Latest news with #BonnieRaitt
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Bonnie Raitt in Vicar Street: a healing night of welcome warmth and real soul
Bonnie Raitt Vicar Street ★★★★☆ 'Ireland in any weather is beautiful to me.' Bonnie Raitt is telling Vicar Street about the nine-day break she took here, surrounded by sheep, before playing Belfast on Sunday night. The rest surely did her good because she's in rare form tonight. She hits an early highlight with the rattling, barrelhouse groove of Thing Called Love, a song originally on John Hiatt's Bring The Family. That album featured the slide guitar of Ry Cooder but even he'd have to bow to Raitt's playing as she tosses off an effortless swamp porch solo, knife blade sharp and smooth as molasses, from the battered Stratocaster she apparently bought for $120 back in 1969. And she's got that voice to go with it. Take Mabel John's 1966 classic Your Good Thing (Is About To End). Raitt, brimming over with pleading soul, stretches out vowels, holds notes until her vibrato is on the verge of cracking, and when that voice has finally had enough of the uncaring man in the lyric, her slide guitar takes over to show him the door. An almost supernaturally intuitive interpreter of songs, Raitt delivers an achingly beautiful take on Richard Thompson's Dimming Of The Day, a called-for Angel Of Montgomery by John Prine ('Nobody cut through like John'), and twists Dylan's Million Miles inside out with a glint in her eye as she implores her baby to 'rock me for a couple of months'. Then she bests them all by bringing the house to its feet with the encore's I Can't Make You Love Me, a tale of broken love familiar to every knocked-about heart. READ MORE Raitt makes several bows to old friend Paul Brady , in the audience having the same good time as the rest of us. First she claims she's nervous with him watching, then declares it an honour. When asked to sit in he allegedly replied, 'You can't afford me,' but with the greatest respect to the man from Strabane, she doesn't need him as she commandeers his Not The Only One and Steal Your Heart Away, making them her own. Raitt calls her show 'a healing experience in this suffering, hard-assed world' and that's what it is But Raitt also knows how to write a song. Nick Of Time, the title track from the 1989 album that finally made her an overnight success 18 years after her debut, is one thing with its great lyric about getting on a bit ('Those lines are pretty hard to take when they're staring back at you'). Just Like That is something else entirely. To the surprise of many, including the other nominees and Raitt herself, she won the Grammy for Song Of The Year with it a few years back but the judges were right, for once. A woman who lost her son is visited by the man who lives on thanks to her child's transplanted heart. It's moving on record but it's devastating live. In that inexplicable way a song you've heard before can sneak back up on you, Raitt gets to the line where she lays her head on his chest and she's with her boy again and you're gutted by the lyric's power. 'They say Jesus brings you peace and grace, well he ain't found me yet,' has a similar effect. Raitt calls her show 'a healing experience in this suffering, hard-assed world' and that's what it is, whether she and her superlative four-piece band are transforming the room into a rambunctious roadhouse or a hushed confessional. A night of welcome warmth and real soul. There aren't many like her.
The Guardian
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Soul icon Irma Thomas on the Stones, segregation and survival: ‘Restaurants refused to serve us – we lived on sardines and crackers'
Irma Thomas greets me at the front door of the ranch house she shares with her husband and manager Emile Jackson. For a singer celebrated as the 'Soul Queen of New Orleans', I'm somewhat surprised her home isn't more, well, palatial. Graceland this isn't. Although Thomas, 84, has enjoyed hit records, Grammy awards, international tours, critical praise and the loyal devotion of her home city, she has never experienced the largesse that comes with sustained stardom. Instead, she has her health, a 50-year marriage, great-grandchildren and a stunning new album, Audience With the Queen, created with Galactic, the esteemed New Orleans electro-funkers. Thomas is one of the last of the best, an African American soul singer who, forged by gospel, overcame discrimination and a brutal music industry to achieve enduring greatness. She scored her first hit aged 18 in 1959 but never enjoyed the huge success of her contemporaries Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight. No matter: everyone from the Rolling Stones to Otis Redding and Beverley Knight has sung her songs (and praises). Bonnie Raitt, now a close friend, says of Thomas, 'She's a legend. She's as good today as she was the day she came out of the church singing.' I mention to Thomas the praise that now trails her and she cocks an eyebrow and says: 'I guess it's nice people say such things while I'm still here.' Irma, I'm learning, isn't one for blandishments. That said, when I tell her Audience With the Queen is a stunning return after a 17-year absence she agrees. 