Highlights and surprising acts of the UMS
Photo by Robert Rutherford
Hey, that doesn't look like an indie rock band!
Some of the most surprisingly satisfying acts at the UMS were the bands that felt like they didn’t quite fit. The Dendrites, whose sprawling 10-piece act packed into the Bands For Lands trailer stage outside of Thrifty Stick, brought the authentic flavor of Kingston in the ’60s to the somewhat pasty palate of South Broadway. The tiny, enclosed stage on which the band roiled shook and swayed, as did the small audience that had collected in the parking lot, entranced by the excellent recreations of ska classics that the Denver band blew through.
Hands down, the most interesting act of the weekend was the Malian singer Khaira Arby and her band, who played to a criminally small audience at the Goodwill outdoor stage on Sunday afternoon. How she ended up nestled in the indie-rock swamp of the UMS, or how the UMS failed to put her in more of a spotlight is anybody’s guess, because the music was good enough to warrant the huge crowd that Snake Rattle Rattle Snake had commanded from that same stage the night before. Granted, Arby played on Sunday afternoon, at a time when many UMS attendees were probably waking up and considering their late brunch options before leaping back into the frying pan of South Broadway, but the singer’s clear, powerful voice, backed by a funky, dynamic rhythm section and cascading lines from dueling guitarists (reminiscent of one of Mali’s better-known musical exports, Ali Farka Toure), provided a welcome diversion from the rock festival fatigue that had settled quite firmly by Sunday afternoon.
The year of the trio
The range of bands represented at the UMS is always astonishing, from the hushed, psyched-out lullabies of The Swayback’s Eric Halborg to The Knew’s amazing turn as an eight-piece band replete with a full horn section. But one thing that Denver is certainly doing—and doing well—is the power trio. Some of the most intensely focused and emotionally powerful sets of the weekend were taken in at the receiving end of a full-bore assault from Denver’s best, and divergent, three-piece rock outfits.
Lion Sized turned in a predictably amazing set at the 3 Kings on Sunday, barreling through its songs with a ferocity that left singer Josh Bergstrand breathless in the stifling heat. What Lion Sized offers in precision, Accordion Crimes counters with discord and dissonance, and the band’s set at the Hi-Dive on Saturday was indeed noisy and brash. Singer Bryon Parker is a commanding presence onstage, shaky-legged and wide-mouthed, and the extremely tight band rattled the dead-eyed and puke-white revelers from their early evening stupor.
The briefly reunited Sin Desires Marie followed Lion Sized and reminded audiences why the seven years of relative silence from this band hasn’t done much to diminish the emotional wallop of its songs. Oddly enough, given that there seems to be a newfound affinity among Denver bands for indie rock styles of the ’90s, Sin Desires Marie manages to sound at once both classic and without an era. The band’s set avoided sounding at all dated while providing all the comfort of familiar songs. Rumor has it that the band will be playing one more show before returning into that gentle night, so Denver folks have one more chance to see the performance.
Kicking off the festival’s Sunday offerings up in the northern hinterlands of the festival’s geography, Night Of Joy tore through a short but incredibly potent set at the Club 404. The group’s cover of Shellac’s “My Black Ass” fit perfectly into Night Of Joy’s sound, a blend of Dirty-era Sonic Youth and the serpentine guitar antics of the Contortions’ Pat Place. Singer-guitarist Valerie Franz even recalls the gravelly yelp of Steve Albini. But the rhythm section, comprised of bassist Bree Davies and drummer Fez Garcia, is more fun to watch than a barrel full of monkeys. Garcia seems to switch on at the beginning of their shows, set to one speed—ferocious, attacking the drums like he’s got a bone to pick.
