The siding on the last section of the house was completed 2 weeks ago and now with vacation over, the time has come to go inside and completely renovate the room interior. The first step is repairing the dry wall damaged while rerouting wiring and installing doors and windows. The boring dirty work. Lets see if I can ruin another vacuum cleaner with fine white dust clogging the motor.
Since Friday was my 54th Birthday, I decided to splurge and enjoy a real concert by attending the second day of the Mile High Music Festival. I especially wanted to see both Train and Weezer perform this day, everyone else being bonus points.
I drove out fairly early Sunday morning to avoid the traffic and get a close in parking spot. By the time I cruised around the entire venue (5 stages), the show had begun at 12 noon. What followed was 8 hours of music by 5 performers.
This is what the Denver Post said about day two of the festival:
Day two of Mile High was clearly the bigger day — in terms of attendance and talent. The throngs came out to revisit their pal Matthews, and the result was an all-day party in the sun with some talented, if occasionally bland, artists.
Matthews' headlining set was triumphant and meandering, as expected. He covered old-school favorites, including the sing-along hit "What Would You Say," as well as some songs from his latest LP, "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King."
"We had a good time here a couple years ago," Matthews told the adoring crowd early in the set, a small nod to his last Colorado play — which was the 2008 Mile High, the festival's debut.
Matthews' set was sprawling, melodic and almost majestic. This band is tight, and they know it — and so they're not afraid to play around with the form a little. His mid-set take on Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" was a warm and lived-in moment that wrapped up the Mile High aesthetic. A breeze cruised the festival grounds outside the Commerce City soccer stadium, and the jam went on.
Other big sets from Sunday included Weezer, Atmosphere and My Morning Jacket. Weezer's wacky antics and old-school focus made for a tremendous live experience. "Hash Pipe" and "Undone — The Sweater Song" came early, and "Say It Ain't So" was translucent — a feel-good sing-along like no other. "El Scorcho" was loose and messy, and singer Rivers Cuomo spent all of "My Name Is Jonas" and "Beverly Hills" in the audience.
Mile High's third year was its best, no question. And with the overall improved experience, it's easy to look forward to next summer's festival — with hope that promoter AEG Live will be a little more adventurous with its booking in 2011.
THE EPILOGUES
"The Epilogues have been a fixture in the Denver music scene for the last few years. While always striving to create something different and exciting, their combination of dark undertones with infectious dance hooks, as well as their nonstop, energetic live show, has captured audiences, both locally and nationally."
OH MY STARS
When Los Angeles-based guitarists Davey Duke and Josh Debney placed an Internet ad in 2009 looking for other serious musicians to start a new project, they had no idea how lucky they’d get. One of the first people to respond was Hollywood-based musician, producer, and engineer Lee Miles. Miles was instantly inspired to write lyrics to an instrumental track that Duke had posted online. The trio quickly meshed, and an impressive new creative force was spawned. Placing another Internet ad led the guys to two more talented players, and the energetic band now known as Oh My Stars came into creation.
Oh My Stars’ first release, the single “Bloody November,” is currently the number one testing song and is in heavy rotation at Denver’s 93.3 KTCL, the same station which broke The Fray, Flobots, and 3Oh3! The single is available for download now on iTunes and other digital retailers through the Bleemusic imprint. A five-song EP is set for release this spring, with more details to come. The band recently played KTCL’s renowned “Keggs & Eggs” festival, and has an upcoming gig at the Westword Showcase in Denver on June 19, 2010. Oh My Stars has shared the stage with bands such as Saosin, Tickle Me Pink, and Innerpartsystem, among others.
OZOMATLI
Ozomatli are an LA-based band who combine Latin and world music influences with funk and hip-hop. The group is also very politically conscious, promoting social change both in their music and through activism. They have gathered a large fan base due to their pure energy at live shows
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TRAIN
Train was inescapable during the turn of the 21st century, when songs like "Calling All Angels" and "Drops of Jupiter" made the San Francisco residents some of America's most popular balladeers. Although formed during the glory days of post-grunge, the group found more success in the pop/rock world, where Train straddled the line between adult contemporary and family-friendly alternative rock. The hits began drying up after 2003, but Train continued releasing material throughout the rest of the decade and even returned to the charts in 2010, when the single "Hey, Soul Sister" became a surprise Top 10 hit.
WEEZER
Weezer is an American alternative rock band that formed in Los Angles in 1992. The band now consists of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar), Partick Wilson (drums, guitar, backing vocals), Brian Bell (guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), and Scott Shriner (bass, backing vocals, keyboards). As one of the most popular groups to emerge in the post-grunge alternative rock aftermath, Weezer received equal amounts of criticism and praise for their hook-heavy guitar pop. Drawing from the heavy power pop of arena rockers like Cheap Trick and the angular guitar leads of the Pixies, Weezer leavened their melodies with doses of '70s metal learned from bands like Kiss. What truly set the band apart, though, was their geekiness. None of the members of Weezer, especially leader Rivers Cuomo, were conventional rockers -- they were kids that holed up in their garage, playing along with their favorite records when they weren't studying or watching TV. As a result, their music was infused with a quirky sense of humor and an endearing awkwardness that made songs like "Undone (The Sweater Song)," "Buddy Holly," and "Say It Ain't So" into big modern rock hits during the mid-'90s.
I recorded the show, however, the persistent wind this evening is evedent in the form of a periodic loud blowing/wind sound. This is even after having placed foam caps on the mics, a lesson learned from the Coachell Music Festival. I have an email in to Len at Core Sound to learn what I must do to prevet yet another reoccurrence of this annoying intrusion on what otherwise would be an excellent audience recording from immediately in front of the stage. I may post it someother time when I'm not so pissed off.
