The fourth day of the Underground Music Showcase meant that the festivities would come to a close, but not  until after one last string of great performances. We were able to catch images from eleven more acts that performed on the last day, including: Allout Helter, Atlas Sound, Esme Patterson, Ian Cooke Band, M & The Gems, The Marrow, Paper Bird, Rachel & The Kings, Rubedo, Shaky Molars, and Wheelchair Sports Camp.

I made a second trip to the Hi-Dive last week, this time on Saturday night, but I was met with a familiar outcome - another quality show. This time it was a mix of local indie acts playing a variety of music, putting together a fun show for a music hungry weekend crowd. By the end of the night, the audience got a taste of indie pop-rock, mellow indie rock, and surf inspired modern rock to get their fill of music. The show demonstrated that this will indeed be a strong new year in music.

Shaky Molars

The show began with the indie pop group Shaky Molars. Shaky Molars performed as a five piece band; Chuck Potashner on vocals/guitar, Kat Roscoe on bass/vocals, Kayla Martin on cello/vocals, Nate Adelmann on guitar, and Ryan Mulligan on drums. They create music that sounds like pop yet doesn't quite sound like anything else at the same time. Apparent influences seem to be scattered all over the place, without really being able to pin down anything definitive. I can say though that their sound, song content, and live performance is centered around providing energy and humor to make for a fun and unique concert experience

Chuck Potashner of Shaky Molars

I'd seen this band once before and since then I'd say they have progresses a lot and really stamped out an identity for themselves over that time. As a band, the performance of their music came off very fluid, injecting energy into the crowd with their instrumentation. Lead singer Chuck Potashner did a very good job exhibiting stage presence. His performance was assertive and strong, and his occasional quips came off humorous and not awkward or out-of-place. I think he did well to let his personality shine in this performance as it was very genuine.

Kayla Martin and Kat Roscoe of Shaky Molars

The show began with the pop-punk styled "Colorado Girl", a song that mates uptempo rhythm and a bit of distorted guitar with smooth melodic lead and backing vocals. After a taste of pop-meets-country with "Little Dipper", Shaky Molars continued to exhibit their local pride with "Denver" and "Daniele Marie Miller" through pop-rock styling. Most of their songs were along a pop-rock style set apart with melodic guitar and and an orchestral element from the addition of cello. I really liked their retro styled pop song "Blueberry Wine" with it's extremely catchy melody. All in all, when Shaky Molars lets their personalities shine as they did Saturday night, they perform with a very infectious and fun energy, which made for a great to start to the evening's show.

Will Walden of StaG

Next up was Boulder based band StaG. This three piece band consists of  Matt McGuire on bass/keyboards/sampler/vocals, Will Walden on guitar,vocals, and Mac Welch on guitar/trombone/vocals. This band has a moody and mellow indie rock sound that seems to mate modern surf rock with experimental electonic music, shoegaze, and the tiniest hint of folk. They create a powerful yet soothing wall of sound with their instruments, match that with clever sampler driven rhythms, and layer emotive vocals on top to complete the sound.

I also had a chance to see this band once before, and I was captivated by what they were doing. This time, I was extremely impressed once again. Saturday's show was almost entirely new material - I went into the show expecting to hear a lot of old favorites from their album Rifle Meeker, but got a pleasant surprise instead. The show began with "Loss At Tacoma", featuring vocals from Mac Welch and an almost Super Mario-esque keyboard/synth line.

Matt McGuire of Stag

From their, they kept a flowing set going, blending one song into the other starting with "Lived Like String". This stretch of songs had the familiar psychedelic surf rock vibe led by Will Walden's vocals and guitar that I really liked from their last show. They included one song off of their album, "Noise", one of my favorites that they seemed to enhance with an even more driving and present drum beat. The progressive style of "Big White" was incredible, exploding into an almost psychedelic western song with an incredible chorus. "Wayill" was a song I saw in its infancy the first time I saw StaG perform that stood out because of its inclusion of trombone, and it has definitely progressed well over time. The closing song, "Guts", included a heartfelt and powerful vocal/keyboard performance from Matt McGuire that brought the set to a fitting close.

