out 1,000 cap rooms across the country.  I think their vibe and aesthetic fit UMS to a T.  Also, they’re Canadian.  I love hockey. 

Hands down the local band that I’m dying to see is Tarmints.  I was very excited when Kurt Ottaway reached out for a reunion performance at UMS; anything Ottaway touches is gold.  This band blew me away when they played Larimer Lounge.  I expect nothing less.  I hope I have the legs to make their performance at Hi-Dive on Sunday night.

U5280: What challenges do you face when booking the national acts?

JI: Our biggest challenge this year was simply the shortened timeline that was given to book the nationals.  Previous years we start the booking process in October/November, but with the transition over to Two Parts, we had only 3 months to pull it off.  Even with those time constraints, we all feel extremely proud with the work we have done.

Another challenge worth pointing out is we are throwing a summer festival not on a coast.  99% of bands/agents aren’t routing thru Denver in July. They typically hold off on summer touring, to focus on soft ticketed and/or festival plays. Meaning we are booking one-offs, which can really raise the price tag to make it worth their while. However, bands/agents WANT to play the festival, so that can also even things out.  Denver in late July is an attractive destination for a band. 

U5280: What new elements is UMS bringing this year as opposed to years past?

JI: Two Parts added three additional stages this year, “Imagination Stage”, “Sesh Stage” and, “Comedy Stage”.  These stages are loaded with both national and local talent including White Denim, Night Beats, Kadhja Bonet, Holy Wave, Brothertiger, Slow Caves, Casey James Prestwood & the Burning Angels, Duckwrth, Oka Tygra , The Builders and the Butchers and many more.  I’m excited to see the footprint of this festival grow, and see how it’s received.  

U5280: In the past  it seems like crowds wouldn’t venture farther north than say The Hornet, what do you have in place that will make them want to go further out this year?

JI: See question #6. 

U5280: With Two Parts taking over now, what does the future of The UMS look like going forward?

JI: Very, very bright.  The entire Two Parts team is dedicated, ambitious, incredibly intuitive, and responsible.  It’s been a pleasure working with them this year.  I truly see this becoming a national destination festival on a larger level very soon.  If we keep doing things the correct way, the press will catch up.  UMS is unique; I don’t know of any other festivals that combine a hard ticketed main stage, with a street fest.  I see it as a mashup of Northside Festival or CMJ (RIP), and a traditional fest such as Hopscotch or Osheaga.  It’s really ‘the best weekend of the year’.  I’m honored to be part of it. 

KENZI EVERITT / TALENT BUYER / THE UMS

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U5280: Who are you excited to see this year? 1 local and 1 national.

KE: Locally, I can’t wait for Wheelchair Sports Camp. It’s their first time playing the festival in quite a few years, and they are such a Denver staple. Rapping over electronic beats, a trumpet run through countless FX pedals, and live drums makes for an incredible show. Catch them playing at 12am on Saturday night (technically Sunday) at Gary Lee’s!

Nationally, PPL MVR is going to be wild. If you’ve ever wanted to see three people in the Denver heat wearing yeti suits, shredding, and head banging, then you’ll want to be at the Main Stage at 4:20pm (yes) on Sunday. 

U5280: What challenges do you face when booking the national acts?

KE: We work to provide them with some extra resources especially since this isn’t a typical show on a tour – What does lodging look like? How can we get them a burrito at Illegal Pete’s? How can we help with backlining gear so they don’t have to lug everything they have with them to the venue? And what can we do to make this experience special so they come back to Denver? 

U5280: What challenges do you face when booking the local acts?

KE: There are SO MANY incredible bands in this state. I am always blown away by how much talent there is, and how many bands/musicians I discover on a consistent basis. I wish we could put everyone into UMS, but I think it would literally be two weeks long. On that note, scheduling is a whole beast because of how active all these musicians are. I’m calling you out, Carl Sorenson. We have a whole google doc just with bands Carl is in. 

U5280: How many bands are playing this year?

KE: Somewhere between 300 – 350 bands/artists. We’ve still got some surprises coming your way!

