While in Denver a few weeks ago I managed to hit the Mountainside Mardi Gras music festival. Rolling into the Red Rocks parking lot I found it surprisingly not full. It is quite a hike to the amphitheater for anyone my age but when music is involved nothing will stop me. I arrived to the front of the stage about 2pm and was very happy to see that Big Sam’s Funky Nation was still performing. He is always amazing and had the crowd on their feet. The down side is I missed Johnny Sketch. I got a royal hookup from Steve of For/Sure Productions and got to descend under the stage to check out the legendary wall of honor: a listing of every artist who ever played this amazing venue. The Beatles, Hendrix, The Police to name a few. The following night Kings of Leon was scheduled. You have to see this venue; there is no way to describe in words or pictures the towering red rock walls that surround the venue. There is not a bad seat in the house as the steep layout gives the back row a descending straight shot view no more than a couple of hundred feet away.
After a lunch break I made it back to the stage in time to catch Papa Grows Funk and then Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk. The interaction between Ivan and Tony Hall is fierce at times. Nick Daniels’ vocals are right on. It’s always good to see Ian Neville, who must only be in his early twenties but still looks like a teenager, who is now a veteran performer. George Porter, Jr., the legendary bass player for The Meters and his band led the crowd in a Mardi Gras celebration. I got to see the crowd react to my friend Leslie Smith’s song “I Get High.” Co-written with Porter, it is making it on jam band playlists. I got to see Russell Baptiste, long time friend and Ara, Porters wife. The festival kept the spirit going with brass band second lines. Dirty Dozen provided a jam with Big Sam and DJ Logic sitting in among others.
The festival ended with none other than the doctor: Dr. John. I last saw him at Bonnaroo in 2006. I was hoping he would reprise that performance which was his first “Night Tripper” act in 28 years. But, it was not to be. Still it’s always worth catching the legend. A few rain drops appeared and I rushed out of the darkened venue as I was not up to dealing with rain and the bottle neck to get off the mountain. Kudos to the promoters for putting together a great line-up and fun festival. Hopefully, next year it won’t be going up against Mile High and Dancin’ In the Streets the same weekend, the latter which pulled fans of similar taste. Next Red Rocks fest is Monolith featuring Mars Volta, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Of Montreal, M Ward and Grace Darling. I’m in the south plotting my next move which is looking like Voodoo Music Experience. Widespread, Flaming Lips, Kiss and Eminem, anybody?
