The acoustic Goose offshoot Orebolo (“Acoustagoose” as my 10 year old daughter calls them) returned to Colorado this past weekend for three nights at two beautiful venues. The first night’s festivities took place at the Gerald Ford Amphitheater in Vail, while the second two nights of the run were held in the old barn at Chautauqua Park in Boulder.
The Tedeschi Trucks Band at Red Rocks has become a show of the summer for many in Colorado and beyond. This melting pot of a band is nothing short of a love letter to big bands of yesteryear and there is no doubt they are the torch bearers of R&B’s legacy of groove, best seasoned by the South. The maturity and poise they bring to the stage creates a safe place to feel the music, express that feeling, and dance like no one is watching.
Finally! I finally got to catch a full band Hiss Golden Messenger show! I’ve been a fan of this band for a long time, and the last few time MC Taylor and his band have been through Denver our schedules haven’t aligned. I got to see Taylor play a solo show at Union Station a few years back, and that was a very special show but I was longing for the big, full sound of the band and I was not disappointed!
WinterWonderGrass is back! After being forced to take 2021 off due to the risks associated with COVID-19, it was a joyous celebration in the mountains when the crown jewel of Colorado’s winter festival season event kicked off on Friday.
This past weekend, the Denver music community helped usher one of the best young players in the country to the next level. Back in September, when it was announced that Billy Strings would be playing two nights at The Ogden, the buzz was deafening but people were initially skeptical that he would sell out both shows. Well, tickets went on sale and disappeared so quickly that AEG added a third night and, guess what, those vanished as well. In mere minutes, Strings sold out three nights at the venerable Colfax theater.
On the final night of the 2018 Wheels of Soul tour, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Drive-By Truckers, and Marcus King Band tore through Red Rocks Amphitheatre with a vengeance. The 22 year old wizard of the blues, Marcus King, kicked things off with his band and damn near brought the house down. The Rocks were nearly full when he started at 5:30 and only proceeded to get more packed as the boy-genius led his band through a scorching set of horn-fueled Blues.
First of all, before we get too far down the road, each and every person who was in Steamboat for WinterWonderGrass last weekend is to be commended. From employees and organizers to fans and musicians, this was a dedicated bunch. Temperatures plunged down into the single digits as they worked, danced, poured, and played, but those who played music up on the big stage have to be singled out as the most hardcore of them all. While many could bundle up and put on the heaviest of ski gloves to keep fingers from freezing solid, those musicians had to keep their fingers dancing on the strings, skins, and keys in a vain attempt to keep the blood flowing.
Last Thursday night, innovative Piano virtuoso Holly Bowling made her headlining debut in Denver with a sold-out performance at The Bluebird Theater. Bowling has made a name for herself over the past couple of years for her masterful interpretations of Phish and Grateful Dead music arranged for solo piano. While she burst onto the scene with a wonderfully re-imagined take on Phish’s legendary “Tahoe Tweezer,” Bowling also works her magic on the tunes of Garcia, Hunter, Weir, Barlow and others.
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.
