Monolith Festival May Cease Without Major Investors

Denver's Monolith Festival holds a special place in my heart as it was thanks to an un-asked for photo pass that I began shooting photos, something which has really changed this site (hopefully for the better) and my life overall. Monolith has never been a gangbuster money-making event but it consistently secured a good collection of known and unknown musicial acts, many who became favorites of mine after discovering them there. Plus, it was well organized and in a relaxed atmophere, held at one of the world's natural wonders, Red Rocks Ampitheater-how could you go wrong with all that?

Sadly, like many artistic-type events in a bad economy, Monolith may not be able to continue because of financial problems.

MONOLITH Fans,

We are very saddened by the nature of this announcement but wanted to bring it to you first. We feel like we have always been very fan-centric, honest and open with you therefore it's important to us to communicate the severity of our current situation. We have tirelessly promoted and produced the Monolith Festival for 3 years now. Over the course of those three years we have witnessed some amazing performances, met a bunch of great friends and produced a very special event that filled our voracious appetite to deliver the most amazing new artists in the world. Many of you who know us know that we do this out of sheer pleasure, undesirable love of music and a vehicle to tout our admiration for hardworking musicians.

With that said, the future of the festival is very grim. A tough economic year and an opening day of chilling rain combined to put a serious dent in our humble operation. We have continued to pursue any and all options that would allow us to recover from this year and head into 2010 with full steam. At this point in time, we have been unable to secure any options. We are communicating this message to you - the fans, the media and the artists who have supported time and time again for good reason. We hope that somewhere, in our vast network of music lovers, that there may be someone with the means to pull us up by our boot straps and give us chance to continue building this amazing event.

If you have any input or know of someone who may be interested in investing in/purchasing our small but mighty event, we would love to speak with them. We have a number of options available for interested parties/individuals. For more information please contact jb@monolithfestival.com. Again, this is our last resort and we have explored just about every option that is available to us. To the folks who we still hold financial obligations to, we whole-heartedly appreciate your patience and willingness to work through this tough time with us.

A very special thanks to the fans who have bought tickets, told your friends, blogged and shouted from the mountaintops about their admiration and love for Monolith. We encourage you to continue this as it can only help our cause. We would also like to thank our loyal, generous sponsors who have been there for us year after year. Specific thanks and credit goes to Esurance who saw our vision for this event and remains the sole reason why this event was even possible.

Best Regards,
MONOLITH Team

They've set up a Kickstarter sight; click widget below for info video and donation site (with rewards even!). "We set our initial goal at $38,000 which would be a tremendous start to helping us get over some immediate humps," they said. Fingers and toes are crossed here that someone (or a buch of someones) can come to its rescue because it really is a wonderful and interesting event.

Let the Wild Rumpus Start! Karen O and the Kids Digital Single "All is Love" From Where the Wild Things Are Soundtrack Released Today

"All is Love," the first single from the Karen O-created soundtrack for the movie version of Maurice Sendek's Where the Wild Things Are began streaming today here. Karen O, lead singer of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "enlisted friends and fellow musicians she believed had a musical intuition that would bolster her intent to marry sound to vision." O says, “I didn’t want to make music that was hammering you over the head or go for some kind of pushbutton emotion. What I initially wanted to do was close to Cat Stevens in Harold & Maude, really simple, but memorably and seamlessly woven into the movie."

"All is Love" includes O and an untrained children's choir; the rest of the members of "Karen O and The Kids" include O's YYY bandmates Nick Zinner and Brian Chase, Tristan Bechet (Services), Tom Biller (co-producer with Karen O and member of Afternoons), Bradford Cox (Deerhunter), Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age, The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs), Aaron Hemphill (Liars), Greg Kurstin (The Bird and the Bee), Jack Lawrence (The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs, The Greenhornes), Oscar Michel (Gris Gris), and Imaad Wasif (New Folk Implosion, Alaska).

The full soundtrack is available 9/29; the movie, directed by Spike Jonze, is out 10/16.

(The YYYs begin US tour dates starting in September. They are headlining Day 1 of the Monolith Festival on 9/12.)