'The guys in Galactic had been talking about doing an album with me for a while,' Thomas recalls, as we settle in a living room decorated with her many awards. 'I had to say: 'Listen, I am not getting any younger – let's do this!' And, to their credit, they made a really good job of it.' Indeed they did; Audience With the Queen blends electronic arrangements with Thomas's gospel-steeped vocal to create yet another feather in her crown. 'I'm finally getting my flowers. About time too.' Born Irma Lee in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, in 1941, she and her family shifted to New Orleans when she was an infant. 'I grew up in the city but, between age four and nine, I lived with my relatives, real country people. I used to help pick strawberries on my uncle's farm; I ate as many as I picked! That kind of upbringing has held me in good stead over the years.' Getting pregnant aged 14 curtailed Thomas's education and a shotgun marriage to her child's father quickly collapsed. Aged 15 she was a solo mother who worked as dishwasher. By the age of 18 she had remarried, given birth to two more children and become a waitress at the Pimlico club where Tommy Ridgely, a band leader who helped shape the city's R&B sound, held a residency. Thomas, never lacking in confidence, told Ridgely she was a better singer than his band's vocalist. He invited Thomas on stage to prove herself and she seized the opportunity. While the club's patrons applauded her, Thomas was fired for neglecting her job. Sensing greatness, Ridgley took her to Joe Ruffino at Ron Records. There she recorded the storming R&B tune Don't Mess With My Man, written by Dorothy LaBostrie, who had co-written Tutti Frutti for Little Richard. 'I'd gone from a dishwasher earning 50 cents a night, to a waitress on $5 a night, so when I was offered $50 a night to be a singer, I signed on!' Fronting Ridgley's band, Thomas worked one-nighters across the south and the eastern seaboard, playing the chitlin' circuit (the name given to a loose network of Black-owned clubs) and white college fraternity parties. It was a hard grind, made more difficult by segregation's privations and raucous audiences: one night a drunken student accidentally kicked Thomas's microphone, knocking out her front teeth. 'Segregation meant there were often no hotels we could stay in, so we'd drive four or five hours back to New Orleans,' she says. 'Restaurants wouldn't serve us, so we lived on sardines and crackers. That's the way things were.' Thomas isn't one to moan. Instead she speaks directly, refusing to suffer fools or tolerate dishonesty. Unhappy with her royalty payments, Thomas refused to continue recording for Ruffino. She would begin a working relationship with the famed pianist, songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint, and go on to sign for Imperial Records in Los Angeles, where she began recording with a crack team of session musicians and arrangers now celebrated collectively as the 'Wrecking Crew'. Her magnificent run of 45s included I Wish Somebody Would Care, a song Thomas wrote, which became her biggest US hit. 'I wrote that because my then husband really resented me pursuing my career as a singer and made things extremely difficult. I was on the verge of doing something that would have sent me to prison … instead, I left him.' She continued to pursue her career thanks in part to 'loving parents who did a lot of babysitting and a network of supportive women. Having children kept me grounded; I couldn't go out to party or take drugs because I had to get home to my kids.' In 1964, she recorded Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand), a song co-written by the young Randy Newman. Its one of Thomas's most striking vocal performances, her mournful voice conveying an eerie beauty, yet it struggled to No 52 on the US Top 100. The British Invasion of the American charts was under way, with US pop radio now championing Anglo bands, many of whom were singing songs by Black American artists, rather than the originals. A case in point being when the Rolling Stones covered Time Is on My Side, the B-side of Anyone Who Knows What Love Is, only weeks after Thomas's version was released. The Stones' version is effective, although Jagger copied Irma's vocal, ad-libs and all, in its entirety – a pale imitation. 'I didn't mind the Stones recording the song,' says Thomas, 'what I did resent was when audiences would request I 'sing the Stones song'. Well, no thank you. So I stopped singing it.' A subsequent UK tour in 1966 was badly organised and saw Thomas lose 15lbs and her voice for three months. 'I had no one looking after things for me and found myself singing night after night – and some matinees – for around three weeks. I had a very basic British backing band and went everywhere in an old van. It was exhausting and debilitating. I was told by a voice doctor that if I ever wanted to sing again I couldn't speak for three months. So I didn't. Which was really difficult, especially when you have small children.' The 60s weren't swinging for Thomas. Instead her career went into freefall: dropped by Liberty Records, she forlornly sought work as a backing vocalist on LA recording sessions. Thomas settled in Oakland, California, got a job in a department store, singing only on weekends. 