Photos by Jim Mimna
The Scene: The Laid Back Festival made its long awaited harvest stop at Red Rocks Amphitheatre last weekend. The Laid Back Festival is a traveling caravan of music, art and good times that included a separate stage at the top of the venue and various food vendors. There was concern that Gregg Allman would miss the Red Rocks premiere performance at his well-received traveling festival due to health concerns but he dispelled that notion with a short and satisfying acoustic set alongside guitarist Scott Sharrard. Other artists on the lineup included: ZZ Top, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, Gabriel Kelley, The Richie Furay Band, Lucie Silvas and Levon & People’s Blues of Richmond. Although this wasn’t the biggest crowd I have seen this summer, the spirit of rock and roll was hanging mightily in the air throughout the night.
Gregg Allman: The Allman and Sharrard Acoustic Duo took the stage at 7:45. This was a simple but extremely anticipated performance as Gregg hasn’t been able to perform live this summer until now. Fortunately, it was well worth the wait as we were greeted with a few classics and no hesitation from Gregg to reaffirm his love for the Rocks. He even announced his desire to bring the “full band back for a show next summer.”
As the lights dimmed, the opening chords of “Midnight Rider,” rang out and Gregg bravely pushed his voice towards the back of the venue. He succeeded vocally and we were able to reaffirm that the legendary voice is still healthy. Peaceful energy radiated in the park as the soft notes of “Melissa” spoke to an eerily quiet crowd. Many chose to enjoy the set seated in awe of the special nature of the set. There was still plenty of excitement and gasps from the crowd during this song.
There were noticeable mistakes as Gregg tried to keep up with Scott’s quick fingers on the guitar during “I Love the Life I Live, I Live the Life I Love” He acknowledged these errors to the crowd and the set continued with a peaceful cover of Jackson Browne’s “These Days.” After a short pause, Gregg peered gracefully up at the crowd clearly relived to be on stage performing again and dove headfirst into a sloppy cover of The Allman Brothers “Whipping Post.” It felt awesome in scale and the atmosphere was sublime but he still stumbled along heroically. If anything, Gregg’s attitude during the short thirty-minute performance was a highlight with him even jokingly begging the question to the crowd of whether “There has ever been an acoustic rendition of Whipping Post?”
Gregg thanked the appreciative crowd and the duo swung into a smooth rendition of “One Way Out,” before exiting the stage at 8:15. We wish him the best of health and I hope he returns to Colorado soon.
Gregg Allman – Acoustic W/ Scott Sharrard – September 25th– Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO
Midnight Rider, Melissa, I Love the Life I live, I Live the Life I Love, These Days, Whipping Post, One Way Out
ZZ Top: From my first reaction seeing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees was that the specialized sound rig sitting on stage was absolutely thunderous. It enhanced an already very large rock sound. From my position in the lower rows I’m not sure I’ve heard much louder sound this summer, it was really blasting people away and it was quite a massive difference from the acoustic set preceding it. Of course there was some fantastic dancing from the front few rows of hard partying patrons and it was hard not to smile along with the energy on stage.
The trio of Frank Beard on drums, Dusty Hill on bass and guitarist Billy Gibbons wasted no time launching into crowd favorites with “Under Pressure “ > “Gimme All Your Lovin’,” Dusty and Billy strutting in unison as thick riffs waffled out of Billy’s hands. These boys clearly have a very orchestrated set at this point in their career and even some well-organized banter amongst themselves to introduce the next song.
There was some wasted motion in the middle of the set with an awkward “ Gotsa Get Paid,” and “Rough Boy” but they returned to form with “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide” and “Cheap Sunglasses” to provide some stellar 1980’s rock vibes.
There seemed to be a mixed reaction from the crowd as the show progressed towards a conclusion. There was plenty of fist pumping and wild energy from certain sections but also a healthy mix of sleepy faces despite how loud the set was. Perhaps a long day had finally taken hold of the crowd given the music started at 4 PM or maybe the monotony of the ZZ Top sound was becoming too much to handle.
Highlights included a double whammy of an encore with “La Grange,” and “Tush,” giving way to a cover of Elvis’ “Jailhouse Rock.” I came out of this show happy to finally catch the old school madness that is ZZ Top in person. It many ways they rock harder than ever.
Energy: A-
Musicianship: B+
Sound: B –
Stage Presence: A
Set/Light Show: B
Overall: B
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