The Mile High Music Festival will not bring the rock this summer.
The annual event will take a hiatus in 2011, promoter AEG Live plans to announce this morning. The two-day festival brought the Dave Matthews Band, Tom Petty, Tool, Jack Johnson, Widespread Panic and others to its Commerce City festival site over the last three years.
AEG is citing economic reasons for the break.
This doesn't surprise me in the least bit. I've been to major music festivals and those seem to be much more authentic than MHMF could ever be. Both Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo are talked about long before the lineups are released. And groves of people plan their trips without even knowing who they are going to see. This could never be the case for MHMF. I'm not sure what the difference is either, I just can't pinpoint it...but whatever that 'it' factor is....Mile High Music Fest didn't have it.
I do have some theories
The first year was a debacle with only 1 exit for everyone who drove and no camping offered. This means you couldn't get drunk because you had to drive back to Denver (or wherever you were going) and with only 1 exit, it took hours to get out of there. Add that in with the fact that it was over 100 degrees the first year with little shade, everything from tickets to drinks to merchandise was way overpriced, and the festival had an immediate bad reputation. In an era where the twitterverse, blogosphere, and facebook addicts have a voice that is easily heard, a bad start is what doomed Mile High Music Fest.
I am sad to see it go, however, because i thought with a little more history, it could become as big as the Bonnaroos. And anything that draws people into the city is good for the local economy. However, location, price, and even the acts just couldn't hold a candle to the big boys.
RIP MHMF
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