Skip to main content

Venue Spotlight: Red Rocks Amphitheatre


Words By J-man
Photos By Carly Marthis

Start up a conversation with almost any music fan regarding the best venues in the country and inevitably Red Rocks will be mentioned. Located in Morrison, Colorado, Red Rocks seats near 10,000 people in a natural open-air environment. Designed by Denver architect Burnham Hoyt in 1928, the amphitheater boasts near perfect acoustics. The first performance at Red Rocks was held on May 31st, 1906, but was likely utilized by the Ute tribe prior.

The current incarnation of the venue was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps and dedicated on June 15th 1941 and has held regular concert seasons since 1947. The earliest notable rock performance came on August 26th, 1964 when the Beatles graced the stage.

As the years passed the venue became a favorite on the jamband scene hosting legendary shows from the Grateful Dead, Phish and many others, with Widespread Panic holds the title for most performances at Red Rocks. Additionally a handful of bands have been banned and music has been limited to specific acts on several occasions based on rowdy behavior and antics. There is no doubt that the venue brings out excitement and craziness in musicians and concert-goers. As well it's been the setting for several concert DVDs and albums.

Red Rocks is no doubt a mecca for live music. If you haven't experienced it's physical and musical power, you should make the pilgrimage to a live music mecca.

www.redrocksonline.com

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Livetronica Sampler 3.22.11

Words by Greg Molitor ( ReMIND Photography ) Ozric Tentacles This British group has proven innovative throughout the years offering a space-rock meets psytrance sound that remains alive to this day. Though never having a major record label, Ozric Tentacles has produced 28 albums of diverse psychedelia throughout its career. The band met at the Stonehenge Free Festival in 1983 and truly fathered livetronica music with its use of sequencers and synthesizers. Simply put, there would be no livetronica without Ozric Tentacles. www.ozrics.com Octopus Nebula Colorado’s Octopus Nebula has certainly hit its stride as of late with its constant touring and increased festival interest. The group expands on the deep sounds of highly regarded acts such as STS9 and Shpongle but also carves a path of its own with its fresh takes on synthesizer tones and sampling in the live setting. Octopus Nebula Live at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom on March 26, 2010. www.octopusnebula.com Big Gigantic Big...
Post a Comment
Read more

Buckethead: Gimmick or Guitar God?

Words & Photos By Nicholas Stock ( phatphlogblog.blogspot.com ) At what point does the gimmick overshadow the performance? The obvious answer is Buckethead. The man is an amazing guitarist but something is not right in this world. The idea a performer who dons a KFC chicken bucket on his head for a concert has always intrigued me, and some of his side projects such as Colonel Claypool’s Bernie Bucket of Brains have been huge successes. However his performance last weekend in Fort Collins simply left me perplexed. From his robotic dancing, to his nunchuck display, to the fact the he performed with an iPod rather than a band all added to my confusion. Going into the show I was ready to be blown away, despite rumblings of disgruntled fans from the previous night’s show at The Gothic. Buckethead had had some sound issues and some missed cues in Denver but I was still trying to be positive for the show in Fort Collins. It did go off without a hitch technically but that was the least ...
17 comments
Read more

The Origin of MusicMarauders

Words By J-man "What should I name this fucking thing?" I asked myself in the midst of a joint in my Upstate, NY apartment. "It's got to be something with just 'Music'in the title. Nothing more specific than that, as we'll be covering a wide variety of genres." One more drag on the joint yielded the memory of driving down Woodward Ave. in Detroit, listening to Tribe Called Quest's Midnight Marauders. "MusicMarauders! That's it... It completely encompasses what we do in the sense the we are 'maraudering' or 'pillaging' for music," I thought as I stared out of the window at about three and a half feet of fresh Upstate snow. First things first, the domain had to be registered. "Do I have ten dollars in my account?" I thought to myself from a position of just scraping by. Pulling out my shiny, rarely used debit card, I put it to the test and was able to secure MusicMarauders.com. "What's next?" I ...
1 comment
Read more