I would have thought that after the epic storm on , I’d paid my Red Rocks weather-penance for the summer, but evidently the flying monkeys had other ideas. After a calm, but overcast start for Taj Mahal during the eTown Green Rocks event Friday night, which included a sultry, sexy, “Lovin’ in My Baby’s Arms,” the rain let loose during the first half of set.
It’s interesting the effect weather can have on your enjoyment of a performance. While Lyle is a consummate performer, and some of his slower songs are beautiful compositions, when it was raining, I kept wanting the Large Band to come out and rock it out so I could dance to keep the chill at bay.
Before Lovett came out, eTown hosts Nick and Helen Forster presented the e-Achievement award to Tom Bell, the founder of High Country News. On hand to accept it for Bell, who rarely leaves his home in Lander, Wyo., was current HCN publisher Paul Larmer.
After opening with the quiet “Sun and Moon and Stars” and “Whooping Crane,” which had Lovett doing some delicate fingerpicking on his guitar, the Large Band came out in force for a ripping “It’s Rock and Roll,” which definitely drove the chill away. The Large Band kept it up with a Bo Diddley beatdown on “Choke My Chicken,” with the backup singers doing ridiculous chicken clucks on the chorus.
“You folks are great to sit in the rain with,” Lovett acknowledged, as the rain started dissipating some. Lovett also frequently stated how great it was to be back performing at Red Rocks, thanking the audience for making it possible.
Lovett introduced all members of the band at one point or another, often after they’d stepped up during a song to take a solo part. The backup singers shone on “I Will Rise Up” — especially the low grown of SweetPea Atkinson.
Much of the set centered on Lovett’s 2009 release “Natural Forces,” including an epic version of the title track, which Lovett said was inspired by watching a football game and then seeing an ad for the evening news. I saw Lovett , and it has, if anything, grown even more majestic, such that it’s been on my inner soundtrack since the show.
Lovett also thanked the hosts, Nick and Helen Forster, and talked about Nick’s involvement with Hot Rize and how much it has influenced bluegrass. This led to the hilarious bluegrass tune “Pantry,” performed by fiddler Luke Bulla, mandolinist Keith Sewell and bassist Leland Sklar, who, Lovett said, “would have fit in with Bill Monroe’s band.” Like several other songs during Lovett’s set, it straddled the line between parody and homage.
When Lovett started the relentlessly catchy “Up in Indiana,” the rest of the Large Band slowly came out on stage until the song became a rave-up. Lovett and the Large Band ended the set on a high note, finishing with “Church,” which brought he crowd to its feet dancing.
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Candace Horgan is a Denver freelance writer/photographer and regular contributor to Reverb. When not writing and shooting, she plays guitar and violin in Denver band the defCATS.
is a Denver photographer and a regular contributor to Reverb.
