Monolith Festival

Saturday was SO much fun! It would have been great to go to both days of the festival, but one was good too. We got there pretty early and were surprised that the place was fairly empty for awhile. It did have 5 stages, so I guess people were pretty spaced out (no pun intended). First we saw Bob Log III on one of the smaller stages. He's freaking hilarious and a good blues man to boot. You've gotta appreciate a one-man-band, even if you don't like the music, but he was good. And I love a man that asks me to put my boob in his scotch.

Next we checked out Forget Cassettes on one of the indoor smaller stages (ahhh...air conditioning). They were interesting. I love the fact that all 3 players play not only their "main" instrument, but also keyboards. The singer/guitarist is a teeny little thing with a huge voice--a la Cat Power, sorta. And the bassist and drummer are both good boy eye candy. Me-rowr!

After that we hit the main stage and never really left. We had awesome 3rd row, almost center seats and didn't want to lose them. I'm kind of bummed about missing a few of the other acts on the smaller stages, like Matt and Kim.

First up was Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos. I enjoyed them. I like bands with lots of people in them and especially if they have a trumpet.

Next was Brian Jonestown Massacre. They were great. There was some drama, but nothing too over the top. A few restarts on songs and some Anton yelling at the band to tune their instruments. And that poor roadie, Travis--aka Anton's little bitch--he yelled at Travis constantly (who is seen here in a post from a fan on Anton's myspace). I've got a weird fascination/pseudo-obsession with Anton now. Before my view of him was only that which Dig! gave me. Yeah, he's a pompous asshole and a genius musician and definitely insane....but there's something about his eyes that intrigues me....Anyways, their set was really good when they were playing--a few sound problems at the end. Highlights included Anton yelling at the crowd to shut up when they were tuning, not realizing people were cheering because Wayne Coyne had stuck his head out wearing the Capt. America mask. They had some great psychedelic freak out/rock out moments and I especially loved the little Smiths "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" take-off that Anton threw into one song--a little play on "I've seen it happen in other people's lives and now it's happening in mine." I should also mention that Anton had at least one full outfit change in the set. Who does he think he is? Britney Spears? :) I do love a rocker man in skin tight black jeans, so I wasn't complaining. They were the only band I saw with 2 full bottles of liquor on stage: a bottle of vodka for Anton and a bottle of whiskey for everybody else.

Next up was Art Brut, who were so much fucking fun! I really wanna hang out and drink with them. Not long into the set, Eddie Argos took off into the crowd (I touched his arm!). He's got the perfect 80's English student look down. Floppy hair, a bit pudgy, blue oxford shirt, untucked, of course. He is a hilarious front man and really knows how to get the crowd going. I absolutely LOVE the adorable bass player--she looked like she was having so much fun. The rest of the band were fun and rocked out too. Definitely check them out live if you ever get a chance. B is not really into them and he loved their show too.

Next up was Spoon. Ya know, they're good and I can appreciate them, but they just don't excite me. No particular reason.

The Flaming Lips put on their consistently fun, happy show. Santas on one side of the stage, aliens on the other, roadies in superhero costumes. Wayne came out in the bubble, which was awesome. They released a ton of big green balls and of course cannon load after cannon load of confetti and Wayne's streamer "gun." Lots of sing along moments. Fun background videos. The crowd was so into it and it was just such a happy, fun show. Absolute highlight of the evening was they played Mountain Side! OMG, I love that song and they played it well.

During their set, Wayne mentioned the "BJM meltdown," not sure what he was referring to. At another point, he told Anton (who was right in front, center) that he "didn't want any trouble." I didn't see what preceded that. Also, Anton was dancing (or something) a couple rows in front of us with a laptop. I never figured out exactly what he was doing.

Downsides of the day:
1) the drunk bitch that asked me how far along I was and touched my belly(!). I told her "No, I'm just fat, honey." Erggg... Dumb cunt.
2)the drunk asshole behind me that got in a fight over seats and spilled an entire beer all over me. I shit you not, I was covered from my neck down to the bottom of my skirt. Sticky and stinky. Fun times.

Other than those 2 assholes, the crowd seemed really laid back and cool. Oh yeah, maybe I should add a (3) for my calves hurting like hell for two days after from climbing the stairs (basically up a mountain) several times. But maybe that's a good thing, since I haven't been to the gym this week.

So we also happened to get the "UFOs at the Zoo" DVD from the library this week and were watching it with the boys. We told them "that's what mommy and daddy did on Saturday." They were absolutely riveted. Later, Miles kept singing Yoshimi and told us that when he grows up he's going to "help out and play with the band called The Flaming Lips." He also said he's going to eat lots of healthy food so that he can "beat the robots." Hey, we must be doing something right! Maybe next time we'll take the kids. I did see some people with a kid that was about 10 years old.

Oh yeah, Wayne said they tried to bring the UFO to Monolith, but it got confiscated by the government because the lights were from Russia and possibly had contamination from Chernobyl. True or not? You be the judge. Who knows.

Some sites with good pics/reviews of the festival:

Flickr 1
Flickr2
Fuel
Delicatessen
Wyo Beat
Bass Geek