It was certainly ’90s appreciation night at a joyous and sold-out on Friday, as headlined its annual Fourth of July show. Continuing its recent trend of honoring past albums, the centerpiece of Blues Traveler’s set was playing its monster album “Four,” released 20 years ago in 1994, in track order.
“Four” was the album that for the most part ended Blues Traveler’s affiliation with the jam band scene and moved the band in a more pop direction. It’s instructional in a way to compare last year’s show, where they played “Save His Soul” in track order, with this year’s. In 2013, Traveler tipped a nod to its jam band roots by having moe. open. For this year’s show, it was the ’90s hit-makers, as Uncle Kracker, Smash Mouth and Sugar Ray all opened.
Traveler itself didn’t take the stage until about 9:15 p.m., at which point frontman John Popper shouted “Happy Fourth of July” before launching into his rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Right out of that, guitarist Chan Kinchla took the band into “Mulling It Over,” on which both he and Popper performed extended solos, trading off each other with abandon. The solo by Popper late in the song eventually wound into “But Anyway,” the band’s first hit, and bassist Tad Kinchla took a solo on it after Popper’s frenetic harmonica playing.
Before delving into its hit-laden opus, the band was joined by Boulder-based duo for a couple of new songs that they recorded with each other for a forthcoming album. Both songs, according to Popper, were debut performances. Nathaniel Motte and Sean Foreman rocked full-on American flag getups in honor of the holiday, and Foreman worked the crowd like a pro during “Blow Up the Moon,” alternately strumming a ukulele and moving up to the rails at the front of the stage and raising his firsts in the air.
While “Four” spawned the hits “Run-Around,” “Hook” and “The Mountains Win Again,” all of which have been played by the band regularly since 1994, it has a lot of other songs that the band has ignored, for better or worse, for many years, and while some were executed with aplomb, others sounded rougher. “Look Around,” a tender ballad, didn’t seem to go over with the crowd so well, especially since Popper’s voice was noticeably deteriorating by that point, and “Freedom” sounded like Popper and Chan Kinchla had difficulty synching up on the intro and outro.
Popper noted that they hadn’t played “Price to Pay” in a while, but they pulled it off. “Hook” proved as catchy as ever, with the remaining audience members (much of the crowd had been streaming for the exits halfway through Traveler’s set) singing along with abandon.
The encore revealed a hidden gem from “Four” in “Just Wait,” which despite Popper’s difficulties singing on the chorus sounded lovely. The final encore of “Brother John” seemed rushed at the start, with the band struggling to launch it before pulling it off.
Three opening bands gave the crowd plenty of time to enjoy its surroundings. Uncle Kracker was up first, getting the crowd warmed up with a variety of covers, including “Drift Away” and Kid Rock’s “All Summer Long,” complete with a few “Sweet Home Alabama” teases. Smash Mouth followed,” seeming awed by the venue as frontman Steve Harwell said, “This is fucking awesome.” Harwell dedicated “Stoned” to Colorado, and guitarist Sean Hurwitz pulled off a great solo during “Walkin’ on the Sun.”
Sugar Ray was also thrilled to be at Red Rocks, with frontman Mark McGrath saying, “Hi Red Rocks; I’ve been waiting 30 years to say that.” He also frequently thanked Blues Traveler for being “dream-makers.” McGrath and guitarist Rodney Sheppard rocked out on “Answer the Phone,” and McGrath thanked Sheppard for coming up with the riff to “Every Morning.”
Setlists
Blues Traveler
The Star Spangled Banner -> Mulling It Over -> But Anyway, Middle of a Hurricane*, Blow up the Moon*, The Devil Went Down to Georgia, Run-Around, Stand, Look Around, Fallible, The Mountains Win Again, Freedom, Crash Burn, Price to Pay, Hook, E: The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Just Wait, Brother John
*w/ 3OH!3, first time played
Sugar Ray
Summertime’s Coming, Someday, Answer the Phone, Every Morning, When It’s Over, Mean Machine -> Blitzkrieg Bob, Blister in the Sun, Fly
Smash Mouth
Can’t Get Enough of you Baby, Who’s There?, Then the Morning Comes, Why Can’t We Be Friends?, Stoned, Diggin’ Your Scene, All Day and All of the Night, Walkin’ on the Sun, I’m a Believer, All Star
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is a Denver freelance writer/photographer and regular contributor to Reverb. When not writing and shooting, she plays guitar and violin in Denver band .
