Do You Hear The Music?

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With a successful first day at Mile High Music Festival I was definitely looking forward to Day 2 and the great line-up.

• Day 2 started out at the Wolf Stage to check out Los Angeles based Oh My Stars and they delivered way more than I was anticipating. Rocking out with tons of energy definitely help set the tone for the day of music ahead.  Their set included fun renditions of Lady GaGa’s “Bad Romance” and Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” and a wicked performance of their single “Bloody November”
• Next up was a southern rock performance by Drive-By Truckers.  It was good old rock and roll jam session perfect for the mid-afternoon
• One of the big highlights of Day 2 came mid-afternoon when Ozomatli performed.  Always an upbeat, festive time, the boys did not disappoint and really had the crowd in unison singing and dancing the entire hour of their set.  In traditional Ozo fashion it was straight into the crowd to end the performance and I can’t wait for them to hit Vegas again on September 3 at the Hard Rock Hotel
• Jimmy Cliff may be getting up there in age but he can still put on a show and I was thrilled to see the legend live.  Hearing him sing “I Can See Clearly Now” and “The Harder They Come” made my day
• Knowing that Dave Matthews Band was going to draw the biggest crowd of MHMF, we decided to home base it from the Kyocera Main Stage which turned into the best idea for multiple reasons but one being that we got to check out Trevor Hall’s set at the adjacent Cougar Stage. While I have one of his LPs I really was wowed by how good he was live and his performance was definitely one of the top surprises for me at MHFM.  He also did a fun cover of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes”
• My Morning Jacket performed next on the main stage and while I didn’t get to hear my favorite song by them, “Dancefloors,” it was still an entertaining set with a fun sing-along of “Off The Record”
• Another pleasant surprise for me and a band that has been around for some time was Railroad Earth jamming on the Cougar Stage.  In addition to myself becoming a fan I think they gained a whole heap as folks trickled in grab their spot for DMB and grooved to their whole set
• DMB as expected came out and rocked MHMF.  In what typically is always an amazing show, the fellas brought a festive energy and a mix of old and new songs.  Looking back the set list was an amazing one.  Starting out with “Shake Me Like A Monkey” set the tone and hearing “What Would You Say” followed up by “#41” was definitely a highlight as was “Lie In Our Graves” with a little cover of Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.” Last three songs before the encore were “Two Step” “You & Me” and “Ants Marching.”  The whole set list can be found here

Overall Day 2 was a rousing success. I would have loved to have taken in the performances by Weezer, Z-Trip, Boombox and Atmosphere but just like Day 1, too much music and too many decisions to make. 

Also pretty saddened of the Denver Post’s coverage of the festival since it was in their backyard and only sending one reporter to cover and not even given a fair shake to many of the 40 plus acts over the two days.  I mean on Day 1 the reporter didn’t even arrive until after 4 p.m. surely missing some great performances.  You can read the recaps here and here.

Tags: Atmosphere, Bassnectar, Boombox, Dave Matthews Band, Denver, Denver Post, Donavon Frankenreiter, Drive-By Truckers, Jack Johnson, Jimmy Cliff, Matt Morris, MHMF, Mile High Music Festival, My Morning Jacket, Oh My Stars, Ozomatli, Railroad Earth, Steve Miller Band, Train, Trevor Hall, Weezer, Z-Trip