After introducing us to second annual Monolith Music Festival earlier this week, Matt Friedman returns with a recap of day one’s festivities….

Before we even entered the festival grounds, we were out of breath. We parked fairly close, but the lots were far enough down the hill that there was a hike and the incline was steep. After climbing hundreds of stairs, we entered to the right of the main stage and looked up at hundreds more. My legs were already a little tired, so I knew that this “vertical festival” might require more planning than the traditional fest or I’d be slithering along on jelly before my flight home.

Regardless, we were all amped, as the schedule was jam packed with dozens of amazing bands. While this caused the unavoidable conflicts between some of my favorites, I was almost as excited for all of the new acts I was going to discover over the next couple of days. While there were certainly more than enough “indie” festivals around the country this year, I can’t think of one that had the lineup comparable to Monolith. From the unknowns and tiny local artists to the mega-underground artists, this festival had something for everyone into music (whether they knew it or not). Fortunately, when we arrived, the crowd remained a bit sparse and we had more than enough room to jump from stage to stage with ease.

The Veils

With a rock pinnacle hanging overhead, the Veils established their presence during the hottest point of the weekend. Frontman Finn Andrews, sporting his trademark black hat, sounded different live – surprisingly a bit like Morrissey with a Jeremy Enigk (a la Sunny Day Real Estate) edge. It looked like they had some technical problems early in the set (though it could have been just broken guitar strings), but overall their rock music with alternative vibe and a bit of Brit pop was a big success. The simple style in which they play does not take away from their appeal. Rather, it allows them to connect closer to the fans. Not surprisingly, from what we heard (a bit more than the first half of the set), “Calliope” was clearly the highlight of the set.

Port O’Brien

Inside the rock, Port O’Brien took the Woxy.com Stage. The Oakland band combines folk rock with indie sensibilities and a country twang. What really gives Port O’Brien its unique style, though, is the communal approach it takes. With all five members singing on many of the songs, beautiful harmonies fuse into single tunes, while clashes of sounds create an idiosyncratic style. The band members are talented musicians as well, playing complex melodies and riffs throughout each song. Some of the better tracks had full sections for the musicians to jam out and improvise. The small theater was jam-packed and the only people leaving were doing so to get some fresh air. Without a doubt, everyone in attendance will have lasting memories of the final song of the set, “When I Woke Up Today.” The band brought a large portion of the audience up on stage, handing them pots and pans. The kids jumped around on stage, banging along to the beat, until the yodeling chorus section, which had the whole crowd on and off the stage singing along.

It was during this song that I realized just how special of a festival we were attending. Looking around at the overstuffed room, all I could see were smiling faces bouncing around and hands clapping along with the beat. Most likely, the majority of the crowd was not extremely familiar with Port O’Brien, yet unfamiliarity did not prevent anyone from completely immersing him or herself into the music. While plenty of “party/socialize-first, music-second” types showed up in evening, it was quite apparent that just about everyone at the festival (early or late) was there to discover some good music. I’m not talking about hipster (too cool for you or your fashion sense) types either, but rather pure music heads.

The Morning Benders

Staying inside, we made our way down the Interactive Hall, admiring the plaques acknowledging each concert that the Red Rocks Amphitheatre has hosted. As we squeezed our way into the room containing the Gigbot Stage, I noticed how young the Morning Benders were (or appeared to be.) They actually looked like kids that you might have gone to day camp with back in your elementary school days – the types that couldn’t hit a slow pitch softball. Nevertheless, they can play some catchy music. While they performed a few slower songs, the majority were upbeat, indie pop. The singer, Chris Chu, who had a great personality and loved to talk to the crowd, claimed that they were dance tracks (e.g., the final sing-a-long “Grain of Salt”). I didn’t really feel it. The bass guitar was too slow for the songs to be dance numbers, but the songs wouldn’t be bad choices for a modern malt shop.

