Railroad Earth Recalls Red Rocks Memories

On Friday, September 18 Railroad Earth will perform at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado along with Billy & The Kids and Snarky Puppy. We reached out to the members of Railroad Earth to share their memories of playing Red Rocks ahead of next Friday’s performance. Read below as the New Jersey-based outfit (sans Todd Sheaffer) recalls what Red Rocks means to them.

Andrew Altman:

As a kid who grew up on the east coast, Red Rocks may as well have been the moon. All my favorite bands played there but I never got to see a show until I was already out on tour myself. When you finally get to play there it is such a weird intersection of your former-self that can’t believe it and your current-self that worked so hard to get there.

Tim Carbone:

The first thing that struck me when first playing Red Rocks was walking the hallways underneath and seeing all the photos and history of who had played there before. Then when you walk out on the Red Rocks stage you are immediately hit by the enormity of the venue but at the same time the front row of the crowd is on the same level of the stage. So it’s intimate and huge at the same time! My favorite venue to play, hands down.

Carey Harmon:

Red Rocks feels like one of those bucket list, career moments for a musician. If you don’t get that at first, walking the halls backstage and seeing the photos and the plaques made for each show will change your mind. It’s a view from both the stage and audience that’s breathtaking – Colorado in its natural beauty – and a place where the fans have always made us feel at home. All that magic makes it hard not to get excited to play.

Andy Goessling:

Being from New Jersey I really didn’t know anything about Red Rocks before we played there the first time. I had pictured an echoey sounding stadium situation, with people hard to connect with, but in a stunning setting. When we walked out on stage and hit the first note I realized I had been totally wrong: the audience is very close  and the sound is amazing! Now I don’t think of it as being part of some public spectacle, instead it’s like getting a chance to play one the great acoustic concert halls – it just happens to be missing the roof!

John Skehan:

I can remember hearing my older cousins talk about seeing the Grateful Dead at Red Rocks back in the day. Seeing the amphitheater in person for the first time, all i could think was “seriously??! … this would have been the place to see some shows” I’m not knocking the majestic beauty of the parking lot at the old Giants Stadium here in New Jersey, but really, Red Rocks would have been a whole different trip.

Tickets to the Railroad Earth, Billy & The Kids and Snarky Puppy Red Rocks concert are available via AXS.com.