67dB

My Monolith

This past weekend, I attended an event at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, CO. The Monolith Festival, an enlightening and entertaining two day concert event, consisted of four stages and dozens of bands. I didn't originally plan on attending Monolith, but after some gentle prodding, Steve B. was able to convince me to look around for a ticket. I joined Steve and a moderately hungover, Alex, for the second day of the fest. I found out which bands were playing and determined that I didn't know many of the acts. Regardless of my naivete, I attended happily. What I learned that day, will stick with me forever.

Steve B. squinting pirate-like with his first mate, Alex.

In the standard band construction, you will almost certainly see a set of drums, rhythm guitar, bass guitar, and a lead (guitar, vocals, piano). Steve called it four-by-four music. Not at Monolith. If I had to describe it, Monolith showcased non-traditional groups. In addition to the basic elements of traditional bands, the groups we saw added percussionists, extra drummers, and electronic instruments like turntables, controller pads, and synthesizers. It was music production and artist performance from out of this world.

Because of my unfamiliarity with the artists, I had Steve lead the way. The first band we happened across was a trio called Monotonix. The band was set up in the middle of the crowd. The lead singer donned a handlebar moustache and long curly hair. He was only wearing shoes and a pair of short red velvety running shorts (and I still think he felt overdressed). Monotonix's hard bass lines and heavy drumming just barely drowned out the lead singer's guttural anthems as crowd members literally raised him up high on a pedestal while he "sang". He resorted to mooning the crowd and spit on several people. It was awesome! Here are the other performances we saw:

After that, we ventured around stopping in to hear sets performed by bands like Health (heavy hitting guitar power-chords backed by two drummers - rhythm and lead);

The Dandy Warhols (a rock band supported by trance inducing electronica and soothing melody);

Red Man and Method Man (two rappers from the Wutang Clan coarsely rapping to hip-hop tracks);

The Glitch Mob (Four dudes with controller pads and one on a turn table mixing tracks into rhythmic beats);

Passion Pit (falsetto vocals backed by techno dance tracks, keyboard, drums and guitar);

Phoenix (synthy beats combined with countertenor vocals, keyboard and drums);

And, finally, The Mars Volta (the main event). I thought The Mars Volta were exemplary. TMV manipulated extremely complicated guitar riffs, unbelievably fast drum beats, jazz piano, percussion, bass, and alto vocals to create both heavy hitting rock songs and soothing jamband-esque drama. Each element contributed fully even though it could possibly stand alone. The lead singer, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, resorted to many tricks of his own, maintaining seemingly falsetto vocals while performing ametuer acrobatics and microphone handling tricks. Omar Rodríguez-López , on lead guitar, was amazingly fierce and graceful. Like a fine cognac or caviar, TMV is an acquired taste. Not because it's repulsive, but because the music is wonderfully layered and complex. There is a lot going on in their songs but somehow the individual sounds are perfectly married.

The festival was a great experience and it really opened my ears to a culture I was completely mystified by. I learned a lot about a genre of music that I've only begun to appreciate. I'm glad that I attended and plan on following the bands that blew my mind.

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Filed under // redman alex dandy warhols health mars volta method man monolith monotonix passion pit steve b the glitch mob

Posted by Aaron Maslow

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My Monolith