Color Me Impressed: MSTRKRFT

("Color Me Impressed" is a segment that addresses the question, "What's so great about those guys?")

by Dave "Scout" Tafoya

At first listen, or even second or third, MSTRKRFT (pronounced "Master-craft") appears to be an unremarkable techno act. Some things may catch the ear, like their rubbery bass sound that nicely brings out their rhythm. And, if you're willing to pay attention to some of their remixes, you can see something a little different about them as opposed to the myriad of other DJs in the electronic music world. But ask anyone who's seen them live and you'll see where their genius lies, as there's something indefinably amazing about watching those guys do their thing. I detest the idea of clubbing but when I saw them live at the recent Rothbury Festival, it was an amazing, relentless assault of bass and pop hooks that were ground up like sausage and spat out like magma from the mouth of a volcano. If you watch the two men at the helm (Alex Puodziukas, or Al-P, and Jesse F. Keeler), they're just as mesmerized by the sounds they make as the many hundreds who show up to lose control to their music. They shake, bounce, smoke, and drink, all in time with their music, exhilarated by merely being there and unleashing their set on the crowd. Just before they went on at Rothbury, Keeler leaned over to me and told me giddily the song they'd be starting with; it was obvious that they were just dying to get on stage. I was happy to hear his secret, even if only for the three minutes that it was one, and I was even happier to dance like an idiot for the duration of their set.

Give a Listen: Zero (MSTRKRFT remix)-MSTRKRFT
Buy: here

(MSTRKRFT is touring throughout Europe, Canada, and Australia this fall, and doing two US shows, the Monolith Festival in Denver, CO and the Treasure Island Festival in San Francisco...see specific dates here.)

Monolith Festival 2009 Announced

Seems they're still working up the list of artists but it's great to see that the Monolith Festival at Red Rocks in Denver, CO is on again this year. There was talk last year that it wouldn't return as it wasn't a high-dollar generating venture, so it's great to see they made it work.

As many of you may know, this year we booked many of the artists directly from your suggestions and comments via the Monolith Facebook Group, making the 2009 MONOLITH Festival a true festival for the fans. We'd like to thank everyone for being part of the process, and we are confident that you will be excited by many of our acts -- as you actually helped pick them!

Look for the new festival website in early June, complete with ticket information and on-sale dates.

The first act announced today was Starfucker (meh), but it's still early. Last year, they had awesome bigger acts like TVOTR, and many smaller more indie acts like ATE and A Place to Bury Strangers, among others. (You can read my coverage here: VIP Party, Day 1, Day 2.)

I have a special place in my heart for Monolith as that's where I met a bizillion great fellow writerly types last year (MOKB, Mr. Picasso, Heather B, Ryan, J and his rock mayhem, DDE, among others), and started my little photography addiction, so I'm definitely hoping to return. You coming with?

Show Review: Monolith Festival @ Red Rocks, Denver, CO--Day 2 (continued)

Day 2 starts here.
(Day 1 recap here and here.)

6.5 Hearts of Palm
Yeah, I saw some of Hearts of Palm's set. Eh. Photos were about the best thing I walked away with.

(More photos from Hearts of Palm's set here)

7. The Whigs
They put The Whigs in that little hallway room. The ear splitting, rocktastic, popular Whigs in a room that doubles as a hallway, a mind-boggling move to say the least. It sounds stupid, but after seeing these guys at SXSW 2008, I really wanted to get a shot of Julian Dorio's hair flying around while playing here at Monolith....something about it just makes me laugh, probably because it reminds me of Animal on the Muppets (yes, I know, I'm a dork.) The lighting wasn't stellar in this room but I think I scored one or two good ones of both Dorio as well as the group as a whole.







Playing-wise they were, as usual, fucking awesome. But the immense crowd, coupled with the inability for the security people to keep space in front for the camera folks to shoot without being inundated by said crowd, made me way too claustrophobic. Which bummed me out as The Whigs were one of the groups I was really psyched to see again live.

(More photos from The Whigs' set here)

I did get a few minutes in with lead singer/guitarist Parker Gispert afterwards. He said they're doing more east coast dates and will be hitting DC this fall (with the Kings of Leon in November at DAR; DAR, well you can't win em all).


8. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
Ruling the mainstage in the late afternoon was Sharon Jones and her Dap Kings. I'd heard she is a full on cyclone live and that was no joke.



Her sound of soul and funk harkens one back to an earlier time in pop music history when girl groups ruled and bouffant hairdos were the rage, when Tina Turner danced her ass off in that macramé dress while belting out a song. Jones absolutely knows how to hold a crowd in her hand.



Dancing barefoot onstage, pulling this crazy caped crusader named TRL out of the crowd for some onstage teaching about how a woman just wants a man to "Be Easy" (though we were all convinced that dancing with Sharon Jones is about as close as TRL would ever want a woman to get to him)...





...having women come up on stage to dance with her, and ending with a show-stopping, heart-pounding, ass-shakin, body-quakin version of James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World," she was literally all over the place. The center of the cyclone had settled right over us and we were all happy to be swept up into the inward spiraling wind that was Sharon Jones. She is, by far, the hardest working woman in showbiz.

(More photos from Sharon Jones/Dap Kings set here)


9. The Airborne Toxic Event
Racing back up the 230 stairs, I found a bit of a traffic jam trying to get to the inside stages. Apparently, the organizers hadn't anticipated the draw of the some of these inside bands like the Presets and Does it Offend You Yeah? (Dee captures the mayhem well here). In order to slow the flow, they closed off one of the two entrances, allowing one person in when one person left the inside stage hallway; not both entrances mind you, just the one, which didn't make much sense. So I had to do some fast talking and thankfully, a very nice employee led me through the kitchen to the side room where they were playing. (whew!)

By now, I'm sure you’ve heard about that awful Pitchfork review of Airborne's debut record and Airborne's spirited response. After I'd read the review, I emailed lead singer Mikel Jollet and said you should invite the guy to a show as he obviously has never seen y'all live. Now, if you’ve been reading my site here at all, you know I've interviewed The Airborne Toxic Event, I’ve reviewed them, I’ve photographed them...I’m a fan. But remember that Replacements Factor I spoke of ? I think Airborne sorta has that too. Their record is good, don't get me wrong, but had I heard their record before seeing them live, I honestly don’t know if I would have been quite as knocked out by them. That stunning "thing" that they have, like the Mats, A Place to Bury Strangers, and countless others, that thing about them that seems to raise the hairs on the back of your neck, that's so completely obvious when you see them on the stage. You get glimpses of it in what you hear from the scripted confines of a studio booth and mixing board, but seeing them live is when you forget to breathe. (In my humble opinion of course...)







And Monolith was no exception. It was a fantastic set even though the entire band was all terribly ill with the flu. Drummer Daren Taylor told me afterward, "I'm exhausted, but I played my ass off." Yes, yes he was, and yes, yes he did.



That's because Airborne is a band that just can’t let themselves play a bad show, even being so sick they could barely remain standing (bassist Noah Harmon, in fact, sat down on the rocks in back of the stage at one point). The author of that Pitchfork review, Ian Cohen, claimed the band is about market research and does what they do according to a "formula" so to speak. Though Cohen would probably somehow consider playing deathly ill as part of that "formula," I bet everyone who was at their show at Monolith saw it for what it really was, a band obsessively dedicated to their audience, their performance, and their music.







Plus, I mean seriously, how beautifully does lead guitarist Steven Chen photograph? You just cannot shoot a bad photo of this guy...

(More photos from the Airborne Toxic Event's set here)


10. TV on the Radio
And while we're on the topic of dedication...there had been rumors all day that TVOTR may not make their evening slot but no one knew why. Around their show time on the mainstage, the photo pit was as jammed full as the crowd behind us in anticipation. Finally, 15 minutes past their scheduled start time, the announcer came out to tell us the story: Seems the band was in Salt Lake City at 11 am, gearing up to head to Red Rocks, but the bus broke down. Sunday, Salt Lake City, big bus=trouble finding the right parts. By about 2 pm though, they apparently said fuck it, found a bunch of rental cars, and literally broke many speed limits to get to Red Rocks a mere 15 minutes late. Festival organizers thought they wouldn't make it as TVOTR checked in with their location progress throughout the day, but the band was certain they would (the organizers had obviously never driven with NY-drivers apparently, heh).

