"Holy Underground is a multi-faceted music company that takes pride in operating with a collective mentality. We represent a variety of independent artists who we feel are putting out the best music Denver has to offer, and who have a conscious commitment to pushing the boundaries of our scene. We offer these artists services such as booking, management and publicity, in addition to running a record label HUG Records on the side. Our goal is to get our bands the local and national attention they deserve, and offer a lifeline for our artists to reach their full potential inside and outside our beloved Denver island."

So what does all that mean? It means that Holy Underground is committed to enriching and bringing more attention to the vibrant Denver music scene. Holy Underground is launching with a stable of ten strong local acts that cover a range of music styles: Achille Lauro, Cerulean, Flashlights, Force Publique, Hollagramz, LUST, ManCub, Mombi, Sauna and School Knights. Their goal is to allow these and other future local acts to break outside of the Denver market and garner national attention while allowing them to maintain Denver as a base, in turn making Denver more important to the overall national music scene.


It also means that this Saturday night is shaping up to be a great party, as Holy Underground will be showcasing the electro side of their lineup with ManCub, Force Publique, Cerulean and Flashlights. Steffi Graf from L.A. will keep the party going with a late night DJ set, and DJ Babyshoe will keep the party going in between sets. CRAP Eyewear will have sunglasses on hand to give away as well. Come out and celebrate and be a part of Holy Underground's mission to further the Denver music scene!

The Holy Underground Launch Party is at Larimer Lounge on Saturday, September 1st. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. The show is 21+ and the doors open at 8:00PM. Tickets and more information are available online here.

The second day of the 2012 Underground Music Showcase crammed even more great music into another fun-filled night. With the festivities beginning earlier and the main stage open, day two definitely made it known that the festival was in full swing. There were plenty of highlights that happened this day - check out images from these performers: A Shoreline Dream, Big Freedia & The Divas, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Force Publique, Il Cattivo, Le Divorce, ManCub, Men In Burka, Narky Stares/Teena Pizza, Peter Black, and Signal Path.

Underground Music Showcase 2012 Day 2 from Concerted Effort on Vimeo.

It's no secret that we at Concerted Effort love the Hi-Dive, especially reflecting back on how much this blog has been there, even in the past week. I keep repeating myself, but this venue just knows how to bring in the right bands and put on great shows. But the venue doesn't just rely on touring bands to achieve that, the Hi-Dive maintains a commitment to supporting the local scene as well - a strong commitment at that. Not only do local bands have the chance to open for several national and international headlining acts, but the Hi-Dive offers prime dates to local bands that really highlights the venue's dedication to the scene - as was the case with the locals only showcase on Friday night.

Mombi

The night began with a performance from Mombi. Mombi is a three-piece band featuring Kael Smith (vocals, guitar), Matt Herron (synth), and Michael Behrenhausen (drums) that created ambient and atmospheric music both electronically and organically. Background sound, sometimes wispy, sometimes cavernous, created a moody and hollow space, filled by gentle synths, careful drumming, and effected guitar that ghostly shadowed deliberately frail vocals.

Mombi

Mombi's latest album, The Wounded Beat, embodies that characteristic sound just described, although features a lot of acoustic guitar that almost adds a folk dimension to the band's sound. On this night, Kael Smith elected to play electric guitar, which helped instill a cold and dark atmospheric sound throughout Mombi's brief set. Mombi took the audience on a steady, cautious journey through four songs, ending on the weightless yet tense piece "Monsoon". Mombi does a great job of creating something that sounds simultaneously enormous yet empty - like dust floating in the blankness of space. If ambiance is your thing, Mombi excels at it.

Peter Black

Between sets, Peter Black played short DJ sets. Always displaying high degrees of versatility, Peter Black employed an incredibly wide range of styles on this particular night. Tucked away on the rear mini stage, Peter Black smoothly blended futuristic and atmospheric electronic selections with songs pulled from post-rock, ambient rock, dreamwave, and gothic rock; an impressive combination of sounds and a testament to Peter Black's ability to select songs appropriate for any occasion. Whether or not he's featured on the main stage, if he is behind the decks he will get the job done.

