Few venues in the world are finer places to see live music than Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado.  On a clear summer night under a bright moon with a cool breeze, few places are finer to be, period.  It is a venue ideally suited to big sounds and bright lights, as both of these will inevitably play upon and dance between the sheer vertical red stone cliff faces.  True fans, and it doesn't matter of whom, show up early and tail gate in the parking lots, soaking up the sun and self-medicating themse

I woke up in Grand Teton National Park to the sounds of crazy mountain birds, and was glad not to have been eaten by bears or wolves during the night. The festival itself provides no camping but there is plenty to be found in the park and in the surrounding forests. On the drive to the festival grounds, I saw a moose, and nearly 30 people taking a picture of it. There was a lot to look forward to, and anyway I've seen moose before, so I didn't stop until I hit Teton Village.

The funky, jammy, L.A. based Underground Orchestra proved to be a good start to the music of the weekend before the chaos started. Anthony Rogers-Wright proved to be an entertaining bassist and just one component of this group. Sam Feldman plays the mandolin, which I love, so this group had an instant in.

This fall, Lotus releases their highly anticipated studio album, Hammerstrike, and steps out on their most ambitious tour yet. The months ahead will wrap up a huge year of growth for Lotus; a year that has positioned this instrumental post-rock outfit for a breakout 2009.