Needless to say, when TVOTR hit the stage, the place, as well as the band, went bananas. Lead singer Tunde Adebimpe never stopped moving the entire show, alternating between pogoing and dancing (and damn, can the man dance!).



They're out doing a few shows supporting the super incredible Dear Science. It's funky, it's thrash, it's rock, all laced with interesting pop sensibilities. This record is, and absolutely deserves to be, in everyone's top 10 lists for 2008. This is definitely a group you MUST check out live.



(More photos from TV on the Radio's set here)


11. CSS(Cansei de Ser Sexy)
I figured CSS would be a big draw so for the last time over my two days at Red Rocks, I trucked back up the 230 stairs (total stairs climbed over 48 hours: 986875675454). But in doing so, I had to miss the back end of the TVOTR show, which was a drag. Even more of a drag because CSS was 15 minutes late in starting. My guess? CSS lead singer Lovefoxxx had to finish tying the last garbage bag piece to her jacket.


(More photos from CSS's set here)

"Hyper" is an understated adjective for Portugal's CSS. But so is "addicting," shake your ass madly," and "listen on repeat." Lead singer Lovefoxxx is quite the Portugese Beyonce, dancing, hair tossin, crowd-flirting up a storm, all the while singing her ass off. These guys were definitely worth waiting around for....



At this point, I was seriously shivering (a mile above sea level gets damn cold at night), and I had no interest in seeing two French guys dj on the mainstage (yes, it was Justice. No, I didn't need to see dj'ing done live), so I called it a night.

What a couple of days...Red Rocks was incredible. I heard a rumor that Monolith lost money and it's possible it won't happen again, which would be a shame. It's got potential, true potential, so I hope they can make it work. The lineup was a really interesting collection of bands, all different and indie. The surroundings were amazing. And sure, there were a few issues (the indoor stage setup, security not always understanding the setup for photographers) but overall, things were smooth, and it was, most importantly, fun. The Monolith Festival did what a good music festival should do, have enough bigger name acts to draw folks sprinkled with lots of smaller groups that you'll walk away happy to have discovered. I know I'll definitely go again next year, if only to shoot more of the incredible landscape.

Show Review: Monolith Festival @ Red Rocks, Denver, CO--Day 2

(Day 1 recap here and here.)


1.Jukebox The Ghost
Finally knowing the lay of the land (and making sure to bring warmer clothes) after Day 1, I started Monolith Festival-Day 2 off with my DC brethren, Jukebox the Ghost. Now living out of Philly, this piano-laden power pop trio is upbeat, kinda quirky, rather witty, and know how to put on a kick-ass live show; in other words, the perfect people to start a day with. Think Ben Folds Five meets They Might Be Giants, the latter merely for the quirky factor: TMBG does songs about Istanbul and Constantinople, JBTG does songs about God taking out the state of Nebraska then realizing woops, maybe that wasn't such a good idea. Unlike TMBG, JBTG also does great songs with the serious fodder of relationships, love, and the 'What the hell does one do now?' conundrum, many with ridiculously catchy melodies.

And though they were playing in that awful indoor hallway stage (see entry on Liam Finn from Day 1) that would continue to curse me on Day 2 in terms of bad lighting and sound, you couldn't stay agitated when watching JBTG. Especially keyboard player and singer Ben Thornewill, as his animated body and feet moved around behind his keyboards like a 5 year old with ADD.

(More photos from Jukebox the Ghost's set here)

Listen: Hold It In-Jukebox the Ghost


2. Rosewood Thieves
I ran down the 230 steps to the main stage for the first, but certainly not the last, time that day, for the Rosewood Thieves, a group of five out of NYC. We all wondered (and applauded) the fact that this smallish, kinda unknown band snagged a main stage slot. And once they started playing you saw why: consummate professionals, they owned that stage.



Playing folk-pop, lead singer/guitarist Erick Jordan channeled both parts of Lennon and McCartney (Lennon with his voice, McCartney with his very handsome Rickenbacker). But make no mistake, the Rosewood's sound, pop with heavy folk influences, is all their own.