Force Publique

Next up was a highly anticipated set from Force Publique. Force Publiques synth-heavy darkwave sound and strong songwriting locked my attention long ago when I first saw them, and they quickly became one of my local favorites. But, Force Publique had been quiet lately, hard at work on new material and not performing live shows - the last time I saw them perform was October of last year. On Friday, Force Publique performed as the duo of Cassie McNeil (vocals, guitar, bass) and James Wayne (synths, MPC). They revealed a set of brand new material that continued their darkwave theme but certainly had some notable and exciting differences.

Force Publique

Force Publique opened their set with "Breathe The Lie", and the first thing I noticed was that Cassie McNeil was weilding a guitar - she had only ever performed with a bass and sometimes on synth when I'd seen them before. The next thing I noticed was James Wayne's Roland synth - I'd only ever seen him with a Moog before. The guitar and second synth added more depth to their sound, which was still decidedly Force Publique but seemed to have even more darkness and atmosphere to it in their new songs. Cassie McNeil also switched back to bass on some songs, and there were some pieces where she sang exclusively - something else entirely new. The beat work on Force Publique's new songs were very impressive, showing off a variety of beat styles and even more rhythmic intricacy. If James Wayne wasn't playing one synth (or both), he would be using his hands to lay down drum beats with his MPC. Although sometimes I felt the new pieces would have a little more presence with a live drummer like they've had before, I couldn't help but be impressed overall with all the new material - both in concept and execution. This is shaping up to be a big year for Force Publique, and I can't wait to get my hands on their next album.

School Knights

School Knights took the stage next for their headlining set. With an atmospheric/ambient set to lead off the night, and a gothic/darkwave set next, when School Knights' began performing their noise/garage rock, it set off like a nuclear explosion in contrast. Ben Donehower (bass, vocals), Morris Kolontyrsky (guitar), Zack Roif (drums), and Michael Stein (guitar, vocals) were back again, combining a host of rock sub-genres like alt-rock, surf-rock, punk, and lo-fi with a noisy aesthetic and lighthearted if not a bit satirical and sarcastic attitude. Loud, distorted, and noisy guitars matched up with fleeting drums to propel their chaotic sound and lay under the reverberated vocals, but it was controlled chaos.

School Knights

School Knights started their set with "Problem", a song where melodic lead guitar lingered just below a distorted wall of sound and Ben Donehower's vocals. That lingering melody drove School Knights' retro-like surfy punk-garage sound, while the loud distortion began to rile up the crowd. That lingering guitar-work craftily moved above the surface as School Knights' set progressed. "Brother" upped the tempo a bit, and so did the prominence of School Knights' guitar work, with the licks becoming much more rapid and injecting energy into the sound. By the time School Knights' performed their third song, the recently released single "Bender", the crowd was jumping around as quickly and wildly as Morris' fingers were hammering his frets.

School Knights

School Knights continued on smoothly, expertly blending their noisy aesthetic with the surf/punk/garage sound. They performed another newly released single, "Present Tense", with vocals melodic enough to create a sort of noise-pop sound, but delivered in a such a carefree fashion it maintained a raw, punk rock 'n' roll feel. School Knights continued to perform as yet released songs off of their forthcoming album, to the delight of a progressively rowdy crowd. Bodies thrashed up, down and side-to-side as the crowd lost themselves to School Knights' tactically abrasive sound. Fans of energetic noise-punk need to keep their eyes open for School Knights' next album release.

As much credit is due to the venue for providing a place for these local bands to showcase their talent, so to does credit go to the bands and the droves of people who came to support it all. It may not always work out like it did Friday night, but when it all comes together it's a beautiful thing. The persistence of bands to keep moving forward while spreading the word and different band's willingness to work together can pay off in the form of a great show, as long as they have great outlets to exhibit themselves. Support local music whenever you can to keep nights like these a regular thing.

See more pictures from this show in the Facebook photo album. Like the Concerted Effort page to stay up to date.

It came early and a little sudden, but we in Colorado know to expect the unexpected. We got our first snow of the season, and with it came chilling cold and wintry darkness - the perfect back story for the show that took place at the Hi-Dive Wednesday night. The Hi-Dive hosted a couple local bands and one touring band that all feature different varieties of moody sound, and for those willing to brave the cold, it was good show that went hand-in-hand with the change in weather.