Mac Welch of StaG

I think musically, StaG has their sound pinned down and their songwriting is very good. They've shown the ability to continue to innovate by bringing new compositions to their performance tonight. As much as I enjoyed the performance, there is still room for improvement that will really set this band apart. Some of the vocals weren't completely on or could use a little more assertiveness during performance. I think in the future the band would benefit from a live drummer and/or full time synth/keyboardist to add more oomph to their sets. Still, working with the pieces they had, they did a great job and I can't wait for them to release more music.

Moon Tides

Finally, Fort Collins based band Moon Tides came out to close the show. Although Moon Tides is usually the duo of Dillon and Lexa, only Dillon was there from the original configuration of the band. Dillon was on vocals/guitar/sampler and he performed with the help of Emily on vocals/drums. They created dreamy surf rock inspired music built from simple but colorful instrumentation and quiet yet catchy vocals.

Emily of Moon Tides

It became immediately evident that Moon Tides wasn't at full capacity - not because Lexa's fill-in Emily did not do well, but because the other half seemed to not be as into the performance as one would hope. It seemed Dillon was dwelling too much on who/what wasn't on stage rather than being focused on delivering a performance on stage and that seemed to hinder the band's set Saturday night. From the apprehensive opening performance of "To Be" to the halfhearted closing of "Swimming", it just seemed that too much energy was missing from stage. I'm a big fan of the song "1966" but it's live performance just wasn't what I'd hope. If it wasn't for the fact that the sampler/drum machine did a lot of the work, I'm not sure if the performance would have been bearable.

Dillon of Moon Tides

If I get to see Moon Tides again, whether or not they are at full strength I hope whoever is on stage strives to give as heartfelt a performance as they can. I understand missing band members changes the dynamic, but if the music is strong and delivered with energy it can still make for a great show. Thursday night's show at the Hi-Dive comes to mind - Luke Price of Dean! still delivered an incredible performance despite him being the only band member to make the trip from Portland. Hopefully the next time I see Moon Tides the performance will be as energetic and colorful as the way their songs are crafted.

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

The variety of music in the local music scene is quite impressive, so much so though it can get a little overwhelming trying to keep track of it all. Every different person has a variety of personal tastes, but one of the goals of this blog is to point people in the direction of something new from a wide variety of styles and genres. With this in mind, Concerted Effort is proud to present a show that features high quality local indie rock. This Friday, January 7th, the Hi-Dive will feature three up-and-coming local acts that should make for a great show.
Moon Tides - 1966 by Concerted Effort


Next up is Boulder based indie rock band StaG. This band creates dreamy modern rock with an almost shoegaze like sound except much loftier and ethereal instead of a noisy wall-of-sound like approach. Still, the music they make is mellow and introspective, made with a combination of live instruments and recorded samples. This band also seems to have a coastal/modern surf rock aspect to their sound, likely because they originally come from Los Angeles. I've seen this band before and I thought they did so well they made the Top 15 Performances list for 2011. Check out "Offwise".
Offwise by StaG


Local Denver indie pop group Shaky Molars will get the evening started. This band makes lighthearted pop-rock music that promotes fun through their music and lyricism. They take a different approach to indie pop than most would, a style that's hard to explain but instantly recognizable. This six-piece band should be fun to watch and do well to get the night started. Check out "Daniele Marie Miller".
Shaky Molars - Daniele Marie Miller by Concerted Effort

The Hi-Dive doors open at 8:00PM on Saturday, January 7th and the music begins at about 9:00PM. The show is 18+ and tickets are $6 at the door. Tickets can be purchased online here.