'Singing is my vocation,' Thomas says, 'but I was a mom first and needed to create a stable environment for my kids. And seeing them get an education encouraged me to go to night school. Later on I got a business diploma, which helped me negotiate contracts.' While she recorded for Chess and Atlantic Records, as well as working with maverick soul songwriter-producer Jerry 'Swamp Dogg' Williams Jr, her career was constantly sabotaged by music industry machinations. 'Music's a tough industry,' she says, 'especially if you won't sign whatever they put in front of you. I didn't want people to own me, so they called me 'difficult'. Well, maybe I am. Better that than being taken advantage of.' By the mid-70s, Thomas determined that New Orleans at least still appreciated its Soul Queen. Returning home led to marrying Emile Jackson – 'third time lucky', she says of the man who is still her husband today – and getting plenty of work. Her career rebirth began in 1983 when UK label Ace issued Time Is on My Side, a compilation of her 1961-64 singles. The album sold strongly and introduced Thomas to a new generation – British northern soul fans started to seek out the Lion's Den, a club she and Emile ran – while Jim Jarmusch chose Thomas's It's Raining to soundtrack Roberto Benigni and Nicoletta Braschi's affecting waltz in Down By Law. Then Scott Billington of Rounder Records, a Massachusetts label dedicated to American folk/roots music, approached Thomas about recording new material. From 1986 to 2008, Billington produced 10 albums that re-established Thomas as one of America's finest contemporary vocalists, and saved her from what she describes as 'a life singing It's Raining every night in a hotel bar'. Almost 20 years ago, Hurricane Katrina decimated much of New Orleans. Thomas and her husband were out of town when the hurricane hit, flooding their home and ruining the Lion's Den. Recorded mere months after Katrina, Thomas's 2006 album After the Rain won a Grammy. But, after 2008's majestic Simply Grand album, she again found herself without a record label, while the collapse of CD sales meant the music industry again declined to back a singer who was written off as 'old school'. 'I don't feel bitter about things,' says Thomas. 'I'm established, and I only sing when I want for the fee that Emile insists is right. If no one wanted a new Irma Thomas album so be it.' Galactic, who command a wide US audience, determined the world did want a new Irma Thomas album. 'I'm used to recording with musicians in the studio,' notes Thomas, 'while Galactic programme the beats and music then got me in to sing. A strange experience for me, but it worked. I never previously considered myself a protest singer but, things being the way they are, means I got to voice my displeasure.' Thomas is talking about Lady Liberty, a song where she sings: 'How long can history repeat itself, Lord we need some help / Time to shuffle these cards that we've been dealt and free ourselves.' Lady Liberty, I suggest, nails Trump's America. 'I don't even want to say his name,' she replies, her voice indignant. 'I grew up with segregation and now he and his people are trying to turn back time and ruin everything good about this nation. I am furious.' The 'flowers' she mentioned have been blooming in recent years: Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand) became a recurring motif in Black Mirror, giving Thomas 90m streams and sparking interest in her back catalogue. 'The first thing I knew about it was when I got a phone call saying: 'Irma, there's a big cheque coming your way.' I ain't never heard of Black Mirror but I'm sure glad it exists.' There have been two documentaries about her life and an authorised biography will be published next year. Then at New Orleans' Jazzfest 2024 festival, headliners the Rolling Stones invited Thomas to join them on stage to perform Time Is on My Side. Watching the veteran Brits and the Soul Queen of New Orleans unite is a treat – Jagger tells the audience that the song they're about to perform was first sung by Thomas in 1964, then they trade off verses with aplomb. Were you happy as you look when singing with the Stones, I ask her. 'I was,' she says. 'Because Mick told the crowd that I did it first and they learned it from me. He gave me respect. That's all I ask for. I've been through a lot since 1964, so it felt good to get that kind of acknowledgment in front of their audience. Real good.' My audience with the queen is up: Thomas wants to have lunch with Emile, read the Bible, watch a gameshow and prepare for headlining the French Quarter festival the next day, performing with a voice that Raitt says is still as 'beautiful, sultry and powerful as it was on her first records'. On stage and off, time remains on Irma Thomas's side. Audience With the Queen is out now on Tchuop-Zilla Records. Garth Cartwright travelled to New Orleans as a guest of Explore Louisiana.