U5280: Is there plans to feature music panels, guest speakers, workshops in the future?

KE: The intersection of music with other art forms is always incredible, and it’s going to be a focus this year. Stay tuned for more schedule details!

U5280: How has the Baker community response been to this year’s festival and what are some of the more common issues you face with putting a festival of this nature in the neighborhood?

KE: One of the main goals of UMS across all parties that have directed it has been to work with the neighborhood. We couldn’t do this without the support of the Baker neighborhood, and I think everyone involved has worked hard to make it something that is kind and welcoming to its neighbors through everything from neighborhood discounted tickets to cleanup crews leaving the grounds better than we found them. 

U5280: With Two Parts taking over now, what does the future of The UMS look like going forward?

KE: UMS has always been such a unique opportunity for music discovery, and I think Two Parts has fully embraced that idea while adding in food, beer and spirits, even more visual arts, comedy, with even more to come. The festival feels like it has an incredible energy backing it up, and the future looks pretty swell. 

KYLE HARTMAN / TALENT BUYER / THE UMS

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U5280: Who are you excited to see this year? 1 local and 1 national.

KH: Local- The House of Aura. Losing Trish Keenan was a huge loss for music culture, and the shadow of Broadcast still looms large over modern indie rock. Everyone from Melody’s Echo Chamber to Toro Y Moi was influenced by her. Deerhunter’s own Bradford Cox (headlining this year’s UMS) considered her his mentor. On a personal level, I’m constantly looking for artists who capture her spirit and continue building on the path she started. After hearing The House of Aura’s debut album that’s due in the fall, I think I’ve found an artist who is interested in going deeper into some of the realms she visited. The new project from wunderkinds Derrick Bozich (Sound of Ceres), Anna Smith, and Julia Mendiolea is an ethereal beam of light straight to the brain that will send you floating off into a crystalline dream. Do not miss their debut performance at UMS. 

National- Kainalu. Hailing from Madison, Wisconsin, is the recording project of Trent Prall, a former research geneticist who started Kainalu as a way to regain control of his own identity. His unique blend of tropidelic space funk crafted around masterful songwriting makes the pleasure center in your brain explode and creates a headrush that captures what it might feel like to walk into the ocean and suddenly find yourself not in the water, but flying through space. He’s assembled a four piece act to bring these songs to life on stage and the results are spellbinding. His first ever performance in Colorado is going to be something you won’t be able to get out of your head. 

U5280: What challenges do you face when booking the national acts?

KH: Booking national acts usually adds some additional hurdles as you have to figure out a lot of logistics that are not as big of a deal with local acts. For example, transporting tons of gear across the country can be tricky and requires working with our production team to figure out what gear we can provide to make it easier for artists everywhere to come out for the festival.

U5280: What challenges do you face when booking the local acts?

KH: Always and forever scheduling. We are so lucky to have an abundance of talented musicians in our Colorado community. The biggest double-edged sword is that many of them play in multiple bands. When we are scheduling performances we always have to take this into account. We want to ensure that musicians in multiple acts have enough buffer in between sets to relax and not have to worry about rushing their gear from one venue to the next. 

U5280: How many bands are playing this year?

KH: The number is in flux as we are still adding a few more acts, but we’ll have around 330+ artists this year. 

U5280: In the past it seems like crowds wouldn’t venture farther north than say The Hornet, what do you haven place that will make them want to go further out this year?

KH: This year we have two additional outdoor stages, the Imagination Stage on 2nd ave at Import Warehouse, and the Sesh Stage on 4th ave at Fentress Architects. This is going to create a very cohesive festival footprint for UMS this year. On every block from Alameda to 6th there will be something exciting happening. People are going to want to check out the beer festival happening inside the Sesh Stage, while others will be entranced by the art installations that will be springing up all around the Imagination Stage. Around the Sesh stage we have Moe’s BBQ, Banded Oak Brewing, and Baere Brewing, all fantastic venues that are going to see a lot more foot traffic. 

U5280: With Two Parts taking over now, what does the future of The UMS look like going forward? 

