Tool, WSP, Fray to Headline 2009 Mile High Music Festival

Headliners for the July 18 and 19 Mile High Music Festival are Tool, Widespread Panic and the Fray, two popular live bands who can draw big and different crowds, and a group of local heroes coming back to their hometown.

The Fray is Denver's biggest musical export since at least Big Head Todd - and maybe ever. "How to Save a Life," a mainstay of TV medical dramas, is by the Fray. I'm happy to honestly say "I saw them when...," catching both a small club show and a free outdoor set for about 50 people before an outdoor summer movie in a little Denver suburb. Now they're playing arenas and major festivals.

Tool is perhaps misnamed and often mistaken for a blunt, aggressive metal band. But the band's complex music translates to great live sets. And I don't need to sell Widespread Panic. The Georgia band ranks with Phish among the biggest jam bands in history, but also draws fans of straight-up Southern rock.

The Mile High Music Festival returns to the soccer fields at Dick's Sporting Goods Park (another unfortunate name), a relatively small venue for a major rock festival drawing national attention.

Tom Petty and Dave Matthews headlined the Mile High Music Festival last year. Both are big acts but they're past their prime and probably didn't draw many of the festival pilgrims who travel across the country for Bonnaroo or Coachella.

Supporting acts for this year's Mile High Music Festival on Saturday, July 18, include Incubus,
Ben Harper and Relentless7,
G. Love and Special Sauce,
Ani DiFranco,
The Black Keys,
Paolo Nutini and
Gomez.

Sunday, July 19, brings Gov't Mule,
Buddy Guy,
John Butler,
Gogol Bordello,
Galactic,
Guster,
The Wailers,
Matisyahu and
Robert Randolph & The Family Band. Plenty of smaller local and national acts are also slated for each day, including another triumphant homecoming.

The rap-fusion band 3OH!3 gives props to their native area code in its band name. The group's single "Don't Trust Me" has been all over MTV (Music Television still plays music occassionally, but mostly as part of its reality shows).

More Mile High Music Festival acts will be announced. Tickets are on sale Friday, April 3, and will cost $162 for a two-day pass or $400 for VIP passes.

Some of the ticket price will benefit a local Commerce City community organization trying to prop up the struggling industrial suburb.