MONTICELLO — Nordic Brewpub’s 2024 season of outdoor concerts will conclude next weekend with one of its most anticipated events of the year, MontiPalooza, an all-day music festival paying homage to some of the top alternative-rock bands of the 1990s.
The second annual MontiPalooza will again bring seven different ’90s rock tribute bands together on one stage in a fundraiser primarily for the Monticello Help Center.
“Sometimes you go to an event and they’ll have one band each night, but we’re putting them all on one stage during one day,” said Nordic Brewpub owner and festival co-organizer Zach Barthel.
The 10-hour festival will turn up the sound and the musical heat from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5 behind Nordic Brewpub, located at 530 Cedar St.
This year’s lineup will include tribute acts playing the music and capturing the spirit of Pearl Jam, Blink 182, Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alice in Chains and Rage Against The Machine.
Tickets to the show are only $20 in advance — or $30 at the door — a low price that just can’t be beat, according to MontiPalooza co-founder Mayor Lloyd Hilgart, who started the festival alongside Barthel and Monticello-based musician Andy Duszynski.
“For $20, there’s nowhere else you’re gonna see seven bands perform all day,” Hilgart said. “They’re really good. They’re tribute bands — not cover bands. I just think it’s a good way to meet people, and it goes to a great cause. If you like music, you won’t see it like this anywhere this close without driving to the Cities or up north.”
Last year’s inaugural event raised $10,000 for the Help Center, and the trio is hoping to match that again, and will also donate any money raised beyond that to other local organizations.
Hilgart said “100% of ticket sales will go to local charities.”
Three bands from last year’s successful run will be returning, including Sir Psycho, a tribute to Red Hot Chili Peppers; Mad Alice, a tribute to Alice in Chains; and Muzzle, a Smashing Pumpkins tribute act.
Seeing Mad Alice was a highlight for Hilgart, who’s looking forward to seeing the group perform again.
“Mad Alice closed up the show last year. They were super good,” he said, adding that he met a couple that drove their RV all the way up from Iowa to see the Alice in Chains performance. “We also have some new bands this year.”
Four of the bands in the lineup are new to the festival, including Stuck In the Middle, a Blink 182 tribute band; Dissident, playing Pearl Jam tunes; Lithium, a Nirvana act; and Guerilla Radio, a Rage Against The Machine tribute artist.
Organizers are quick to point out these are not cover bands, which differ from tribute bands. Cover bands play music from a number of different bands, while a tribute act focuses on the songs of one band and performs not only the hits of the band, but deep album cuts, as well.
Last year’s inaugural MontiPalooza, an eight-hour festival also held in October, served as something of a beta test for future concerts at Nordic, organizers said.
“Last year, MontiPalooza was our first trial run,” Barthel said. “That went well, we learned a lot.”
Now, he said, the goal has been to grow it — making it bigger and better.
“Last year was a success on so many levels, and we were able to raise $10,000 for the Monticello Food Shelf and Help Center,” he said. “Let’s make this year even bigger.”
While the bands were hot, the temperature was not, some will remember.
“Last year was cold, so I’m hoping it’s not quite so cold this year,” Hilgart said.
In addition to some of the hottest music from the 90s, Nordic Brewpub will also be serving up its signature food and beverage offerings, including a couple festival specials.
“We will have German brats and pulled pork sandwiches available outside and the full kitchen menu will be available to order from the tables both inside the pub and outside on the patio,” Barthel said.
No outside food or beverages will be allowed on site.
Concert-goers must provide their own seating, with plenty of room for folks to set up lawn chairs.
For those who can’t make it out in person, the Sherburne Wright Cable Commission (SWTV) will be filming the bands’ performances at MontiPalooza, and will produce several videos that can be watched online.
“The idea there is to record the bands and have those concerts available on the city’s on-demand site,” explained Bill Bruce of SWTV.
When available, the concert footage will be posted at at monticello.viebit.com, the same site where people can watch City Council meetings, Riverfest parade footage and other municipal meetings and events.
To buy tickets to MontiPalooza, visit https://nordicbrewpub.thundertix.com/events.
To find out all of the events going on at Nordic, visit the website at https://nordicbrewpub.com or find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NordicBrewpub.
Local News
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