Review: YMSB @ Red Rocks
Yonder Mountain String Band @ Red Rocks, August 27
What do you do when the time is getting late, the crowd is slowly clearing out and you’re losing energy, but the band won’t stop playing? You stay and enjoy the music. Well, at least that’s my opinion. It’s always a coveted show at Red Rocks: it always seems to be the big stop on every band’s tour, and for the boys of Yonder Mountain it was no different. Bassist Ben Kaufman at one point remarked, “I can’t believe we get to do this,” and later mandolinist Jeff Austin, always excited and always smiling, told us, “This is our favorite part of the year.” And they did their best to prove it to us. On Friday, Yonder Mountain String Band played for well over three hours, starting at 9 and not finishing until after 1 in the morning.
[All Photos by Jason Woodside]
Split Lip Rayfield started the evening at 6PM, and after that set came 90 minutes of Leftover Salmon. By 8:45pm, the sun had gone down, the buzzing of the crowd had settled and the carpets had been laid down on stage to accommodate Yonder Mountain’s modest stage set-up. It wasn’t long after that Austin, Kaufman, Adam Aijala on guitar and Dave Johnston on banjo walked slowly on stage and broke right into Looking Back Over My Shoulder.
Even though it was an exciting moment – the first chords of the main event, a night of Colorado bluegrass – it was hard to get into at first. Because of Yonder’s affinity for the simple acoustic bluegrass, and because they are accustomed to smaller venues, they seemed to have a bit of a hard time filling the space. There is a lot of open air at Red Rocks Amphitheater. But, once my ears got used to it, and the crowd settled a bit more, it was easier to listen to each note.
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Throughout the first set, Aijala and Austin traded licks and solos, particularly noteworthy on Cuckoo’s Next. As Peace of Mind took a turn for the slower darker Angel, it was anybody’s guess. The lower tones of Angel followed by Austin’s sporadic screams on Follow Me Down to the Riverside were the first time the quartet seemed able to fill the space with their sound, and as they segued back into Angel and then closed the 90-minute set with the tail end of Peace of Mind, it was clear that they were settling into the night.
Though it was just past 11PM when set two started, it got back to the swing of things quickly, as Sidewalk Stars and If There’s Still Ramblin’ in the Rambler turned into the Garcia/Hunter tune Reuben & Cherise and then again into Rambler. The entire second set grooved, and though at times it wasn’t the loudest or most energetic they’ve played, the jamming was tight and musical ideas flowing. By the time 12:30 rolled around, the band was past its curfew, and apparently so were many of the fans who walked slowly to their cars. But, in the words of Jeff Austin, there was still “time for a good old fashioned Colorado cluster-pluck.” With the help of Leftover Salmon’s Drew Emmitt and Vince Herman, the little bluegrass quartet that could delivered a send-off in fine fashion.
Set 1: Looking Back Over My Shoulder> New Horizons, Left Me In A Hole, Fingerprint, Troubled Mind, Rag Doll, Casualty, Jail Song, Cuckoo’s Nest> Peace OF Mind> Angel> Follow Me Down To The Riverside> Angel> Peace Of Mind
Set 2: Sidewalk Stars> Ramblin In The Rambler> Reuben & Cherise> Ramblin Reprise, Polly Put The Kettle On, Damned If The Right One Didn’t Go Wrong, Idaho, Isolate> Death Trip(1), Another Day, No Expectations> Traffic Jam> King Ebeneezer> Traffic Jam> Out Of The Blue E: Steam Powered Aereoplane(2), Boatman/Nobody’s Business/Jack London Medley(2)
Comment: (1)=Eric Mardis on banjo & Wayne Gottstine on mandolin, (2) Drew Emmitt on mandolin & Vince Herman on guitar [Setlist via Setlist.com]