First off, those of you that have been following this blog somewhat regularly may have noticed an unusual lack of content and activity for the past couple of weeks. Sorry about that! I'll admit I'd been going strong for a while but I hit a bit of a wall and needed some time away from the blog world. Now it's time for me to come back, and to avoid hitting the wall again, I'm going to pace myself a little bit better. Rather than sacrifice content quality for quantity, I'm going to scale back the amount of shows I go to for the short term so I can still provide in-depth coverage for the shows I do see. It'll take a little bit to get completely back on track, but this review is a step back in that direction.
The Bluebird Theater hosted a night of indie pop-rock a couple Sundays ago featuring catchy and danceable music from three different artists. The audience got a little taste of everything, as the night started with a new local band, an up-and-coming national band, and a headlining national band that has been on the scene for quite some time. Some fun, clever, lighthearted music was the theme for Sunday night - a great way to wrap up a weekend with live music.

Shaky Molars

The show began with a local Denver band formed earlier this year, Shaky Molars. Shaky Molars had five out of six members for their show; Chuck Potashner on vocals/guitar, Kat Roscoe on bass, Kayla Martin on cello, Nate Adelmann on lead guitar, and Ryan Mulligan on drums. Together, the group performed a quirky, fun, and often humorous brand of indie pop. Instrumentally, the band reminded me straightforward pop from the '70s and '80s. The cello was a nice and interesting addition, providing an orchestral element to the sound that really made me think of pop music performed on old variety shows with large backing orchestras.

Shaky Molars

Chuck Potashner's vocals also seemed to be influenced by vintage lounge-like pop singers from yesteryear, mated with a very modern sensibility. It was an interesting vocal style that helped propel Shaky Molar's near bubble-gum pop sound - a vintage modern sound with touches of whimsy. The songs Shaky Molars performed were catchy in the moment, but without the tack required for the songs to linger over time - save for "Daniele Marie Miller", but that may be because it was the only Shaky Molars song I heard beforehand. I liked how many of the band's songs lyrics were about Colorado, but I didn't like how some of the lyrics seemed to be improvisational. Overall, I think Shaky Molars are going in a good, different direction but haven't quite reached their destination quite. Fans of lighthearted indie pop should keep their eyes peeled in the future for this band.

Generationals

Next up was New Orleans indie-pop band, Generationals. Originally the project of Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer, the duo employed the help of a live drummer, bassist and keyboardist for the night. The five-piece band performed the vintage influenced indie pop-rock found on Generationals two studio album releases. The vintage influence of this band went back a little further than the one prior. I'd say the vintage styling of this band reaches back to the '40s, '50s and '60s, giving a modern interpretation of feel good music from way back in the day.

Generationals

Whenever a band tours and decides to bring on touring members to play other instruments in the live setting, it can go a number of ways. The live instrumentation can sound completely faithful to the studio recording, or it can sound a bit different. For Generationals, it was close but not quite the same as the studio recordings. That isn't always a bad thing, and for the Generationals, I would say for the most part it worked, but somehow, somewhere I felt the music just didn't quite have the same charm I came to love on their albums. Everything was close, but not close enough to make me feel like something was a bit off. I think the idea of having a live drummer is a great thing, but the kit didn't match up to whatever samples the original duo used on the drum machine. Perhaps using an electric drum set with switchable samples could remedy that.

Generationals

Otherwise, Generationals performed a quality opening set, playing all my favorite songs from their two studio albums. Standouts from their new album, Actor-Caster were "Ten-Twenty-Ten" and "Yours Forever". These songs stayed pretty faithful to the studio recordings despite my concerns outlined in the paragraph before. Of course, "When They Fight, They Fight" was the standout song from their first album, Con Law. This was the song that got me hooked on Generationals, and the one that best encompasses the vintage influences I hear in the band's sound. The live version was near perfect, it was just glaringly missing that trumpet sound/sample that really sets the song over the top. Generationals bridge the gap between indie pop and indie rock well, and I think they would appeal to a wide range of indie music fans.

Mates of State

Finally, Mates of State came on stage to perform their headlining state. The duo of Kori Gardner on vocals/keyboards and Jason Hammel on drums/vocals took center stage. Kori Gardner took her place slightly to the left of stage behind a couple keyboards dressed up as foliage, while Jason Hammel took his place behind his drumset slightly to the right of center. Although the two record as a duo, they perform with touring support; a guitarist was in the rear left of stage while an additional keyboards/trumpeter/percussionist was to the rear right of stage. The whole band was in front of a backdrop that looked like a large, colorful bed of flowers - albeit flowers sprouting from a wall. Large balls of lighted cotton completed the scene, acting as clouds.

