I initially debated whether or not I wanted to attend Red Rocks for Tipper. I knew the weekend would not be cheap and tickets would for sure be sold out. I usually lean towards camping events which I believe really create more of an atmosphere since most people are there for the long haul. Once some friends began to chatter about it excitement built and I decided to try and secure tickets.
I was luckily able to purchase tickets for both nights when they went on sale by waiting with both my laptop and mobile device ready. I am glad I did because my mobile device ended up getting through much quicker than my laptop even though I started with the laptop. Once we had tickets secured friends began looking at accommodations and quickly realized most air bnb had been booked and there wasn’t much available and all pretty costly. Most decided to book a hotel room and we ended up split between a few different hotels between the group.
I arrived in Denver late Thursday night. I had decided not to rent a car since others had transportation, but I needed to get out to the hotel closer to where Red Rocks is, and was trying not to pay for an Uber. Unfortunately my phone was dying and I was having a hard time getting ahold of friends who were at the Cervantes show. I was able to pull up directions before my phone died, and I headed off walking in what I thought was the correct direction. After walking for awhile, someone one one of those rental scooters offered me to hop on and he would get me to a bar where I could use a phone. I ended up by the Cheba Hut off Colfax, which was pretty much on the opposite side of Denver from where I had been trying to go. One of the bouncers of a bar was nice enough to let me use his charge pack to charge my phone, so I could get an Uber to just get to the hotel and get off my feet, I no longer cared about trying to save the money. Even getting an Uber at that time ended up being difficult, bars were closing and one Uber ended up cancelling on me, so I had to wait on another one to show up. The bouncer was nice enough to offer me a ride home if another Uber driver bailed on me since they were closing shop, but luckily this one showed up and I got to the hotel and into the room without any further issues.
Friday morning I ended up walking to the closest dispo which was a few miles away. Luckily I was able to grab a lime scooter for most of the ride back to the hotel. We had to switch hotels as I just booked one night for Thurs, and planned on crashing on my friends couch in their room at another hotel the rest of the weekend. Once we got checked into the new hotel we got ready and took off to hit a few shops and sights in Denver, including grabbing lunch at the Cheba Hut I had been right by the night before. We headed to Red Rocks for the show mid afternoon, hanging out pre gaming in the lot for awhile, before going to stand in line for to be admitted. We hung out in line talking to everyone building excitement as the show time grew nearer until the line finally began to move. We had quite a few friends from STL in for the show and we were able to snag some spots around the center of row 25. I thought it was a good distance to look down on the giant screen they had on stage for visuals and still be close enough to really feel the bass of the Function One Vero rig.
Friday nights show started off great with Bwoy De Bhajan who I had seen at tipper and friends in 2019. Then continued with EVAC, into the always great Distinct Motive, before the man himself tipper came out and blew our minds. I love how these events the sets just mold right into one another without stopping the music. The music and visuals were great and the atmosphere overall was awesome. Seeing the city of Denver in the background behind the visuals with beautiful red rock formations towering all around is a really cool experience like no other venue offers. I will say I’m not a fan of when people were trying to crowd into the row, and standing in front of others, and overall just not respecting the space of other attendees, but most of them were kind enough to continue on their way if you asked. Just something that is unique to the amphitheater since its not as open as a stage at a festival. We didn’t end up doin much after the show headed back to our hotel and just kicked it for awhile before passing out for the night.
Saturday we hit a few more shops and then headed up to the lots a little earlier than we had the day before for pre gaming. Lots of celebrating with plenty of art, balloons, lot merch, drinking, smoking, and chillin. The line ended up being a little bit of a longer wait on Saturday but again we were lucky to have some homies snag some space on right side of row 22, which got us a little bit closer to the function rig. I had been trying to snag a poster for the weekend but unfortunately both nights I stood in line just for them to sell out before I was able to grab one. I was just happy to be there with all the likeminded spunions enjoying the show. Saturday again the show started with a bang with Frequent, and didn’t let up as it continued with Resonant Language, then Mickman, and then Tipper blew our minds again as the smoke from distant wild fires gave a little more of a spooky vibe. We ended up heading over to another friends hotel for some after hours action and kicked it.
Sunday ended up just being a chill day and we grabbed some more Cheba Hut and just kicked it around the hotel veggin out, watchin TV, and listening to music. Had an early flight home on Monday morning which I pre scheduled an Uber for, and got home without any issues. The weekend overall was a blast, another successful journey with the festifam.