How do you define a moment? A segment of time where you feel like you could hide in it forever and find solace in the hardest periods of life. A piece of a long life that you feel everything has been building up towards. One of the major destinations in the journey you’ve faced thus far. A beautiful moment can be anything from playing in the snow for the first time or walking the stage at graduation. Seeing Bleachers at Red Rocks Amphitheatre was one of those moments.
By car, Denver, Colorado is an eight-hour journey from Lubbock. No matter how optimized your drive is from leaving time, short gas station breaks, and multiple drivers, it is draining. Your legs cramp, your eyes hurt, and you crave to be in the crummy bed with the worst pillow that is on a reservation at your destination. That bed feels incredible upon arrival and the sleep you get is just as legendary.
I woke up that next morning feeling rejuvenated and ready. After a nice breakfast and a trip to the Denver Art Museum where I told my friends that every cool-looking painting was “[something]-coded”, we headed to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison. Upon arrival, I was enamored by the sandstone structures that engulfed the views from every direction.
After waiting in line for a brief moment, I tried to venture by foot to the box office to pick up my photo pass, after nearly crumbling down the long-winded stairs that felt like a marathon in itself, my roommate came and picked me up to take us to the box office on the other side of the venue. It was a trek that would have taken me probably an hour on foot in either direction. As we made our way back to the line, we had some very thought-provoking realizations that maybe it was called Red Rocks because the rocks are red though I am still not fully sold on if that is the reason or not. On top of that, we had to survive the elements: the element of rain and the element of surprise after being told it wasn’t going to rain.
The people in line wearing their Duluth/North Face/Columbia puffer jackets clearly were trying to show off their Colorado-based preparation as we as a group covered ourselves in a blanket that did a subnormal job at protecting us. Another realization that occurred was that the venue would reach lows of 45 degrees by the end of the concert, and though I wore pants to keep myself warm, a sweatshirt would have been wise.
By 6:30, the “doors” of Red Rocks opened and after a bag check, a compliment on my bag, and a brisk walk on slippery concrete, we found ourselves waiting in a new line to get into the seating of the amphitheater. Once we were let in, we raced through the stairs to get just a few rows behind the soundboard directly in the middle. It was a perfect view of the stage showing us all the action at once glance. It was a similar feeling to getting the perfect movie theater seat.
As we got comfortable in our claimed seats, the moody environment began to clear up and the rain threw up the white flag probably because the vibes inside the amphitheater were too high to be stopped by the so-called projected weather forecast.
Having been to several venues big and small through the years, nothing was immediately breathtaking as Red Rocks Amphitheatre, both in the metaphorical and physical sense. The feeling of being inside the venue and being surrounded by nature felt euphoric in itself and felt like a special place to see a show. On the other hand, 6,450 feet of elevation is no joke. I walked up the stairs to get a drink and a snack and I felt like I had just finished doing a full-intensity 2-mile run. I couldn’t speak to the employees at the concession stand. It was truly humbling.
Samia opened up the party with a big smile and excited energy. Not only does going to Red Rocks for the first time seem like a major experience in one life, but so does having the opportunity to play at Red Rocks. Samia was clearly in awe at the moment as scanned through the crowd and glanced at the natural architecture that spanned the venue.
Her set spanned about 40 minutes and touched on a majority of her songs from her fantastic Bedroom Pop debut album The Baby with songs like her opener Pool, Fit n Full, and Big Wheel to name a few. She briefly touched on songs from her sophomore effort Honey with the title track and Kill Her Freak Out. She also played a new song titled Bovine Incision that I know is going to be on repeat once it officially releases. She closed with the closing track of The Baby with Is There Something in the Movies? and thanked the crowd for putting in good energy and dancing along to her set.
She seemed like a perfect set to open for Bleachers as her energy kept the crowd excited and she is just a fantastic performer alongside her talented band.
After a quick changeover, the sun began to set and the amphitheater lights turned on. As soon as the recently released deluxe song Drug Free America came on as their walkout piece, the excitement shook the ground. As Jack Antonoff and the rest of Bleachers walked on stage, the wind suddenly picked up. It was quite frankly cinematic. Jack Antonoff smiled as I Am Right on Time began to play to kickstart the next hour and a half of excellence. The first three songs were all off of their recently released self-titled album with the lead single Modern Girl and Jesus Is Dead playing next.
You could really feel the energy in the crowd. Seeing a band as uplifting as Bleachers at Red Rocks feels very spiritual in the moment and the crowd just seemed to really soak in the moment collectively.
The show continued with How Dare You Want More followed by a fantastic rendition of Wake Me from Strange Desire. He jokingly said something along the lines of “You’re not gonna be able to banter with me here. If you want banter, come to Omaha. At Red Rocks, all you are gonna get is awe.
The set trekked forward with Everybody Lost Somebody, an acoustic performance of Goodmorning, and a brief rendition of Dream of Mickey Mantle that transitioned into Me Before You. At the end of the show the recording of Dream of Mickey Mantle into Me Before You was airdropped to a bunch of fans in the crowd which is a really cool souvenir to walk out of a concert with.
The show continued with some cuts from Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night with Chinatown and Don’t Go Dark which Jack said he wrote when he wasn’t sure we would ever be able to party again. These went into the new Self Respect which felt elevated by the live performance and even more touching in the amphitheater.
After this, Jack pulled out the heavy hitters with Wild Heart, Rollercoaster, and Let’s Get Married back to back to back. It felt like an encore set in itself in the middle of the show. It is truly an insane curation of the setlist. It made sense that the band left the stage after this because you need to take a minute to reflect after burning the stage down and you still have 30 minutes to work with. Jack asked if there were any song requests and they begged for Lana Del Rey’s Margaret which he played a brief portion of before asking “Is this a TikTok song? That’s crazy to me.” He also said he doesn’t believe in leaving the stage for an encore. Jack promised to give his all. He then went into a beautiful acoustic rendition of 45.
The band came back for what seemed to be the “encore” of the show or at least the band giving everything they had left. The last two songs he played from the self-titled album were Ordinary Heaven and my personal favorite, Tiny Moves, which was so beautiful live. If you thought Wild Heart, Rollercoaster, and Let’s Get Married was a heavy hitter trio, try Stop Making This Hurt, I Wanna Get Better, and Don’t Take the Money as the closing run of songs. The energy was through the roof. My voice? Gone. My body? Cold. My vibes? High. There was nothing left to give from the crowd and from Bleachers, so we seemingly mutually agreed to call it a night.
Having never been to Red Rocks before, I didn’t know what to expect from my first show at the venue. Simply put, it was a moment. Easily definable as a moment. A true feeling of euphoria as Bleachers put on one of my favorite shows I have ever seen. It was the moment you hoped it would be as you waited to get inside the venue surviving the rain. It was the moment you hoped it would be as you drove 8 hours in a car. It was the moment you hoped it would be as you saw the tour dates posted on social media. It was a moment.
Loading ...