Overall, this band showed a lot of potential and I’m excited to see what is to come. At the same time, members were out of sync with each other and, overall, have yet to find their own style. It seemed like many of the songs were written with a bit of the “cut and paste” method (i.e., “let’s put a little of the Strokes here, how about a section where we can get the crowd to clap along here,” etc.) I have to say that the band’s newest album title and cover looks a bit like another album (Jonah Matranga’s influential band Far).

Superdrag

At this point, we had already enjoyed quite a bit of music and needed some fresh air and some water. We went up stairs and headed to the main stage area to sit down. Superdrag was now on and, I have to say, I thought it was strange for Superdrag to be at so many festivals (let alone on the main stage) when their last notable song was out a decade ago. Personally, I wasn’t much of a fan back then, but we kicked back and enjoyed the weather and the music. Of course, they pulled out “Sucked Out,” but they also played a grip of new songs from their upcoming album. Most of the songs were of the pop punk genre and some were actually not so bad. I enjoyed watching them from afar and found their showmanship entertaining. The guitarist even rocked some Angus Young (of AC/DC) hop moves across the stage.

As this was the first band that we watched on the main stage, we made it a point to melt into the rocky bleachers and drift off into the beautiful views. It was now mid-afternoon and we had perfect weather for a perfect day.

Blitzen Trapper

Back inside on the Gigbot Stage, we arrived just a little late for Blitzen Trapper, but just in time for the highlights of the show. The band plays a nice hybrid of bluegrass, folk, and electric indie rock. The first three songs that we heard were three of the four songs that I knew by the band (and I’m not a huge fan of the fourth.) The first track, “Black River Killer,” (off the forthcoming album Furr that the band will release on Sept. 23) might have been the most interesting. I swear it sounded like Bob Dylan up on stage, accompanied with harmonized back up vocals, over southern/country fried rock with amazing organ chords (not unlike those sampled on ‘90s west coast hip hop.) Next, they kicked off the new album’s namesake, showcasing the group’s harmonizing skills. A harmonica, as well as stripped down melodies, brought out a more country rock base to the music. The final song of the trio was the wonderful “Wild Mountain Nation,” off the band’s third and final self-released album (they are now signed to Sub Pop.) The song kicked off with some nice howling, leading into the psychedelic, spacey rock riffs.

The Photo Atlas

Wow! These local dudes played loud. Without a doubt, the Photo Atlas has a late 90s-new school discordant harmonics sound – which they flip into more musically rhythmic sections – and back into discordant breakdowns. Overall, it is not far from At the Drive In, though with a bit more of a modern grind/emo edge (e.g., Thursday) and, live, there is a slight bouncy (even dance-beat) feel. As a result, the guitarist felt like he was leading the band through the songs, but he wasn’t alone. The driving drums slapped throughout the songs and made it extremely difficult not to nod our heads, even if we tried resisting (and I noticed some “too cool for schoolers” doing just that with slight grimaces on their faces). I would have liked to hear some power chords thrown in after one of the breakdowns, as I felt like they were coming and for good reason. Songs would build, as if contained by a box, waiting to break free, and one or two felt a touch empty without the climactic bang. As strange as it sounds, on one song, the singer was rhythmically following Oasis’s “Wonderwall”. I’m not sure how to explain it more than this, but we even sang along, changing the words to those of Gallagher’s and it worked. Weird.

Liam Finn

We jumped across the way (still inside) to see Liam Finn, specializing in folk music with heavy guitar solos. Turns out it was actually a duo and the girl with him rocked drum kit. The music sounded great, but it was so loud and hot. Besides, it isn’t as if we didn’t have anything else to watch.

The Fratellis

It was a perfect time to head back outside, as the sun started to set and the Fratellis were up. Last time I saw these guys was back at Coachella 2007 and, while I only saw about half of the set, I knew a grip of the songs and enjoyed what I heard. This time, the foursome knocked out tune after tune of catchy rock, including all of their biggest singles. Full of crunchy reverb and frequently finishing with fuzzy feedback, the garage rock sliced through Brit pop, surf rock and a small section of punk, resulting in a nice soundtrack to our ice-cold, fresh lemonades (with vodka – a nice departure from the normal light beers found at mainstream concerts.) The Fratellis drummer was using so much energy, I don’t know how he made it through the entire set.

