Audio By Carbonatix
As the symbol of a new Denver music festival, the Cash Register building just didn’t seem right. Enter Blucifer, and now the horse is out of the barn.
On March 6, Blucifer’s First Rodeo will host Blucifer’s First Lineup Drop at the Skylark, where the crew behind the new local music celebration on Broadway will announce the first thirty bands booked, start selling all-access tickets and, yes, announce its date this summer.
The initial Blucifer’s fest announcement came just two weeks after news dropped that the Underground Music Showcase would be resurrected in RiNo next July; that fest got its start on this stretch of Broadway more than 25 years ago. And an initial post about Blucifer’s included dates that would overlap with UMS…but those dates remain unofficial for now.
In the meantime, six days after the Blucifer’s First Rodeo reveal, a half-dozen artists behind the event — Gillian Pasley, Mike Young, LK Konkoli, Sam Seymour, Lauren Borders, Gion Davis — met at ground zero on Broadway to talk about taking the reins, and bringing a music fest back to Broadway.
As members of the community, they’d all been interested in supporting live local music all year long, as Young notes, while also “inviting folks in” by making it more accessible and easier to find. After all, just about every night of the week, there’s live music on this stretch of Broadway, which remains the heart and soul of Denver’s creative community.
One night in November, there was a lot of live music at the “Last Minute Last Waltz,” when members of the Blucifer group pulled together an incredible lineup of 25 bands in just two weeks’ time. “It shows how much we can do,” recalls Pasley.
And they’re planning to do a lot more this round: As their enthusiasm for a summer fest coalesced, members of the group chose Blucifer for a theme, and came up with a twenty-page business plan that calls for presenting at least eighty Colorado bands in a dozen or so venues up and down Broadway (and around it). “This part of town has its finger on the pulse,” Young says. “It’s almost like its own ecosystem. People can go to a bar, see a show, get a bite to eat and then visit the shops.”
An ecosystem that’s interconnected, according to artist Davis, who compares it to a grove of aspen trees, all connected under the ground as one organism.
“Everyone’s here for everyone,” notes Konkoli.
“Artists are doing this,” adds musician Sam Seymour. “Everyone’s doing this. It feels crazy to be part of this. People wanted this, we wanted it.”
They learned how much as they met with venue owners and quickly signed on a dozen, with more businesses expressing interest every day. They’ve talked with the Broadway Merchants Association and visited neighbors up and down the street. And now they’re ready to share their plans with the community…which includes every Colorado music lover.
Pasley was already booked to perform at the Skylark on March 6 with Caspar Milquetoast — the evening also includes Handknit and Mystee from Fort Collins — so making a more formal announcement there made sense, particularly since Skylark had signed up right away to be part of Blucifer’s First Rodeo.
This will be the first lineup drop, with two more to follow. All the acts will be local, and there are plenty of choose from: Since the Instagram announcement a week ago, more than 350 bands have expressed interest in performing. Other people have volunteered to help, or simply expressed their appreciation for the fest, saying things like “thank you for taking the reins, rallying the community,” Pasley says.
The fest will start with a DIY kickoff meeting, followed by two days and nights of music in venues and spots on and along Broadway, then a house-show day, envisioned as bands on porches with pancakes, Pasley says. House shows are increasingly popular in town, Young notes, and the fest is working on a guide for those who want to host one.
“We’ve all been to a lot of music festivals,” notes Lauren Borders, so they have plenty of ideas.
Still, the organizers don’t want to overshoot the first year, and so they’re keeping communication open and positive. “As artists, we know how venues and other artists want to be treated,” Young says. “We’re not just throwing parties for our friends, they’re for everybody.”
Adds Konkoli: “This is a ‘we’ thing.”
Concludes Pasley: “By artists, for everybody.”
And what of potential UMS overlap? Just hold your horses.
Blucifer’s First Lineup Drop, with Mistee, Caspar Milquetoast and Handknit, 8 p.m. Friday, March 6, Skylark Lounge, 140 South Broadway; tickets here. Find more information — and the form to contact fest planners — at bluciferfest.com.
