Time to buy tickets for Monolith

The Monolith Festival site is up, the lineup is nearly finalized, and they are offering a screaming hot deal on early bird tickets.

$75 two day pass, no fees.
Or $185 VIP Gold two day pass, again no fees.

Follow Monolith on Facebook for the latest artist additions.

Monolith Festival announces dates

It looks like September 12-13, 2009 at Red Rocks is a GO for Monolith this year. Hooray!

Not too many details yet, but they are soliciting suggestions for bands to include in the lineup on their facebook page...

The Kills Monolith 2008

I should have paid more attention to the music when The Kills played the secondary stage on top of Red Rocks. Instead I was mesmerized by frontwoman VV. I'm pretty sure they sounded awesome, though.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings Monolith 2008

Sharon Jones came on the stage with style. Her Dap-Kings warmed up the crowd, then she strutted on to the mainstage, filling the amphitheater with presence despite being a diminutive 4'11". The backing band was tight and Sharon brought tons of personality to the party.

Avett Brothers Monolith 2008

Before arriving at Monolith, it seemed like people were coming out of the woodwork with exhortations to see the Avett Brothers. I went in with not much info, just a couple CDs borrowed from the library and trust in my friends' good taste. Turns out they were right!

The Avett Brothers brand of rocking hillbilly music hit the right spot, and their energetic stage show made the sunny boozy afternoon at Red Rocks come alive. I'll be playing their tunes for sure up in Laramie, where the indie rock fans are scarce but the whole town loves bluegrass and old timey music.

Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem @ Red Rocks

The bill last night made me believe in a kind and all-knowing God. LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire together at Red Rocks = my dream show!


Our traveling caravan were mostly new to James Murphy's eloquence and mad beats, but they all came away loving LCD Soundsystem.

And in no surprise, Arcade Fire delivered the goods.

The light show looked brilliant against the rocks.


Haiti remains one of my favorites live.


Whenever Regine heads to the drum kit, I start to freak out in anticipation of Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels).


Oh to be in the front rows! Win toured the crowd twice!


Wake Up proved transcendent and a perfect end to the evening.

Monolith -- Friday pictures

Gearing up for another day of awesome music, but a short report... So far all of the bands have started on time (!), the bathroom lines are reasonable (!), and the sound is amazing. I've seen Ghostland and the Decemberists at other festivals, and both bands benefited yesterday from the amazing sound quality at Red Rocks.


We arrived rather early, allowing plenty of time to meander and strategerize and watch Colin Meloy take some photos of Red Rocks.


With energy to burn, a killer horn section and a shoutout to Cheyenne, local faves Everything Absent or Distorted were one of the day's favorites.


Ghostland always brings full energy to a performance. They never fail to make the cool kids dance. And again my mind wandered to Aaron's pants. Where does a person buy such tight, perfectly fit jeans? Amazing.


To Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, I said "meh".


The Kings of Leon offered a tight LOUD show. This drummer amazed me by blowing bubbles and drumming at the same time. My mother likes to point out that I can't walk and chew gum.

More pics and reports from Saturday to come!

Monolith Schedule Announced

I already see some potential conflicts... who are you excited to see?

Main Stage
Friday
3:00pm: Everything Absent or Distorted *
4:30pm: Ghostland Observatory *
5:45pm: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
7:00pm: Kings of Leon
8:30pm: The Decemberists
10:15pm: Cake

Saturday
2:30pm: A Verse Unsung
3:30pm: The Little Ones
4:30pm: Margot & the Nuclear So & So's
5:40pm: Brian Jonestown Massacre
7:00pm: Art Brut
8:30pm: Spoon *
10:00pm: Flaming Lips *

New Belgium Stage
Friday
4:00pm: The Broken West
5:00pm: Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
6:15pm: Das EFX
7:45pm: Editors *
9:30pm: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Saturday
2:00pm: Laylights
3:00pm: Bob Log 111 *
4:00pm: Meese
5:10pm: Matt & Kim
6:15pm: Lords of the Underground
7:45pm: Earl Greyhound *
9:30pm: Cloud Cult *


