I feel like I just said this, but new music just keeps popping out of Denver. Last night, the Bluebird Theater hosted another album release party to keep the influx of new music going. This time, a large crowd packed inside the Bluebird Theater walls to celebrate the release of Tennis' sophomore album, catching opening performances from a variety of local supporting acts along the way. By the end of the night, the concert demonstrated that the local scene is as vibrant as ever, showing how this city's music is worthy of a much larger reach.
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| Moon Tides |
The night began with an opening performance from Fort Collins based band Moon Tides. Similar to the roots of the headlining band, Moon Tides performed as a duo; Dillon (vocals, guitar), Lexa (drums, vocals). The two created a dream-pop oriented form of surf/coastal influenced indie rock built from uptempo drums with simple beats, textural guitar, and well produced pre-recorded backing instrumentation. The songs were well written, with vocal melodies and lyricism that grabbed the listener and a dreamy pop feel that was emotive but upbeat.
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| Moon Tides |
Moon Tide's set began with "Swimming", a succinct piece with fast paced drums, guitar and a very catchy melody. The last time I saw Moon Tides, Lexa did not perform, and her absence seemed to have an affect on Dillon and the performance seemed to suffer. This time, with the complete band intact, Dillon's heart seemed to be in place and his vocal delivery seemed much more genuine. The two had a good dynamic on stage, although Dillon still seemed a bit apprehensive to really let himself go. Dillon's vocal delivery was sometimes shaky - not as assertive as I've heard in the studio releases they have put out. Also, although the production of the songs were solid, having much of the instrumentation coming from a computer as opposed to live musicians detracted from the live experience. Still, their songs are well written and have a great sound. Fans of the surf-rock genre should definitely give this band a shot.
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| Samurai Buck |
Next on stage was Samurai Buck, although he came on as a sort of interlude DJ. I was expecting a performance from this talented beat producer, but his purpose was to provide music in between set changes. Because of that, I'm not really going to review what he did, but I can say that I do enjoy his experimental and psychedelic approach to hip-hop style instrumental music. If that sounds intriguing to you, check out Samurai Buck's music online. Hopefully I'll get a chance to Samurai Buck in a featured performance role soon.
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| Mike Marchant |
Mike Marchant was the next band on stage. Mike Marchant is local esteemed singer-songwriter with a folk-rock style, and on this night he performed with a backing band. There were five band members on stage in all; Mike Marchant (vocals, guitar), Mark Weaver (bass), Grant Israel (guitar, vocals), Fez Guzman (drums), and Andy Hamilton (keyboard, guitar, vocals). Mike Marchant's songs are well written such that they have a certain feel that comes across whether Marchant chooses to deliver them acoustically or give them the full band rock treatment. This night Mike Marchant gave his music the rock treatment, yet these versions were just as appealing as the acoustic driven recordings I heard before.
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| Mike Marchant |
Much of Mike Marchant's set were a mix of mellower, folk/Americana style songs delivered with a grand and genuine stage presence. Songs like "Lower Downtown Curses", "Mexico", "Surround Me" captured audience attention as people soaked up the sounds and stories of each song. "You Were A Runner" was a standout track, a song with not only well crafted lyrics, but also a great melody and instrumentation that can easily lodge into one's head. For the end of Mike Marchant's set, the band picked up the pace with a couple uptempo rock pieces - getting the crowd to dance along and ending the set on a high note. The final song, "Sex In The Shadows", had a false, mellow ending, right before Mike Marchant and his band craftily and suddenly exploded into a dramatic instrumental finish. Mike Marchant definitely has appeal to fans of folk rock, but I think it extends further into the indie category as well. Fans of indie rock should definitely check Mike Marchant out.
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| Tennis |
After another set-change interlude by Samurai Buck, the stage was set for the evening's celebratory headliners. Tennis took the stage, performing as a four-piece band - Alaina Moore (vocals/keyboard), Patrick Riley (guitar), James Barone (drums) and a fourth member on keyboard and guitar. Tennis emerged last year after the release of their debut album, making an authentic sounding surf-inspired indie-pop record despite the band being from land-locked Colorado. They returned to the studio and created another record,
Young And Old, that expands on the surf-pop sound by incorporating a little classic rock 'n' roll influence. Their performance mixed both new and old material to celebrate their album release.
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| Tennis |
The night began with one of Tennis' newer songs, "Deep In The Woods", that was on their
Origins single. This song continued their breezy, summery, bright lo-fi/surf sound that they showcased heavily on
Cape Dory. One of their earliest songs, "Baltimore" came next, getting the crowd in a warm mood. Then, Tennis began to unveil some of their new material. Tennis had worked with The Black Keys' Patrick Carney in the production of their new album, and "Never To Part" was the first track off that new record that they performed.
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| Tennis |
The new song started out like Tennis' early material, but seemed to gain a subtle amount of force to it by the end. "Robin" came next, a song that took the core sound Tennis and seemed to wrap it around retro pop-rock. "It Falls Feels The Same" was very stylistically Tennis, but also subtly more forceful towards the end. The crowd roared when "South Carolina" was performed next, showing that
Cape Dory was still firmly in the crowd's mind.
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| Tennis |
Tennis treated the audience to a brand new, recently written and unreleased song that featured Patrick Riley on the keyboards. Tennis referred to the song as an experiment - but by the end of it it seemed to be a successful one. "High Road" came next, a song that seemed to balance the lo-fi/surf aesthetic with forcefully soft retro rock. That retro theme was carried on with "Waterbirds", a 6/8 time piece with a very vintage feel to it, a feeling that lingered with "Traveling" thanks to it's organ-toned keyboard line.
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| Tennis |
For the remainder of the show, Tennis brought singers from the local band Paper Bird to the stage to sing backing vocals for the remainder of the show. Their vocal harmonies brought a new dimension to the performances of Tennis' songs. It really brought out the new production in "My Better Self", and enhanced the live performances of older songs like "Pigeons" and "Marathon". Tennis saved the single "Origins" until the nearly the very end, performing it before the final song "Petition". Those pieces seemed to really show what new ideas Tennis was playing with by working with a producer, and the crowd seemed to react very well to those songs in particular. Tennis didn't end their set there however, coming out for an encore performance of two old Tennis favorites, "Bimini Bay" and "Long Boat Pass", the latter of which had the song clapping along throughout. Tennis' performance revealed their new album explores new ideas without distancing themselves from their characteristic sound, so fans of their first album should enjoy
Young And Old.
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