The crowds were somewhat sparse at this weekend’s inaugural Monolith Festival, but the music slate was full and accomplished. The two-day, five-stage rock festival, which took over Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Friday and Saturday, was a test of endurance.
All that time on your feet – from 2 p.m. to midnight – is stressing. But add to that the notorious stairs that climb up the natural outdoor amphitheater’s sides, the ramps down to the acoustic stage at the south entrance, and the stairs down to the two stages inside the visitor center, and you have a full-on aerobic workout.
The festival’s schedule – featuring the lovable Flaming Lips, the buzzy Flosstradamus/Kid Sister and the inimitable Decemberists – was unstoppable with only a few lulls. But in an age where so many metropolitan areas have their own European-styled rock festival, what was most impressive about Monolith was the organization and the quality.
Each of the five stages had a distinctive personality, and better yet, each was properly mixed – regardless of their bizarre proximity to each other. The acoustic stage was packed with excellent, well-mixed performances timed carefully to coincide with the breaks on the main stage. Local favorites Bela Karoli sounded tremendous in their intimate set there Friday, and Otis Gibbs gave a profound set of music on Saturday.
The New Belgium Stage in the upper level plaza was booked with crowd pleasers Matt + Kim, Black Rebel Motorcycle club and others. Below that concrete slab in the visitor center, two stages – the stage and the Rock Room Stage – presented killer sound, and the lineup was one of the best at the festival.
Some of Monolith’s standout acts were the obvious ones. Yes, Editors packed the New Belgium stage with its fuzzy post-punk. Cake, headlining the main stage on Friday, was sardonic – if a little stale. Cloud Cult’s lengthy set headlining the New Belgium stage on Saturday was transcendent and beautiful.
The Flaming Lips, performing sans the UFO they promised last week, were still epic. The Flaming Lips started their set with an intoxicating “Fight Test,” with singer Wayne Coyne in his space bubble, and it only grew from there.
But most of the quintessential festival moments came from lesser-known acts. At the same time that Cake played the main stage on Friday, Chicago DJ duo Flosstradamus and their MC, Kid Sister, tore apart the stage, turning out the festival’s biggest dance party. Local crew Everything Absent or Distorted played a moving set on Friday, opening up the festival on the main stage with friends Bela Karoli and a four-piece horn section of local luminaries.
The Little Ones played a smiley set in the sunshine on Saturday. Brian Jonestown Massacre welcomed the sunset later that night with a uncharacteristically pretty and melodic jam-fronted set. Ra Ra Riot was fascinating, as was Via Audio, whose songs benefited from their hyper-collaborative presentation and their penchant for songs that resemble multiple personality disorder put to twitchy music.
Pop music critic Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-954-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