Spires

Local indie rockers Spires opened up the night. The four members of Spires are Jake Lueck on bass, Marlon Chance on drums, Ian Gassman on guitar and Justin Sharp on vocals/guitar. They performed alternative rock songs that to me have an indie-pop appeal. The steady drumming in their songs kept an almost dancey beat, setting the backdrop for the intertwining guitar work of the band. I liked the clean approach to their guitar tones and the ample use of whammy bar and pitch bends that gave the band a floaty sound that is really appealing.  The vocals were smooth, seemingly sharing melody duties with the guitar like another instrument in the mix rather than being right in the foreground of the sound, almost giving the band a shoegaze quality but being a much more defined sound.

Spires

I made it to their performance a little late, and caught them in the middle of their first song, "Blue Occupation", a song with a driving rhythm and atmospheric instrumentation that makes what initially seems like a solemn song sound somewhat uplifting. From there they went into a new song with a slower tempo but similar feel. "The Chicago Outfit" had a driving beat, but maintained a more emotive feel, making it a standout song. They played two more songs I wasn't familiar with and finished with the other two tracks from their EP, the almost '80s-esque "Predatory" and "Calm July". Overall, I think Spires has a great sound going for them. Their Wednesday night performance seemed to lack full energy since the small early crowd was made even smaller due to the snow and cold, but it gave me a good idea of what the band is capable of. I think indie alt-pop fans would really enjoy Spires. NOTE: Spires' gear was stolen early Thursday morning. If you see any of the gear pictured where it shouldn't be, let Spires know!

Force Publique

Next up was local darkwave group, Force Publique. Musically, Force Publique continued to deliver their style of sound in the fashion I have become accustomed to seeing - driving and danceably moody, with a healthy helping of darkness. This time around, the performance was mostly clean, although I noticed a couple hiccups from some of the synth lines, but nothing glaring. Otherwise, it was another showcase of the songs that make Force Publique one of my favorite local bands.

Force Publique

Although they played the same songs off their EP (except the newer song "The Open Cold"), they did do some things this time around that I hadn't seen before and thought made their set list much smoother. Every other time I've seen Force Publique, Cassie McNeil starts on the bass and then moves on to the keyboard to finish out the set. This time the order was reversed, starting with "Fortified", "Kinetic" and "Distorted + Thin". Then, Cassie switched to bass for the rest of the set, playing Force Publique's usual starting tune "Ache" in the middle of their set. I really liked the way they ended with "Still Falls Apart", because I sometimes thought they played that song too early and it would make their set feel somewhat anticlimactic ending with something else. Using that song as the finale really made the set feel like it peaked at just the right moment. If you are into dark-tinged electro music and you haven't checkout out Force Publiqe yet, get on it! These guys are great, especially on a cold dark night.

Young Prisms

Headliners Young Prisms came out last to close out the show. For this live performance, they had five members - Jordan Silbert on drums, Matthew Allen on guitar/vocals, Stefanie Hodapp on lead vocals, Giovanni Betteo on bass and a fifth member to replace former guitarist Jason Hendardy who left the band earlier this year. I'd listened to their self-titled EP and album Friends For Now to get an idea of their sound prior to the show, so when I saw the band take the stage I was already a little confused before they even started playing - they have more than one singer, and one of them is female? That's because this band plays music that definitely features the 'Wall of Sound' quality of heavily distorted guitars that pretty much drowns out the not very melodic, heavily reverberated vocals, so I had assumed it was one guy singing.

Young Prisms

I'm not trying to say the lead singer sounds like a guy, it's that the recorded vocals of Young Prisms are so de-emphasized they seem very anonymous, lifeless and buried way underneath the instrumental sound. Hearing it live, I understood why the recorded vocals were reverberated so heavily, because when they can be heard more cleanly like I heard them Wednesday night, they just aren't very good. I understand the shoegaze concept, but every song I heard seemed to pretty much be indistinguishable from the next - the similar droning guitar sounds and drums that just sounded like the same 16th note pattern on the hi-hat - not so much psychedelic, unless you get psyched out by being in an infinite loop of sound.

