Take your Omega-3 and CoQ10 supplements. Drink plenty of water. Stay away from trans fats. Hand your cell phone to your best friend after your fifth drink so you don’t drink and dial.
These are just a few words of advice, survival tips if you will, for the many, many of you who will be hitting South Broadway for the 2009 Underground Music Showcase (www.theums.com), affectionately known by music fans as UMS.
It’s now running four days, Thursday, July 23 through Sunday, July 26, so if you have yet to take any vacation time, now would be a good time to send the boss a “gone fishing” email.
Helpful links:
- http://gigbot.com/festivals/theums – enables you to view the entire schedule and build your own concert to-do list after you’ve created a Gigbot account. You can also see a “Festival Stream” of all the other Gigbot users, like kylewagner, who’s going to be quite the busy boy.
- www.twitter.com/theums
- UMS Facebook Event page
So let’s get down to it.
UMS Day 1 – Thursday, July 23
Dan Kaufman Superstar Eruption (6:15pm at E-3/MACC Stage @ Hi-Dive), a man of mystery without the go-go gear and gun, born in a year referenced in the Zager and Evans song, “In the year 2525,” Kaufman and his volcanic, psychedelic style has the ability to seduce Jim Morrison, cause David Lynch to feel a bit uneasy, and evoke Andy Warhol to rise from the dead and reach for his camera for “Bitch: Part II.”
Although Anisette (formerly the Messengers) will be playing the Evergroove Stage @ 3 Kings Tavern (7pm), the band’s rightful place would be atop a cliff overlooking the ocean as a heli-cam captures the “songs are colors” persona.
Instigating more delight than two pairs of clicking boots, Cowboy Curse (7pm, E-3/MACC Stage @ Hi-Dive), turns Grey Skies Blue with pure sunshine smiles and melodies, giving The Archies a run for their pre-recession dollar.
What can you say about Magic Cyclops (7:45pm on the Evergroove Stage @ 3 Kings Tavern)…air-guitar hero, boss o’da juke box, the only guy in town that can sport a fanny pack (that always gets a giggle from the Scots) on the big screen? Magic is at his best if he finished off a 12-pack of PBR the night before, so maybe we should chip in and have it delivered Wednesday night along with some DiGiorno.
Like tiny “bubbles in a wind tunnel” b.sous (7:45pm on the E-3/MACC Stage @ Hi-Dive) takes a slice of Don Ho’s Hawaii, a bite of the East Village and a chapter from our childhood to help one escape to a trouble-free land without the need for those pesky yet colorful prescriptions drugs.
Cody Crump (8:30pm at Michelangelo’s Coffee & Wine Bar) is being compared to the likes of Jeff Buckley. Some big shoes to fill. But the volume and reach of his vocals, the depth of his lyrics and the soul from his guitar will more make the cup at Michelangelo’s runnith over. Hold the foam.
Widowers (8:30pm on the Evergroove Stage @ 3 Kings Tavern) event review – Although many a band has looked at their CD’s track listing and said, “Yeah, let’s use this for our set list,” they would never admit it. Not the Widowers. At the beginning of the release party its self-titled debut, Mike Marchant put it right out there, “We’re going to play our new album for you from beginning to end.” MORE
I wondered if Light Travels Faster (8:30pm on the E-3/MACC Stage @ Hi-Dive) wrote “Baca County CO” as a way to win Ricardo Baca’s heart so he’d let them play UMS. After doing a bit more G2 and hearing another ditty, “Search and Destroy” Rough Mix I realized they’d actually been making a well-deserved name for themselves in Denver since 2007. Then I read an article in The Onion that their new full-length album’s title is “Welcome to Baca Land,” so I guess I was right after all.
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen someone play the guitar like they were tinkling 88 keys. But that’s what Maxwell Hughes (9:15pm on the Scion Stage @ the Irish Rover) pulls off effortlessly. I can only imagine what a whole set within the Irish Rover setting will be like. Check this out and see what I mean.
Hawks of Paradise (10pm on the Evergroove Stage @ 3 Kings Tavern) is one of those bands whose orchestration enables you to envision their music video before its inception. On “Lost Way Home,” a fish eye lens captures a sprite London bird making her way off the pages of a 1969 issue of Vogue for a romp in a Central Park fountain, a swirl on a Covent Garden carousel, all before she saunters into a party in full swing at The Factory. Brilliant.
Photo Atlas (11:55pm on the Evergroove Stage @ 3 Kings Tavern) will always conjure memories of mayhem for me and a number of other locals who “were there.” That warm Austin night when Denver made its mark at a SXSW after-hours party on the wrong side of the tracks, kicking up dirt and spewing up beer as the band threw us all into a frenzy. From the sounds of their new EP, To Silently Provoke the Ghost, they’re up to their old tricks. I don’t know about the silently part, but I expect there will be a lot of provoking, poking, thrashing, spaz dancing and the like at the Atlas’ 3 Kings show, especially when “It’s All About the Money” hits the set list. Karla, hold onto your glasses this time.
Day 2: Friday, July 24
(Previews for Days 3 and 4 to come tomorrow, 7/24)