I got to chat some with Rosewood's very nice and really talented lead guitarist Paul Jenkins after at the rather stinky (literally) media tent. He mentioned the band will be doing some east coast dates; they'll be in DC at the Red and the Black on November 20.


(More photos from The Rosewood Thieves set here)

Listen: Silver Gun_The Rosewood Thieves


3. Snowden
I'd really liked what I heard from Atlanta's Snowden beforehand, so I raced back up the 230 steps to find plenty of other folks shared my good taste. I really like lead singer Jordan Jeffares voice- it's got a calm, lilting sound to it but also an edge...imagine Paul Simon's voice from the Simon and Garfunkel-era but covered in tar.



What makes them interesting is that the band has a great shoe-gaze fuzzy pop sound with a pretty hefty backbeat.



A lot of that is owed to their really energetic and dynamic female bassist Corinne Lee, who kicks the proverbial ass of her bass live. I bumped into Jeffares at one point later on and remarked how much I liked their set and how cool it was to watch Lee. He said, “Yeah, we get that a lot about her.”


(More photos from Snowden's set here)

Listen: Like Bullets_Snowden


4. Tokyo Police Club
I’m probably killing my indie-cool cred (if I ever had any heh) with saying this, but Tokyo Police Club didn’t wow me much. I liked their energy and the idea of their hard-driving pop sure, but in terms of the songs, eh...they were a bit too run-of-the-mill for me. I know many folks love these guys like Lindsay Lohan loves the ladies, and while I do acknowledge they have a special somethin-somethin there, I, personally, just wasn’t feeling it.





But I do have to give ultimate props to the band’s keyboardist, Graham Wright. His hopping, jumping, and stomping around kept everyone riveted to stage right.


(More photos from Tokyo Police Club’s set here)

Listen: You English is Good_Tokyo Police Club


5. The Avett Brothers
I’d read raves about The Avett Brothers before arriving at Monolith and once there, I learned two things: 1) I think I'm the only one who came to Monolith unconverted, based on the huge crowd they drew, and 2) unlike what I read about Tokyo Police Club, these raves were absolutely, positively, and definitely all justified. Out of Concord, NC, this 3-4 piece (the cellist only seems to play sometimes) makes this one disarming amalgam of rock and bluegrass.





Now I know you’re like, “Bluegrass? In an indie band?” But oh my, the Avett Brothers ensure you know that rock and bluegrass are indeed two great tastes that go great together. Over an instrumental tag team of an acoustic, an upright bass, and a banjo (and at times drums and a cello) are these really intimate and harmony-laden songs of love, loss, and yearning that filled the vast Red Rocks Amphitheater in an utterly graceful way.






Seriously, don’t let the “bluegrass” tag avert you, these guys bring the rock. The bluegrass is filtered through in ways you don’t even notice until you realize you’ve stopped breathing because you’re so overwhelmed by the beauty of their melodies. And the two vocal harmonies of Scott and Seth Avett are so perfectly fused; it’s hard to believe the sounds are coming from just two people.



And here’s a ponder for the day: is it me or does Scott Avett and a young Keith Richards circa 1964 sorta look separated at birth? Hmm...


(source)

The Brothers performed a song at Monolith called “Laundry Room” (which absolutely slayed the Monolith crowd). It’s not out yet but video from a performance earlier this year in Atlanta is below.



(More photos from The Avett Brothers set here)
Listen: Standing with You (live at the 2008 Monolith Festival)_The Avett Brothers


6. Tilly and the Wall
Much like Tilly’s show in DC, there was tap dancin...



and crazy outfits...





and super kinetic hyperactivity on stage (as well as a crazy guy named "TRL" but we'll get to him in the Sharon Jones/Dap Kings segment). This is a band that is always upbeat and positive, and it absolutely seeps into and amps up the crowd.



I didn’t get close enough in DC to see this, but singer Kianna Alarid sports an impressive amount of ink. Go girl!


(More photos from Tilly and the Wall’s set here)

Listen: Pot Kettle Black_Tilly and the Wall

(Still to come...The Whigs, Hearts of Palm, The Airborne Toxic Event, TV on the Radio, and CSS.)