Asia Times
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Asia Times
Asia without America, part 3: liberal Taiwan in a realist world
Mornin' will come, and I'll do what's right Just give me till then to give up this fight And I will give up this fight – Bonnie Raitt Liberalism – in the Wilsonian international relations sense – has had a few very lousy decades. History has been unkind to Francis Fukuyama, and yet liberalism, with major exceptions, still maintains a vice grip on democracies across the world. Taiwan is not one of those exceptions. Frequently, regularly and obligatorily referred to as a 'vibrant' democracy by the mainstream Western media (it has got to be some kind of conspiracy), Taiwan has become the Asian darling of global liberal elites who wax lyrical over every bit of island culture. Returning the regard, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) swallowed wholesale the entire woke progressive agenda. In 2019, Taiwan became the first Asian country to recognize same-sex marriage, despite public referendums in opposition. The DPP has since embraced LGBT… QIA2S+ even more enthusiastically. Local talent Nymphia Wind celebrated his/her win in RuPaul's Drag Race 2024 by performing a burlesque show for outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen at her official offices, right beneath a bust of Chiang Kai-shek, longtime leader of the Republic of China and the Kuomintang (KMT) party, who was surely turning over in his mausoleum. Meanwhile, average monthly People Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft traversing Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) doubled from approximately 150 in 2022/23 to 300 in 2024/25. In the past decade, the PLA Navy has grown from 255 to 400 ships (including three aircraft carriers, four large amphibious helicopter ships and eight smaller amphibious transport docks); the PLA Air Force's fleet of 4th and 5th generation fighters has increased from approximately 600 in 2015 to 1,600 today. From 1,300 ballistic missiles in 2015, the PLA Rocket Force now has the largest arsenal in the world with over 3,000 ballistic missiles designed to hit targets as disparate as Taiwan, Japan, Guam and North America. The PLA Air Force is very publicly conducting almost weekly tests of two 6th-generation fighter prototypes concurrently with its second 5th-generation fighter, the J-35, which should be close to deployment. China also recently showcased a mammoth landing barge, which may negate the necessity of having port access in an invasion scenario. And, serendipitously, the recent India-Pakistan conflict scored major propaganda points for the PLA as its J-10C fighters and PL-15 missiles reportedly far outperformed India's French and American weapons systems. So, is realism or liberalism the arbiter of international affairs? The fate of Taiwan depends on the answer. The People's Republic of China (PRC) has been betting on realism and hard power, while the Republic of China (Taiwan) has put its money on liberalism and soft power. The PLA conducts salami-slicing operations in Asia, increasing PLA aircraft and naval patrols in the Taiwan Strait, militarizing artificial islands in the South China Sea (SCS), preventing Filipino ships from supplying marines stationed on a contested SCS atoll and daring the US Navy to do anything about it. Taiwan also slices salami but in its own way by hosting visits from Speakers of the House Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy, participating in liberal flag-waving exercises with Baltic States and playing political semantics like saying Taiwan doesn't need to declare independence because it already is independent. The risk of Taiwan betting on liberalism is that it assumes the international system is not anarchic, that there is a higher power to whose authority it can appeal – namely, the United States of America. This bet has not had a great track record. The US has a long history of stringing liberal partners along before hanging them out to dry. Think Hungary 1956, Czechoslovakia 1968, South Vietnam 1973, Lebanon 1984, Somalia 1993, Iraq 2011, Hong Kong 2019, Afghanistan 2021 and Ukraine today. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te can play his semantic games to score domestic political points, but ultimately, he must understand Henry Kissinger's warning, 'To be America's enemy is dangerous, but to be America's friend is fatal.' In 1990, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the PRC spent 71% more on defense than Taiwan. Last year, the PRC spent 18 times more. Over this period, the PRC's defense spending fell from 2.4% of GDP to 1.7% of GDP while Taiwan's collapsed from 5.2% of GDP to 2.1%. Taiwan isn't just not matching the growth of PRC defense spending, it is not even pretending to care. With these numbers, Taiwan is purposefully not trying to credibly deter the PLA. This is strategic on a very paradoxical level. To preserve the status quo, Taiwan is careful not to build up defenses that could actually deter the PLA… for fear that getting close to such a threshold would trigger a PLA invasion. All of this assumes that the US can credibly deter China from invading. While the US spent three times as much on defense as China did in 2024, it is down from 39 times in 1990. Given purchasing power differences, the