KH: It looks unbelievably bright, Two Parts creates experiences that are so intertwined with the identity Colorado is cultivating. UMS has always been a celebration of Colorado’s music and a DIY festival created by fans and artists who are truly passionate about music. These guys are master craftsmen at making DIY style events with character and that fill you with a sense of discovery. This was such a perfect fit for what UMS is about.  They can make people say, “I’ve never seen this before and it’s wonderful.” With Two Parts helming UMS, the possibilities are limitless. 

Robert Castro / Editor in Chief

2018 Underground Music Showcase Announces First Wave Of Acts

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Our favorite local music festival has been announced. The first wave of the Underground Music Showcase is live and full of amazing local and national acts with some of our favorites like BJ The Chicago Kid, ALVVAYS, Digable Planets, Frankie Cosmos, Gang Gang Dance and more. Local staples such as CRL CRRLL, Colfax Speed Queen, Slow Caves, Tyto Alba and The Still Tide are also blessing South Broadway with their amazing talents. 

4 OUTDOOR STAGES.

Main Stage at Goodwill Grounds + Archer Street.

20+ INDOOR VENUES.

Music, art, beer, comedy, and more to be announced.

Featuring over 200 bands.

Stay tuned for more information regarding the festival. Tickets are available now and can be purchased here.

Denver Music Spotlight: Who Is Miggy Camacho?

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Hailing from the City of Angels, Miggy Camacho has been one of the Denver music scenes true ambassadors to live music. Just Miggy as he is known by has been at the forefront of blessing us with some of the finest R&B, Hip Hop, Soul, Funk and Motown music our city has to offer. From rocking the decks to promoting one of the best nightly parties at Goosetown Tavern on a weekly basis, Miggy is the heart and soul of a scene that truly caters to those who appreciate the throwback sound of yesteryear. His events always spark up nostalgia (Sorry Fresh Prince, we had to) with some classics and rare unreleased joints that people often find themselves scratching their heads when played. Truly a music ambassador in our ever growing music scene. If you are ever in the Bluebird District drop by Goosetown Tavern for a drink or two and enjoy some good quality grown folks music, tell him we sent you!

Make sure to check him out and one of the many events he hosts on a weekly basis. this week the amazing and talented Mandy Yoches and The Hell Knows will be Miggy's guest along with DJ Polyphoni (who just rocked our amazing anniversary party). As always the party is free and no cover for those 21+ 

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303 Music Fest Is Just Around The Corner

Our friends at 303 Magazine have always been supporters of the Denver local music scene and this year they are taking things up a notch by putting on this amazing event. We suggest purchasing tickets before this thing sells out. Trust us with this lineup you wont want to miss it.

303 Music Fest will feature performances by headliners STéLOUSE and Trev Rich. Also on the lineup The Other Black who will be leading our Colorado SuperJam, CITRA, Ray Reed, Eldren, church fire, Jay Triiiple, MILKY.WAV, Ghost Tapes, Impact, boyhollow, DJ Simone Says and Ru Johnson as your host. Be on the lookout for many more to be announced soon!

The Church Nightclub, one of Denver's hottest nightclubs, has hosted industry giants from Anjunabeats to Jack Novak and Deorro, and we can't think of a better place to party. In addition to the silent disco, Super Jam and meet and greet we'll be selling "303 Music Vol. 1" at the event. Eighty percent of all record profits will go to Youth on Record, creating a better tomorrow for local youth and in turn, the Colorado community as a whole. "303 Music Vol. 1" is a Colorado compilation record printed by “the best damn record club out there,” Vinyl Me, Please. Featuring strictly Colorado musicians, the ALBUM features beloved local artists like GRiZ, Trev Rich, Wildermiss, an exclusive track by Flobots and more — only on vinyl.

Record Features: Limited to 1,000 copies on vinyl only, an exclusive track by Flobots, a photobook featuring quotes and photos of all participating artists, exclusive album art by Denver artist John Vogl, colored-splatter wax and a FREE download code for a Youth on Record album.

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