Young Prisms

It didn't help that I couldn't recognize most of the material they played in their set list. I could only pick out "Weekends And Treehouses" from their first EP and "Breathless" from the album Friends For Now, but neither one of those songs live seemed to have the same appeal that was present on the recordings - especially because the vocals were not processed and came out more natural, which in this rare case wasn't something that helped the overall sound because that just meant one could more easily hear the tonal imperfections and the lack of melody made the vocals seem pointless at times. The material that I heard in the recordings was somewhat palatable, but what I saw live just ended up sounding noisy and boring. Perhaps if shoegaze is your thing, you may still want to check out this band. As for me, I have nothing against shoegaze, but I wouldn't use this band as a benchmark for the genre.

See more pictures from this show in the Facebook photo album. Like the Concerted Effort page to stay updated.

In only the way Colorado could do it, the first snow has abruptly arrived. But that just means I have to throw on a few extra layers, because there is still a lot of live music to see this week. Tonight I'll be headed to the Hi-Dive to check out a couple local bands and one national indie, who'll still manage to be appropriate for the season despite the sudden change. Two of the bands are new to me, and their introspective form of indie rock should play well into both this time of year and the mood brought by the sudden blanket of snow.


The headlining band is Young Prisms, a shoegaze band from San Francisco. This band will bring the sound of highly distorted, atmospheric guitars with droning riffs and de-emphasized, spacey melodic vocals to provide a mellow and deliberately shapeless sound. It's a combination of sounds both airy, yet driving and dark. Check out "Sugar".
Young Prisms - Sugar by The Drift Record Shop


This'll be the third time I've covered Force Publique on this blog, and the second time this month, but I don't mind because they are one of my favorite local bands. Their combination of dark vocals, driving rhythms, moody synths, and bass guitar led songs create a peculiar sound I can't get enough of. This will be the first time I've seen them play at the Hi-Dive and their music should complement a cold night perfectly. Check out "Ache".
Ache by FORCE PUBLIQUE


Spires is a local Denver four-piece indie rock band. This band produces what they like to call dream rock, which to me sounds like lofty modern rock with a slight '80s pop meets '90s alt-rock/post-punk sensibility but delivered with a solemn mood - and I like it. Check out "The Chicago Outfit".
Spires - The Chicago Outfit by Concerted Effort

The Hi-Dive doors open at 8:00PM and the show starts around 9:00PM. The show is 18+ and tickets are $8.00 at the door.

Although I'd already been to the Larimer Lounge the night before, I headed straight back Wednesday night to check out a different scene. I already started the month off with music appropriate for the Halloween season, but the month is still young and I needed some more. I wanted another chance to see a local favorite, see a new local band, and check out another national band with a dark electro-pop sound. When it was time to leave the show, I'd say I got enough to hold me over for maybe a little while longer.

Matt McGuire of StaG

I'm headed to the Larimer Lounge tonight to catch some electro-synth and moody dreampop. It's another perfect show for this time of year - where it starts getting dark earlier and people get ready to celebrate all things spooky. There will be in-state and out of state bands that specialize in bringing ethereal yet dark sounds perfect for the long late season times of growing darkness.


Kindest Lines is comes to Denver from New Orleans, and they'll be bringing moody dreampop. They use synths and guitar to create dreamy textures driven by machined new wave-ish drums. Lead singer Brittany Terry's airy voice anchors the sound and gives their music an atmospheric yet dark attitude. Check out "Destructive Paths to Live Happily".
Kindest Lines, "Destructive Paths to Live Happily" by The FADER


Force Publique has been covered on this blog before, and I enjoy covering them because of their unique dark darkwave sound. Rather than approaching moody synth from the dreamy, airy route, Force Publique prefers industrialized new wave beats, punchy synths, bass guitar, and seductively haunting vocals to build their mood. Their unique approach to synthpop has made Force Publique one of my favorite local bands. Check out "Kinetic".
Kinetic by FORCE PUBLIQUE


StaG is a band originally from Los Angeles but now based in Boulder. This trio uses a lot of elements found in chillwave - reverberated vocals, floaty synth lines, and melody driven music. But rather than matching those qualities with danceable retro styled new wave rhythms, they go for atmosphere and an indie rock influenced approach, with any beat work layered deep in the overall set and kept minimal. Check out "Offwise".
Offwise by StaG

The doors open at the Larimer Lounge at 8:00PM and the music begins an hour later. Tickets are just $10 at the door for this 21+ show.

