If you’ve ever caught a show at Red Rocks, you know the sound hits differently against those giant sandstone walls. However, Thursday night was an entirely different beast. The whole week had already been electric. Fans had taken over Denver since Tuesday, wrapping around the block for GRiZ’s suprise pop-up shop at a local flower shop. Many arrived to grab limited merch and vibe out before the back-to-back Wednesday and Thursday run.
This was three years after he walked off this very stage to start his hiatus. GRiZ came back to close out his return in the most unreal way possible. When the venue went pitch black, the crowd didn’t look towards the decks. Instead, we looked up. A lone spotlight cut through the Colorado night, revealing GRiZ perched right on top of the lighting tower. He belted into his sax for the start of his first of two sets.
He climbed down and wasted zero time diving into the first of two scheduled sets. GRiZ and his team were feeding us that filthy, soulful bass we’d been craving for years. Then, right in the middle of a screaming groove, disaster struck. He stopped the set to say he had knocked his sax over and that the mouthpiece had broken.
He left, stating that it’s not a GRiZ set without his sax, and that he hoped to find a solution. His live sax is the soul of the entire project. Watching him hold up a broken piece had an entire venue holding its breath.
After about 30 minutes, he returned with his sax around his neck and a new friend. GRiZ fam magic was in full effect. When Grant couldn’t find a solution, his fan Josiah happened to have his personal sax in his car. He rushed to go grab the mouthpiece. The Red Rocks Amphitheater went wild, chanting Josiah’s name. GRiZ let him press play to bring us all back to the funky beats he had in store for us.
He didn’t miss a beat or fall behind schedule. GRiZ and his team powered through the rest of the opener and slid right into a seamless, funk-drenched second set. It was packed with deep basslines and pure brass joy. Closing the night with a mix of his music, we’re talking ‘Ecstasy Of Soul’ and ‘Chaos Theory’. He played some older hits too, like ‘Astrofunk’ and ‘Medusa’. Standing between the rocks on Thursday and watching an entire community live out “Show Love, Spread Love” in real time proved that three years away didn’t change a thing.
