Cat-A-Tac’s Jim McTurnan at the Bluebird Theater on Saturday. Photos by Reverb contributor Doug Beam.

I had originally planned to review the solid all-local lineup at the Bluebird Theater on Saturday, which included Cat-A-Tac, Widowers, Light Travels Faster and 3 Cheers Faraday. Alas, some out-of-town friends, early Kentucky Derby mint juleps and general overindulgence rendered my party, er, relatively out of commission that evening. Lucky for us, frequent Reverb contributor Doug Beam was there to catch the two sterling headliners with his lens.

If you haven’t seen Widowers yet, do so. The band’s excellent new album and jumpier (but equally satisfying) live set are positioning them as one of Denver’s best new(ish) bands, adroitly pushing addictive melodies through melancholy performances and should-be psych-folk anthems. And Cat-A-Tac, as anyone that pays attention to local music knows, is the garage-pop, psych-leaning, guitar-driven indie quartet that flattened many local contenders last year with its sterling full-length, “Past Lies and Former Lives.”

–John Wenzel

WIDOWERS:

CAT-A-TAC

See more of Doug Beam’s photography.