I take every opportunity I can to check out music festivals because although it is a lot to take in, it gives me a chance to discover new music. Friday night was no exception; the Denver After Dark music festival hosted 22 local bands (plus one Whomp Truck) over the span of about six hours during a party that took over the 2700 block of Larimer Street. For me, local music festivals are the best, giving me the chance to take the pulse of the Denver music scene, and I can definitely say after Friday night that the scene is alive and well.

I arrived at Denver After Dark shortly before eight o'clock, and although no bands had yet started playing on any stage, the Whomp Truck already had the block shaking with dirty bass booming out of the back. There was already a good crowd showing up for the festival, many hanging out curbside enjoying some food cart fare while taking in the sounds. I didn't linger outside for long, because I knew the first band I wanted to see play would begin shortly.

Molly and Ethan of Sauna

That band was Sauna, a young band of high schoolers who are uncannily resurrecting '60s garage surf rock. Before they started to play, I was intrigued. What made these kids decide to play surf rock? Colorado isn't exactly known for its beaches. But once they started playing, I didn't care why they started playing the type of music they do, I'm just glad they did. CJ Macleod and Ethan Hill hold it down on the guitar and bass respectively, and do a great job reproducing that fun-in-the-sun sound. Sammi Davis is a force on the drums - I wasn't sure if her drumsticks or pigtails were flailing harder throughout the set. Molly Bartlett's vocals really round out the band's sound, always delivering silly yet catchy lyrics with a smile.

Sammi of Sauna

I was impressed with how well Sauna has stamped out an identity, but it is still apparent the band has a ways to go to step further. The vocals could use a little refinement and sometimes it seems the band feels a little bit lost up on stage - I noticed wandering eyes and a somewhat absent attitude at times that made it seem as if the band didn't know what to do up there. (Keep your eyes off the set list.) They could use a little more seriousness, not that their song material is anything super serious, but a more professional approach would do wonders for their live shows. I enjoyed the light-hearted subject matter and retro sound of songs like "Beachball", "Glitter Party", and especially the call-and-response in "Croctopus", but unless they really nail their stage presence and own their roles, they won't get much more than "cutesy, bordering on kitsch" moving forward. The great thing is, they are young and have limitless potential. They're onto something good and I'm rooting for them to take it as far as they can.

School Knights

After Sauna, I decided to stay at the Larimer Lounge for the rest of the festival. I did peek into the other venues during the first couple set changes, but figured I'd still get a good mix of new music and music I know I like if I just stayed put. School Knights was the next band up at the Larimer Lounge and I was eager to see them play having never heard of them before this night. They are a four piece band from Denver/Boulder that play indie pop-punk.

School Knights

School Knights played a pretty decent set, in which they played songs that sounded like blending the attitude of blink-182 with Vampire Weekend unctuosity - and yet don't really resemble either band. I'll have to catch them again to get a better idea of what they are about, but I almost got the feeling they were satirizing the pop-punk genre - which is completely fine with me. If that's not the case, then they need to translate a little more seriousness into their live set to shake that feeling. They were a good followup to Sauna, keeping with the rock theme.

Mark Shusterman of Nyota

Up next was Nyota, and it was an interesting transition going from rock to intelligent dance music (IDM). The band is made up of Corey Brown (of Hollagramz) on control surfaces, Mark Shusterman on vocals and keyboard, and Mark Weaver on bass. Together they play a brand of psychedelic electro IDM that takes the listener on a very far out audio journey. They have a good mix of ambient sounds that layer over clever beat structures. All vocals are done Stephen Hawking style through a vocoder.

Mark Weaver and Corey Brown of Nyota

Nyota isn't exactly the most accessible type of listening, and is more suited to ambient techno and IDM fans. Still, they managed to capture an audience for their set probably due to the stage presence of Mark Weaver on the bass, who was rocking that thing all over stage. IDM isn't really my thing, but I did like the song "Paved In Bronze", as it reminds me of a spaced out version of "Curling Pond Woods" by Greg Davis. If this type of music is your thing, Nyota is worth checking out.

