Anyone who’s ever seen a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre knows the unique, spirit-recharging pleasure of watching your favorite musicians framed by the exquisite natural beauty of surreal rock formations, sunsets and distant lightning storms.
But with more than 150 concerts, at last count, where to even start?
While the summer concert season has already started, there’s still time to take stock of what’s left. Here’s a curated sample of what we think are the best shows at the 9,450-seat venue in Morrison this year. View more details and the full calendar of summer concerts online at theknow.denverpost.com.
Phil Lesh & the Terrapin Family Band
May 29
Few acts have inspired the intense fan loyalty of the Grateful Dead, so it makes sense that one of its members would continually return to the venue that helped launch the jam-band movement. The Dead’s shows at Red Rocks in July 1978 are considered seminal moments in the scene, and Lesh’s allegiance to Red Rocks has offered a comforting throughline to the cycle of influence and rebirth that the venue’s mythos encourages.
If you like that, try this: Umphrey’s McGee (June 21-23), Widespread Panic (June 28-30), The String Cheese Incident (July 19-21), Dark Star Orchestra (Sept. 8) and Greensky Bluegrass (Sept. 13-15)
Billie Eilish
June 5
This is 17-year-old Eilish’s first show at Red Rocks, though likely not her last, considering the following she’s built since breaking out on Soundcloud in 2016 with “Ocean Eyes.” Eilish’s spare songwriting, deceptive restraint and moody delivery have positioned her as an R&B heir to indie/pop darlings such as Lana Del Rey, though with fewer Laurel Canyon affectations and a glitchier sonic palette.
If you like that, try this: Florence + the Machine (May 20-21) and Alison Wonderland (Sept. 12)
Anderson .Paak & the Free Nationals
June 14
With an intimidating stranglehold on soul and hip-hop fundamentals, this California native mixes both genres freely in music that finds him handling nearly every studio duty (he’s also a killer drummer). In a landscape littered with middling soul- and R&B-revival corpses, .Paak’s deft, funny and crisply propulsive music stands out like a mushroom cloud on the horizon.
If you like that, try this: Wu Tang Clan (Oct. 31)
Kacey Musgraves
June 26
Musgraves’ most recent Denver show — at downtown’s Paramount Theatre on Feb. 22 — arrived on the heels of her dominant performance at this year’s Grammys (both musically and awards-wise), so expanding the capacity for her next Denver show by a factor of five seems like a smart idea, given how quickly her discerning country-rock fan base has grown.
If you like that, try this: The Devil Makes Three with Lucero (May 24) and the Avett Brothers (July 5-7)
Diana Ross
July 22
Few pop stars, living or dead, have been more copied or referenced than Ross, who celebrated her 75th birthday (a little early) at the Grammy Awards in February. Ross’ diva-making voice should be in fine form, too, since she’s coming off a late-winter Las Vegas residency that saw her revisiting hits from a career that began as leader of the Supremes in the late 1960s.
If you like that, try this: Stevie Wonder (June 24, with SeriesFest) and Norah Jones (July 16)
Tenacious D with the Colorado Symphony
July 25
Possessed of both legitimately good singing voices and wicked senses of humor, the folk-metal duo of Jack Black and Kyle Gass has mostly been absent from the touring scene — and will continue to be, minus a handful of dates this summer. It all starts at Red Rocks with the Colorado Symphony in tow, so expect a rehearsed yet stirring show that reaches back into the band’s bombastic and self-referential catalog, as well as new album “Post-Apocalypto.”
If you like that, try this: Any of the Colorado Symphony’s 2019 Red Rocks collaborations, especially with “Weird Al” Yankovic (Aug. 1)
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
Aug. 21-22
Longtime Denver singer-songwriter Rateliff and his band of ringers have built an enviable career under the Night Sweats name since their hit song “S.O.B.” became near-inescapable a few years back. Having tucked another studio LP and a Red Rocks live album under their belts since then, the members are back for a two-night stand that will provide equal parts soul-revival catharsis and a celebration of Denver’s thriving music scene.
If you like that, try this: Big Head Todd and the Monsters (June 8), Gregory Alan Isakov (Aug. 4), OneRepublic with Colorado Symphony (Aug. 26-27)
Dave Chapelle and Jon Stewart
Aug. 9
“It’s so hard for us to line up our schedules sometimes, but we’re really hoping we can bang out some of these dates and then put together something a little more extensive,” former “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart told The Denver Post last year, just before visiting Colorado Springs to kick off The Warrior Games. It was a reference to the demand for more dates with buddy, upcoming Mark Twain Prize recipient and frequent Comedy Works drop-in Dave Chappelle. Seeing these two master comics together at a venue like Red Rocks is very likely a once-in-a-lifetime event, particularly for stand-up nerds.
If you like that, try this: Trevor Noah (May 19) and Denver Film Society’s “Film on the Rocks” series, which includes live comedy and music before each screening
Lionel Richie
Aug. 14
Richie has been due for a Phil Collins or Toto-worthy pop culture moment for a while now. Fortunately, he’s starting to get it thanks to his co-judging gig on “American Idol” and a generally-more-public profile over the last few months. Of course, this former Commodores singer has never really left, providing the funk, soul and soft-rock soundtrack to the last few decades of our lives. If you don’t like sing-alongs, maybe stay home for this one.
If you like that, try this: Iration and UB40 (May 23), and the Motet and Galactic (July 12)
Wu Tang Clan
Oct. 31
As the final show on Red Rocks’ 2019 calendar, be prepared to dress for snow at this reunion of one of hip-hop’s most influential, stylish and entrepreneurial groups. And don’t forget it’s Halloween, so maybe think about going as a sexy polar bear so you don’t get too cold dancing like a ninja in the aisles. Wu’s on a victory lap at the moment, and closing out the Red Rocks season ought to give this show a fans-friends-and-family feel.
If you like that, try this: Anderson .Paak & the Free Nationals (June 14)
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