Ready for the UMS? Check out these Haiku pointers – to help you make the most of it!

Denver, The UMS, Day 1, Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 –

It’s come around again. The UMS – Denver’s pinnacle celebration of the local music scene – is upon us, and this year, the festival’s tenth anniversary, this beast has grown, nearly to the point of bursting. Four days, over 20 venues, and over 300 bands, comedians, burlesque and other performance artists (are you a fan of Lucha Libre? Then plan to spend Saturday & Sunday afternoon on South Broadway!) – it boggles the mind!

And yet, this is the sound of our town, and it’s just down the street – and some of it’s even FREE! Denver’s scene has grown with at least the same fury as the UMS over the past ten years, branching out from almost every genre, weaving in and out of each other like trade winds and crosscurrents, and creating new ones along the way.

So how do you decide who to see, after all? Over 300 bands, playing over 4 nights, means . . . something like 75 options per night (not that they’re all split up that way, of course). Without cloning, your chances to see everything is nil. . .

To help out, we at DenverThread have put together some daily lists of recommendations, to help you out. And we’ve constructed haiku-sized images to describe our take on each – and included some links to some tunes from each one – to help you plan your own UMS path for each day. Oh – and we’ve tried to keep the choices in chronological order (but there’s so much goodness, you have to accept that it’s almost impossible), so that you have the chance to see all of them.

Be sure and check back every day of the UMS to see more haiku band pointers, and plan your way through the nights!

China Venture – 8:00 PM @ Evergroove Stage @ 3 Kings Tavern

Here’s your Haiku:

Guitars, sandpaper

strung, and stone-ground screams shooting

clear through the beast’s heart.

RIYL: Archers of Loaf, Replacements, Raleigh! and heart-wrenching, scotch-soaked confessions of love or regret.

Hot White – 9:00 PM @ Evergroove Stage @ 3 Kings Tavern

Here’s your Haiku:

On the wrong side of

Teenage Jesus, but with two

fists dripping with screams.

RIYL: Lydia Lunch, Rat At Rat R, Swans, No Wave, Melvyns, confusing sex

Porlolo – 10:00 PM @ Beonair.com Stage @ the Irish Rover

Here’s your Haiku:

Radio suits her

dear harmonies, and red haired

guitar. Strong, playful.

RIYL: Devendra Banhart, Angels of Light, The Carter Family, Portland, OR.

Popwreck – 10:00 PM @ ShareTheMic Stage @ Moe’s Original Bar B Que

Haiku:

Fast and messy soup,

melodies that bring heart sprains

back up in your throat.

RIYL: Squirrel Bait, Sebadoh, The Fugs, Hobbs N.M., lonesome heartbreak and microwaves.

Candy Claws – 11:00 PM @ Verizon Droid Stage @ Skylark Lounge

Haiku:

Straight and moist, smooth dust

strands suspended across a

crystal sobriquet.

RIYL: George & Caplan, Cocteau Twins, Aphex Twin, relaxing yourself to a sound sleep.