strength of China's industrial base and the multiple theaters the US is expected to secure, the 3x advantage should more than wash out. Since the year 2000, the US Navy ship count has fallen from 318 to 298 while China's has grown almost fourfold from 110 to 400 (although China's navy is smaller by tonnage). The US Air Force's 6th-generation fighter program, now called the F47, is seriously behind schedule and is seemingly in disarray. Cost inflation and delays are scourges that the Pentagon has been powerless to rectify. The higher power whose authority Taiwan is relying on has, for decades, watched its military advantage in Asia shrivel. Make what you will of reports that the US consistently loses to China in internal Pentagon war games. What we do know is that China has built and militarized seven artificial islands in the SCS unchallenged and that, last year, the US Navy removed a carrier strike group from the contested maritime area rather than risk a confrontation with the PLA Navy and Rocket Force, thereby hanging the Philippines out to dry. If realism is the ultimate arbiter of international relations, then internal politics has no effect on foreign policy. This is the billiard ball theory of state behavior. If realism is correct and China has closed the military gap in Asia, it should not make a difference which party governs Taiwan. It should not matter that Taiwan's President Lai is pro-independence or that the DPP is woke, progressive and pro LGBTQIA2S+. The preponderance of military power, or, more accurately, the projection of future military power will result in Taiwan reaching the same conclusion and implementing the same foreign policy whether the DPP or the KMT were in charge. Taiwan can choose passivity and let time and China's growing strength run its course, hoping to be rescued by unforeseen developments (e.g. China's economic collapse, US Navy AGI battleships, divine intervention). Or it can get in front of events, become emperor maker and negotiate a special place at President Xi Jinping's side. The reunification of China will make America's continued military presence in Asia far more costly if not untenable. An Asia without the distorting presence of an alien power (see here) would usher in a modern renaissance. Taiwan is a perfect conduit to channel Asia's modern renaissance between mainland China, Asian neighbors and even the West, guiding it towards an open, cosmopolitan Tang Dynasty version rather than something more insular and political like the later Ming Dynasty. The danger of passivity for Taiwan is that multiple players in the region also have the opportunity to become emperor maker. America's alliance partners South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines are all arranged like dominoes along China's maritime borders – the fall of one threatening to topple others. Lee Jae-myung, front runner in South Korea's upcoming presidential elections, is seen as pro-China as is Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Midterm election results in the Philippines favored pro-China former President Rodrigo Duterte's clan over pro-US President Ferdinand Marcos. Any one of these dominoes could decide that their alliance with the US is untenable in the long term and that they could negotiate better terms with Beijing by being the first mover. The biggest domino is not even in the region. The United States has twice elected a transactional president who specifically rejects liberalism and the rules-based international order. If President Donald Trump could hobble China's economy and military modernization, transfer trade and wealth to the US and maintain American primacy in Asia, he would. He has certainly tried with the 'Liberation Day' tariffs. Unfortunately, Trump quickly discovered that running US$1 trillion trade deficits with a deficient industrial sector does not, in fact, give the US leverage (see here and here). The US is similarly hemmed in by $36.2 trillion in government debt, a corrupt and sclerotic military-industrial complex and a litany of domestic social ills. Donald Trump could become the ultimate realist and transactional president and prove Churchill's quip, 'Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.' A creature of pure id, unhindered by ideology, it is perfectly imaginable that Trump could swing from trying to hobble China's economy to striking a grand bargain that relieves the US of its Asian security burdens in exchange for, say, Chinese investment in US manufacturing and purchases of US Treasuries. For a transactional creature like Trump, a win is a win is a win. We are already hearing hints of this. After the US and China announced their tariff pause, Trump raised eyebrows with the comment, 'They've agreed to open China, fully open China, and I think it's going to be fantastic for China, I think it's going to be fantastic for us, and I think it's going to be great for unification and peace.' Officials were quick to clarify that this referred to economic unification between the US and China. Taiwan's President Lai followed up, further raising eyebrows in an interview, by comparing the PRC's 'One China' framework to a large company insisting on acquisition before engaging with a smaller company. Political opponents jumped on the statement, accusing Lai of implying that Taiwan's status was up for negotiation. Of course, in a realist world, Taiwan's status has always been up for negotiation and every semantic utterance on the subject, every dollar spent or not spent on Taiwan's defense, every foreign dignitary Taiwan receives and every mainland ancestral village opposition KMT leadership visits are all part of one giant bargaining exercise. And every Type 55 destroyer patrol of the Taiwan Strait, every PLA fighter flight through Taiwan's ADIZ, every irresponsible and unprofessional interception of Australian reconnaissance planes and every test flight of new PLAAF 6th-generation fighters are also part of the negotiation. A deal will be made – one way or another. The trick for everyone involved is to make the deal without a shot fired.