DAY FOUR: Golden Moments

What they tell you about Red Rocks Amphitheater outside of Denver: It’s one of America’s premier concert venues, a spectacular natural setting for some of the most beloved concerts of our time (think U2’s "Under a Blood Red Sky", not John Tesh’s “Worship at Red Rocks.”). What they don’t tell you about Red Rocks: To get to your seats, you’re going to have to walk up the equivalent of a 22-story building, with no escalators, much less elevators. Oh, and did we mention that the whole thing is located at 6,400 feet above sea level? This may explain why Red Rocks audiences are so appreciative; it’s not, necessarily, that they love the acts, they’re just happy to be alive.

Our act tonight was “1964” – a group of guys who’ve been performing the same Beatles tribute act for some 23 years. You’d think they’d have it down by now, but there was definitely some odd bass playing going on. Maybe the altitude got to the faux Paul? Speaking of Faux Paul, the problems with “1964” are thus:

1) Too much “Faux Ringo”, or “Fringo” as Colin called him.

2) Too much of the band members calling each other by their “Beatle” names. As in, that’s all they did. “Hey, I hope you all liked John on that last song,” or “Paul is really tearing it up tonight…” Uh, guys? You’re not REALLY John and Paul, you know that?

3) They shill for “live CD’s”… of their tribute to the Beatles. Uh, guys, again? We have ACTUAL Beatle CDs for that.

4) At NO point did FPaul or FJohn (or even Fringo) say, “Well, Colorado, this is all well and good, but my name’s Dave, and for two decades now, I’ve made my living playing the music of four very, very special people, so let’s have a big hand for the ones who gave us such an incredible gift, and the ones to whom I’m forever grateful, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr!”

Car Woody didn’t go. He’s loyal to what remains our favorite Beatles act, The Fab Faux.

Speaking of Car Woody, he had quite the adventure out at Arches today. Yes, before leaving for Denver, the whole family headed back out for one more look at the stuff we didn’t see yesterday at Arches. Woody and Isis were still feuding, and after taking a great shot of Woody under the Skyline Arch, Isis tried to leave him behind… apparently forgetting for the moment that she was a GPS device, and it was easy for us to track down Woody’s whereabouts. We’re hopeful the shenanigans between our trip mascot and chief navigator will settle down.

Other highlights from the day:

--A stirring round of the fastest growing quiz sensation in the West, “Know Your Overtures”, which featured Colin’s performing debut at Red Rocks, on an especially stirring version of the Tchaikovsky’s 1812 ??? 64 ??? Overture. Emily’s contribution of the overture from The Marriage of Figaro marked her second Trading Places reference of the day.

-- A great view of the Big Dipper rising above the Red Rocks amphitheater.

-- Making the sensible decision to get to Denver, and forgo what looked to be a lovely but slow shortcut from Moab back to I70. We did have to do a little backtracking, but we saved ourselves a crucial hour, which we spent rejuvenating in the pool here at our Denver hotel.

-- Closing the day after the concert with some grocery shopping, and coming out to see the world’s second cutest puppy, a soft and fluffy golden retriever who couldn’t have been more than six months old, waiting outside with his master. Yes, that’s right – we closed this fantastic day by running in to a golden… in Golden. “I’ll take ‘Omens and Portents’ for 800, Alex…”

Current Mood: Sunny

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