The group Denver Broncos UK is not from the United Kingdom and has nothing to do with professional football. It is, however, affiliated with some of the more charismatic music to come out of Colorado in the past 20 years.
Its members and alumni are or have been affiliated with several like-sounding bands from the Denver area: Wovenhand, Reverend Glasseye and Munly and the Lee Lewis Hands. Munly was also in the Denver Gentlemen with David Eugene Edwards of Sixteen Horsepower, the movement’s seminal band.
A MySpace synopsis of the band’s sound is an apt description: “The sparse arrangements feature an array of instruments put to exotic use — guitar, autoharp, melodica, bowed banjo and numerous percussive instruments ... (and) haunted vocal harmonies. The sum of all parts reveals itself as a darkly lit celebration of traditional American music, forged into a surprising new form.”
The Denver Broncos UK are in town this weekend for shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights at La Esquina, 1000 W. 25th St., as part of the final weekend of “Manifest Destiny,” a sculpture installation by artist Renée Cinderhouse.
Local musicians will open all three performances starting at 7 p.m. Amy Farrand, curator of the Weirdo Wednesday Supper Club and formerly of American Catasrophe, opens Friday’s show. Adam Lee, leader of the insurgent-country band the Dead Horse Sound Company, opens Saturday’s show. Sunday’s opener is a quartet comprising Jeff Harshbarger, Brad Cox, Mike Stover and Jeffrey Ruckman that will perform interpretations of music from the era of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Tickets are $20 and available throughbrownpapertickets.com. Attendance is limited to about 50 persons each night, so purchase of advance tickets is recommended. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door.
10 shows in three days
This is one of the busiest music weekends in recent memory. Here are 10 more shows worth considering:
THURSDAY
- Slash is at the Midland theater with Foxy Shazam and Follow. It’s sold out.
- Nick Lowe is back in town for a solo/acoustic show, this time for an early show at Knuckleheads. Eleni Mandell opens at 7 p.m. Advance tickets are $29.
- The Finnish symphonic-metal band Nightwish headlines at the Beaumont Club in Westport. Kamelot opens at 8 p.m. Tickets to the all-ages show are $24.
FRIDAY
- Ben Folds Five brings its reunion tour to Starlight Theatre. Kate Miller-Heidke opens at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 to $75.
- Chanteuse/songwriter Nellie McKay performs at 8 p.m. at the Polsky Theater at Johnson County Community College. Tickets are $32.
- The revered indie-rock band Guided By Voices headlines a show at the Granada in Lawrence. Detective opens at 9 p.m. Tickets to the all-ages show are $30.
SATURDAY
- Blues Traveler headlines at Crossroads KC, 417 E. 18th St. The band is touring off its latest album, “Suzie Cracks the Whip,” released in June. Trampled Under Foot opens. Tickets to the all-ages show are $25 to $76.50.
- The queen of rockabilly, Wanda Jackson, is back in the area for a show at the Granada. The opener is artist/label owner/songwriter Daniel Romano of the Canadian rock band Attack in Black. Showtime is 9 p.m. Tickets to the seated show are $25.
- For the jazz fans: Chick Corea and Gary Burton perform with the Harlem String Quartet at the Gem Theatre, 1616 E. 18th St. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $45. More on Page 10.
SUNDAY
- Percussionist and former Prince bandmate Sheila E headlines the District Rhythm Series at Kansas City Live in the Power & Light District. The free show starts at 7 p.m. It’s an all-ages show, but anyone younger than 21 must be accompanied by an adult after 9 p.m.
Tributes and a benefit
• Birthday tribute: A host of well-known local musicians will celebrate Woody Guthrie’s 100th birthday with a tribute Sunday night at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut St. Among the performers: Bob Walkenhorst, Danny Cox, Jason Vivone, Howard Iceberg, Heebie Jeebies, Last Free Exit, Tony Ladesich, Ernie Henderson, Barry Lee and Ukulele Fight Club. The concert is being presented by KKFI (90.1 FM).
Showtime is 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 and are available at brownpapertickets.com. A VIP package is available for $30. It includes a 6 p.m. dinner and reserved seating.
• Doors tribute: The Doors are the honorees in this month’s installment of the Sonic Spectrum Tribute Series, presented by the weekly radio show on KRBZ (96.5 FM) hosted by Robert Moore. Participating bands: London Transit, Monta at Odds, the Conquerors and Cherokee Rock Rifle. Showtime is 8 p.m. Sunday at RecordBar, 1020 Westport Road. Admission to the 18-and-older show is $7.
