by While I was hanging out in Denver all by my lonesome, there happened to be some opportunities to take in a few concerts in and around the city. They were all at outdoor venues.
Hootie & the Blowfish, Collective Soul, and Edwin McCain
I’m not a particular Hootie & the Blowfish fan, but who doesn’t like “Only Wanna Be With You”? And I’ve seen the Hootie & the Blowfish Memorial in their hometown of Columbia, S.C., so decided to grab the chance to see them live on their “Summer Camp with Trucks Tour” as it rolled through Colorado.
They had two supporting acts. The first was fellow South Carolinian singer-songwriter Edwin McCain. McCain had two chart-toppers in the 90s, “I’ll Be” (1998) and “I Could Not Ask for More” (1999), and he turned out to be quite entertaining and a highlight of the evening.
Next up was Collective Soul, the Georgia-based band that hit the charts in the 1990s with singles like “Shine,” “December,” “The World I Know,” and “Where the River Flows.” Lead singer Ed Roland was nursing a respiratory affliction but still delivered.
Finally, Darius Rucker and the rest of Hootie and the Blowfish took the stage. McCain joined them on one high-energy song, and the band ran through their hits and covers of a few other tunes. At one point, the entire band gathered in a guitar circle and played some folk/acoustic classics. They ended their lengthy set with “Only Wanna Be With You,” but Rucker was a sounding a little ragged by then.
Billy Joel
I have been a fan of Billy Joel since my high school days in the late 1970s, so seeing him in concert has long been on my bucket list. His concert at Coors Field in downtown Denver was my perfect opportunity, and since I was going alone, I was able to get a single ticket on the field in about the 15th row, and didn’t think twice about the cost! The show was terrific, with Billy giving the crowd more than two and a half hours of hits and entertainment. This was my first stadium show, in fact, and it was thrilling!
Lindsey Stirling and Walk Off the Earth
I have seen both Lindsey Stirling and Canadian band Walk Off the Earth perform live before, so I knew this was going to be a great show. And since they were playing the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheater, it was a show not to be missed.
This is Lindsey Stirling’s fifth performance at Red Rocks over the course of her career. During her first performance, she suffered from so much anxiety that she missed out on the beauty of the experience. This time, she wasn’t going to let that happen, and the performance was filled with emotion and energy and exhortations to the audience to remain focused on the positive.
