“I just wanted to be the one on stage when the sun had set, just once,” said midway through her triumphant debut headlining performance at Saturday night. Carlile had previously played Red Rocks as an opener for both Sheryl Crow and Ray LaMontagne. Anyone who saw those shows knew that Carlile, a dynamic and energetic performer, would get the headlining gig sooner or later.
As a headliner, Carlile also brought in a few friends to open the show. Colorado-based Gregory Alan Isakov got the evening started in fine style, especially on a new song titled “Amsterdam,” on which Jeb Bows stepped in with a sweet, lyrical fiddle solo. Carlile joined Isakov on his final tune, “That Moon Song,” singing harmonies and a verse.
Pop-rocker Ingrid Michaelson followed with brilliant set that showcased her off-beat, powerful songwriting. Standouts included “Soldier” and a haunting cover of R.E.M.’s “Nightswimming” on which Michaelson used a loop pedal to layer different vocal sounds that she then sang over, creating a swirling, cascading, cacophony of sound.
From the moment she stepped on stage, Carlile had the audience in her pocket, wailing away on her acoustic guitar on a fiery “Raise Hell” to open the show. Bows, doing double duty on the evening, jumped off his platform to play a fantastic mandolin solo on “Caroline.”
Carlile played several songs from her new album, “Bear Creek.” Before the bluegrass-y “Keep Your Heart Young,” she talked about how she’d listened to a lot of classic country western music growing up, and how it had informed much of her songwriting.
Part of what makes Carlile such a riveting performer is how she doesn’t confine herself to one musical box. She may have surprised her fans with a fairly straight-up cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but it brought many listeners to their feet. Carlile played the piano part, then switched to electric guitar for the middle and closing sections of the song, which had Tim Hanseroth tearing into his best guitar hero riffs with abandon.
Carlile took advantage of playing to a near-sold-out crowd to have the audience sing three-part harmony on “Turpentine,” something she does frequently in her shows, but she clearly reveled in watching over 8,000 fans sing along.
In closing her set, Carlile told a story about playing the Grand Ole Opry, something she had always wanted to do, and how before her performance, Jimmy Dickins said to her, “Play the song that got you here.” Carlile then tore into a passionate performance of “The Story.” To start her four-song encore, Carlile brought out Michaelson for a duet of the Beatles’ “Oh! Darling.”
Setlists
Gregory Alan Isakov
That Sea the Gambler, Virginia May, The Stable Song, Amsterdam, Evelyn, This Empty Northern Hemisphere, That Moon Song
Ingrid Michaelson
Fire, Palm of Your Hand, Soldier, Parachute, Do It Now, Blood Brothers, Nightswimming, The Way I Am, Maybe, This is War, Black and Blue, The Chain
Brandi Carlile
Raise Hell, Dreams, What Can I Say, Hard Way Home, Before It Breaks, 100, Caroline, Keep Your Heart Young, Save Part of Yourself, Looking Out, Bohemian Rhapsody, Turpentine, Dying Day, The Story, E: Oh! Darling (with Ingrid Michaelson), Pride and Joy, That Wasn’t Me, Hallelujah
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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 .
