By Tim Van Schmidt

I gave up my ticket to see the sold-out Bruce Springsteen show in Denver in order to see a couple of dozen local bands. Man, did I get the better end of the bargain. The opportunity that made me rethink my plan to see Springsteen was the Fort Collins Music Experiment, a two-day feast of local and regional bands of all stripes organized by the Fort Collins Musician’s Association. The festival, held at a wide variety of venues strewn throughout Fort Collins, wasn’t about big stars, big hits or big money. Rather, the Fort Collins Music Experiment was about the best of contemporary music making- fresh talent and unbridled energy presented to excited, supportive audiences with in-your-face passion. At times during the FOCOMX, you just couldn’t get a better rock and roll jolt, no matter how famous the band is.

During the FOCOMX, held in Fort Collins on April 10-11, I managed to see 27 different performers- that’s not even one third of the bands on the schedule. I made it to all the venues except one and I didn’t miss seeing Springsteen one bit. That’s because everywhere I went during the festival, I was greeted by compelling performances illustrating just how creative and dedicated to personal expression Northern Colorado musicians are. From harsh hardcore to gentle folksiness, exotic world sounds to gut punching rock, blinding bluegrass picking to challenging artsy stuff- it was all there during the FOCOMX.

The highlights of my experience at FOCOMX were plentiful. My favorite band overall was the Tanukis- performing at Surfside 7- their sophisticated, yet just a little crazy European-influenced art music stops me in my tracks. But the most fun I had at the festival, above and beyond the art of it, was seeing Umlaut for the first time at Road 34. These characters had just the right tongue-in-cheek attitude, lots of volume, great costumes and extra points for projecting the words to their nutty songs to make for a very satisfying encounter indeed. Johnny Hickman’s set at Hodi’s Half Note, with the Piggies rocking out behind him, was a quintessential club experience- blazing musicianship mixed with an upbeat stage presence and a turned on crowd.

But more, I got to see a whole new bunch of performers- from a wide variety of genres. I’m glad I got to experience the fresh rock energy of What About Pluto? and the Don’ts and Be Carefuls at Hodi’s and Common Anomaly at the Aggie Theatre. Fierce Bad Rabbit, out at Swing Station in LaPorte, and Stella Luce, at Avogadro’s Number, joined the Tanukis as some of the most challenging of the art bands at FOCOMX- all using stringed instruments. I only caught a little bit of Maxwell Hughes’ instrumental music at the Alley Cat, but I liked what I heard. 20XIII got right in the face of the crowd at the Ramskellar at CSU, demonstrating raw power and charisma. Bluegrass fusion bands like Glovetrucker at Avo’s and Good Gravy at Hodi’s also impressed and HOSS just plain kicked butt at Hodi’s.

Of course, it was also fun to catch up with other area favorites. Tuatha’s set at Everyday Joe’s was deep and exotic, including some cool projected graphics above the stage. Otem Rellik’s sound mix always challenges the ear and Glass Ceiling continues to churn out an irresistible rock. My favorite venue was the Stonehouse Grille- mostly because it was a new discovery for me.

The result of FOCOMX: I went to places I had never been to before- and spots I hadn’t been to for a long time. I saw performers I had never heard of, ones I’d heard of but had never seen and old favorites doing new things. I came out of it with a very healthy respect for the level of talent and musicianship that converged on these two nights- it’s almost overwhelming, especially for the size of our city. Added to that is a certain satisfaction that when a group of musicians decide to get together in Fort Collins and rock, they don’t fool around about it- they rock in every genre imaginable. Forget Bruce Springsteen- make mine FOCOMX!!