On the rocks
Jul. 5—You're too late for Diana Ross, but you have plenty of time to prepare for Heart.
Red Rocks Amphitheatre, located in Morrison, Colorado, about 400 miles north of Santa Fe, has proven to be one of the busiest concert venues in the U.S. over the last few decades. Last year, it broke its own record by staging 195 concerts and hosting 1.4 million attendees.
This year, the famous outdoor concert space that sits among two massive hunks of sandstone will share some performers in common with New Mexico, but it will also have a few shows that aren't making stops here. Ross, the 80-year-old former chief Supreme, played the iconic Red Rocks on June 27 as part of her Beautiful Love Performances 2024 tour.
Following are a few other performers who might be worth the six-hour drive.
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Vampire Weekend with Christone "Kingfish" Ingram — 7 p.m. July 19
Ingram, a blues guitarist, played in both Santa Fe and Albuquerque earlier this spring, but here he'll be the opening act for Vampire Weekend, which is touring behind its own reinvention.
The indie rock veterans released their fifth album, Only God Was Above Us, in April, the first since becoming a trio in 2016 following the departure of founding member Rostam Batmanglij. Vampire Weekend's last album, the 2019 Father of the Bride, was largely a solo effort by lead singer Ezra Koenig and won Best Alternative Music Album at the Grammy Awards in 2020.
details
Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre
* 18300 W. Alameda Parkway
* Morrison, Colorado
* Ticket prices vary
* 720-865-2494; redrocksonline.com
Vampire Weekend tours through Montana, Missouri, Michigan, and Minnesota over the next few months, but if you live in New Mexico, the closest they're coming to home is Red Rocks in July.
Norah Jones with Hurray for the Riff Raff — 7:30 p.m. July 23
Norah Jones is one of the world's most beloved jazz singers, but she's not coming to New Mexico this summer. She's playing Vail, Colorado, the night before Red Rocks and then is off to Utah and Idaho before performing a pair of shows in Walla Walla and Seattle, Washington.
She released her latest album, Visions, produced by Leon Michels, earlier this year. Her previous release was a Christmas album in 2020. Jones struck gold on her first album, Come Away With Me, which earned five Grammy Awards including Album of the Year.
Santana with Counting Crows — 7 p.m. July 29 and 30
We're cheating a little bit on this one. Santana and Counting Crows will play Albuquerque's Isleta Amphitheatre on September 4, but you can see them in Red Rocks a month early.
Carlos Santana and his namesake group have been touring for a half-century, and they last released an album in 2021 with Blessings and Miracles. Counting Crows hasn't released a full-length album since 2014's Somewhere Under Wonderland. But the group will always have "Mr. Jones" and "A Long December."
Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats — 7:30 p.m. August 20 and 21
Rateliff, a folk and Americana singer who runs the gamut from soul and blues to cowpunk, grew up in Missouri but now lives in Denver. Rateliff has fronted a number of bands, but with the Night Sweats, he's released a trio of critically acclaimed albums.
The band's most recent album, South of Here, was released June 28.
Brandi Carlile with the Colorado Symphony — 7:30 p.m. September 6 and 7
Carlile, an iconoclastic country singer-songwriter with 10 Grammy Awards, will be one of a few performers to play at Red Rocks alongside the Colorado Symphony this summer. Jason Mraz is playing with the symphony July 28, and Guster joins it on August 1.
Heart — 8 p.m. September 22
OOOOOH, BARRACUDA.
See the Sisters Wilson as they bask in the recognition of a lifetime of musical achievement.
Ann and Nancy Wilson received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023 and are touring throughout the U.S. this summer (but notably not in New Mexico).