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Sorry for the delay, the Monolith Music Festival show reviews for 2008 are coming!

September 19th, 2008 Posted by: Dust Devil

Hey everybody,

Well, I made it home this past Monday from a spectacular weekend in Morrison, CO. The second annual Monolith Festival took place Saturday and Sunday, September 13-14, at beautiful Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

Overall, I may have enjoyed this festival more than last year! I had an opportunity to see more music this go-around, as I really made a point of planning who I wanted to see ahead of time. I literally would get done watching a set of one band and make the trek to one of the other stages, or sometimes left one stage early because at another stage was a band I wanted to see from the get-go. Needless to say I got a great work-out in that altitude!

Several of the bands I saw I will do individual posts on, because they deserve that extra special attention. Here are some quick reviews of the others that I had a chance to see:

Cut Copy on the Esurance Main Stage; Saturday at 4:30pm. This outfit is out of Australia and played an enjoyable set of 80’s style dance music. These guys were fun and really had the crowd amped up and dancing.

Holy F**k on the New Belgium Stage; Saturday at 5:00pm. I caught the last part of this Toronto, Canada act. Interesting music, they take the more enjoyable aspects of electronica and add in some hard riffs to create a unique sound. I would be interested in seeing a full set someday.

DeVotchKa on the Esurance Main Stage; Saturday at 10:30pm. The headliner on Saturday and local faves, this was one of the most eclectic bands I have ever seen. A cello, a tuba, violins, and an accordion are played alongside the typical rock and roll instruments and amplified by some beautiful vocals. Imagine mariachi music set to an indie pop flair. Great stuff!

The Elms on the New Belgium Stage; Sunday at 12:45pm. Out of Seymour, IN, this band played some good, roots rock and roll. I liked what I saw, but left after two songs because another band I wanted to see was starting at 1pm.

Astra Moveo on the New Belgium Stage; Sunday at 1:45pm. A local band, Astra Moveo was loads of fun. They played a harder edged dance music with plenty of groove in the music to get the audience moving to the beat. Once again, a band I left after a few songs to go see another band at another stage.

Moonspeed on the Gigbot Stage; Sunday at 3:50pm. Now, I have to admit, I was chowing down on food in the VIP Lounge during their set, but the Rock Room was right next to the VIP Lounge and the door was wide open, so I was able to hear the music. A big band (I believe 11 people total!), Moonspeed play a style of music that brings to mind Slowdive and other bands of the shoegazer variety. They were interesting, and another Colorado band!

There will be separate posts for the following bands, as they put on extraordinary performances. Some bands I never heard of before (A Place To Bury Strangers, Jukebox the Ghost, The Pomegranates, Snowden, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings and TV on the Radio), some I had a slight knowledge of (The Fratellis and Band of Horses) and two bands I was already a huge fan of (Silversun Pickups and Tokyo Police Club). What an amazing weekend!

Once again the Festival itself was a great affair of not just great music, but many other activities as well. The Dell Dome allowed you to create your own mix-tape of some great music. After creating your mix, a link would be emailed to you to download the tracks. Very nice! There were once again music tents that were independent driven and showcased some great, underground music. The Acoustic Stage was sponsored by MadeLoud.com, a very cool website that anyone who enjoys independent music needs to take a look at and support. The WOXY.com Stage was one of the two stages, along with the Gigbot Stage, located in the visitors center of Red Rocks. WOXY.com is an independent internet radio station, check them out when you get a chance. The staff did a great job keeping the festival moving along, kept the venue clean for the patrons and were very helpful.

One negative. Justice, a duo of DJ’s out of Paris, France, were for some pathetic reason the headliners on Sunday night on the Main Stage. Why an act that does not even play music were headlining a major festival like this is beyond me. They were pretentious, egotistical idiots, their “music” was the same, monotonous dance beat over and over and over. They sucked and their attitude sucked even worse. Early in their set their equipment failed, and like the sissies they are they walked off the stage until it was fixed. When their set was over, they walked off and waited for the crowd to glorify them before coming back out. The problem is when they did, one got in his position behind his equipment, the other sat on top of the stack of Marshall amps on the stage. They waited for the crowd to scream even more for them, and when it didn’t happen to their liking, they walked off for good. No encore. What a joke.

If Justice was truly served, these losers would quit today and never stain the music world again. A bummer having to end a tremendous weekend with such a pathetic excuse for an act as Justice. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Silversun Pickups or Band of Horses would have been a much better headliner!

Cheers!
The Dust Devil

Filed under: My Take, Event Reviews