Alex Anderson of ManCub

The last four bands of the night were all bands I'm familiar with, and two of them I'd seen live before. The next band up was ManCub, one of my favorite bands in Denver. I've already covered their shows twice on this blog, once opening for Walter Meego and earlier this month when they opened for Bag Raiders. In fact, they were the first local band I gave an extensive preview for. Needless to say, I like this band and I always love seeing their live performances.

James Wayne of ManCub

Their set for Denver After Dark was business as usual; ManCub took another opportunity to melt faces and blow minds with their analog synth spectacular. Alex Anderson and James Wayne started this set off a little differently with two unreleased tracks. The first was a ManCub take on krautrock, one they've had floating around in their repertoire for a while but have kept it unreleased and unnamed. The other was a new song first dropped a two weeks ago at the Bag Raiders show. They've done more to it to polish it up since then, but this song is also as of yet nameless. After that they went to battle with "Post-Modern War". They played the always crowd pleasing songs "Sound" and "Summer Rain". The crowd loved "8-Bit Crush" and it's great "Reptilia"-esque (by The Strokes) drum beat. It was great exposure for ManCub, as they got to reach a lot of new listeners. If you haven't checked out ManCub yet, you're missing out.

Lizzy Allen of Vitamins

The next band, Vitamins, is a band I've been waiting a while to see. I missed their show before they went on tour, so I was glad that they were playing Denver After Dark as a tour capper. Even better, it was the last show they woukd play in a while considering they just got back from the road. Fans of experimental, psychedelic and krautrock will love Vitamins. To me, they are a female led version of the '70s krautrock band Neu! but with way more experimentalism and variety. The band's instrumentation - Crawford Philleo on drums, Matt Daniels on guitar, and Ryan Ellison on bass -  consists of driving but mellow beats with an impressive amount of layered and filtered sounds enveloping the beat. Lizzy Allen's airy vocals complete the sound, her voice enchanting, seductive, yet dangerous like that of a mythological siren.

Ryan Ellison of Vitamins

Vitamins' set was everything I'd hoped for and more. They have so much stage presence, especially Lizzy. She draws you in when she sings, and captures you completely when she sways to the music, hypnotically moving a white ball of light with her hands that is an awesome sight to see. I enjoyed hearing "Vimanas" live, having seen the video many times since it was released not too long ago. They completely captured a mood with the song "The Disappearance of David Lee Powell", a song written about an inmate executed after over three decades on death row. I hope they don't break too long from doing shows, because their performance was amazing and I need to see them again.

Andy R. of Gauntlet Hair

Next up was the band Gauntlet Hair, a band I've been really excited about lately and itching to see live because of the unique sound they've got going. Yes, they are an indie rock band, but they do it up a little different than anyone else. This band is the product of Andy R. & Craig Nice, and they employed Matt Daniels of Vitamins to help them out on bass to perform their set. I love the sounds Andy gets out of his guitar - twangy and vintage but still modern rock. Craig's creative use of an electronic drum set keeps the songs very interesting by changing drum sounds on the fly, and his personality is so colorful, Gauntlet Hair was wise to place him front and center.

Craig Nice of Gauntlet Hair

Their set wasn't without its problems, however. Gauntlet Hair had issues with the kick drum pedal, causing a song restart and a couple long pauses as the issue tried to get sorted out. Eventually, the pedal was replaced completely. Before the problem was fixed, the kick drum would disappear out of a couple of their songs, taking away from the experience. Still, these guys have some incredible music. I really like "Top Bunk", "Out, Don't" and "I Was Thinking..." The combination of the instrumental work and processed vocals is quite refreshing. Watch out Denver, these guys are going to blow up.