As if we didn’t have a nice enough view, my sister pointed out a hang glider sailing above the plains below.

Mickey Avalon

I did not realize that Jamie Kennedy’s classic (seriously, I love this movie) Malibu’s Most Wanted is a biopic…that was until I caught a couple of Avalon’s numbers. I cannot believe we actually wasted our energy walking up the steps to see this guy. We had listened to a couple of his tracks (“Jane Fonda”, “My D*ck”) and thought he sounded like a fun novelty act. Can’t get them right all the time…

PWRFL Power

Out of all of the artists that I was introducing my sister, brother-in-law and wife to throughout Saturday, I would never have guessed that PWRFL Power would be such a hit. While I thoroughly enjoyed Kaz Nomura’s performance the first time I caught him, his style is a bit on the experimental/unconventional side. However, both my sister and wife loved watching PWRFL Power, as he did his classical guitar, silly song thing. Among the highlights were “Cat Song,” “Nice Jacket,” a new song called “Baby Tiger Song, and, of course, “Let Me Teach You How to Hold Chopsticks.” Sure, I find many of the songs hilarious, but I don’t think of PWRFL Power as a mere novelty act. Rather, Kaz manages to combine simplistic lyrics with ultra-complex themes and virtuoso guitar parts. His alter ego seems to be a partial-satire, yet an exceptional act in its own right.

Vampire Weekend

After meeting PWFL Power, we had a little time before Del took stage, so we grabbed some food and took our time walking the steps of the amphitheater, so we could catch just a sample of Vampire Weekend’s set. Having traveled the festival circuit a bit this summer, I had already heard some of the band’s set at Bonnaroo and watched their headlining gig at Popped! in Philly. The main area was absolutely packed with people. This actually turned out to be the most crowded that the festival would get all weekend, both in front of the stage and on the grounds as a whole. The sun had finally dropped over the horizon and giant lights reflected up the chins of the monoliths. The Ivy League (Columbia University) grads played their hits to the screaming girls in attendance. Among the songs that we heard was “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.” They sounded nice live, but not any different from the other times (or even from the album version.) I did dig the drummer’s T-shirt, representing Phish in a Philadelphia Phillies style logo (I am not a Phish fan – but I do live in Philly.)

Del tha Funkee Homosapien

The main events of the day were kicking off and we were ready and waiting for it…and waiting…and waiting. Apparently, Del got a little caught up with his pre-set “festivities” – not that this was unexpected. I mean, it is Del tha Funkee Homosapien. The man is a legend and he doesn’t exactly have the same reputation as Ian MacKaye (i.e., starting the straightedge movement) – not that he’s ODB or anything. How do I know Del wasn’t using the facilities or something? Well, as I said, it’s Del. Plus, he was the first artist that talked about how the altitude and hundreds of stairs were killing him. You have to remember that for us coastal kids, the Mile High City feels very different. Bring us up a mountain outside Denver and tell us to climb sets of stairs all day, you had better have an oxygen bar (and Monolith did.)

But, I digress. It is not like Del was that late and, when he did join his hype man (who was running out of rhymes) on stage, he put down one of the highlight performances of the entire weekend. Pulling out hit after hit from his extensive catalogue, Del got the evening party rolling. Obvious highlights of any Del show are his classics “Dr. Bombay” and “Mistadobalina.” The latter was the song that had the crowd bouncing around, going bonkers. He also performed Hieroglyphics songs, such as “Powers That Be.” Satisfying new school fans, he pulled out “Virus” off the critically successful, but still underappreciated Deltron 3030 project. Personally, I was also hoping for some other songs from collaborative works, such as a Gorillaz song, “Missing Link” (a song he did with Dinosaur Jr. on the Judgment Night Soundtrack – quite possibly the best soundtrack ever – with The Crow not far behind), or even “The World’s Gone Mad” (a song off Handsome Boy Modeling School’s White People, also featuring Barrington Levy and Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand.) I had not heard the entire new album and his new tracks pleasantly impressed. He particularly killed it with the song “Foot Down,” a dance track with a sped-up beat. As if being controlled by a marionette’s puppeteer, we felt our wrists pulled high and our heads bowed, as our feet took off, stomping the pavement as Del spat out his flow. This song was reason enough for me to head to the merch booth and pick up Eleventh Hour.