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Legend of Rock—a guide to Denver's Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre
From Bono and Bonnie Raitt to The Beach Boys and The Beatles, world-class performances are part and parcel of the small sandstone outcrop on the edge of Colorado's Rocky Mountain foothills. Set in a red landscape of high-desert and sheer cliffs 15 miles from Denver, the 9,525-capacity Red Rocks Amphitheatre has won Pollstar's award for best outdoor venue so many times that the award was renamed the 'Red Rocks Award'. And while Red Rocks found fame in the 20th century as a music venue, the area's storied past spans millennia. Though nothing can compare to catching a live show, paying a visit to Red Rocks in the daytime offers a whole other experience, with the surrounding Red Rocks Park offering 738 acres of spectacular mountain scenery, ripe for exploring on foot, mountain bike or horse. You can also get a taste of the venue's star power at the Red Rocks Hall of Fame. Here's four reasons to pay a visit to this remarkable destination. The structure of Red Rocks is 300 million years old, and long before recording artists belted out tunes this area was home to the Ute, Cheyenne and Arapahoe peoples. It was the Ute who discovered the area's natural acoustics, and when the amphitheater opened in 1941, the opening event began with a ceremonial Eagle Dance and a Zuni melody. The Native American history in the area runs deep, and a ponderosa pine under which the Ute chiefs hosted tribal councils — the Inspirational Tree — still stands at the foot of Dinosaur Ridge, northeast of Red Rocks. The first major rock concert at Red Rocks was in 1964 by the biggest band in the world: The Beatles. Amazingly, it was the only concert on the Mop Tops' first US tour that didn't sell out, with around 7,000 tickets sold (at $6.60 a pop). The Beatles are just one of the many big names who've graced this stage, including the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Carlos Santana, Diana Ross and Pearl Jam. When Jimi Hendrix appeared in 1968, ushering in the psychedelic era, he proclaimed, 'that was groovy'. And perhaps the single most famous Red Rocks moment came in a fortuitous way — a combination of rainy weather, a blood-red mist, giant flames bursting from on top of the rocks and U2's Bono waving a white flag in the air as the band belted out Sunday Bloody Sunday. You can find out about all the historic stories and celebrated artists in the Visitor Center, the highlight of which is the Red Rocks Hall of Fame, where performers have been inducted nearly every year since 2003. The space is due to reopen after a renovation in March 2025. Before a show at Red Rocks begins, you can head to the nearby town of Morrison and join locals at restaurants and bars like the Hungry Goat Scratch Kitchen and Wine Bar for steak and fries, or Red Rocks Beer Garden serving freshly made burritos and Colorado-brewed beer. Those in the party mood can make their way to the venue's parking lots for a tailgate, as concert-goers gather two hours ahead of showtime to eat, drink and revel in the atmosphere. You won't find a better car park view than this — with panoramic vistas of the amphitheatre, the distant mountains and the Denver skyline. And when you take your seat for the concert, you get two shows: the live music blasting from the stage and the city lights below, twinkling against lavender and tangerine clouds. Within 738-acre Red Rocks Park, a number of hiking trails weave their way under the shadows of outlandish stone formations. The short Geologic Overlook Trail features a picnic spot and beautiful views, while the longer Red Rocks Trail at the east side of the park — merging into Matthews/Winters Park — forms a six-mile loop with the Dakota Ridge Trail. Although challenging in parts, the trail takes in wide meadows and the park's rust-hued towering monoliths. Its rolling terrain is also accessible to experienced mountain bikers and horse riders. The nearby town of Golden — located near head of the Dakota Ridge trail — has numerous bike rental stores, while Bear Creek Stables in Morrison offers guided rides with panoramic views of Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. This paid content article was created for Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. It does not necessarily reflect the views of National Geographic, National Geographic Traveller (UK) or their editorial subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here.(Available in select countries only).
