Home

Margaret Hair

Margaret Hair's column appears Fridays in the 4 Points arts and entertainment section in the Steamboat Today. Contact her at 871-4204 or e-mail mhair@steamboatpilot.com.

Steamboat Springs — It's outdoor festival season, and there are plenty of options to consider in choosing a Colorado music weekend.

To put my decision in more concrete terms, I made a formula of five subjectively judged categories: ticket price, band volume, band quality, distance from Steamboat Springs and additional costs such as lodging, gas and food. Higher point values are better - a festival with only a few acts might lose points in the band volume category, or an event that tops all other categories but requires paying for resort town lodging might lose points in the additional costs category. Three hours drive time equals a 5 out of 10 in the distance category.

Five Colorado summer music events and festivals measure up this way:

¤ Snowmass Chili Pepper & Brew Fest, June 5 and 6 at Aspen/Snowmass: Weekend passes to the Chili Pepper & Brew Fest are $50; the price includes chili and beer sampling for the weekend, along with performances by moe., Leftover Salmon with Karl Denson, Particle and Boulder Acoustic Society. Single night passes start at $20.

Ticket price: 8 out of 10

Band volume: 4 out of 10

Band quality: 4 out of 10

Distance: 5 out of 10

Additional costs: 2 out of 10

Total score: 23 out of 50

¤ Telluride Bluegrass Festival, June 18 to 21 in Telluride: The headliners aren't immediately obvious looking at each day's schedule. Take June 19: Railroad Earth is listed first, but Elvis Costello comes just after, not to overshadow Bela Fleck, Jenny Lewis or John Cowan. Tickets are $185 for all four days; single day passes run $50 to $60. Camping passes are $50.

Ticket price: 4 out of 10

Band volume: 8 out of 10

Band quality: 10 out of 10

Distance: 3 out of 10

Additional costs: 5 out of 10

Total score: 30 out of 50

¤ Mile High Music Festival, July 18 and 19 in Commerce City: Headliners for this year's two-day music-packed festival are Tool, The Fray and two nights from Widespread Panic. Each day has about 20 bands on tap - my best bets would be Ben Harper, The Black Keys, Dead Confederate and 3OH!3. Tickets are $162.50 for two days and $90 for single-day passes.

Ticket price: 3 out 10

Band volume: 8 out of 10

Band quality: 6 out of 10

Distance: 5 out of 10

Additional costs: 3 out of 10

Total score: 25 out of 50

¤ RockyGrass, July 24 to 26 in Lyons: RockyGrass features acts such as Steve Earle, Earl Scruggs, Del McCoury, Sam Bush and Steep Canyon Rangers. Several of the festival ticket packages are sold-out, but some three-day passes are available for $130. Day passes for Friday and Sunday are $50; day tickets for Saturday are gone. On-site camping starts at $35.

Ticket price: 5 out of 10

Band volume: 6 out of 10

Band quality: 7 out of 10

Distance: 4 out of 10

Additional costs: 6 out of 10

Total score: 28 out of 50

¤ Jazz Aspen Labor Day Festival, September 4 to 6 in Aspen: The Jazz Aspen Labor Day Festival offers three days of double- and triple-bills - Citizen Cope and Michael Franti play Friday; Umphrey's McGee and The Black Eyed Peas play Saturday; and Drive-By Truckers, the Doobie Brothers and The Allman Brothers Band play Sunday. Shows are on one stage and start about 3 p.m. each day. Tickets are $145 for a three-day pass, $45 for Friday and $65 for Saturday and Sunday.

Ticket price: 4 out of 10

Band volume: 5 out of 10

Band quality: 6 out of 10

Distance: 5 out of 10

Additional costs: 2 out of 10

Total score: 22 out of 50

For my music tastes and budget considerations, I would go with Telluride Bluegrass, mostly for the experience and the chance to see Elvis Costello. Most likely, I'll save my money for the third annual Monolith Music Festival, scheduled for September 13 and 14 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Two-day ticket offers start at $85 and offer access to sets by every band that has been popular on music blogs in the past two years, including TV on the Radio, Justice, DeVotchKa and The Avett Brothers.