Top Three: Adam Lancaster of Curious Yellow
A comeback kid has old bands and new starts on his mind
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Three and a half years ago, Denver guitarist/vocalist Adam Lancaster bid farewell to Curious Yellow, the textured, epic indie-rock band that he had put together after moving to the Mile High City from Minneapolis. His hiatus from music allowed Lancaster to focus on his day job, his record label (the now-eminent Morning After Records), and his young son, Eli. Yet his need for a musical outlet led him back to Curious Yellow at the end of last year. Now, the reconfigured quintet is making its way back into Denver’s indie scene with a reunion show tonight at the Hi-Dive. In honor of the Curious resurrection, Lancaster spoke with Decider about his favorite reunion concerts.
Built To Spill
Adam Lancaster: It was their first comeback tour, and Curious Yellow opened for them at the Gothic. The Gothic has an awesome green room with a ton of coolers filled with beer. After our set, we walked down into the green room and Doug Martsch was just hitting the bong and he looks up and compliments us on our set. Then he told us that we could help ourselves to the beer because they weren’t planning on drinking any of it.
Decider: Have you seen Built To Spill since then?
AL: Yeah, and the show was just awkward. Martsch would take, like, two minutes after each song to tune his guitar, and everyone just stood around waiting.
Dinosaur Jr.
AL: Dinosaur Jr. was one of the bands that got me into playing guitar. I saw them play at Lollapalooza in Chicago three years ago and Lou Barlow was back in the band. J. Mascis is like the Yngwie Malmsteen of indie rock guitar; he’s like a guitar god for indie rock guitar players. Dinosaur Jr. live is a whole different experience than listening to one of their recordings.
Pixies
AL: It was few Septembers ago, maybe 2005 or 2006, at Magness Arena—their first reunion tour. I just kind of walked in, even though it was supposed to be sold out. I guess they undersold the floor tickets or something.
D: And how was the set itself?
AL: It was good. Everyone in the band was all older and fatter. It wasn’t anything great. I guess it was more about the novelty of seeing the Pixies.
D: Do you think there’s any novelty in the Curious Yellow reunion?
AL: There might be a novelty to anyone who was in the local scene back in the earlier part of the decade. A lot of local bands like Black Black Ocean, Grace Like Gravity, Against Tomorrow’s Sky, and Bright Channel all started around that time when there was that big insurgence of the local indie scene. We all played together a lot, so there was definitely camaraderie between us all.
Built To Spill
Adam Lancaster: It was their first comeback tour, and Curious Yellow opened for them at the Gothic. The Gothic has an awesome green room with a ton of coolers filled with beer. After our set, we walked down into the green room and Doug Martsch was just hitting the bong and he looks up and compliments us on our set. Then he told us that we could help ourselves to the beer because they weren’t planning on drinking any of it.
Decider: Have you seen Built To Spill since then?
AL: Yeah, and the show was just awkward. Martsch would take, like, two minutes after each song to tune his guitar, and everyone just stood around waiting.
Dinosaur Jr.
AL: Dinosaur Jr. was one of the bands that got me into playing guitar. I saw them play at Lollapalooza in Chicago three years ago and Lou Barlow was back in the band. J. Mascis is like the Yngwie Malmsteen of indie rock guitar; he’s like a guitar god for indie rock guitar players. Dinosaur Jr. live is a whole different experience than listening to one of their recordings.
Pixies
AL: It was few Septembers ago, maybe 2005 or 2006, at Magness Arena—their first reunion tour. I just kind of walked in, even though it was supposed to be sold out. I guess they undersold the floor tickets or something.
D: And how was the set itself?
AL: It was good. Everyone in the band was all older and fatter. It wasn’t anything great. I guess it was more about the novelty of seeing the Pixies.
D: Do you think there’s any novelty in the Curious Yellow reunion?
AL: There might be a novelty to anyone who was in the local scene back in the earlier part of the decade. A lot of local bands like Black Black Ocean, Grace Like Gravity, Against Tomorrow’s Sky, and Bright Channel all started around that time when there was that big insurgence of the local indie scene. We all played together a lot, so there was definitely camaraderie between us all.
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