An unprecedented summer of outdoor music events drew to a close Sunday at Red Rocks as the 2008 installment of the Monolith Music Festival ended its second and final day.
The decidedly indie rock lineup failed to draw the overwhelming masses a festival like this needs to assert its permanence, but for the musically faithful, it was reassuring event.
About 4,500 tickets were sold on Saturday for the five scattered stages at the 9,500 seat venue, according to booker Scott Campbell, with about 3,500 following as of late afternoon Sunday.
Denver act Hearts of Palm peddled its tight, bright indie-pop under a frenetic light show at the indoor Gigbot stage, lead singer Nathan McGarvey announcing that members Dan Craig and Phil Donovan would soon be leaving the collective, rendering it a six-piece.
A swing through the popular indoor oxygen bar and outdoor merchants peddling magazines and hemp ice cream brought you to the New Belgium Brewing stage, Omaha, Neb., act Tilly and the Wall barreling through a poppy set of tap dance-aided rock.
A hyperactive set from Brookyln, N.Y.-based eight-piece Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings effortlessly channeled the spirit of James Brown, winding through soul-funk numbers from its latest album, “100 Days, 100 Nights,” among others.
The “sister that’s so bad, she’s badder than bad” – as one band member put it – handily worked monitor-tweaking and minor wardrobe changes into her act, which ran slightly long and incited the crowd to fits of choir-worthy hand-waving and chanting.
Jones, bouncing around the stage in a short dress, invoked a call echoed by many throughout the festival’s two days: The air was thin, and the setting was beautiful.
That element was less pronounced at the crowded indoor stages, bands such as the Whigs and Airborne Toxic Event playing impassioned sets to throngs of sweaty, slightly tipsy hipsters. The dance-happy aesthetic of this year’s festival felt especially strong in those environs.
Despite occasionally tinny sound at the acoustic stage (Born in the Flood lead singer Nathaniel Rateliffe and his project The Wheel suffered a bit from the thin mix) and the inevitable bottlenecks at beer and food outlets, the festival improved significantly upon its 2007 installment.
The unique majesty of Red Rocks gave many of the bands an added push. Sub Pop act Band of Horses played its best Colorado gig ever, and latecomers TV on the Radio enjoyed a frenzied response from the patient main stage crowd.
It’s hard to tell if the rest of Colorado will get on board with a festival packed with largely independent bands, but the smiles on the faces of everyone awaiting Justice’s press-time headlining set spoke volumes.
Staff writer John Wenzel can be reached at 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com.
