The summer concert season often leaves small and midsized bands in the lurch, their modest draws relegating them to indoor venues in a state bursting with choice outdoor ones.
Not every jam or hip-hop act can play Red Rocks Amphitheatre, or even Mishawaka. But if Eric Pirritt has his way, the Trancegression Festival will show bands of any size how to perform at one of Colorado’s typically gorgeous outdoor settings.
“There’s so much that can be accomplished in the mountains with shows, and it’s been proven up there with indoor shows at Dobson Arena (in Vail),” said Pirritt, president and founder of ENDIT! Presents.
Pirritt’s first annual Trancegression Festival, which takes place Saturday and Sunday at Copper Mountain Resort, features a diverse roster of jam, hip-hop, bluegrass and funk acts. Disco Biscuits, Umphrey’s McGee, Blackalicious, the Pharcyde, Lotus, Hot Buttered Rum, Zilla and others will perform on the outdoor stage, with special late-night sets from Galactic and the Greyboy Allstars.
“We’ve got a great lineup of young bands that are on their way to being able to play Red Rocks, and it makes sense to give them a step,” Pirritt said.
Granted, groups such as Umphrey’s McGee already play larger venues like Red Rocks or the 3,600-person capacity Fillmore Auditorium. The Chicago jam band stops by the Ogden Theatre tonight for a show before hitting Trancegression.
But part of Pirritt’s motivation in booking the lineup was the fact that all the bands, even the smaller ones, do incredibly well in Colorado.
“It’s tough to define fans of certain genres in Colorado,” he said. “There’s just as many people excited to go see Umphrey’s McGee as there are to see backpacker hip-hop like Blackalicious, or the more electronic-based live acts.”
Pirritt, who also books Boulder’s Fox Theatre and is responsible for an estimated 400 annual shows in Colorado, said the Trancegression artists sell more tickets in our state than in 90 percent of the rest of the country.
“Colorado was definitely one of our first non-Midwest destinations when we started out, and it’s a place we come back to frequently,” said Joel Cummins, vocalist and keyboardist for Umphrey’s McGee. “The audiences tend to be pretty high-energy and love to dance.”
As much as Colorado cherishes its jam bands, Pirritt said Trancegression is not modeled after other large-scale, jam-based outdoor festivals like Tennessee’s Bonnaroo.
“A common complaint with a lot of these multistage festivals is that you can’t see every band that plays,” he said. “This is a one-stage festival.”
Pirritt said he expects Trancegression’s 5,500-person capacity area to get close to full. He also thinks the stage’s slopeside proximity to food, drink and lodging in Copper Village will help draw attendees, particularly because Trancegression does not include camping packages.
“It’s tough to find that much land in the mountains where it works,” he said. “Copper is a great area because it’s so close to the Front Range, but its proximity to I-70 is also huge. You look at Widespread Panic shows selling out Red Rocks in 20 minutes, but they wouldn’t sell out a smaller venue in Aspen.”
Copper Mountain Resort is about a 90-minute drive west of Denver, as opposed to Aspen’s 31/2 hours.
Joel Cummins of Umphrey’s McGee sees an overarching advantage to the festival beyond its diverse lineup and proximity to Denver.
“We played outside at the World Ski and Snowboarding Championships in Whistler, B.C., last year, but it was 35 degrees, and there was snow on the ground,” he said. “Besides
the inspiring, beautiful power of raw nature, this one will be a little bit warmer.”
Staff writer John Wenzel can be reached at 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com.
