GRANDOOZY MUSIC FESTIVAL OFFERS VARIETY OF ARTISTS
Steve Wonder, Chainsmokers and more
Grandoozy, the massive music festival produced by Superfly that’s set to descend upon Denver’s Overland Park Golf Course Sept. 14-16, rolled out the highly anticipated first look at its bill of artists this week. And, so long as you aren’t only into polka, you’re probably going to find something to be excited about.
Kendrick Lamar, Florence + The Machine and Stevie Wonder will headline the festival’s eclectic first offering. And that’s only the first three of the 35-act lineup.
“(The lineup is) diverse, exciting, multi-genre,” Superfly co-founder Jonathan Mayers said in a phone interview, “which is kind of what we seek to do. That’s generally how people listen to music, and we want that to be reflected in the festival programming.”
For those totally unfamiliar with the names, hip-hop and rock make up the brunt of the bill’s artists. Notable names abound, like Lamar, who is hip-hop’s current king of the hill; intrepid rocker St. Vincent; and Mavis Staples, a civil rights activist and member of the Staples Singers. If you don’t know Stevie Wonder, who will be closing out the festival on Sunday, I don’t know what to tell you.
“Stevie’s music is unifying and positive,” Mayers said. “The selection of music is inspired by that idea.”
General admission tickets to Grandoozy go on sale March 23 at 10 a.m. via grandoozy.com. Threeday passes are $224.50 for general admission. VIP passes run $599.50. If you’re strapped for cash but still want to go, the festival offers a layaway plan that lets you split your ticket cost into multipayment installments.
No information on single-day tickets was released. Mayers said Superfly “doesn’t know when and if” single-day tickets will be available.
Aside from indie dreamboats and hip-hop stars, there’s a handful of choice offerings from other niche genres in here, too. Sturgill Simpson is one of country’s most exciting new voices, and won the award for Best Country Album at the 2017 Grammys. Florence + The Machine’s ethereal big-folk sound has lifted her from a favorite in her native England to an internationally beloved act. Kevin Morby is a Dylan-esque indie rocker, and really, just delightful.
Also, as promised, Grandoozy boasts some local talent to go with those huge headliners. Catch Colorado’s own Tennis, Flaural, Gasoline Lollipops, Dragondeer and more at the fest.
The festival also offered up a glimpse at some of the “experiences” it first touted at its press conference earlier this month. The food service, dubbed Devour Denver, features a culinary experience from the minds behind Snooze, Biju’s Little Curry Shop, Root Down, Bar Dough, Stoic & Genuine, Hop Alley and other popular Denver restaurants.
There’ll also be a twopronged drink experience: Arts & Crafts, a beer offering dreamed up by the Colorado Brewer’s Guild, and Flight School, a sampling of Colorado’s many distilleries headed by Denver’s Chad George Michael, who was named one of Food and Wine’s best mixologists of 2016.
If all that weren’t Colorado enough, the festival will also tout an outdoor experience called The Backyard. It will house a 1980s ski lodge, which will “celebrate the iconic ski aesthetic of yore, complete with themed music, food and drink and more,” according to Superfly’s release. Mayers declined to detail what that means exactly, or any specific events the area would host, save to say there would be athletes involved.
For more on Grandoozy, head over to grandoozy.com.