Unfortunately, a wind advisory shut down the performance early to the dismay of the overcrowding horde of kids. The air had significantly cooled off and the wind had picked off, but by the time the tech crew was trying to shut things down, the wind had already died off a bit. In addition, the guy on the microphone, urging the crowd to break up and move away from the stage, even discussed the fact that Red Rocks has put on shows in much worse conditions. I’m all for public safety, but by the time they decided to break up the set, it just didn’t make much sense. Oh well, we had less than ten minutes before the Silversun Pickups anyway.

Silversun Pickups

This band did such a great job impressing me the first time I saw them (at Coachella 2007 – they are locals to the area), I had to catch them shortly after at a club in Philly. Once again, Silversun Pickups just kicked ass. Lead singer, Brian Aubert, manages to range his voice from the impressively, hard-to-reach falsetto notes to screaming his brains out in the same song. While everything the band does live emphasizes the strengths of the band, things are equally exaggerated.

While much of the crowd had dwindled since Vampire Weekend finished, those in attendance (and there were still more than enough for the place to feel thick) were on their feet dancing. Silversun Pickups showed its gratitude by commenting on the crowd and how much it appreciated the fans. Aubert and bassist Nikki Monninger continuously remarked about how Red Rocks was the most beautiful place they ever played and just how breathtaking it was to look up at the lit-up monoliths.

They treated us to some new songs off the long-awaited sophomore full-length that they are currently recording and they sound great. However, the highlights were the oldies, including “Kissing Families,” that featured beautiful harmonizing vocals from Aubert and Monninger. SSPU even played the rarely performed live “Creation Lake,” a cover of The Movies, putting Monninger up front on vocals. Aubert explained that it was just so pretty at Red Rocks that they had to play it. Of course, they also did an extended version of “Lazy Eye,” which had the entire audience dancing and jumping around like little kids. Actually, most of the songs are altered from the album versions, whether the band extends portions, adds crunchiness or other flavors or throws some sort of other variety in for a nice mix.

Atmosphere

We had one more climb up the steps on Saturday night if we were going to catch Atmosphere’s performance and no stairs were stopping us. Not when Slug, Ant and company were taking stage. When we reached the apex, we had mixed feelings when we saw that the band had already started the set. I never figured out how many songs we missed and, frankly, it didn’t matter much. As if by cue, Slug kicked off one of my favorite live songs, “God Loves Ugly,” usually a great crowd participation song, and we positioned ourselves with a good view for the show.

Overall, this was not the setlist that I expected, particularly for this type of festival. While most of the crowd consisted of big-time music fans, this was not a hip hop show and I had to imagine that the majority of those in attendance were not overly familiar with Atmosphere’s catalogue. Instead of focusing on easily accessible songs, they settled on a very complex setlist (possibly too complicated for the setting), selecting many of the intellectual new songs (both lyrically and musically). I’m a big fan of When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Sh*t Gold, but I think it shows off some of the group’s more mature and intelligent characteristics, which are not necessarily transferable to a live show. Further, they opted not to play my personal favorite off Lemons, “You.” However, Slug did a fantastic job on “Shoulda Known” and a breathtaking, completely mellowed out, acoustic rendition of “Guarantees.” I must say that “Your Glasshouse” was a fairly bizarre choice.

