Denver
has long been a musical oasis for bands touring across the country with
hundreds of bands passing through town each year. As such, it was only a matter
of time before a giant music festival like this year’s Mile High Music Festival
found its way to our beautiful city. Perhaps it was the success of last fall’s
Monolith Music Festival at Red Rocks that prompted promoters to get to work on
another festival or maybe it was just the right time, either way, Mile High
Music Festival promises to be the summer’s biggest musical menagerie to hit
this great city.
The
festival, sponsored by SanDisk and AEG Live, will invade Dick’s Sporting Goods
Park in Commerce City on July 19 and 20. The lineup is a virtual who’s-who of
music with styles ranging from hip hop to pseudo-country and jam bands. In
addition to a slew of great music, the festival will also have an artists’
market provided by the ArtDistrict on Santa Fe Avenue to showcase the work of a
host of Denver’s leading artists. The festivals food selections will also be a
showcase of sorts highlighting many local restaurants. And, not to miss the
social awareness aspect of such events, Conscious Alliance will be giving away
limited edition posters for ten dollar or ten non-perishable food item
donations with the proceeds benefiting the Food Bank of the Rockies.
All
other aspects aside, the real reason to get off your couch and face July’s
pounding sun is the music. Not only will Mile High Music Festival shed a light
on the best local music Denver has to offer (home-town heroes like the Flobots,
Rose Hill Drive, Meese, Born In The Flood, Railbenders and The Photo Atlas) it
is bringing to town hordes of great national acts including the likes of John
Mayer, The Black Crowes, Mike Gordon, O.A.R., Michael Franti & Spearhead,
Rodrigo y Gabriela, Steve Winwood, Spoon, Jason Mraz, Flogging Molly, Colbie
Caillat, OneRepublic, The Whigs, The Roots and Lupe Fiasco just to name a few.
Although it might seem like a hodge-podge of acts, it provides a killer line-up
with at least one act you will love while providing the opportunity to discover
a ton of new acts, genres and styles too.
The
one act that seems to be on everybody’s mind however, is the one and only Tom Petty
and the Heartbreakers. Sure, people are jazzed to see the Dave Matthews Band,
the other headliner, but the buzz surrounding Tom Petty is simply too loud to
miss. When interviewing a few of the festival’s acts, each one seemed
particularly excited to play with the legendary Petty. Julian Dorio of The
Whigs confessed, “I’ve never seen Tom Petty and I can’t say that we’re really
playing with him but I am really excited to check him out because obviously
he’s really amazing.”
Local
favorite The Railbenders’ frontman Jim Dalton expressed similar sentiments when
I asked him which act at Mile High he way looking forward to the most, “I’d have to say Tom Petty because I’ve
never seen Tom Petty live. I’ve always been a fan but never got to see him.”
All
things Petty aside, the festival is going to be a great weekend for artists and
fans alike to be dazzled. For musicians like Dorio, “Mile High Festival and
shows like it are really exciting because they put you in front of a lot of
people all at once.”
For
the average concertgoer like myself, Mile High promises to be a great weekend
of great art, good food and exceptional music. What more could you ask for in
the middle of your summer fun? Plus, if the lineup is this good for the
festival’s inaugural year, I can only imagine what phenomenal acts it will
boast in the future.
Make sure to catch at least one day of
shows or get crazy and tackle both days! Tickets are still available at www.milehighmusicfestival.com
DENVER-The Playing for change foundation, a California based charity, held their first ever benefit concert last Thursday at the Paramount.
The Denver music scene got a taste of something new last week when the playing for change foundations bought artists from all over the world to perform downtown. Although the headliners were Grammy award winner Keb Mo and Big Head Todd frontman Todd Park Mohr, the real stars of the show were the many international artists that preformed. Some of these individuals had never even been to the United States before. One of these groups was Tibetan band the Exile Brothers, who hoped to raise awareness about TibetEURTMs struggle for freedom. The three brothers moved the crowd with songs sung in both their native tong and in English. Although they had never preformed in the U.S. before, they seemed at home on the stage. At the end of their set the paramount erupted in a standing ovation for the three brothers.
