Sunday Kim and I headed to City Park for our first ever City Park Jazz  concert.   We had often heard about this weekly event during the summer, but always seemed to forget about it or have something else going on.   This past Sunday would be different.   A friend of ours mentioned that she was heading that way while we were with her on Saturday, and we promised to show up.   Around five on Sunday we hopped on our bikes and headed toward City Park.   We arrived a little after the concert had already started and immediately were blown away by the number of people there.   I had expected a bunch of people, but the odd stage configuration left little prime viewing places.   Therefore it was odd to see people sprawled to all ends of the park, out of site of the band, and often out of range to even hear the music.

Before finding any of our friends, we enjoyed a couple of songs from the Manuel Lopez Trio.   Kim also decided to get a  snow cone from one of the nearby vendors.   There was a wide variety of food offerings, though no alcohol sold.   That doesn’t mean that alcohol isn’t allowed, you just have to bring it yourself, as most people did.   Eventually we found our friends out in the far limits of the crowd.   They had brought all sorts of food to eat while sitting on blankets and enjoying the weather, people watching, and the occasional blast of music.   We had a good time, but it was definitely different from what I had expected.   The weekly event merely seems like an excuse to get together, and not actually the reason.   Perhaps if there were adequate space, the crowd would be more into the music.

As I mentioned at the end of last week, I traveled to Noblesville, Indiana this past weekend for two nights of shows performed by the Dave Matthews Band.   Kim and I both took the late evening flight out of Denver to Indianapolis.   Her parents and brother Nick met us at the airport and they were soon on their way to a nice family trip to Lake Monroe south of Indianapolis.   Shortly after their departure, a group of my friends arrived at the airport to escort me to the campground out in Noblesville, about an hour from the airport.   We didn’t arrive until sometime around two in the morning.   There were only a couple of guys still up at the campsite when I arrived, we had a couple of drinks, did some catching up, and then headed to bed with the others.

Friday morning came quickly.   Even though we had already setup nearly a dozen tents, we continued to have more and more friends arriving at the campground every hour.   I spent some time getting my tent ready early that morning, and decided not to put the rainfly on to let air flow through the tent to keep it cooler.   Besides, there was a zero percent chance of rain on Friday when I had checked a day or so earlier.   By early afternoon all of our friends had arrived and we spent the rest of the time before the show playing cornhole, ladder balls, tossing footballs, etc.   It was awesome to catch up with everyone, many of whom I hadn’t seen since our wedding nearly two years ago, and some even longer than that.

That takes us right up to just before six in the evening, when the doors of the amphitheater opened up.   We all headed over early to check out an amazing band, Elmwood, who were playing the side stage.   Many of my friends had seen them play before, in fact some where in Indianapolis the night before attending their show, but I had yet to see them.   Right away I was blown away by the amount of talent that was on display.   I already have one of their albums, and would highly recommend checking them out.   From there we moved to the main stage as Robert Earl Keen  started their opening set.   This band doesn’t fit into the mold of music that I typically listen to, but I still recognized their talent and abilities.   It was neither great or un-great.

Just as DMB was scheduled to take the stage a little after eight, an announcer got on mic and let everyone know that there was a storm about to hit and that the show was going to be delayed.   Just after the announcement, the skies unleashed their fury on the lawn.   Fortunately my friend Fighty and I had seats in the pavilion so we remained dry.   However, I realized that I had left the rainfly off of my tent and that nearly everything I brought was going to be soaked!   The show was delayed for quite some time, but eventually the band was allowed to play and they still performed a full length set.   The energy that started the beginning of this set was amazing.   It all started with a crowd sing along of Sublime’s “Santaria” launching into the band taking the stage with “JTR.”   I believe it rained through much of the show, and that trend continued all night.   We walked up the lawn on the way out and it was a swampy mess.   Back at camp, some friends of ours had a large enough tent for a group of us to sit in for the remainder of the night.   And fortunately some other friends had an extra tent that I slept in that night.