WOXY.com Stage
Friday
3:50pm: Mason Proper
5:10pm: Cat-A-Tac *
6:30pm: Ra Ra Riot
7:50pm: De Novo Dahl
9:10pm: Mobius Band
10:30pm: Kid Sister & Flosstradamus

Saturday
2:30pm: Via Audio
3:50pm: Forget Cassettes
5:10pm: Ian Ball (of Gomez)
6:30pm: White Rabbits
7:50pm: Hot IQs *
9:10pm: Au Revoir Simone *
10:30pm: Yacht *

Rock Room Stage
Friday
3:10pm: On a Sun
4:30pm: AutoVaughn
5:50pm: No More Kings
7:10pm: Born in the Flood *
8:30pm: Monster Maker (feat C-Rays Walz & Sharkey)
9:50pm: 3OH3!

Saturday
3:10pm: Stranger Lazy
4:30pm: The Thieves
5:50pm: Nathan & Stephen *
7:10pm: Minus Story
8:30pm: The Swayback
9:50pm: Machine Gun Blues

Songwriter Stage
Friday
4:00pm: Ian Cooke
5:15pm: Scott Leger
6:30pm: Angie Stevens
8:00pm: Bela Karoli
9:45pm: Vienna Teng

Saturday
2:00pm: Gregory Alan Isakov
3:00pm: Nina Storey
4:00pm: Tim Barry of Avail
5:10pm: Otis Gibbs
6:30pm: William Elliot Whitmore
8:00pm: Cameron McGill
9:30pm: Rocky Votalato *

* WyoMusic wants to see!

Live Preview: Daft Punk at Mother f-ing Red Rocks

Daft Punk plays Red Rocks, tomorrow, July 29th.

I can't begin to describe how sad I am to be missing this show. I'll let the photos from pfork do the describing for me. More photos here. Sigh.

The Cure @ Red Rocks

October 2nd Red Rocks will host the Cure. Suddenly there's something to see in Morrison this summer other than jam bands and graduation ceremonies.

The Cure U.S. Tour Dates 2007
Thu-Sep-13 Tampa - St Pete Times Forum
Sat-Sep-15 Atlanta - Gwinnett Center
Mon-Sep-17 Charlotte - Charlotte Bobcats Arena
Wed-Sep-19 Washington DC - Patriot Center
Fri-Sep-21 Philadelphia - Wachovia Spectrum
Sun-Sep-23 New York City - Madison Square Garden
Tue-Sep-25 Boston - Agganis Arena
Wed-Sep-26 Montreal - Bell Centre
Thu-Sep-27 Toronto - Air Canada Centre
Sat-Sep-29 Chicago - Allstate Arena
Tue-Oct-02 Denver - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Thu-Oct-04 Salt Lake City - E Center
Sat-Oct-06 San Francisco - Shoreline Amphitheatre - Download Festival
Mon-Oct-08 Seattle - Key Arena
Tue-Oct-09 Vancouver - General Motors Place
Thu-Oct-11 Santa Barbara - Santa Barbara Bowl
Sat-Oct-13 San Diego - Cox Arena
Sun-Oct-14 Los Angeles - Hollywood Bowl
Tue-Oct-16 Houston - Toyota Center
Wed-Oct-17 Dallas - American Airlines Center

Band of Horses to open for Modest Mouse

My favorite ex-Seattleites open for Modest Mouse on tour this summer, including an August 1st date at Red Rocks.

