Since 2007, the massive team behind Colorado’s Monolith Festival has made magic happen with a two-day odyssey into musical bliss. Hosted at the scenic Red Rocks Amphitheater, the Monolith Festival is quickly becoming the premier festival in the region. Last year saw appearances by Cut Copy, Justice, The Hood Internet, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Tilly and the Wall, Atmosphere, and Band of Horses. As if those performances weren’t enough, four additional stages were set up throughout the venue to ensure a variety of musical experiences. After a long climb to the top of a skyscraper’s worth of stairs, interactive booths supporting the “green” movement and reforestation reminded the crowd why Monolith was happening in the first place. The underlying message behind the festival has been a dedication to environmentally responsible music events. Although Monolith has that chaotic feel that festivals typically engender, it’s organized in such a way that makes it fairly simple to see both the bigger, stadium-sized acts and the more obscure indie artists. Saturday’s headliner, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, will paint the stage with the crazy antics of colorful lead singer Karen O. Gregg Gillis of the mashup phenomena Girl Talk will haul his laptop to the stage and ignite a colossal dance party—ending up playing in his boxer shorts more often than not, Gillis is a fan of sampling everybody from Richard Marx and Outkast to Grizzly Bear and CSS. Recently added, the elusive MF Doom (hopefully the real MF Doom) throws a little hip-hop into the mix, while M. Ward and of Montreal wet the indie rock whistle. Sunday lets Chromeo tear up the stage with ’80s inflected electro-pop. MSTRKRFT’s punk-inspired electromadness takes over until the vertically challenged power-duo Mars Volta steps up with energetic prog-rock brilliance. On the opposite side of the musical spectrum, Method Man and Redman will jolt the crowd with hardcore hip-hop anthems, and LA’s The Glitch Mob will bust out a bunch of bangin’ beats. Other notable acts that day include French pop-rock by Phoenix, plus The Dandy Warhols, Passion Pit, Health, Monotonix, Deer Tick and legendary rapper Rahzel. It’s only a five-hour drive away.
Monolith Festival Saturday, Sept. 12, and Sunday, Sept. 13Noon to 11 p.m. each dayRed Rocks AmphitheaterMorrison, Colo.$59.50 to $110, all-agesmonolithfestival.com
