A Weekend Wall of Sound

Under the white tent, there’s an evening wind that blows the plastic walls in and out with deep, flowy breathes. Members of the press work on laptops, heaving with near-deadline sighs while others talk angles and lenses on folding chairs.

Grace Potter (of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals), a unique beauty styled sexy in leather boots, a short denim skirt and low-cute tank top, speaks candidly and sweetly into a small microphone held by a radio disc jockey. A photographer takes her picture. She’s soon swept away in the a golf cart and the media tent is normal again—funky music writers drinking bottles of beer, chubby photographers wielding big lenses and blank faces lit by the light of PhotoShop.

The Sunday breeze brings in a kaleidoscope of sound. You can’t tell what it is, or who it is, but you know that someone not far away is dancing. Beyond the media area and the circus-like merchandise tent there is a sea of music lovers smiling in the glow of the Mile High Music Festival’s waning hours.

By Sunday evening, after about 24 hours of crowds, intense heat and live performances, Colorado had almost survived its first high-caliber music festival. The July 19-20 event was a momentous occasion with an almost overwhelming lineup of up-and-coming artists, Colorado mainstays and time-tested rockstars. More than 50 acts on five stages brought in an estimated 100,000 fans—and they were not disappointed.

OAR and moe. pleased the jamband scene while Gavin DeGraw and Jason Mraz made the girls swoon and scream erratically. Meese, Born in the Flood and Leftover Salmon represented their state well while Flogging Molly brought some hard-rocking Irish flair. Citizen Cope mellowed it all out, and then Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers made the main stage roar. Headlining Saturday night, Petty and his band played all their classics and were joined by Steve Winwood, who had played earlier in the day.

On Sunday, Ingrid Michaelson was smart and witty with her folksy tunes and Martin Sexton sang hallelujah with the heart of a preacher. The Flobots and The Roots had people moving, and John Mayer played a 50-minute set with a 50-minute encore filled with radio hits and the blues. Dave Matthews and his band, headlining Sunday, set the main stage on fire and gave a perfect send-off to the weekend.

Besides the sweltering heat—and the occasional fainting half-dressed fan—the weekend seemed organized and hitch-less with a line-up of not only good acts but amazing performers.

Now, only one question remains: Can it be pulled off next summer?