It smarts. Scenes from Coachella are still surfacing: Robert Smith sweating off his makeup, tiny in a stretch of desert miles from anything familiar. If you weren't there, do you even want to read about it afterward?
What's worse, though, is not reading enough about summer music festivals before you can plan vacation days around them. It's true that lack of money and surplus of distance can keep even earnest Phish fans from four days at Bonnaroo. But did you know you can manage a two-day pass to July's Pitchfork Music Festival -- read: Yo La Tengo, The National, and Built to Spill with price of admission -- for $60? Downgrades that cross-country drive and late-booked Chicago hotel room fare from bat-crazy to frivolous, doesn't it?
It might be too late to unfold the map to Wakarusa or convince friends to disappear to Chi-town next month, but with a little planning and expert Craigslisting, the Monolith Festival could be in your future. If not, at least you know what you're missing.
Monolith Festival
Sept. 12-13 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colo.
Folks behind Monolith have been stringing outdoorsy indie-rock fans along with a stream of lineup announcements via Twitter since May 18. Method Man & Redman and the mashup kings of Girl Talk signed on early, establishing the solid hip-hop base that sets the festival apart from other trendy arena jams. The latest batch of artists to be revealed include the super-annoying Ida Maria (to whom we can credit all those day-glo bananas in that video for the Naked Song, presently junking up MTV2). Our newest fav Glaswegian serenaders Frightened Rabbit will be there to put out any trash-pop fire on the mountains. Watch @MonolithFest for ticket prices and onsale dates promised this week.
