In many ways, I appear to be the picture of adult responsibility. I've been married for about as long as our MOGger of the week (congrats Jules) has been alive, and have three kids. I hold down a steady job, often working long hours. I try very hard to remember friends' birthdays and special occasions. I regularly attend worship services and work at church frequently. I've even been a Scoutmaster, for Pete's sake.

In many ways though, I'm just a big kid. I spend hours talking about music. I still play video games. Fruit punch appeals to me more than wine ever will. (Yeah, there's the religious thing, but still.) And I never remember to bring everything I need, especially a sweater. Well, that could be a guy thing.

I bring this up because when I go to a festival-type concert, I become the proverbial kid in the candy store. I run off from the group far too often, and don't feel self-conscious about dancing about until days later when they get posted for all to see. :P

Amber's got a great shot of us at the entrance to Red Rocks. You can actually see me saying, "Hurry up, there's music happening!" Yeah, I've got a bit of an impatience issue.

OK, enough about me, on to the music.

First band I saw was LoveLike Fire, a hard-wroking group from San Francisco that Anna found and introduced to us from their MySpace, that got the chance to open one of two indoor stages in the Heart of the Rock. Their music tends to sound a lot like Asobi Seksu when recorded, but then again that may be more due to the ethnicity of the lead singer than their actual sound. Live, the dreamier aspects of their sound burn away, revealing a singer with plenty of charisma and a richly-textured indie-rock sound. Their 30-minute set was a very satisfying start to the festival.Zero and I watched them from the front center, while the rest of the group enjoyed them from further back.

Zero then ducked out to check out The Veils, which played at the stage atop the theater, while most of headed down to the main stage to get good seats for Foals. Sam and Erin met us there, to much rejoicing. Sam and I had especially been looking forward to seeing Foals, having much enjoyed their album Antidotes. I had some concerns about how well their tightly syncopated sound would translate live, but those concerns were resolved immediately. The rhythm section were absolutely in sync, and the twin guitars buzzed away in high register. It was amazing to hear so much sound and fury come from as small a package as their lead singer, whould couldn't be 5 feet tall. "Balloons" and the tagged song above led to much ecstatic pogoing from yours truly.

After chilling out for a while, a few of us decided to head up to the upper stage to check out the Muslims, a band with which I was completely unfamiliar. Their sound is heavily infuenced by the sixites' garage heroes like Roky Erickson, and by early Spacemen 3, even going so far as to play a rousing cover of "Losing Touch With My Mind". Another pleasant surprise, not to mention another band to research for released output.

Next up: back to the main stage, where Sam had saved our places for Superdrag. I'd not heard any of their songs since "Sucked Out", but they played a non-stop set of delightfully energetic pop-punk. Their bassist was especially entertaining, with his Chuck Berry routines and Sideshow Bob hair. The crowd, us included, didn't get into it enough to get up and start dancing. Sorry guys!

After their set, I took a turn to hold onto our seats and take a wee nap while the rest sought adult refreshment. That also meant tolerating the banter of one Dave Dugan, who is supposed to be funny, but was not at all. Seriously, who pervs out over the eSurance cartton chick? Egad!

Next up was much giddiness, as Cut Copy, one of the bands with whom I fell in love from Coachella, took the stage. For a synth-pop band, they do a really good job of varying the songs and injecting extra energy into them. The one song they pulled from debut album Bright Like Neon Love, "Future", especialy benefits from this. The crows just eats it up, and the whole crowd dances away through the entire set. Especially your humble author, whose constant pogoing was captured on video by TWO members of the gang. Apparently, I set some kind of endurance record. :P Unfortunately, the set is cut short by the stage hands, as they had run out of time. BOOO!

And yes, the dark side features not one, but TWO, videos of me pogoing away to them. Yeah, goooooood times. :)

The next band I really want to see is A Place To Bury Strangers, so once again it's time for the big hike up the theater and down to the Heart of the Rock. I passed by Holy F-bomb's set; I admit it, they sounded good, but I've got issues with liking a band named that way. That's my hang-up. :)

Downstairs, The Photo Atlas were playing away. Their album hadn't really grabbed me, but there was tremendous energy in their playing live. Their frontman was especially powerful. After their set, he stayed on stage for a bit, and shook hands, and was quite gracious when I told him I would go back and listen to their album again. BTW, I haven't done so. :(

Now Zero and I had both managed to weasel out way to the front, where we were met by the rest of the MOGolith gang, right in front of Jono, for APTBS. Except for Sam and Erin, we had all seen thm, so we knew what to expect. That does not mean, however, that they did not deliver. We were all grateful to have earplugs for their set (thanks Amber), as Oliver managed to pull the strings off two guitars and makee as much noise with his dozen or so pedals as possible, while Jono and Jay kept the beat going strong underneath. And yes, "Ocean" was MASSIVE!

At this point, nothing was really calling out to me musically, so I stopped for a second to take a break. One downer, for me at least, was the lack of decent food options. The burrito wasn't bad, but my other options were pizza and Philly cheesesteak. Given we were in Colorado, I had expected more health-conscious choices. But no matter. I sat down high above the main stage and ate my burrito while Vampire Weekend provided the soundtrack. They were decidely "meh" to me; pleasant enough, but I won't be seeking out their music anytime soon. Meanwhile, it's starting to get windy and cold, and as I mentioned before, I forgot my hoodie, so I choose to head inside again.

While downstairs, I decided to sample The Night Marchers, the new band from John Ries from Rocket From The Crypt. They rocked out some more garagey goodness, as you would expect. A good way to spend a few minutes, but Silversun Pickups loomed.

After some frantic texting and scanning the main theater for the gang, I found them just in time for Silversun Pickups to start their set. They played the old favorites, and a smattering of new material, but they still suffer on the big stage. In a club, they're fantastic, but for reasons I don't fully understand, their charisma and sound don't expand to fill the venue. So, good but not great, but I'd see them at a club in a heartbeat.

At this point, we're all getting cold, so we all decide to call it a night and head back to the hotel. Good timing too, because by the time we've left and reached the highway, it had started to rain heavily.

The rest of the group then left for Old Chicago, but I had to fire up the laptop and work all night. I do mean all night, btw. In at 9PM, I didn't lay down until 4:30, then was up at 6AM for a half-hour status call, then back down until 9AM, when I had to get ready for services. At least I didn't have to be on a long conference call, as I told them I was deaf and they obliged. ;)

And sorry, no Day 2 review from me, as I was a good boy and kept the home fires burning, and the spaghetti sauce simmering. I can tell you that the whole group is now madly in love with Snowden and The Kills. Especially Corrinne Lee, bassist of Snowden. Their show sold much merch, two CD's and two T-shirts to our group alone.