The first – of hopefully many – Denver Comes Alive events took place last Friday at the beautiful Mission Ballroom. A steady buzz around this evening had been building for months, so it was no surprise that the show ended up selling out.
When Bob Weir and the crew rolled in Boulder on Thursday afternoon, it was a scorcher. Folks walking Shakedown were mopping sweat from their brows as they perused booth after booth of stickers, bootleg shirts, heady veggie burrittos, and my personal favorite Philafel with Hummus. While it wasn’t quite as extensive as the Shakedown at Phish Dick’s, it was quite a scene and warmed us all up nicely (pun intended) for the evening.
In stark contrast to the last time JRAD was supposed to play Red Rocks, the weather on Thursday as the show approached was a perfect late Summer Colorado day. The lots were hopping early, and the show was very obviously the go-to pre-party for the annual “Phish Dicks” Labor Day celebration across town at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. As Phishheads and Deadheads rubbed shoulders in the amphitheater, to say the energy and anticipation was high would be an understatement – the place was buzzing.
Not only does this quintet play tight and vicious versions of some of the most complex songs in the Grateful Dead’s repertoire, but they play them with a rawness & energy absent from the stage since the “Live” Dead era. More importantly, all of the jams are wild and incredibly adventurous.
Let’s face it, last week’s Dead & Company shows in Broomfield were not without controversy. Questions like “Should ‘The Dead’ be touring without Phil?”, “Why on earth did Bobby, Phil and Mickey choose John Mayer to fill Jerry’s lauded shoes?” and “I thought they said the Chicago shows were the last ones?” have been bubbling through Head circles for months. What this band made clear on Tuesday is that there is new reason to love The Dead, warts and all.
WORRELL, BURBRIDGE, JORDAN […]
Cervantes’ threw their 12 year anniversary celebration this past weekend and it was Everyone Orchestra kicking off another year of musical delightment at everyone’s favorite Welton St ballroom. Everyone Orchestra was the band for both Friday and Saturday night, with local bands The Congress opening Friday and Deadphish Orchestra Saturday. On Saturday the scene was filled with excitement, patrons ready to celebrate. The line to get in was long and tight, regulars and newcomers waiting to push through to the party.
If there is any venue that can evoke awareness of a higher power, Red Rocks is the place. Weather swirling around the naturally spectacular venue caused a slight delay to the start of the evening last Saturday as thunder, rain and lightning threatened from the sky. People pulled out their rain gear, but seemed generally unaffected as they awaited the start of a fantastic triple threat of music from JJ Grey, Grace Potter and Tedeschi Trucks Band.