It's a perfect night to be celebrating life here in Colorado. We are sharing the night with two of our closest friends at Red Rocks enjoying Ray Lamontagne.
Who'd have thought during the first time we saw him at The Fox Theater in Boulder that we would be here now? February '05...we had just bought our house and were in the process of unpacking the boxes when Dad flew in to ski with Jeff. Married with an incredible daughter? I'm not sure if it the music or the memories that are causing me to tear up. Perhaps both...
"A man needs something he can hold on to. A nine pound hammer or a woman like you."
Here I am hanging on to Hope's shoulders. Pretending to rub them but really just trying to stay upright as I have nothing left in me after my bought with the stomach flu over the past four days. May I always have my wife's shoulders to lean on.
The next show we saw Ray at was a bigger venue: the Paramount Theater in Denver, November '06. We even took my parents to this show. This was his breakout show for us. He nailed it, we were hooked. This was the first time I really had the opportunity to listen to the songs I had drawn from so heavily during the summer of the previous year. Hope had spent that summer travelling and I spent the time writing a song for her that I had no idea would become my proposal to her.
And these memories come flooding back with his music now as a man proposes to his wife during this show just a few feet away from us.
The next show was at CU Boulder in November '08. Of all the shows, this is the only one that we could say was less than stellar. And it was a great show, it just didn't have the energy that other shows had. But it was a special night for us. Molly was babysitting for us to give us our first night away from Emiko...all of two months old.
Ellie Caulkins Opera House, November '09. Ray solo. Up close and personal. And we was so personable that night. Talking, telling stories, joking...something we had never seen before. Truly a night to remember. Molly looked after Emi again; Hope and I vowed that Molly was coming to the next Ray concert.
And here we are. August '10 at Red Rocks. As Hope said, it is the cherry on the sundae.
There is an energy here at Red Rocks. A bar was set in the 80's when U2 broke out here. I've seen Neil Young meet that bar here with Cow Girl in the Rain. Petty came close. State Radio was special but they get bonus points with Chad being an old Middlebury buddy and being our daughter's favorite band.
"Are we strangers now like rock n roll and radio?"
What a poignant chorus. Music has been so dear to me but it is no longer found on the air waves. It's found on iTunes. It's word of mouth. It's Slacker radio. It's the Music Genome Project. It is not the drivel we find on the air waves, it does not move my soul.
Ray is still up at the top of that list. He finished his first set with a driving rendition of Henry Nearly Killed Me (It's a Shame). His encore was a simple medley of Neil Young's Down by the River and Pink Floyd's Breathe (Reprise). Incredible.
We'll be back again.
Who'd have thought during the first time we saw him at The Fox Theater in Boulder that we would be here now? February '05...we had just bought our house and were in the process of unpacking the boxes when Dad flew in to ski with Jeff. Married with an incredible daughter? I'm not sure if it the music or the memories that are causing me to tear up. Perhaps both...
"A man needs something he can hold on to. A nine pound hammer or a woman like you."
Here I am hanging on to Hope's shoulders. Pretending to rub them but really just trying to stay upright as I have nothing left in me after my bought with the stomach flu over the past four days. May I always have my wife's shoulders to lean on.
The next show we saw Ray at was a bigger venue: the Paramount Theater in Denver, November '06. We even took my parents to this show. This was his breakout show for us. He nailed it, we were hooked. This was the first time I really had the opportunity to listen to the songs I had drawn from so heavily during the summer of the previous year. Hope had spent that summer travelling and I spent the time writing a song for her that I had no idea would become my proposal to her.
And these memories come flooding back with his music now as a man proposes to his wife during this show just a few feet away from us.
The next show was at CU Boulder in November '08. Of all the shows, this is the only one that we could say was less than stellar. And it was a great show, it just didn't have the energy that other shows had. But it was a special night for us. Molly was babysitting for us to give us our first night away from Emiko...all of two months old.
Ellie Caulkins Opera House, November '09. Ray solo. Up close and personal. And we was so personable that night. Talking, telling stories, joking...something we had never seen before. Truly a night to remember. Molly looked after Emi again; Hope and I vowed that Molly was coming to the next Ray concert.
And here we are. August '10 at Red Rocks. As Hope said, it is the cherry on the sundae.
There is an energy here at Red Rocks. A bar was set in the 80's when U2 broke out here. I've seen Neil Young meet that bar here with Cow Girl in the Rain. Petty came close. State Radio was special but they get bonus points with Chad being an old Middlebury buddy and being our daughter's favorite band.
"Are we strangers now like rock n roll and radio?"
What a poignant chorus. Music has been so dear to me but it is no longer found on the air waves. It's found on iTunes. It's word of mouth. It's Slacker radio. It's the Music Genome Project. It is not the drivel we find on the air waves, it does not move my soul.
Ray is still up at the top of that list. He finished his first set with a driving rendition of Henry Nearly Killed Me (It's a Shame). His encore was a simple medley of Neil Young's Down by the River and Pink Floyd's Breathe (Reprise). Incredible.
We'll be back again.
