UMS 2010 Preview

The time has come once again for Denver's best music festival, The UMS, taking place on South Broadway from July 22-25. It's like CMJ without the hassle, like SXSW but with less butt sweat. In short, it's well worth your time. I've put together a short list of the bands I most want to see. In my past experience, there will be someone good playing almost all the time, so this is but a sampling of what the UMS has to offer. You can still by a $30 pass that will get you through the entire weekend of music up through July 21st, so don't delay any longer!

While some of these set times are close together, the beauty of this festival is the proximity of all shows to one another. You can make it between the most distant venues in probably 10 minutes at the most, while it's less than 5 minutes between most.




















These United States - Friday, 11 PM @ the Hi-Dive
(Photo credit Sarah Law)

The UMS has been working the last few years to bring in national headliners, and These United States will be a fantastic act to headline Friday night. I've recently become quite a fan of this band on account of hearing their Daytrotter sessions, and have since bought their most recent LP Everything Touches Everything. The band should have a new record out for their performance at the UMS, which should result in the Hi-Dive being packed wall-to-wall for their
set.




























Munly & the Lupercalians - Saturday, 10 PM @ the Hi-Dive (Photo credit Gary Isaacs)

Munly shows have been quite rare around Denver as of late, and I believe his last two shows have been on New Years Eve with the Auto Club, so the chance to see him at the UMS should not be missed. Munly's double album continues to have no release date, but I expect that he'll be playing mostly material from that record at his showcase this year.























Thrift Store Cowboys - Saturday, 11 PM @ the Skylark Lounge (Photo credit Logan Caldbeck)

Having recently celebrated their tenth year as a band, TSC theoretically could have played at the UMS every year of its existence, but since the festival started out with locals only, and TSC hail from Lubbock, Texas, it just wasn't meant to be. However, now that they're both 10, their parents arranged a play-date for the two. TSC will have lots of new material to play from their soon to be released LP Light Fighter.






















One Wolf - Saturday, 7 PM @ the Skylark Lounge

Another great Lubbock band, One Wolf plays their first UMS this year as well. With two great albums under their belt, and plenty of time honing their live show, this will be a set you don't want to miss.





























Paper Bird - Thursday, 11:55 PM @ the Hi-Dive; Friday, 7:30 PM @ CarToys Stage (Photo credit Gary Isaacs)

I have somehow gone four years in Colorado without getting to see Paper Bird, but I continue to hear great things about them. Hopefully their two appearances this year will finally give me the chance I need to catch their show.





























Amanda Shires - Saturday, 9 PM @ Walnut Room Pizzeria

As 1/6 of the aforementioned Thrift Store Cowboys, Amanda Shires has come into her own as a songwriter with her recent West Cross Timbers. She basically lives on the road, so when it comes to handling a live crowd, Amanda is among the best. Don't be surprised to see a member or two of TSC backing her up on this gig as well.

SXSW preview - 2010 Mile Hi Fidelity day party

The Denver music scene will be well-represented at SXSW this year, and while you can resolve to make each individual band's official showcase if you're going the $700 badge route, you can also catch the entire line-up on Friday. Sadly, this showcase conflicts with my "can't miss" showcase by Ramble Creek, so I'm left to catch these bands at other venues at other times during the week. This showcase would actually be my second-in-line can't miss if it didn't conflict with my first, if that helps make my case.

I've already put my plug in for Nathaniel Rateliff and the Wheel, and if you read this blog, you know I mention Slim Cessna's Auto Club about once a month. Slim has been around a long time, but don't take that for granted. You need to see an Auto Club show while you have the chance. No, they aren't going anywhere as far as I know, but they don't tour as much as they used to, and they don't make it through Texas very often at all. SCAC is one of Denver's most original acts, and they continue to perform at a very high level.

I also recommend that you try to catch Paper Bird if you get the chance, and Houses and Snake Rattle Rattle Snake have been getting increasing attention as well. I don't mean for this to sound like 1950s era product placement, but I'm a pretty big fan of Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey too. However, maybe it's for the best I have a time conflict, because I probably don't need to start on the whiskey at noon anyway.