• Vinyl bonanza: RecordBar will be the host of Invasion of the Record Collectors from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free. More than 10,000 “clean, collectible and reasonably priced” vinyl recordings — 45s and LPs — will be up for sale by several record collectors from around the Midwest. Inventory, says the promotional flier, will include “classic rock, new wave/punk/post-punk, bootlegs, soul/funk/disco, metal, blues, oldies, 1960s garage and psychedelic, folk-rock, Americana, white-label promos, dance, colored wax, power/pop, singer/songwriter, Top-40 hits, country and western, reggae/ska, world, Latin, gospel, surf/hot rod, jazz, sealed albums, imports ... something for everyone.”
• Pit bull benefit: The Riot Room, 4048 Broadway, will be the host for a benefit Saturday night. Six bands will perform at Mosh Pit Presents: Fall for a Pit. Mosh Pit is a group that raises money for groups dedicated to the rescue of pit bulls and pit bull mixes, a “widely misunderstood breed, who are all too often abandoned, abused and forgotten.”
Proceeds will be split among Jade’s Mission, Mid-America Bully Breed Rescue, Missouri Pitt Bull Rescue and Pet Connection. Bands on the bill: Red Kate, the Lucky Graves Knife Crime, Hipshot Killer, the Bad Ideas and Medicine Theory. Showtime is 7 p.m. Admission is $10.
| Timothy Finn, The Star
And we have a winner, worst band name of all time- Denver Broncos UK. period.
Posted by: Chief Griefenhackensackem | September 27, 2012 at 03:19 PM
"pit bulls and pit bull mixes, a “widely misunderstood breed, who are all too often abandoned, abused and forgotten.”"
No, they're not abandoned, abused, or forgotten enough! The entire breed should be wiped off the planet. Pit bulls were a mistake of breeding and have no place in civilized society.
Posted by: LiveMusicFan | September 27, 2012 at 03:58 PM
BS!! There are no bad dogs, just bad owners
Posted by: Bull | September 27, 2012 at 04:31 PM
Yeah, LiveMusicFan just went full on retard.
Posted by: Endtro | September 27, 2012 at 05:06 PM
No reason to bash on LMF, it is his right to post his opinion, as wrong as it may be.
I have known many bulldogs who were just big ole lovey dovey puppy doggies, but they had good, gentle owners, and I have known some evil ankle biting Chihuahuas that made me feel like LMF, and their owners were predictably idiots.
There are no bad dogs juts bad owners.
Posted by: Buster | September 28, 2012 at 06:21 AM
Well, I quite like bulldogs ;) they're cute... but when the owner is a douchebag, what do you expect from his pet?
Greetings from Poland!
Posted by: Lekcje gry | September 28, 2012 at 07:27 AM
All the same things can be said for kids, it is all about how an animal is raised.
Mothers (and fathers) don't let you kids grow up to be douche bags...
Posted by: Willy | September 28, 2012 at 07:37 AM
Well - on a musical note...
How am I supposed to decide on a show tonight? Nellie McKay rarely tours this way and has never played here before. and GBV - will they ever be back" And Ben Folds has his band back together...one of the best shows I ever saw was Ben Folds 5 at the Hurricane (aka Riot Room)..
I think it will have to be Nellie, unless I can road trip to Salina tomorrow and see her and that way I can go to GBV. But if I do that I'll miss Blues Traveller... S**T!
Geez I wish they could have spread these out.
Posted by: Country Jesus | September 28, 2012 at 11:33 AM
Blues Traveler and Sheila E. for me. Too bad that Bluesfest at Kaw Point is also tomorrow as I would have liked to have seen Muddy's boy, Big Bill Morganfield again. Saw where he's also playing at Freddy T's in Olathe tonight so I might do that as well. Anybody been there for a show before?
Posted by: pellboy | September 28, 2012 at 03:19 PM
Productive weekend:
Friday - Nellie McKay's set closed by 10 (great show BTW) so I drove out to Lawrence to catch the last hour of GBV and a clearly wasted Robert Pollard - still good though.
Saturday was 2 hrs of Blues Traveler - I've never seen a bad show from these guys.
Sunday morning Blues Traveler played a second hour long show at the crossroad for the Blues n Brews 10 mile run...FREE!
Sunday night another free show with Sheila E...would have liked to see her play more drums.
Then to the Record Bar for the Doors tribute. Cherokee Rock Rifle killed it. Hope they incorporate a few of those songs into their set.
Posted by: Country Jesus | October 01, 2012 at 09:10 PM