Saturday was essentially a repeat of the prior day for the first part: more games, more conversation, and more drinks.   My brother and his friend Nick joined us for most of that afternoon, and also met us at the sidestage to see another Elmwood performance.   If it was even possible, I think their performance was even better this second day.   Toward the end of their set DMB touring musician,  Rashawn Ross, was even there to catch the talented band play.   We skipped the majority of Robert Earl Keen’s set this second day to hang out at the sidestage area.   DMB’s set was not delayed this night, and it again started off great.   So great in fact that this is probably one of their better shows I have seen in many years.   Highlights for me include Stay or Leave, Recently, Warehouse, heck nearly the entire show.

The entire weekend was awesome, even though I now have a destroyed library book that I’ll have to replace as it didn’t survive my flooded tent.   By the end of the second night my tent and most other possessions had finally dried out and I was able to use the gear that I lugged with me all the way from Denver.   Even the storms couldn’t ruin our trip and it was so great to see so many friends again and catch up with all of them.   With DMB not going on tour next summer it sounds like we may have to find something else to do for our gathering.

The weekend is finally here, well at least for me. I am flying out of Denver tonight to Indianapolis and taking off tomorrow. After missing the Dave Matthews Band tour last summer, I will be catching back-bo-back shows this weekend at Deer Creek! I haven’t been to Deer Creek since 2007, but I don’t think much has changed. The area around the amphitheatre certainly has developed, but our group still camps at the Sleepybear Campground and always arrives a night early.   In fact some of my friends are already at the campground, holding spots for others.   I think in total we will have near twenty people in our group.   I haven’t seen some of these friends in years, so it will definitely be a great time.   Only three more hours of work and then the fun can begin!

Last night I headed back to Red Rocks for the second time this summer. This time we would be seeing Sting  perform with the over forty piece  Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.   There would be no opening act, just the headliners performing two sets and a series of encores.   They played nearly a dozen of the hits to start and end the night, and filled the rest with some lesser known ballads. I definitely enjoyed the beginning and end of the performance better than the seemingly never-ending list of ballads. While a little sleepy at times, the orchestra really helped to bring the ballads to life for most of the show. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting to see, but still a cool performance nonetheless.

With all of that said, Sting can really sing, especially for someone who is going on sixty years old!   And he really moves around quite  a bit during the performance, though not as much as the orchestra conductor, who was bouncing around his platform nearly the entire show.   I would have preferred the entire thing to be  a little more upbeat.   For example, “Roxanne” was rearranged  to be a much more  ballad type  song.   I think many people like it, but I would prefer it in its original form.   However, there were a few faster and louder hits played, highlights being “Every Little Thing She Does,” “King of Pain,” and “Desert Rose.”   Notice that nearly all the songs I mentioned are Police songs, and not just Sting songs, so maybe I need to see a full show from the Police.   I’ll keep my fingers crossed for another reunion.

I attended my first concert back in 1991 with my dad. He took me to see Rush  at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, now known as U.S. Bank Arena.   I was eleven years old and I still can remember the experience to this day.   That brings me to this  weekend, we took Kim’s youngest brother, Nick, to a concert at Red Rocks.   He is only nine, so he is already beating me by a couple of years.   Not to mention that his future concert going experiences may never compare to the scenery at Red Rocks.   The lineup for the night started with State Radio, then Medeski  Martin & Wood, and finally John Bulter Trio.   We arrived as State Radio had already taken the stage.   I’ve seen them a couple of times before, but I don’t remember liking them as much as I did this time.   I read that most of the songs they played were from their latest release, Let It Go, so I’ll have to be  sure to pick that up soon.   Toward the end of their set, I took Nick on a walk around the venue.   We climbed the stairs all the way to the top and took in the great view.   I also showed him the inside of the visitors center.

We had seats in the twenty-fifth  row, but once Medeski  Martin & Wood (MMW) started, the music became too loud for Nick.   We brought along earplugs, but we couldn’t get him to try them out.   So we decided to move up and eventually ended up sitting in the very last row.   The sound was not quite  so loud, and there were a couple of others kids nearby.   I actually like the view from up top, and we had plenty of room to spread out.   I had never seen MMW  before, and I don’t think I will go out of my way to see them again.   I can appreciate completely instrumental music, but I really need vocals to be  fully entertained.   Apparently  I wasn’t the only one, as the general consensus in the beer line was that MMW should have played first and allowed State Radio to have an expanded set in the middle slot.

