We had an abundance of artists come to Denver in September to round out the Summer. Now, I am loving this sweater weather and ready for the Fall, but the second the sun goes down at an outdoor show it gets chilly! The wind at Red Rocks is no joke and my pashmina can only keep me so warm. To end the Summer, I went to so many shows, but my top 3 are Lane 8, Flume, and Odesza:
Lane 8
Lane 8 preformed at Red Rocks on September 11th and it was a phone-less experience. They place your phone in a Yondr bag and locked it – it could only be unlocked on your way out. I was skeptical of this at first, but it then became a whole new experience. Lane 8 does this to promote enjoying music and life in the moment. My friends and I planned a meeting spot and time beforehand to ensure we could find each other upon arriving at the venue. After finding them and choosing an area to stand, 4 hours went by extremely quick since we were not checking our phones and seeing the time. I won these tickets, but it would have been worth it to purchase them as well. I will be seeing Lane 8 again in the future for sure!
Flume
Flume is one of my favorite artists, so I already knew it was going to be incredible. I was able to see him two nights in a row, one show at Mission Ballroom and one show at Red Rocks. They were both different in their own ways, but still stayed true to Flume’s vision and music.
Mission Ballroom
Flume started off his 3 days in Denver at Mission Ballroom where it was an intimate setting as we were so close to the barricade in the pit. He ran all of his hits and even remixed other’s songs such as Lorde’s Tennis Court and of course You & Me by Disclosure – his version of this is 1000x’s better than the original and everyone knows that. Being this close to his visuals made you feel as though you were in them, so it was absolutely astonishing.
The crowd met the energy and brought a smile to Flume’s face every time he heard us singing along over the music. The crowd was incredibly friendly (besides those random people who never meet the vibes) and everyone was dancing and signing together. It is a much smaller and crammed space than Red Rocks so you were actually able to interact more with your standing neighbors. I even ended up meeting up with a friend we made this night at Flume’s Red Rocks show, so that goes to show how friendly everyone was. Flume also had 2 singers with him this night, so seeing them up close compared to Red Rocks was extraordinary. I hope I get to see Flume in an intimate setting like this again soon because it was honestly better than seeing him at Red Rocks!
Red Rocks
Red Rocks is the best venue in the world by far and has the prettiest sunset. After watching the sunset to the opening acts’ live music, we were all extremely ready for Flume to come out – especially after seeing him the night before. Honestly, this crowd was much younger than the crowd the night before at Mission Ballroom which meant they did not know the unspoken rules of Red Rocks. Do not stand on your chair or stand in the aisle in front of people.
Besides that, Flume’s setlist was the same music as the night before, but in a different order. It kept us on our toes and led for an incredible show. Flume even brought out an additional singer, so overall he had 3 singers – Kučka, Laural, MAY-A – preform with him at Red Rocks. All the singers preformed their hits with Flume on stage and created a more engaged crowd. I can’t believe I already have my next time seeing Flume on my calendar – Decadence NYE Festival right here in Denver. He will be an act I cannot miss.
Odesza
This was one of the best shows I have ever been to and somehow it even topped Flume. Odesza started with confetti and fireworks and then led to fire and more fireworks. There was their signature drumline, a female drummer on a drum set, multiple singers, a horn player, pianist, and incredible visuals.
They told a story through their videos, music, and somehow even through the fireworks, fire, and confetti. They kept pulling out surprises and my jaw was dropped the entire time leaving me in awe. I truly cannot describe how amazing this show was as everyone needs to experience seeing Odesza live atleast once. There was not a bad spot to view them. I was on the barricade and we were so close to them we could see the drumline’s sweat dripping down their face. The person next to me even caught a drumstick that was thrown. The confetti had Odesza’s logo on it as every single thing they did had immense thought put into all of it. This was the best show I have been to all year and I cannot wait to see if anything else I have planned this year tops it.
Honorable mentions: Big Gigantic, Dirt Monkey and MK
