17 APRIL 18-24, 2024 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | Tear gas fi lled the air, and people scrambled over bodies to get out. The ground was coated with broken glass, along with blood and trash. Helicopters swept low over the crowds, dropping even stronger gas in an effort to restrain the mob. People were faint- ing from a lack of oxygen, and mothers were rushing to fi nd medics to provide care for their babies. It wasn’t a war: It was a riot at the Jethro Tull concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on June 10, 1971. When frontman Ian Anderson was fi nally able to take the stage, he joked, “Welcome to World War Three,” and the audience members who remained laughed. The show went on, and afterward, Anderson explained his decision to perform: “Well, the embar- rassment of stopping is far worse than the mild pain of having a bit of tear gas down your lungs.” That show is distant history now, but such wild-and-woolly rock legends are as well preserved at Red Rocks as the fossils baked into the venue’s grounds. And Red Rocks, one of Colorado’s best-known landmarks, has many more stories to crack open. The Rise of Red Rocks A sunrise in the Rocky Mountains is al- ways profound, but especially from this perch at the edge of the Front Range. As the sun begins its ascent over the Eastern Plains, rays crawl across the silhouette of downtown Denver before slipping over the crest of Mor- rison’s Dakota Hogback, the cascading ridge that emerged from a shallow sea 50 million years ago, marked by dinosaur footprints from 100 million years before that. And then, a color bomb: The famous sandstone rocks just to the west are aglow, illuminating the majestic umber color and noble stature of the unmistakable natural wonder that became Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The sunsets aren’t bad here, either, with live music blasting from the stage as the city lights twinkle against lavender clouds. Per- fectly poised for all that it offers — whether that’s catching a concert, seeing a fi lm, taking a yoga class or hiking one of the many trails around its 738 acres — Red Rocks is the kind of place that reminds us that life itself is an immeasurable gift. “This is not like other venues,” says Brian Kitts, the communications director for Denver Arts & Venues, which operates the city-owned amphitheater. Standing in the back garden of the Trading Post gift shop, he gestures toward the valley views, dotted by heaps of red sand- ROSS JONES continued on page 18
