British Blues Explosion Tribute @ Red Rocks 7/19 (Page 5 of 5)

I was already in the venue when the show started so I did not experience the lines. It was hard to tell the number yet to have entered the park. It is not out of the norm for people to not be in their seats at showtime just because people are not used to concerts starting on time so people coming in during the first couple of songs is not unusual.

I had a friend from Denver come to the show who were seasoned veterans at Red Rocks and knew the best gate to enter and only missed a couple of songs getting in however on my flight home I sat next to a couple of fans that attended the show from Upstate NY and they were disappointed that they missed the first 45 minutes.

The threat of lightning kept them from allowing people in their seats till approximately 7:45 the show started about 8:15 I know there was a threat of another line of storms moving through but do not know what all influenced the decision to start after only a 15 minute delay. I was sitting around row 19 and it seemed to be 3/4 full when he started.

Great high energy show. With the exception of Pretending and Florida Mainline you really needed a set list to follow along since the interpretations of the other materials were truly unique classic Joe spins on each. Glad there will be a DVD. Epic special show at a special location.

As to the Red Rocks concert~ a major complaint by so many including myself~ We miss the whole beginning of the show!! The rain held off the opening of the gates by an hour, security was patting down each and every person who went in, which made getting into the stadium a slow process~ yet The show was only held off by 15 minutes. We were there at 4pm, so we were not late arrivals~ still we missed the first two songs and then had to stumble around in the dark during the show to find our seats, as did hundreds of others! Many fans who came in from all over the country were really pissed off~I know because we were out on this ramp when he started playing and everyone was saying, "What? Are you freaking kidding me? They're starting the show already??" To get an idea of what happened~ When the rain and lightening started, the people from the venue came out and told everyone to get back into their cars for safety reasons. They said the gates won't open until it was safe, but not to worry because when they have to hold off opening the venue, they also hold back the start of the show. The opening of gate was held off for an hour, which caused everyone to have to come in at once. That made the lines enormous, plus they they were patting down each person and going through each bag~ it was worse than the TSA~ so the lines moved at a snails pace~ but as I mentioned earlier, the show was only held back for 15 min! ~ after driving all the way from California~I was NOT a happy camper! Believe me, I'm not the only one~there were people who drove from Minnesota and other long distances, not to mention flying in from all over the country!! All the way out of the show we heard people who were complaining about it, and when we got back to the hotel, there were people in the lobby who were upset too. I must add that everyone was thrilled with the show, just disappointed that they missed so much. No one can control the rain~ we all understand that, but the sound curfew at RR is supposed to be 11:45. Why not give people more time to get in? It isn't a typical venue, it's an ordeal to get in that place on a normal day! I took this picture just a few minutes before we heard the music starthttps://twitter.com/Linda_in_LA/status/ … 4024243200

Welcome jmhanks!  Glad it worked out so well for you.

I flew in from the east coast for this show, passport required.  Arrived Sunday morning, flew home Wednesday morning.  Nice hotel near the airport, a double upgrade on my car rental as they were out of the first two classes (more on that later).  Spent part of Sunday touring around Denver and the rest of the day resting, two planes, 6 hours in the air, three time zones.

Monday, awake early as I usually am, out the door for Pikes Peak.  Recommended trip.  For me at least, the vehicle you use for this trip can make a big difference on the drive up/down the mountain.  The rental upgrade meant that rather than a Kia Rio I had a Hyundai Velositer...sure it's no sports car but I've driven Rio's before and was not looking forward to it.  What a day!

Tuesday, since I had never been to this part of the US before I took advantage of my time to tour around, I happened to find Route 74.  Bear Creek Canyon.  The road.  The scenery.  Beautiful.

With time to spare and the weather still nice I went to Red Rocks while it was still open to the public.  I didn't know if I would have a chance that evening to really check the place out so I did it early instead.  Holy crap the stairs!!  And the elevation.  I live at 25' above sea level, minutes from the Atlantic ocean.  Red Rocks (and of course Pikes Peak) gave me a work out.  I put a few more miles on my rental just driving the Red Rocks roads.  Asked a few employees about recommended parking in relation to my seat location, I ended up picking it on my own.  The upper north lot, it had a reasonably short path/trail to the lower part of the theater.  I was in row 12 just a few seats from the mixing board and was able to park just a few spots from the gate. 

During the storm I stayed in the car, listened to Joe and waited it out.  At about 7:45 the gates had been open for a short time already, there was no line to speak of, I just walked in!  Just before the final stair way in was a small landing where the baggage check was going on.  It took less than a minute to get through, I was in my seat in less than 5 min from leaving the car.  When I was in earlier in the day I followed the lead of a couple of other concert goers and bought a Red Rocks seat cushion, glad I did that!

Becks Bolero, wonderful.  Loved Joes take on Black Mountain Side.  Sloe Gin, come on, doesn't get any better.  But for me "How Many More Times" sealed the deal.  It was Joe's Cover of Tea For One that got me hooked on Joe in the first place.  Led Zeppelin is my number one, it was the want on my part to hear such a great musician(s) play Led Zeppelin.  He could have done just the one song and I could have left satisfied.  Joe got the crowd on their feet for this and he was able to keep them on their feet.

I scooted out just as the band was thanking the crowd and giving the bow.  I made it to my hotel room, near the airport (the far side of Denver from Red Rocks) in just over 30 min from the time I walked out of the gate. 

I am sad to hear of the problems that others experienced.  Really sucks.  For me it turned out pretty darn good.

Great show and I'm glad I sprung for the package.
Our seats were in the 3rd row and pretty far to the left (seats 79 & 80 in a row of 95 seats).
Decent seats, but I have to admit to being a bit disappointed...that was a tough angle to view from for that much money.

Haha....having a mathematical mind is a curse at times.
I figured out pretty quickly that there were at least 400 seats that were better than ours (conservatively, the first 8 rows and the center 50 seats). Once the show started, my mathematical mind gave way to my artistic one...and all was right with the world!

I had dinner with a friend and then the Rockies game on Monday. Sorry I missed you again. We have been in close proximity for a few shows and even on the ship and managed to not cross paths. Some day.