From the Barstool of the Publisher – October, 2007

With this being the October issue, it’s pretty safe to say that summer is finally and quite officially over. But September — that month on the cusp with summer weather and an autumn calendar — certainly did its best to take the title of the best summer month for concerts.
Here’s the quick re-cap (in no particular order and with obvious omissions for space): two nights of Wilco, two nights of Yonder Mountain String Band, Snoop Dogg, The Killers, VHS or Beta, STS9, Built to Spill, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, the Black Crowes, Marc Ford (without the Crowes), Rilo Kiley, The Academy Is… and two nights of Monolith at Red Rocks, to name a few.
Each show was amazing and should provide enough momentum into the fall and winter to hold us freaks over until next spring, when we venture outside again for music.

I must say that despite the fact that a couple of my all-time favorite bands played in Colorado last month (and played really good shows, at that) my highlight was Monolith. In fact, I think the festival could go down as the best thing I’ve witnessed so far this year.
When I spoke with the festival directors, asking what to expect of the event, they had rattled off this phrase that sounded rehearsed and self-fulfilling, about how the element of discovery would be a dominating centerpiece of Monolith.
Well, you know, their phrase may have been scripted but they were also right. Looking through the Monolith line-up, there were a lot of bands that I knew and a lot of bands that I had seen live before. But the list of bands that I didn’t know anything about was much, much longer, and that proved to be the most incredible fun for me.
I had heard of Earl Greyhound, but had never seen them and they blew me away. I knew nothing of Clout Cult and again, I was floored. And even though they come from my town, I had never seen 3Oh!3 and I was shocked at how great those boys rocked the stage.
Discovering music is always a touchy thing for me. When I’m told, “Oh, you’ll love this,” I can almost bet that I won’t. But when I’m allowed to find music on my terms, that is when it speaks to me the most and that is exactly what Monolith provided.
People bitched about the event online after it was over, saying that the way the stages were spread out and the stairs in between made it suck. But I said it then and I’ll say it again now: If I can waddle my fat ass up and down the amphitheatre stairs without complaining, then the people who live in Colorado so that they can hike and bike and ski every weekend ought to be able to handle it too. Plus, if that’s your biggest gripe, then the festival was without a doubt a success. Stop your whining!
See you at the shows.