Don’t Miss These Local Bands at Grandoozy

If you let out a Beatlemania-level shriek when you saw the headliners for this month’s highly anticipated Grandoozy festival at Overland Park Golf Course, your reaction was more than reasonable. (Out of the loop? Kendrick Lamar, Florence & the Machine, and Stevie Wonder top the bill.) But be sure to look further down the lineup, where an array of local acts is positioned to impress. Grandoozy producer Superfly, best known for running Tennessee superfestival Bonnaroo, worked with regional agents and managers to recruit some of the buzziest bands in Colorado—including Dragondeer, Flaural, and Amzy, a Denver-based alt-rock trio that has spent four years dreaming of landing such a high-profile showcase. “We’ll be able to reach a lot more people, especially those who don’t think too much about local music,” says Amzy frontman Brennan Johnson. Going local isn’t an act of charity, though, says Chris Sampson, Superfly’s executive vice president of programming. After all, one of the eight Centennial State bands playing on the musical undercard at this year’s Grandoozy (September 14 to 16) just might be a future headliner.