As UMS bids farewell, Denver artists watch for an encore

Harmony Rose is the vocalist and songwriter of The Milk Blossoms, a Denver-based pop group. She has carried out at UMS 11 occasions, together with this 12 months.

Artists who carry out obtain wristbands to get pleasure from the remainder of the pageant, so Rose has simply as a lot expertise within the crowd at UMS as she does on stage.

“As much fun as it was to see bands like Amyl and the Sniffers, Shannon and the Clams, Remi Wolf, just incredible bands, we didn’t need to do that,” Rose stated. “I’m not sure how sustainable the fest would have been without the national acts, but I would love to see another festival in Denver where it only focuses on the local bands.”

Even as somebody who has constantly performed UMS for a decade, Rose instructed that the pageant organizers cap the variety of occasions artists can carry out so totally different bands have an opportunity to take the stage every year.

Mike Young of the Denver-based nation rock group, Clementine Was Right, agreed.

“You could do a model where you literally just have different bands every year, and I think that would be really healthy and great. The same way that any monoculture is going to make your soil unhealthy,” Young stated.

Clementine Was Right, led by Young and Gion Davis, performed UMS in 2023. The band entered the Denver music scene in 2021.

Sets at UMS are extremely coveted. Young stated ready for the discharge of the 12 months’s line-up after making use of to carry out is akin to checking on your identify on the highschool play’s solid listing.

Davis stated he’d wish to see UMS use its platform as a curator and a tastemaker to advertise native Denver venues and artists all year long.  

“I think the idea of UMS being like the underground showcase for music in Denver is very cool and noble, and I wish that that’s how it was,” Davis stated.