Cassie McNeil of Force Publique

The final set of the entire festival featured another one of my favorite bands, Force Publique. I've been addicted to Force Publique since I first heard their self-titled album. The combination of Cassie McNeil on vocals/bass, James Wayne on MPC/keyboard, and Alex Anderson on drums is perfect, and they create an incredible energy with their dark and moody dance songs. They are like a much more danceable version of The Knife - Cassie's voice much more powerful, sultry and less ghoulish while James' production is less spacey and more driving. Alex's contributions on drums fills out the sound well - they need to get him in the studio with them as opposed to just being there for live shows

James Wayne of Force Publique

Being the closers for the festival, Force Publique played to a packed Larimer Lounge. The crowd received the band extremely well, as most everyone was dancing wildly throughout Force Publique's set. I couldn't help but sing along when they performed "Ache" and "Still Falls Apart". They unleashed a new, untitled and unreleased track for the first time, and it made me very excited for the future of Force Publique - I can't wait to get my hands on more. Other standouts were "Kinetic", "Fickle" and the delightfully strange "Fortified". I'm so glad I got a chance to see them again after missing their last couple shows. I like the band Battles, but I went to the Bluebird last month hoping to catch Force Publique and just narrowly missed them. After seeing them perform the way it was meant to be (as a late headliner, not performing at Opal in the middle of the afternoon), I'm going to make sure I see them every chance I can get. Awesome band, great songs, and they are unlike much anything else out there.

As great as festivals can be to discover new music, when there are bands spread across four stages in three different venues, you've got to make a few tough decisions on who to see and who to miss, unless you only catch a fraction of each band's set. Because of that, I ended up staying at the main stage in the Larimer Lounge for pretty much the entire night. It caused me to miss a few groups I've heard of but haven't really checked out yet; CacheFlowe, Peter Black, Mombi, Iuengliss, R E A L M A G I C, and Safe Boating Is No Accident - not to forget the rest who are new to me. That just means I've got more work to do and more shows to see in the future.

Otherwise, Denver After Dark was awesome and I'm glad I was able to see the bands that I did. Denver has a wonderful music community, and the bands are a close knit group. They attend each other's shows and lend each other support. Even though Flashlights and E.V.S. weren't in the festival, I saw members of each band hanging out all night taking in everyone else's music, and I'm sure there were many more local band members I didn't see doing the same thing. If you haven't checked out the burgeoning Denver music scene yet, you should. There are incredibly exciting things happening with music in this city, and the only thing it will take for it to really explode, is for more people to realize that and take part in the action.

See more pictures from the festival in the Facebook photo album. Like the Concerted Effort page to keep updated!

If I could be in two places at the same time, I would also be at the Marquis Theater tonight. Two of my favorite local Denver electronic bands, Flashlights and Force Publique will be there. Denver local hip-hop artist Whygee is also nothing to shake a stick at, and local electronic artist R E A L M A G I C is finding a lot of play in my music rotation lately.


Flashlights is kicking off their late summer tour by starting in Denver tonight. These guys have been getting a lot of exposure lately, especially after winning best electro-pop band at the Westword Music Showcase this summer. These guys have a very unique electro dream-pop sound. I saw these guys perform at the showcase and they are quite good. Ethan Converse and Sam Martin get really into their set, and the expression literally drips off their faces. Check out "New Hampshire". I've never been to that state, but the way they sing about really makes me want to go there.


Force Publique is another band I saw at Westword Music showcase, and was sad to narrowly miss as openers for Battles last month. These guys have a very experimental electro-rock sound that I can't quite describe and took me completely by surprise at first - but now I keep playing their eponymous EP on loop. I'm sure their sound isn't for everyone, but if you're looking for something new, check out "Still Falls Apart" and "Fortified".


Whygee is a veteran MC and beat-boxer who has been a part of various Denver hip-hop projects. Fans of classic hip-hop will enjoy Whygee's style, as he pays homage to the greats while injecting his own, Colorado influenced style. Nod your head to the soulful song, "She Said".




R E A L M A G I C is an up an comer in the Denver electronic music scene, who fits right in line with the chillwave scene. He's like the local version of Chad Valley, but draws a bit of his sound from drum-and-bass and dubstep. By no means is he going to womp your face off though or get you running through the jungle. Instead, it's like more like easy listening for bass fans. Check out "No Things Left".




The party starts at the Marquis Theater at 8:30PM. Tickets are $10 at the door. Go support some great local talent!

New Hampshire by FLASHLIGHTS Still Falls Apart by FORCE PUBLIQUE Fortified by FORCE PUBLIQUE She Said (prod. by Mirrorkill) by Whygee R E A L M A G I C - No Things Left by licas