Slade Rand
August 26, 2023
Local fans shrieked, hollered and welcomed a suave quartet called The Mañanas to the Ogden stage on Friday night.
The Mañanas is Brandon Unpingco (lead vocals and guitar), Danny Pauta (drums, vocals), Neoma (bass) and Martín on lead guitar (who also goes by Fruta Brutal, the name of his side project). Martín joined the band earlier this year, rounding out the trio that had been playing together since 2021.
They’re based in Denver, a local edge that showed in the zealous attendance for The Mañanas opening set at the Ogden on Friday.
Band manager Yugs said Pauta, Neoma and Martín are from Ecuador originally; Unpingco is Spanish and found his way to the band by way of Germany. They’ve since formed an audience and home in the Queen City. The group lives together in what Yugs calls “The Mañanas Casa” or “Neoma HQ.”
A Mañanas performance channels what it must feel like to hang around with the roommates on a weekend afternoon. The warm and catchy music calls back to surfer-rock and living room jams. It’s infectious.
The two-to-five-minute songs zipped by Friday night, met with screams from the crowd not unlike the ones elicited by certain bands from the early 60’s caricatured in “That Thing You Do.” The Mañanas, sophisticated in matching black and white formalwear, confidently tore through a repertoire of upbeat rock-n-roll.
The anthem “Don’t Think Your Love Has Given Up,” was a highlight of the 40-minute set.
The track off of 2021’s “Cheers,” is a tune from when The Mañanas was a trio of Unpingco, Pauta and Neoma. That track and others from the band’s prior recordings are included as bonus tracks on “3000,” the band’s full debut released in May.
The four musicians shared vocal duties Friday and easily tapped into harmonies reminiscent of Beach Boys recordings. The energetic opening set at the Ogden gave The Mañanas audience a slate of ten original songs. After a blistering tear through the rocker “La Plaga” off of “3000,” the band dropped a pair of covers.
Unpingco delivered a version of “Love Potion #9” in Spanish with a timeless swagger that could make you forget how young this local band is.
Pauta, behind his dark sunglasses, shouted a quick three-count and the band dropped into James Brown’s “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine” next. The party-funk standard was right in The Mañanas wheelhouse. Bassist Naoma bobbed and rocked with the packed front row to round out the set, smiling the whole song.
Most of the songs played Friday night came from “3000,” which was produced by Pauta in Denver. “3000” is available to stream on Spotify and to purchase on CD via The Mañanas.
After Midnight 
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