I was really hoping (even though it had to be a long shot) for an appearance by TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe (who appears on the new album), but we later found out why that was an impossibility (see my Sunday Recap for an explanation.) Still, as if reading my mind, Atmosphere had a huge treat in store for the hip hop fans in the crowd. Slug called his tour mate Abstract Rude on stage. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, check out some Project Blowed or Haiku D’Etat. In fact, I encourage you to pick up Haiku D’Etat’s second album, Coup de Theatre or simply check out the tracks “Mike, Aaron & Eddie” and “Top Qualified.” Slug and Abbey tore it up with a tag-team freestyle session over “Smart Went Crazy” from You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having. Earlier in the evening, I had been commenting how great of a freestyler Del is and that I was disappointed by his lack of impromptu rhyming. Ab Rude more than handled his own, making up for Del’s lack of off-the-dome rhymes, and definitely acquired new fans amongst the many admirers in the crowd.

I can admit when I’m wrong and, clearly, I was on this occasion. The crowd loved Atmosphere’s performance. I had been talking up Atmosphere and my brother-in-law still thought they were amazing. Musically, Nate Collis and the rest of the band were exceptional. Most of the set consisted of jazzy and bluesy tracks with laid-back, chilled out vibes. Ant did his normal, standout job on the tables. Slug absolutely killed it on the mic. And just when we thought that Atmosphere was finished, Slug popped back on stage for an encore that was simply sick. He performed a stunning rendition of “Not Another Day” (originally off Sad Clown Bad Spring #12) that blew us all away. It was just the thought-provoking poet singing (well, I might add) “whoa-oh, whoa not another day” over a minimalistic acoustic guitar in the soft, drizzling rain. It was a powerful ending to a wonderful set.

DeVotchKa

The Denver locals DeVotchKa headlined the first day of the inaugural Monolith Festival. I am not sure how best to describe the band’s sound. Strange? Mature? Nonconforming? Each or all would work. The band somehow blends what might be thought of as clashing styles into an improbable union, resulting in atypical, euphoric music. Their eclectic mix of Latin, Middle Eastern, Eastern European and indie rock result in a unique, yet not completely unfamiliar style. This may be partially because we can call them a true “American” band (not in the southern Lynyrd Skynrd way, but more in the mutt, melting pot way), although, of course, we would be back to square one in attempting to explain their sound.

The layered sounds of many backgrounds were constructed with a diverse ensemble of instruments, including an accordion, a theremin, a mandolin, a sousaphone (decorated in bright red Christmas lights), and completed with a nice string section. Nick Urata’s high voice glided smoothly over the strings, frequently singing in another language that I couldn’t quite make out. Yet, even when speaking English it sounded as if it was some strange foreign tongue. It was interesting to see a headliner that might actually have had the third largest crowd of the day, as Vampire Weekend definitely took home the belt for crowd size.

Frankly, DeVotchKa’s set was stunning. It was my first time seeing the band, so it is difficult for me to say how good it was in comparison to other performances. However, I can’t imagine them putting on a much better set. As perfect as the landscape is at Red Rocks and, to be honest, DeVotchKa did seem to fit the headlining slot (I mean, this was the king of indie fests), I think one minor tweak of the schedule could have improved a near perfect schedule. As I listened to dazzling rhythms, invoking salsa melodies, romantic serenades and a touch of Arabian nights, warm colors sprang through my mind. I couldn’t help but think how perfect DeVotchKa would be with a side of sunset, as opposed to the cold air that engulfed Morrison on that first night of Monolith.

Categories: Concert Reviews, Features, Festival News/Rumor
Tags: Abstract Rude, Atmosphere, Blitzen Trapper, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, DeVotchka, Haiku D'Etat, Liam Finn, Live at Monolith 2008, Mickey Avalon, Monolith Music Festival, Port O'Brien, PWRFL Power, Silversun Pickups, Superdrag, The Fratellis, The Morning Benders, The Photo Atlas, The Veils, Vampire Weekend