Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre
September 27th and 28th, 2023
Morison, CO
Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre
Preface: We’d previously been to Red Rocks but only because we were in the area and wanted to catch a show there. This time was totally different, we WANTED to be there for the show!
Us enjoying our time on the rocks!
Show Notes: We’ll start with the obvious, if you’ve never been to Red Rocks you have to make it happen ASAP!
Night one was surreal to say the least. The show started with an eight song solo acoustic set from Tyler. This included some very rare to see songs like Rock Salt and Nails and Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. But, for us the highlight was Bottles and Bibles.
The bands part of the show kicked off with a jamming version of Way of the Triune God with SG Goodman, leading into another favorite of ours Gemini, which then led into our all time favorite song to see Her and the Banks.
The remainder of the night one setlist was the typical set you’d expect which was hits heavy and mainly fan favorites.
Notably in the latter part of the night one setlist was Trudy which is an absolute blast to see live! It is funky and jammed up.
Admittedly when we arrived in Morrison we only had tickets to night one. We had debated several different options for night two. Before we walked in we had decided that instead of buying tickets for night two we’d just come parking lot camp and paint outside the venue where we could still hear the show. However, after about 30 seconds of seeing Tyler on stage we knew we were buying tickets somehow to night two.
For night one we had great seats in row 16 fairly left of center stage. After much debate we decided for night two we wanted to be closer as long as the price wasn’t insane. After several hours of searching we ended up grabbing 8th row tickets for slightly more than we’d originally wanted to spend. We never recommend using 3rd party apps to buy tickets because they’re not guaranteed but we decided to take the risk for this show because we knew we couldn’t forgive ourselves if we didn’t go on night two.
Night two started off with the whole band instead of an acoustic bit from Tyler. The first four songs were played both nights and then the setlist took a turn; Bus Route, I Swear (to God), Deadman’s Curve, Creeker and Tulsa Turnaround all played in sequence and none played the night before. Then a few songs later Two Coats (which wasn’t played night one) led us into the solo acoustic set. The solo set was the usual Nose on the Grindstone, Lady May and Follow You to Virgie, but the latter half of the show was anything but usual.
The final seven songs were just blissful! Oneida, In Your Love, Going Home, Honky Tonk Flame, House Fire, Universal Sound, and Way of the Triune God. What an endcap! Way of the Triune God was played with SG Goodman again night two and it left you wanting more! The way they jam this song out is unreal and we expect this song may never leave the setlist ever again.
Tyler Childers and the Food Stamps being introduced to Rupp
Venue Notes: Guys and girls, it’s Red Rocks. It’s everything and more than what you’ve been told and unless you go and see it yourself then you can’t fully understand how amazing this place is.
The rocks shooting into the sky, seemingly miles tall. The cityscape behind the stage you can easily see from the top of the venue. The way the sound funnels off the rocks. This place is simply magical. It’s unlike any other venue in the entire world and it lives up to the hype you’ve heard before.
The only negative in our opinion about the venue is how steep it is. Due to it’s location literally dug into the side of a mountain you’re faced with a ton of stairs if you enter from the bottom and then a steep walk to your seats. From the top it’s a lot easier to get into the venue but you’re still facing a downhill battle to get to your seats. Our suggestion, get there early, take your time, and be careful as your traverse to your seat.
The being said nothing about the walk to the venue or to your seats can damped the amazingness that is Red Rocks. It’s something your truly have to see for yourself to really grasp how breath taking is really is.
Parking Notes: Park in the upper north lot. Thank us later. This will save you so much time and energy. The upper north lot is atop the venue entrance and it is the easiest way to possibly get into the venue. The other lots require tons of walking up stairs or steep pathways whereas the upper north lot is an uphill walk but limited stairs and the quickest access to the venue. We’ve parked in this lot each time we’ve been to shows here and you will thank us a million times over for this advice, we promise. Leaving from this area is slightly more difficult than others thought since the other parking lots are closer to the exit; but we swear the extra time you take to leave is worth every single bit of energy you’ve saved.
The second night of shows we decided we’d get some extra steps in and explore more so we went down to the lower lots to hangout for a little bit. Upon leaving we hopped on the shuttle bus which was absolutely packed to the gills! We were standing, slipping, and sliding. But, it’s a free ride to the top so you can rock-n-roll!
Chloe nearly fell on the people in front of her as we went up the steep hill that was barely wide enough for one car rather yet a bus full of people. But, the ride up is quite impressive as you’re scaling a small part of the mountain and overlooking Denver.
Also, when you leave make sure you go out the correct side of the venue! Night one we made a detour and ended up close to 2 miles away from our car which required us to traverse the mountains at night; which isn’t ideal.
Travel Notes: This travel was CRAZY! We live 24 hours from Morrison and we detoured to Lewisburg, WV for Healing Appalachia on the way. Truthfully we just hit roadside stops along the way. Picking up some knickknacks for friends and family members.
Most of our travel advice for this would be for Denver and Colorado itself. Do yourself a favor and check out a Colorado Rockies game if you can. The stadium there is great, they had amazing deals on food, and they have a very unique line of purple seats in the upper deck with is the exact one mile above sea level line.
Also, if you’re looking for other fun things to do in Denver the aquarium there is top tier! We highly recommend taking a couple of hours and checking out some sea life while you’re in town.
Otherwise we didn’t really make much time to do anything too wild. We had to be back to work the following Monday do we were very tight on time to be back and get things arranged for the following work week.
Photos Night 1 · Poster Night 1
Photos Night 2· Poster Night 2