After a somewhat bizarre  native american dance session, the  John Butler Trio finally took the stage.   This would be the seventh time I’ve seen JBT  and probably one of the best.   The trio was recently reconfigured to include older drummer Nicky Bomba  and Byron Luiters  on bass, and the chemistry with this incarnation sounded great.   The vocal harmonies have never sounded better, and each musician brings a unique quality to the older songs.   Switching band members is nothing new for John Butler, and I think it helps him to keep the songs and shows unique and interesting.   The show was scheduled to go until midnight, but they were behind schedule and it ended up going well past the scheduled time.   Nick did eventually fall asleep about halfway through their set, but he made it long enough to hear his favorite song, “Don’t Wanna See Your Face.”   I’m sure it was an experience he will never forget.

Our friend Amy was in-town visiting over the weekend. She was looking for a good weekend to fly out and when she saw that the Local Natives were playing on a Friday night in Denver, she decided that was the weekend. She had recently discovered this band at South by Southwest and admitted to being slightly addicted. Apparently she isn’t the only one, as Friday nights show at the Larimer Lounge was sold out at least a week before the event. We arrived at the venue just before the opening band was scheduled to start playing, grabbed a couple of drinks and headed out back to the patio area. The inside area by the stage was already hot, but the temperature at that time would soon pale in comparison to the heat during the bands’ performances.

The opening band, Suckers, got started a little later than expected, likely due to the largely tardy audience. Immediately our ears were met with deafening bass tones, while the band took the stage. Their lead singer arrived onstage with face painted in what appeared to be glittery puff-paint and draped with some sort of makeshift cape. It was a very odd start to an even odder performance. The volume inside was definitely too loud for the still arriving crowd. I will admit that the music wasn’t quite my style, and I began questioning what I had gotten into. I thought Amy knew my musical tastes nearly as well as I did, and most of our favorite artists overlap pretty well. I was quickly reassured, when we all agreed that we should move back outside and rest our ears over another drink.

Once the stage was changed over for the Local Natives, and the room was sufficiently packed to capacity, we moved back inside and found spots on the side of the stage. The five-piece band took the stage after a few minutes and jumped right into songs from their recent release, Gorilla Manor. I was quickly impressed by their vocal harmonies and musicianship. It’s hard to say that one of the musicians is the lead singer or frontman, as they are all well accomplished at their various instruments and possess great singing ability. However, I was most impressed by Kelcey Ayer, who seemed to sing lead vocals on most songs, as well as playing keyboards and percussion. He not only played both instruments, he played them at the same time, with one hand playing keys and the other beating on a drum or cymbal. It was very impressive, as was the rest of the band and their performance. This was a rare occurence where I knew very little about a band before seeing them and instantly became a fan.

Below you can take a listen to their latest and debut release. It is a bit different from their live show, and you may not be able to fully appreciate it until seeing them live, but give it a listen and let us know what you think.

Last night I made the trek up to Boulder for the first time in awhile.   My destination was the Rock N Soul Cafe, where Russ and Anton of SoundRabbit would be playing and recording an acoustic duo show.   I had yet to see their duo performance live, and with an official release resulting from this show, it was as good as time as any.   The venue was a cool little coffee shop, restaurant, and bar.   The stage and sound-system were more than adequate for the intimate space.   The husband and wife owners were very friendly and quite handy.   The husband runs the soundboard, while his wife takes care of the drink and food orders.

As far as the performance goes, I was amazed by how well the normally full-band songs of SoundRabbit transitioned into the duo format.   Russ and Anton’s playing styles and vocal harmonies complimented each other very well.   Even songs that are normally played on piano, or that rely heavily on drums and bass for the back-beat, sounded really good.   I don’t think any of the songs sounded out of place in this different style.   I talked with both guys after the show and they both hoped to play more acoustic shows in the future.   Anton added that there are some challenging parts and that was what kept it exciting.   The parts in the songs that are normally loud and peaking, they have often quieted down and downplayed for the acoustic setting.   Here’s a sample from a recent radio show Story Of…

The full band is heading out to Virginia tomorrow to work on their next studio release.   Best of luck fellas!

Last night I finally saw my first SoundRabbit performance of 2010.   It had been quite awhile since I last saw them play, so Kim and I headed to The Walnut Room last night after a benefit event for Colorado CASA.   This was my first time at this venue, though we recently ate at their newly opened second location.   The main room of the place feels very similar to the newer location, and that is all that is visible from the front door.   I asked the employee at the door if this was the right place, and we soon realized that the concert room is behind another door in the far corner of the dining area.