National Geographic
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- National Geographic
Legend of Rock—a guide to Denver's Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre
From Bono and Bonnie Raitt to The Beach Boys and The Beatles, world-class performances are part and parcel of the small sandstone outcrop on the edge of Colorado's Rocky Mountain foothills. Set in a red landscape of high-desert and sheer cliffs 15 miles from Denver, the 9,525-capacity Red Rocks Amphitheatre has won Pollstar's award for best outdoor venue so many times that the award was renamed the 'Red Rocks Award'. And while Red Rocks found fame in the 20th century as a music venue, the area's storied past spans millennia. Though nothing can compare to catching a live show, paying a visit to Red Rocks in the daytime offers a whole other experience, with the surrounding Red Rocks Park offering 738 acres of spectacular mountain scenery, ripe for exploring on foot, mountain bike or horse. You can also get a taste of the venue's star power at the Red Rocks Hall of Fame. Here's four reasons to pay a visit to this remarkable destination. Discover history as old as the hills The structure of Red Rocks is 300 million years old, and long before recording artists belted out tunes this area was home to the Ute, Cheyenne and Arapahoe peoples. It was the Ute who discovered the area's natural acoustics, and when the amphitheater opened in 1941, the opening event began with a ceremonial Eagle Dance and a Zuni melody. The Native American history in the area runs deep, and a ponderosa pine under which the Ute chiefs hosted tribal councils — the Inspirational Tree — still stands at the foot of Dinosaur Ridge, northeast of Red Rocks. The venue is known for its acoustic qualities, with the ancient sandstone rocks acting as a natural amplifier. Photograph by EyeEm Mobile GmbH, Getty Learn about the who's who of rock The first major rock concert at Red Rocks was in 1964 by the biggest band in the world: The Beatles. Amazingly, it was the only concert on the Mop Tops' first US tour that didn't sell out, with around 7,000 tickets sold (at $6.60 a pop). The Beatles are just one of the many big names who've graced this stage, including the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Carlos Santana, Diana Ross and Pearl Jam. When Jimi Hendrix appeared in 1968, ushering in the psychedelic era, he proclaimed, 'that was groovy'. And perhaps the single most famous Red Rocks moment came in a fortuitous way — a combination of rainy weather, a blood-red mist, giant flames bursting from on top of the rocks and U2's Bono waving a white flag in the air as the band belted out Sunday Bloody Sunday. The 9,525 capacity amphitheatre has 70 rows, each hand carved into the hill in the 1930s. Photograph by DENVER ARTS & VENUES You can find out about all the historic stories and celebrated artists in the Visitor Center, the highlight of which is the Red Rocks Hall of Fame, where performers have been inducted nearly every year since 2003. The space is due to reopen after a renovation in March 2025. Experience show night Before a show at Red Rocks begins, you can head to the nearby town of Morrison and join locals at restaurants and bars like the Hungry Goat Scratch Kitchen and Wine Bar for steak and fries, or Red Rocks Beer Garden serving freshly made burritos and Colorado-brewed beer. Those in the party mood can make their way to the venue's parking lots for a tailgate, as concert-goers gather two hours ahead of showtime to eat, drink and revel in the atmosphere. You won't find a better car park view than this — with panoramic vistas of the amphitheatre, the distant mountains and the Denver skyline. And when you take your seat for the concert, you get two shows: the live music blasting from the stage and the city lights below, twinkling against lavender and tangerine clouds. There are five trails to choose from in Red Rocks Park, the longest being the Red Rocks Trail. Photograph by PhotosByTim, Getty Take to the trails Within 738-acre Red Rocks Park, a number of hiking trails weave their way under the shadows of outlandish stone formations. The short Geologic Overlook Trail features a picnic spot and beautiful views, while the longer Red Rocks Trail at the east side of the park — merging into Matthews/Winters Park — forms a six-mile loop with the Dakota Ridge Trail. Although challenging in parts, the trail takes in wide meadows and the park's rust-hued towering monoliths. Its rolling terrain is also accessible to experienced mountain bikers and horse riders. The nearby town of Golden — located near head of the Dakota Ridge trail — has numerous bike rental stores, while Bear Creek Stables in Morrison offers guided rides with panoramic views of Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. Plan your trip Heathrow operates daily flights to Denver International Airport. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre is then a 35-minute drive, with car hire, taxi and private shuttle options available from the airport. For more information, visit This paid content article was created for Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre. It does not necessarily reflect the views of National Geographic, National Geographic Traveller (UK) or their editorial staffs. To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here.(Available in select countries only).
