I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
-Dispatch (& Phil Collins)
And I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord
Yes, I cheated on the title tonight, but it was worth it and I’ve already added it the the playlist so I think that it’s acceptable. Molly and I have seen Dispatch three times in the past year and they just keep getting better. There was definitely something special in the air at Red Rocks tonight. We’ve been trying to get to a show here for the last few years. Seeing any band that we were reasonably familiar with would have been acceptable, but nothing quite worked out.
When Dispatch announced they would only be doing three shows all summer we pretty much lost hope we’re see them. We couldn’t believe our luck when a few days later the stops were announced and the stars aligned for us to be able to see our favorite band at the venue we’d been eager to visit. The day started perfectly with a comfortable Kimpton bed and tasty Kimpton coffee. For breakfast we had pop tarts and the cupcakes the Monaco Denver had provided for us the day before. Since cupcakes are effectively just donuts in disguise they totally count as breakfast. We took our time getting ready and I read the print edition of the New York Times, a rare luxury.
Our first stop of the day was to visit our friends, the Stewarts. It was great to catch up over beers at their local brewery. Then we headed back to their place for zip lining in their backyard. The girls are already clamoring for us to build one at Colorado Home when we get there next month. After a brief stop to change clothes we headed to the amphitheater. From the moment we turned on to the road that brought us up to the parking lot I knew that this was a special place. The parking lot was buzzing with people grilling, drinking, and getting themselves excited for the evening. We popped open a couple cans of wine and snacked on meat sticks and Cheetos.
The short hike from the car down to the entrance created the feeling that we were hiking through the mountains and just happened upon a hidden grotto. We entered, bought a beer, and climbed to the very top of the amphitheater to experience the full view.
As we were descending back to the 3rd row the stage lights came up and the background music faded. The row was still mostly empty so we helped ourselves to seats nearly in the center as The Record Company took the stage. Dispatch is really good at choosing opening acts. They introduced us to Nahko and Medicine for the People and Raye Zaragoza. Although I knew a few Record Company songs previously I’m now a fan. In fact, they were so good that it would have only been slightly disappointing if Dispatch had decided they couldn’t perform. This would have been an awesome show on it’s own!
At the intermission we got some pretty-decent tacos and another round of beer. For some reason Molly threw one of the tacos on my shoe, a weird decision, but no big deal. Before we knew it, Dispatch was taking the stage. We sang and danced. We marveled in the lights and enjoyed being surrounded by the embrace of the natural amphitheater. They even added Windylike to the set-list with an extended jam at the end. For the last two songs before the encore they moved 20 rows up into the crowd. This gave us the opportunity to really see the crowd, the rocks, and the band all at the same time. I really don’t know how this trip will get any better.
