wordplay: Cassie Hood
images: Jay Blakesberg & J. Michelle Martin

Not many people can tell you that a monolith is a large geological feature, such as a mountain consisting of a single massive stone or rock; and though Colorado has beautiful cascading mountains, we don’t technically have any monoliths. That is until the Monolith Music Festival hits Red Rocks this month.

Boasting acts like Cake, The Flaming Lips, The Decemberists, and Kings of Leon, this festival promises to beat anything Colorado has ever seen. And, let’s face it, we have been lacking in true, kick @$$ music fests.

Josh Baker, one of the masterminds behind Monolith, said his motivation behind bringing the festival to Colorado was 1) there’s nothing like it here yet, and 2) no other music festival can give fans the luxury of a beautiful venue like Red Rocks. With a capacity of 9,500 people, it is one of the most intimate fests out there.

“It is an intimate, premium music experience that we are providing to people,” Baker said. “It’s nice to get to give that to people.”  He also said that he and his partner Matt Fecher, who is the promoter for the South Park Music Festival, wanted to draw more attention to the indie scene in Colorado. What started out as a smaller festival blossomed into a gigantic event, an almost “mini South by Southwest,” if you will.

“We were really excited to work with the emerging, unsigned bands,” Baker exclaimed. “It is huge getting to be part of their development and exposing fans to these local bands in a really great venue.” He couldn’t be more energetic about the prospects this fest gives to some of Colorado’s smaller, lesser known bands.

Baker and Fecher had a vision, practically a Field of Dream moment when they heard voices telling them, “If you build it, they will come.”  So they secured the natural amphitheater as their venue and started reeling in big names they had always wanted to see, especially at Red Rocks. Their next step was to find a sponsor that could give them the freedom to develop the festival how they wanted to. Baker said they decided on Esurance because they wanted to help make this an environmentally safe festival, they were also willing to sponsor the event for three years, which was the start of a beautiful friendship. Baker and Fecher also added AEG Live to their roster because of their experience in the market. It was obviously meant to be, because the ball just kept rolling.

Their next challenge was finding bands to fill their schedule. Basically, the pair put together a pool of bands or artists that they wanted to use. Fecher had a lot of knowledge of local Colorado bands because of South Park, and Baker has been promoting for Festivals for over seven years, so they were like children in a candy store.

“We are music fans at heart,” Baker said. “We just kept finding more and more bands. It was like we had 10, then 20, then 30 bands that we are like, ‘Oh my gosh, why don’t people know about this band?’ So it was like we wanted to do out part to help out.”

They roped in bands from a variety of genres. You have bands like Das EFX, all the way to acoustic solo acts like Rocky Votolato or Ian Cooke. Some acts come from here, while others are coming all the way from London. The lineup really offers such an eclectic mix, that it’s hard to ignore.

Baker said he is most excited about Otis Gibbs, who is apparently the “Johnny Appleseed of Americana, folk music,” Bob Log III, the one man band from Tucson, Arizona that dons a helmet for his shows, and White Rabbits, a band that you can’t help but clap your hands and dance to.  Of course there are so many other acts to savor.

“This is not only a great festival,” Baker started, “but it is one of the first indie rock, rock-n-roll destination festivals. It is so cross genre.”

But the festival is not all fun and games for Baker and Fecher. This being a “green festival” they are putting a large emphasis on doing something great for the community.  They will be implementing a recycling program at the festival, especially in the parking lots were people tend to litter. They are very big on educating people. Together with Esurance, they even developed an online interactive game that teaches people what kind of impact being green can have on a community.

“We really wanted to be able to look back and say, ‘Look what we’ve done to benefit the environment,’” Baker said. They even chose to bring New Belgium Brewery in as a sponsor because of their work to better the environment. “We’re not just doing this to be trendy or cool, we really do care,” Baker exclaimed. Their goal is to make the festival 100% green by next year’s festival.

Baker’s passion for this festival is a clear indication of how much heart and work he has put into it. “It’s not every day that something this big is in your backyard, so embrace it.”

September 14th-15th @ Red Rocks

MonolithFestival.com