Until recently, the pandemic, and our directive to stay put, wasn’t all that hard for Hayden Farr, baritone sax player for The Burroughs and Trash Cat. Farr is an introvert, so when was invited to protest for Black Lives Matter in Denver, he declined.
“But I’m wondering,” Farr asked, “why do we need to have this conversation every two years? I wonder if it’s because people are stuck at home and forced to see what’s going on, or is it because people want to see a change?”
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The Mishawaka Amphitheatre’s second live show during the pandemic happens at the night before Independence Day – and it’s not for the money. For independent music venues and clubs across Colorado, July 1 is perhaps as important as the day we celebrate our independence as a nation. Governor Polis’ new guidelines take effect that day, allowing the assembly of crowds which make live music possible, if not exactly feasible.
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Even right after she was the sickest she’d been in her life, Alison Hamling still cried after she essentially canceled Friday Fest in Downtown Greeley. Live music “pales in comparison” to the need to avoid a second wave, Hamling said, even as she hated her decision.
Concert producer Colin Bricker says “I find it hard to imagine pulling off any live music this summer. There’s just no way to do that.”
But WAIT! If you don’t mind sitting by your computer, part of Greeley’s summer festival season may in fact, still be on.
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“There was no one to speak for us,” Stephen Chilton said. “Everyone was talking about the big events and festivals, and no one was talking about the mid-size venues and clubs.”
Chilton heads the National Independent Venue Association which is fighting to #SaveOurStages in the fallout of coronavirus repercussions.
“What is the most unsafe thing right now? It’s mass gatherings, and we produce mass gatherings,” he said.
In two months time, more than 1,600 have joined NIVA, but it still pales in comparison to the thousands in the restaurant industry.
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“It’s pretty easy to see how unprepared everyone was,” said Brian Claxton – a touring drummer and music educator based in Greeley, Colorado. Music venues, restaurants and bars across the globe and in Colorado have been ordered to close due to coronavirus precautions, essentially cutting off the lifeblood of the music industry. But the ramifications go deeper, from the 50th anniversary of the huge UNC Jazz Festival delaying one year to smaller bands such as Float Like A Buffalo cancelling their shoestring budget tours.
“I think it will take a year to recover, not just in the economy but in the entertainment industry here,” Moxi Theater Ely Corliss said, “and that’s if we resume in April. If this goes until May 11 or so, it’ll be catastrophic for the Moxi and (his restaurant) Luna’s both.”
As the talent booker for the Greeley Stampede’s music acts, John DeWitt always liked the Tyler Walker Band. But now that he’s in the band, he’s an even bigger fan. “I believed in him for a lot of different reasons,” DeWitt says. DeWitt and Walker will be part of this year’s Rocky Mountain Country Music Awards at the UCCC in Greeley on March 13.
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Jim Curry is not John Denver. Well, no #@%*!, you say, but when you see him sing on stage, you may have doubts. Curry brings his Denver act to Greeley, performing with the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra March 6. Curry has worked with Denver’s old bandmates themselves, though admitting: “I never did embrace the idea that I could have a music career.”
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At the end of every show on his first tour as a solo artist, Kyle Emerson found himself exhausted. Emerson supported his first solo record, 2017’s Dorothy Alice, which he named for his late grandmother, with a lengthy tour.
Now, with his release Only Coming Down, Emerson focuses on the energy and connection with the crowd, bringing his more upbeat band shows to The Moxi Theater in Greeley on Thursday, February 20, presented by The Colorado Sound.
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