Cool Kids threw down a strong set at the Monolith Festival VIP party at the Gothic Theatre on Friday. Most photos by .
Every great festival should have a great kick-off party, and what better way to kick off the than with an opening party split between two venues nextdoor to each other?
The Monolith pre-party was a good, boozey time with headliners and . And while the Cool Kids were the evening’s main draw, headlining the , many festival fans were psyched about the DJ set that capped off the festivities at — a few steps down the sidewalk from the Gothic.
That said, Aussies the Grates upstaged both acts. Sampling a collection of new jams from “Teeth Lost, Hearts One” — coming out tomorrow/Tuesday, Sept. 15th — alongside some old, hell-raising jams, the merrymaking band brought many smiles to the room, which had VIPs scattered throughout. The Grates made up for the small audience with a performance that was as energetic as it was studied.
“Science is Golden” remains the group’s most infectious track, with its jilting pop melodies and crunchy guitars. Singer/ringleader Patience Hodgson is a charmer, and she’s every bit as jumpy/smiley/spazzy in concert as she is in her videos. At one point, she mounted a tall fellow in the front of the room and sang an entire song from his shoulders, inspiring red carpet-style flash photography the singer (and her steed) ate up.
Grates photo by John Moore.
The punk-styled pop of “19 20 20” was ridiculously cute and on-point, especially given the band’s road-tightened mastery of the frenetic, switched-gears track. After the pre-party, the Grates played a gig in Pueblo on Saturday that was “fabulous,” the band said later in the weekend. They also played Monolith’s secondary stage on Sunday afternoon, making even more Metro Area fans.
Chromeo’s DJ set on Friday was silly and mailed in. We weren’t expecting much, but the song selection was weak, and many of the curious VIPs found themselves at the bar instead of the dancefloor. Folks in the mood to move were better served by Michael Trundle, aka boyhollow, who was spinning jams at the Gothic in anticipation of the Cool Kids headlining set. Trundle, the lone original Lipglosser still railing Fridays at La Rumba, had fun with the opportunity to play tracks that might not fit into the Lipgloss mold.
And apparently our photographer, Mike McGrath, saw way more of the Cool Kids than I did — as evidenced by his rad shots. From what I saw, the Cool Kids are as solid live as on CD, something that can’t be said about most MCs. Their rhymes were smooth, and their flow was solid and chill. And with their laid-back style of indie hip-hop, that’s about all you can ask for.
Of course you can see our and coverage on Reverb.
Here are more of Mike McGrath’s photos:
COOL KIDS:
BOYHOLLOW:
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Ricardo Baca is the founder and co-editor of and an award-winning critic and journalist at The Denver Post. He is also the executive director of the , Colorado’s premier indie music festival. Follow his whimsies at , his live music habit at and his iTunes addictions at .
Michael McGrath is a Denver area photographer. His work is available at . Visit .