At first I didn’t think anyone was playing, but after we opened the second door we were greeted with the sounds of music.   It was amazing how sound proof the walls must be.   I didn’t catch the name of the duo that was playing when we walked it, but we listened to a few of their songs before they were finished.   The concert room was nice, with an abundance of high-top tables and chairs, and the sound system was really good.   Before long SoundRabbit took the stage and quickly setup their equipment.   They had told us earlier that they arrived too late to get a sound-check before the show, so it all had to be done on the fly.   Obviously the mix wasn’t the best ever, but they still sounded really good.   We took our neighbors along with us and they both seemed to really enjoy the show as well.   I hope I don’t wait too long to catch another of their performances.

Yesterday Kim and I attended closing day at Vail, just as we did last year. We did about three of four slush-filled runs throughout the day, but that was okay as there was so much other stuff going on as part of the Spring Back to Vail celebration. We witnessed the large season ending party at the top of the mountain, the pond skimming competition, and finally a Guster concert in Vail Village. Many in the crowd had costumes on, or retro ski gear, and many were openly enjoying beers, champagne, etc. Nothing seen during this wild day can be unexpected.

The Pond Skimming competition

The Guster show was great!   The weather was perfect and the crowd was very well behaved.   It wasn’t a large turnout, but there were plenty of people packed in close to enjoy the concert.   We were able to get fairly close to the stage and had a great view, despite a couple of trees.   I really enjoyed this show after having their last performance at the Mile High Music Festival nearly ruined by some obnoxious neighboring music.   The sounds was good enough, though the band complained a couple of times about the elevation messing up their equipment.   They even made up a rather funny impromptu song about the downside of being so many feet above the sea.   We had a great time and it was a good close to the season.

Guster playing Spring Back to Vail

With most resorts closed, here are our stats from this past snowboarding season.   As always, we will likely add a couple of days at Arapahoe Basin as the spring moves forward.

• Breckenridge – 5 days
• Vail – 3 days
• Keystone – 3 days (Kim missed one of these)
• Beaver Creek – 2 days
• Copper – 2 days

That’s a total of only 15 days, which is pretty close to last year, but not nearly as good as two years ago.   Once again, the snow left a lot to be desired this year.   The best days of the season were only a couple of weeks ago and most of our enjoyable days have been in the warmer months of this year.   Still we had many good memories and lots of fun times with visitors throughout the year.   Here’s to next season!

Earlier this morning the initial lineup for the 2010 Mile High Music Festival was announced.   This will be the third annual festival, and I’m hoping it mostly goes back to the way it was the first time, as I’ve mentioned before.   They are definitely off to a good start by announcing that the Dave Matthews Band will be back to headline the festival.   DMB headlined one of the nights the first year, and was able to bring in a very large crowd.   This helps explain why there wasn’t a Colorado date when the band announced their summer tour a few months ago.

In addition to DMB, I am very excited to see Steve Miller Band, Cypress Hill, The Samples, Amos Lee, ALO, Weezer, My Morning Jacket, Ozomatli, Railroad Earth, and many others.   The full lineup is below, though I’m sure there will be more additions at a later time.

Saturday August 14th

• Jack Johnson
• Steve Miller Band
• Slightly Stoopid
• NAS & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley
• Phoenix
• Keane
• Cypress Hill
• Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band
• The Samples (All Original Members)
• Keller Williams
• Donovan Frankenreiter
• Rusted Root
• Amos Lee
• One EskimO
• Mayer Hawthorne & The County
• ALO
• The Constellations
• The Motet
• Bobby Long
• MyNameIsJohnMichael

Sunday August 15th

• Dave Matthews Band
• Weezer
• My Morning Jacket
• Atmosphere
• Jimmy Cliff
• Train
• Bassnectar
• Ozomatli
• Railroad Earth
• Drive By Truckers
• Punch Brothers
• Tim Reynolds & TR3
• Trevor Hall
• Matt Morris
• BoomBox
• Oh My Stars!
• Joe Purdy
• The Knew
• Danielle Ate The Sandwich