The Exile Brothers was just one of the international groups performing last Thursday. The Playing for Change foundation also had artists from Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Nepal; as well as artist from all over the country including New Orleans, Boulder, Los Angeles, and Denver. Musicians from all over the world performing together was an unexpected treat for the audience. Although many of these artists did not speak the same language, they preformed seamlessly together proving that music is a language of its own.
The highlight of the night was when all the musicians that preformed came out at the end to play together one last time. Everyone, including the audience, all joined in during the last song of the night, Bob MarleyEURTMs One Love. The Paramount saw something special last Thursday, artists from all over the world coming together in Denver, and playing for change.
The concert also featured a silent auction, and a needs auction. It was all to Benefit the Playing for Change Foundation, the proceeds are going to help build music and art schools in impoverished areas around the world as well as supporting the Tibetan Refugee Center in Dharmsala India.
Overall the Playing for Change foundation put on an excellent night for a great cause. For more information on the foundation or to donate go to www.playingforchange.com.
Hey Gang!
Check this out its for a really good cause, really solid guys putting it together! The Playing for Change Foundation (PFCF) is proud to present a special benefit concert featuring Grammy-award winner Keb' Mo', a special acoustic appearance by Todd Park Mohr (of Big Head Todd and the Monsters), along with a host of exceptional musicians from around the world.
Proceeds from all concert tickets, silent auction donations and purchases of hand-made merchandise from African, Nepalese, and Tibetan artists will be utilized by The Playing For Change Foundation to build and support its first music school in the township of Guguletu, South Africa, a community in need of immediate assistance and inspiration. The Playing for Change Foundation is dedicated to connecting the world through music and inspiring cultures to come together.
DU students get a 50% discount. Go to tickethorse and type in the code PFC2007
more information available at www.playingforchange.com
Wednesday night UmphreyEURTMs McGee gave Fillmore goers a musical horror movie experience like nothing else. The Chicago native band synched its music to clips from some of the most horrifying movies known to man, changing once happy jam music into the soundtrack for nightmares.
Before UmphreyEURTMs had even played a note there was a line of Halloween costumes wrapping around the Fillmore. Everyone was dressed to win the costume contest. The winner receives two tickets to every Fillmore show for a year, and people were out to win. Cameras flashed as people attempted to document walking pineapples with blonde dreadlocks, and Daft Punk robots.
Once inside the venue people took on the full persona of their character. Pushing through the crowd toward the stage, one would hear calls from Dog The Bounty Hunter yelling EURoeWatch it, brah!EUR
The UmphreyEURTMs band members wore little more than some ghoulish make-up, leaving such costumes to the crowd. It was obvious that when the house lights would come on during the first set the band members were staring into the crowd, and taking in all the outlandish getups.
UmphreyEURTMs played in front of a projection screen that had an eyeball in the center and different videos playing inside of the techno-colored eye. Once the second set started, the eyeball was gone, and the screen was filled with shots from Stanley KubrickEURTMs EURoeThe ShiningEUR. At first it just seemed like background video, but as the video became more dramatic so did the music, and it became blatant that UmphreyEURTMs had spent many hours perfectly synching their music to chopped up versions of some of the all-star horror films.
After EURoeThe Shining,EUR the music became more aggressive, and so did the video, showing the most gruesome kill scenes from EURoeNightmare On Elm StreetEUR. The crowd was so happy and into it, one would think they were being shown videos of frolicking clumsy kittens.
It felt as if the intensity of EURoeNightmare on Elm StreetEUR could not be matched, but then scenes from EURoeThe ExorcistEUR flashed over the screen. Cheers roared as the first guitar riffs of EURoeBridgelessEUR stabbed through the crowd. The music built as Satan became more powerful inside of eleven-year-old Regan MacNeil. The music built, perfectly synched with the video, finally climaxing when Father Karras throws himself down those famous Georgetown stairs.
The show was seemingly over, but about fifteen minutes after UmphreyEURTMs EURoeExorcistEUR closing, scary violins crept over the sound system, and UmphreyEURTMs came out for their encore. UmphreyEURTMs ended with EURoeWizard Burial Ground,EUR and in the background was a slideshow of the scariest snap shots from everyoneEURTMs favorite scary movies, even classics like EURoeThe BlobEUR.
As the crowds spilled out onto the streets, one could only sit and watch the clusters of costumes crossing streets and chatting in circles. The mixture of excitement and fear could have only been match by grade-schoolers going to their first haunted house.