Last April as I walked around campus, I saw groups of people dressed up in rave outfits boarding white buses. I knew we had a theater on the hill that hosts musicians, but I couldn’t understand why so many people wouldn’t just walk less than a mile to get there. I considered the possibility they were going to Denver, but being from out of state, I didn’t know where else they could be going. After asking around, I found out that they were going to see Dom Dolla at Red Rocks. I had never heard of Red Rocks–or Dom Dolla– but thought it was cool that everyone was going to a concert. I love live music, and these past two weeks I finally experienced not one, but two concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
My freshman year I barely left campus, so at the beginning of this school year I set a goal for myself to explore more of Colorado. One of the best parts about having roommates from Colorado is that we’ve traveled to and hiked many trails that I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. When I was considering purchasing tickets to Red Rocks, my roommates told me that at their graduations, they actually walked across the stage! This prompted me to pull up the website to see if anyone I liked was playing. I found that one of my favorite artists, Still Woozy, was coming in October. I was overjoyed—not only was I getting the opportunity to see an artist I had listened to for so long, but it was far enough in the future that I could know my schedule beforehand, also leaving time to explore more of Colorado before I went. I asked my roommates if they knew the artist, but they had only briefly heard about his music. However, I knew that there was not only someone else I could ask, but someone I knew loved Still Woozy— my sister.
Still Woozy is the title Sven Gamsky gives to his solo project, which combines unique sounds to create what he terms “wooz”. He creates all of his music in his own garage studio. I enjoy his music because, in addition to its unique and sometimes sad sound,a lot of his lyrics are upbeat and express the love he has for his wife, and life. When I found out he was playing at Red Rocks, I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to experience live music seeing a musician who I already enjoy.
It was a beautiful fall day as my sister and I drove to the amphitheater. I had seen pictures, but nothing could prepare us for what she and I saw as the car headed up the hill. The amphitheater is surrounded by–you guessed it– red rocks. They are massive, beautifully complex, and one of the most incredible natural creations I’ve ever seen. The formation of the rocks began 300 million years ago, and include layers from thousands of years of rock formation. Since some are older or have been impacted more from weathering, there are a combination of various reds. Additionally, although it has undergone renovations, the way architect Burnham Hoyt designed the theater allows for people to be able to see numerous rows above them, sometimes all the way to the top.
We got there relatively early and found seats towards the center of the amphitheater. With most people having settled in the first few rows, we were able to see all the way up to the top of the stands. Still Woozy had three artists as his openers for different stops along the tour, our openers being PawPaw Rod and Gus Dapperton. I began listening to PawPaw Rod when I found out he was going to be opening. I liked some of his music, but loved his performance of his new music. He was running around the stage and dancing, an enjoyable display of how excited he was to perform at the venue—extremely evident in his performance.
The second opener was Gus Dapperton. I have listened to him since the seventh grade and still as a sophomore in college–I can’t even piece together words to describe how it felt to see him in person. I cried through most of his set and sang the lyrics to every song. His music has layers of instrumentals and vocals, his lyrics varying between immensely sad to being in love. In addition to creating his own music, he also covers many songs. Knowing the originals, it was interesting to see the ways he introduces his style to the songs. It was evident why Still Woozy brought him and PawPaw Rod on tour. Both of their stage presences exuded confidence and joy, and Gus Dapperton danced around the stage while playing guitar alongside his pianist Ruby Amadelle and bass guitarist Yendawg, aka Ian O’Neill.
Following Gus Dapperton’s set and a stage redecoration, Still Woozy came out. He too ran around the stage, played multiple instruments, and was exhilarating to watch. All of their setlists were an intentional and well thought out combination of their newer and older music. The show was sold out, and it was thrilling being a part of a crowd that ate up every minute. My sister and I had so much fun screaming and singing all of the songs we knew and I wouldn’t have wanted to go with anyone, but her. He was an incredible performer and was the perfect first show to see at Red Rocks.
The following week, however, I got an opportunity to see another show at Red Rocks— this time it was Zedd. One of my roommates at the beginning of the year was trying to find people to go with her, and so on the day of the concert, five of us headed up to the amphitheater. Starting later than Still Woozy and being a different genre of music, the experience already felt different. In the same way everyone who boarded the buses were dolled up in their rave outfits in April, groups of people got off the buses at the entrances dressed the same way to see Zedd. I wasn’t familiar with either of the openers, but they both had good sets—despite being confined to a sound board at the center of the stage.
Zedd was incredible. When I told my parents I was going to see him, they initially thought they didn’t know who he was. Zedd, however, is behind many songs that my parents enjoy, but they had no idea he helped make them. This made for a really enjoyable set, because although he performed a lot of his new album, he played all of the songs I grew up listening to. Staying until the very end, the encore being “Clarity”, the show was high energy the entire time. He utilized pyrotechnics and lasers, which while setting him apart from Still Woozy, was what I would have expected for his genre of music.
Red Rocks is special because in addition to hosting a variety of artists throughout most of the year, they also offer movie nights and yoga classes throughout the summer. The amphitheater is easy to get to from campus, and I’m already watching their website for shows next year. Red Rocks Amphitheatre is not only an incredible piece of Colorado’s geologic history, but also a beautiful place to see any performance.