Band of Horses summer dates, per PFork:
06-30 Victoria, British Columbia - Sugar's Nightclub %
07-01 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards %
07-02 Seattle, WA - Showbox %*
07-03 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom %*
07-05 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall %*
07-06 San Diego, CA - Cane's Ballroom %*
07-07 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl $
08-01 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre @#
08-03 Kansas City, MO - City Market @#
08-08 New York, NY - Keyspan Park #!@
08-15 Columbus, OH - LC Amphitheater @#
08-16 Cleveland, OH - Warner Cable Amphitheatre @#
08-18 Mansfield, MA - Tweeter Center (Download Festival) @#
08-19 Philadelphia, PA - Festival Pier @#
08-18 Mansfield, MA - Tweeter Center (Download Festival) #
09-02 East Troy, WI - Alpine Valley Music Theater (Download Festival)

% with A Decent Animal
* with Stardeath & White Dwarfs
$ with the Decemberists, Andrew Bird
# with Modest Mouse
! with Clipse
@ with Love as Laughter

Monolith Tickets Presale

Thanks to Julio over at Cause=Time for a tip on Monolith pre-sale tickets today.

Also up on the Monolith website, daily schedules. It looks like I might need to attend both days, just unsure whether my definitely-not-20-years-old body is up to the task.

Friday September 14th:
CAKE
The Decemberists
Kings of Leon
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Ghostland Observatory
Editors
Juliette & The Licks
Flosstradamus
Kid Sister
Das EFX
Vienna Teng
The Broken West
Everything Absent or Distorted
Ra Ra Riot
Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band
Mason Proper
Born in the Flood
De Novo Dahl
Cat-a-tac
Mobius Band
AutoVaughn
Angie Stevens
On a Sun
A Verse Unsung
Bela Karoli

Saturday September 15th:
The Flaming Lips
Spoon
Turbonegro
Art Brut
Brian Jonestown Massacre
Cloud Cult
Matt & Kim
The Dears
Au Revoir Simone
The Little Ones
Bob Log III
William Elliot Whitmore
Rocky Votalato
Earl Greyhound
Ian Ball of Gomez
Yacht
Hot IQ's
Lords of the Underground
Otis Gibbs
Forget Cassettes
Tim Barry of Avail
Cameron McGill
Laylights
The Thieves
Machine Gun Blues
The Swayback
Minus Story
Gregory Alan Isakov
Nina Storey
Stranger Lazy

Friday night with M. Ward?

Personally, I can't be persuaded to shell out a lot of dough ($48.50 before Ticketmaster extortion fees) to see M. Ward open for Norah Jones tomorrow at Red Rocks.

That said, my love for M. Ward remains undiminished. I'd love to see him on a solo tour. Or on a tour with special friends who are, ahem, more to my liking than Ms. Jones.

His recent appearance on Conan rocked my world. Neko! Kelly Hogan! Jim James! All together for the wonderful "Chinese Translation".

The West's Best Music Venues

Paste Magazine gives a list this week of the 40 best music venues in the country, two of them in our own backyard. Red Rocks is a given, and I'm happy to see the Fox on the list as I saw two of my favorite shows there last year. Check out the full article for shout outs to other faves including the Crocodile, the Tractor, the Gorge and First Ave.

Red Rocks - Morrison, Colo.
Best place to have your mind blown by music and nature: Hearing the majestic sound bounce off the natural amphitheater of red sandstone monoliths named “Ship Rock” and “Creation Rock” is a must for any true music fan’s “before I die” list. Since it’s in the middle of a State park, even if you’re not U2 (remember the video for “Sunday Bloody Sunday”?) you can jump onstage on off-days and play for the make-believe masses.
Playing this month: Norah Jones (6/1), John Mayer. (6/15-16)
18300 West Alameda Parkway, RedRocksOnline.com

Fox Theatre - Boulder, Colo.
Best place to find the spirit of New York’s legendary Wetlands: The Fox opened its doors in 1991 to great fanfare, as the old-movie-theater-turned-concert-hall welcomed The Meters to the foothills of the Rockies. Designed by members of The Samples for optimal sound, the Fox was the spot for numerous secret one-offs by the Allman Brothers, Phish and even Bob Dylan.
Introduced the world to: Devotchka, Yonder Mountain String Band, Big Head Todd & The Monsters, The String Cheese Incident
1135 13th St., FoxTheatre.com

[thx to brooklynvegan]