Grandoozy: Denver’s newest music festival

New festival with all-star lineup

Denver’s live music scene has become a petri dish of various different cultures and genres—and it’s still growing. Denver is already home to many other music festivals like Westword Music Showcase, Velorama (which made its debut last year), The Underground Music Showcase, and other smaller, one-day festivals. Superfly Productions, the producers of festivals like Bonnaroo and Outside Lands, is bringing their finesse for a fresh spin on the festival scene of Denver.

According to CBS Denver, Superfly announced the official name of Denver’s newest sizable music festival on March 8. The festival is officially named Grandoozy.

“Doozy means something outstanding or unique, we wanted to have a name that was unique and that would capture the spirit of the event, which is about having fun,” Jonathan Mayers, the co-founder of Superfly Productions, said. “Grand was added to the name to make it worthy of the city and state hosting the event.” Along with the name, dates were also announced—the festival is to take place Sept. 14-16 at Overland Park.

Earlier this March, Superfly announced the official lineup with more artists to be announced at a later date. The festival will feature a variety of experiences including food, arts and crafts, distilleries, and “outdoor” experiences, as well as big-name headliners and smaller local bands for music sets.

Students here on campus are excited for the event to take place. “I’m originally from the East Coast, so I only hear of Governor’s Ball, Firefly, Camp Bisco, Panorama, and Bonnaroo,” Deya Molina, a music business major, said. “I think it’s great that there’s a new festival coming and what better location for a new music and arts festival than Denver?”

The lineup will also include food from some of Denver’s top chefs who were at the Devour Denver food festival. Some of the many restaurants featured include: the co-founder of Snooze, the partner and marketing director of Big Red F Restaurant Group, the publisher of DiningOut Magazine, the Executive Chef of Bar Dough, and many other chefs, restaurant owners, and Denver-based auteurs, allowing festival goers, according to Grandoozy’s website, “a fantastic culinary voyage.”

The festival’s Arts and Crafts experience provides attendees with a craft beer experience curated by Steve Kurowski of Colorado Brewers Guild, while being immersed in local art. The activity lineup also features Flight School which, according to Grandoozy’s website, “allows for festival attendees to experience some of the best craft distillers from Colorado and beyond.” Flight School presents Chad Michael George, who was named one of Food & Wine’s Best Mixologists in 2016, and sits on the board of directors for Colorado Bartenders Guild.

The two final activities presented in the initial lineup are ventures into the great outdoors and into an 80s ski lodge. “The Backyard will feature adventurous activities, engaging programming, and immersive brand showcases,” Superfly Productions said. To add a nostalgic flair, the Superfly Productions gang is bringing an 80s Ski Lodge experience to the festival. “The ski lodge will allow for audiences to relive iconic ski aesthetic of yore,” Superfly Productions said. The full details of the throwback feature are still to be announced.

The announced band lineup features large name headliners on all three days of the weekend festival. Kendrick Lamar is to open the festival, headlining the event on the first Friday the event is held. Lamar is an 11-time Grammy award-winner who will bring his iconic and newsworthy productions to the Denver stage, yet again, off his most recent performance here in June of 2017 at the Pepsi Center.

Saturday’s headliner features six-time Grammy award-winning Indie rock band, Florence + The Machine. This is one of the many sets the group will deliver this year. Their last major festival performance was in 2016, along with the release of their third album How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful in May 2015. This will be the group’s first time back to a Denver stage in three years.

The final day of the debut festival features one of the biggest names in music, Stevie Wonder. Wonder began his career at the age of 11, when he was signed to Motown’s Tamla label. Wonder has since been an icon in music, and has won 25 Grammy awards and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award over the course of his career. This will be the first performance at a Colorado-based stage since his last performance at Fiddler’s Green in July 2008. The legendary musician is to close out the festival on Sunday.

The lineup is bringing an assortment of artists and genres to the Mile High City, as clearly illustrated solely by the headliners of Superfly Productions’s first event in Denver. Festival goers can expect even more Grammy award-winning and nominated artists from the initial lineup, as well as a handful of local artists.

Other sets to be performed over the course of three days include Grammy award-winning group The Chainsmokers, hip hop artist Logic, country artist Sturgil Simpson, Grammy award-winning R&B artist Miguel, an array of indie-rock/alternative artists like Phoenix, Young the Giant, St. Vincent, and many more on the initial 35-name bill.

Local artists are also making an impact on the largely big name lineup. CU Denver alumni and local entertainers, Tennis, are also featured on the lineup. Other local artists include blues and psych-rock group Dragondeer, Alt-country group Gasoline Lollipops, shoegaze and new-wave group Flaural.

Currently, tickets are only being sold as a three-day package. Tickets range in price from $259.50-$599.50 based on general admission or VIP experiences. VIP Experiences will feature typical VIP perks like designated viewing areas, a hospitality area, happy hours for curated tastings of local food and drink, VIP-only restrooms, fast-track entrances, and concierge.

Purchasing options also include a buy-now, pay-along-the-way option. There is a non-refundable $10 fee and a minimum purchase amount of $250 before the option can be selected when purchasing. The layaway plan allows festival goers to make a seven percent deposit at purchase and make payments of 18 and 19 percent over the coming months before the festival. The last day to purchase tickets with this plan is April 15.