Any Colorado native could tell you that experiencing (not watching) a live show at Red Rocks Amphitheater can be one of the most memorable things you could do whilst in this gorgeous state. The anticipation climbing up every red step up to the sandstone sanctuary that has had the honor of hosting many greats from the Beatles in August of 1964 to Mumford & Sons. The perfect configuration of rocks created an amphitheater and an environment where people come from all over Colorado and even further to join with friends and strangers to let go of their troubles. This is a place where people of all genders, races, ages, abilities and anything else can forget that there are boundries between us as humans, or that there are even these categories to which I just referred. All of these people with you now like the some of the same music as you do, and sometimes isn't that all you want out of the stranger next to you?
However, the crowd that attended the show on September 4, 2015, experienced something magical and downright phenomenal. Griz headlined his first show at Red Rocks Amphitheater, and he killed himself and all of the crowd and we all went up to heaven for this concert, because it was literally that good. The openers for this dance filled evening consisted of The Floozies, Manic Focus, Sunsquabi, and Muzzy Bear, all artists who all have the familiar funky sound that Griz has.
Although Griz's performance was beyond perfection, it is hard to describe how amazing the evening was without mentioning how fantastic all of the openers were. The set designs and shows for the openers are usually toned down to some fun lights and smoke, unlike the wave lasers that Griz ended up surprising the crowd with. All of these artists make up for the less eccentric light and set designs with their energy and excitement to be on the world renown Red Rocks stage. Its actually really cool to be one of the people who actually got a ticket to this sold out show, because many of the artists play new music that no one has heard before because they save these treats for the large venues, and the ones that party the hardest.
Now, Griz has played Red Rocks before, and he has never disappointed. However, I was very interested in how he would set his line-up and his stage presentation. The stage was complete with a grid of box lights that transcended the audience's experience far past the rest of the artists that performed that night. Not only did he have the very clever and entertaining visualizer presentation, but the stage was also set with disco balls that lit up the stage in an extremely funkadelic way, and it set the crowd off.
As every good artist does, Griz played some of his most popular songs, like "Gettin Live" and "It's A Fine Way To Die," mostly so there wouldn't be a riot afterward. He played his funky dance songs like the audience wanted him to, but he also made a lot of dance remixes to some more classic songs that all of out parents love. He even had a live singer come up and sing a slow song while he play some incredible smooth jazz, and the crowd was never disappointed with his slower selections or the songs that were possibly more divergent than his normal stuff. But Griz is an exceptional performer, because no matter how fast the mood was turned down, the entertainment was always at full volume. The saxophone was heavenly and he played it through the entire show, which made the experience seem a lot more personal to the crowd and which made most of our faces melt.
The night was blissful and was better than ever expected (not that we expected anything less), as quoted by many of the concert goers that faithful Friday night. So I guess this article is really a shout out to all of the artists that performed, especially the mastermind who is behind the turntables: Griz. We salute you.
