Monolith Festival 2009: Day two

The music rages on

September 13, 2009

As the weather cleared for day two of the monolithic musical madness, concertgoers greeted the better weather with hands in the air and crazy dancing legs. Any dance fuel that was held up inside because of the prior night's storm was let loose as the stellar lineup took to the stages.

Many were sad to hear that headliner MSTRKRFT had to cancel their show last minute, but the quickly rearranged schedule gave French indie rock band Phoenix a chance to take the main stage instead of one of the smaller stages they were originally scheduled for. These were tough shoes to fill, as their show was pinned between Method Man & Red Man and The Mars Volta. But much to the crowd's delight, they came through with what some would say was the best show of the day.

It was somewhat of a reunion for The Mars Volta according to front man Cedric Bixler-Zavala. At one point years ago when they were broke and young, they wondered what place on earth looks most like Mars and decided upon Red Rocks as a their Martian-like backdrop for a series of band photos.

Earlier in the day, world-renowned beat boxer Rahzel and DJ JS1 kicked things off proper. "Two turntables and microphone," Rahzel bellowed out, "That's what we got up here, that's real hip-hop!"

The Israeli garage rock band the Monotonix were another big hit. Their hyped up show took place entirely in the audience where the hairy-chested, barely clothed trio jammed out, attempted acrobatics and crowd surfed their way through the afternoon.

The entire day's lineup:

The Mars Volta
MSTRKRFT (canceled)
Method Man & Red Man
Chromeo
The Dandy Warhols
Phoenix
The Glitch Mob
Passion Pit
The Thermals
We Were Promised Jetpacks
Monotonix
Health
Deer Tick
The Twilight Sad
The Features
Spindrift
Bad Veins
Stars of Track and Field
Savoy
Tigercity
Beats Antique
French Horn Rebellion
Royal Bangs
The Pirate Signal
Neon Indian
Anni Rossi
The Knew
A Shoreline Dream
Jim McTurnan & The Kids That Killed the Man
Rachel Goodrich
Red Wire Black Wire