Monolith 2009: The Ten Best Photos

As the Guy Who Sits in the Media Tent and Updates Our Live Music Fest Coverage, there are two perks to my job: 1. Proximity to free food. 2. Opportunity to pick which photos we use in our slideshows and live-review blogs. Monolith, like Mile High before it, served up...

By Joe Tone

September 15, 2009

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

As the Guy Who Sits in the Media Tent and Updates Our Live Music Fest Coverage, there are two perks to my job:

1. Proximity to free food. 2. Opportunity to pick which photos we use in our slideshows and live-review blogs.

Monolith, like Mile High before it, served up scores of photos that captured the weekend perfectly. Here are my Ten Favorite. Be sure to click the photos to enlarge them:

10. The Rock

You always need one photo that reminds you of the natural majesty of Red Rocks, unless you take acid, in which case you can rely on the flashbacks. But for some reason they don't have acid in the Media Tent.

9. Flying Bassist

The socks, the chops, the hops -- I love everything about this shot, by Eric Gruneisen, of the bassist for OK Go.

8. Late on Sunday

Both this year and last, late on Sunday, I took our house camera and waded into the crowd to see what festival-goers look like after two straight days of abusing their bodies and eardrums. This girl -- and especially this girl's eyes -- seems to sum it up.

7. The Drummer

We don't get many good shots of drummers, but I loved this one because this drummer, of the Dandy Warhols, is obviously the coolest guy in America.

6. Wet and Happy

The rain killed Saturday for a lot of people. Not these two.

5. Danielle Ate My Heart

At the risk of offending people with way skinnier jeans than me, I love this singer-songwriter (and loved her even more after Kiernan Maletsky's profile). She's not reinventing the wheel, but her voice is real and her lyrics, while occasionally cloying, are smart and clever. Bonus: She's funnier than hell. And this photo sums up her performance Saturday: All smiles.

4. Blondes Have More Fun

This shot, of a member of the Grates, reminded me why we keep photographer Aaron Thackeray around despite his many criminal convictions. (Kidding! I hope!)

3. Holly-wooooood!

I have no idea what Hollywood Holt is doing in this photo, but I like it.

2. We Don't Need No Stinkin Stage

The weirdest of about 476 truly bizarre moments from the Monotonix's Sunday set -- a show so crazy it earned its own slideshow.

1. Man at Work

Say what you want about the skill it takes to be Girl Talk, the guy undeniably brings it (whatever it is), and the kids eat it up. Saturday was no different.

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Westword has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.