There’s a new indie festival in town in Denver, Colorado this summer. Endless Sunshine will be making its appearance in Denver’s Civic Center Park on Friday, September 8 and features one of the best lineups I have ever seen. Acts for the single day event include the ever-growing The Backseat Lovers, Peach Pit, Briston Maroney, and The Moss. It also includes some wonderful local acts like The Velveteers and The Mañanas. This festival is flying under the radar with no social media, online website, or advertising outside of the promotion done by the bands, but it is surely one of the best events of the summer. If this lineup sounds as amazing to you as it does to me, it is not yet sold out and tickets can be grabbed on the AXS website here. Now let’s get into a little more about the acts so you can convince your festival buddy to tag along.
First up is headliner, The Backseat Lovers. It has been a whirlwind couple of years for the band with their first major tour being canceled back in 2020 due to the pandemic. They managed to bounce back with lightning speed and blew up practically overnight after their Summer/Fall 2021 tour through venues like The Troubadour. That summer they also made their first of many festival appearances (ex. Lollapalooza in Chicago). Since then, the band has made exponential growth and can’t seem to stop selling out rooms. In just two years, they went from playing tiny venues to running two European tours and playing massive venues like the Moody Amphitheater in Austin and even the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, not to mention their Australian appearances earlier this year.
They are currently on a break between the legs of their massive “Waiting to Spill” North American Tour that started back in November of last year. The tour is in promotion of the release of their second full-length album of the same name that was released last October. The new album features a very different feel than their first indie-pop-adjacent album, When We Were Friends, back in 2019. With a cinematic feel, Waiting to Spill delves into the band’s complicated relationship with growing up and entering adulthood, something their young fanbase can heavily relate to. The album takes the listener on a sonic journey with heavier tracks like “Slowing Down” and “Know Your Name” transitioning perfectly into a melancholic and intimate ending in “Viciously Lonely”. In my opinion, the only way to give this album a proper listen is playing it from top to bottom, you won’t regret it. With their setlist generally consisting of a mix of old hits like their famous “Kilby Girl” and new tracks off Waiting to Spill, we are sure to hear a perfect blend of their discography at Endless Sunshine!
Peach Pit is also among the hottest at the festival. The band has been around since 2017 and never manages to avoid making it onto the playlists of millions of indie lovers around the world every time they release new music. With their first full length album, Being So Normal, blowing up and revolutionizing the indie genre, the band grew in popularity quickly and has since run several tours and made countless festival appearances. Peach Pit has since released two other albums, You and Your Friends in 2020 and From 2 to 3 just last year, both of which received the same adoration as their first. They are currently not touring, so I have a hunch that we can expect some new music in the near future, however, that makes them a must see at Endless Sunshine!
Finally, among the acts that I am most looking forward to is indie-rock artist, Briston Maroney. Briston first grew in popularity back in late 2019 and 2020 with now-indie-classics like “Freakin’ Out On the Interstate” and “Small Talk” being among his most streamed. He has also garnered a new audience recently with the announcement of his second full-length album, Ultrapure, that will drop just after the festival on September 22. He has already released one spectacular single off the album titled “Body” and a second, “Sunburn Fades”, will be released June 23. “Body” combines Briston’s signature sound with intimate, introspective lyrics to create the catchy, feel-good song that has inspired a new wave of fans. Briston is set to tour the EU and UK in November, but there are rumors of a full North American tour following the release of Ultrapure as well. No matter what, I will not be missing his set at Endless Sunshine as we can likely expect to hear some tracks off Ultrapure firsthand before its release.
I hope that this little dip into a few of Endless Sunshine’s artists has convinced you that this festival is an indie-lovers must see. Hotels and flights are easy to find with Denver’s infamous airport being one of the most traveled in the country and Civic Center Park having a perfect central location to hotels and public transportation. If you find yourself in the city for a couple extra days, make sure to check out the interactive Meow Wolf museum and the Denver Botanical Gardens. Grab your tickets to Endless Sunshine while you can and I’ll see you there!
