Karen O. of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeah, we know, traditionally we’ve covered bluegrass and roots festivals, but once in awhile it’s good to try something new, which is exactly why we went to the Monolith Festival at Red Rocks to bring you the best of the best new artists and maybe introduce you to some things you’ve never heard before. Plus, some of our old favorites were there, like Gregory Alan Isakov and M. Ward.
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Over heard from the crowd: “They’re like Prince, but on crystal meth.” I’d say they venture more into David Byrne/Talking Heads territory, but Kevin Barnes has plenty of creative genius to spare. Here’s some photos from their very animated set which included tigers, gas masks and face-less sequined people.
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Stylistically diverse and capable of charming nearly any crowd (last month he was welcomed at Rocky Mountain Folks Festival), Portland’s M. Ward played his afternoon set at Monolith Festival.
He kicked things off with Sad, Sad, Song before his band joined him onstage. They continued on playing Chinese Translation. The rest of his hour set included Poison Cup, Fool Says and ended with Roll Over Beethoven.
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“This is my probation officer, Dennis,” Danielle joked nodding towards her bassist before asking the audience. “If I were charged with a crime based on looks alone, what would it be?”
Pausing between her folky, ukulele songs to crack jokes and look for feathered headdresses in the crowd. “Miley Cyrus is sabotaging my music career,” she said after Another Day. “Because I’m her one and only competition… but I actually kind of like her.”
She also played her “groovy, groovy, jazzy, funky but not really,” bluegrass inspired Gone and did a cover of Hall & Oates’ Rich Girl (“I think it’s really lame, but you guys like it,” she said).
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Playing his first main stage set at the 3rd annual Monolith Festival, Colorado’s own Gregory Alan Isakov and his band The Freight’s half-hour set included mostly songs from his new album, This Empty Northern Hemisphere (it will be released on vinyl Oct. 17 at the Bluebird Theater, it’s already out on CD.)
Highlights: Big Black Car, Moon Song (which he played last night at Chautauqua Auditorium with Brandi Carlile) and Light Year.
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