Mates of State

Mates of State has been making music together for over a decade, so they treated the Bluebird Theater audience to a large number of songs spanning their catalog. They performed their signature indie pop sound, driven mostly by the keyboards and drumming of the founding duo. Their sound is very energetic, and intricate despite the simple instrumental ingredients they use to put the sound together. Their song content and energy definitely leans more toward pop, but I was surprised to see how when they performed live, they seemed to have a much stronger rock-like feel.

Mates of State

Mates of State began with some newer material - "Get Better" from the album Re-Arrange Us, "Maracas" from their new album Mountaintops and "For The Actor" from Bring It Back. They continued to shuffle up newer material before bringing out some of the earlier stuff. Older fans seemed to really enjoy when they played a set of songs from the earlier Team Boo album, "Parachutes", "Ha Ha" and "Whiner's Bio". They continued to keep the set list mixed up, ending on a cover song from their album Crushes, "True Love Will Find You In The End". To please the crowd, they returned to the stage and performed a three song encore; "My Only Offer", "Proofs" from My Solo Project, and "Palomino".

Mates of State's performance was a great way to showcase the work this band has but in over the past decade, and the crowd was very receptive to their performance. Although the crowd wasn't as visibly into the concert as I've seen (no crazy, sweaty dance fest), the crowd definitely showed their appreciation for the band between songs with loud shouts and applause. Indie pop-rock fans probably already know about Mates of State considering how long they've been around, but if you've somehow missed this band and you like the indie pop-rock genre, they are definitely a band to know.

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

It's time for another night of indie pop - that broad term that gets listeners in the right direction but can really lead to a number of different sounds. The Bluebird Theater will be hosting a couple national and one local indie pop act, making for a night of music that should be energetic, fun and appealing while maintaining a balance between a familiar sound and something that's hard to really place a finger on. Offering a mix of a long established band, an up and coming band and new local band, tonight's show should be a great indie pop showcase.


Mates of State is a husband-and-wife indie pop duo originating from Lawrence, KS. The two had been members of a four-piece band in the late nineties, but decided to become a duo in the early 2000s. Kori Gardner handles the lead vocals and keyboards while Jason Hammel handles the drums and backing vocals. Somehow, they create a full band sound with just the two main instruments, crafting catchy indie pop songs that sound as if they could be made from a band of four or five people. They make a modern pop sound with a slight touch of 80s pop-rock sensibilities that has kept the band going for several albums, including their newly released Mountaintops. Check out "Unless I'm Led" and "Maracas".
Mates Of State Unless I'm Led by Fishy Tunes dot net
Mates of State "Maracas" by Barsuk Records


Generationals is an indie pop/rock duo from New Orleans, LA. Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer share the svocal and guitar duties of the band. Their recordings feature a drum machine, but they may have an accompanying live drummer for their shows - it'll be interesting to see and hear. With these modest tools, they create indie pop songs that sound like a refreshed version of pop from the '50s or '60s - it has a vintage feel but is definitely vastly different from anything from that time. Check out "When They Fight, They Fight" and "Ten-Twenty-Ten".
When They Fight, They Fight - Generationals by christiandaniel
Generationals - "Ten-Twenty-Ten" by indiemusicfilter


Shaky Molars is a local six-piece indie pop group formed earlier this year. I haven't had a chance to check these guys out yet though they've been steadily been building buzz over the past few months. They have a pop  sound with a slight folk influences that seems to set them apart. For the longest time, they had a 'no recorded songs' stance, but that recently changed so now check out "Daniele Marie Miller".
Shaky Molars - Daniele Marie Miller by Concerted Effort

The Bluebird doors open at 7:00PM and showtime is at 8:00PM. The show is all ages and tickets are $18.