Sheets of cardboard were laid across the overgrown, tall grass as organizers walked across them carrying speakers, tables, tents, and even a trombone. Along the street, a dozen people greeted one another, some holding picketing signs and others hefting cases of water bottles over their shoulders. The large public parking lot closed by a concrete barrier haphazardly placed in its drive, they glanced at the no parking signs lining the street knowing their first civil disobedience of the evening would be to ignore them.

In Aurora, Colorado, at the private prison facility owned by GEO Group and currently being contracted by the federal government as the ICE Processing Facility for the region, the mood was light but serious. Ahead, there was an evening ahead of community, music, making art, and sharing food with a very real purpose.

To demand Jeanette Vizguerra’s freedom.

Community members, activists, and state-level officials picket and carry protest signs demanding the release of political prisoner Jeanette Vizguera outside of the GEO private prison facility licensed as the federal ICE processing center in Aurora, CO on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

An indigenous Mexican mother, author, immigrant rights advocate, and community leader, Jeanette rose to national prominence in 2017 when she successfully evaded the first Trump Administration’s attempts to deport her by seeking sanctuary inside a unitarian church.

In a game of cat and mouse played out on television screens and broadsheets she never silenced her voice, writing and speaking from the church – occasionally even surprising crowds of thousands by appearing in-person under community protection. As federal policies like family separation and intentional cruelty in detention became standard by the federal administration, the Colorado Congressional delegation stepped in and a judge blocked the deportation order until 2019.

In 2021, still living in the church, the Department of Homeland Security announced that she would not be deported. It was the Biden Administration, and while many of the practices created by the first Trump Administration continued, Jeanette was able to return to her family and her life.

Regaining control in 2025 with the re-election of President Trump, Stephen Miller pushed plans to punish dissenting voices and make an immediate example of those who had used legal protections to usurp his authority in the previous term.

Churches, hospitals, schools – so-called “sensitive places” – would no longer be safe and accessible places for every person in the United States. Elementary school students would face the trauma of seeing their classmates learn they no longer had parents to go home to, or worse be detained themselves with peers watching. The sick or injured had to weigh the benefits of seeking medical attention against the risks of never seeing their families again.

Places of worship had to grapple with the idea that their leadership could no longer defend their flock, the federal government was going to take their sheep.

Arriving to her job at Target one morning, Jeanette was arrested and detained. The community response was immediate, to many this was a political decision and not one about making our country safer.

An embarrassed administration, still reeling from their failures to enforce criminal actions against a peaceful working mother, had targeted Jeanette to make an example of. Because of a swift outpouring from watchful advocates, the due process afforded under the constitution to all persons within the United States were called for. She was to remain in detention while her attorneys fought in court, but her location was local – known – and direct communication was possible.

Many who are detained by ICE are not so fortunate.

Under the early afternoon sun in Aurora, the activists had cleared enough of the field that a small tent faced a crowd of fifty people, growing as the evening approached and more working folks were able to join.

Jamaican immigrant Jeneil and her grandmother Edna speak to rally attendees after traveling from Maryland to visit her detained father at the GEO private prison facility licensed as the federal ICE processing center in Aurora, CO on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

The audience was rapt, silent, listening to the choked words pour out of the young speaker’s mouth in front of them. Jeneil, with her elder grandmother Edna at her side, spoke on losing her father to Stephen Miller’s systems of snatching and shuffling human beings; his system to lose people in the system.

An immigrant from Jamaica, she was visiting Aurora from her home in Maryland with no idea she’d find a community rallying in support of her family and all of those impacted by ICE. She shared her story, that her father had made his first ever return trip to his homeland to see family in February and on the return was detained by immigration officials for two already-dismissed and closed charges.

First being told he would be held in Pennsylvania, close to his family, the notice came down that he would instead be heading for Texas. They found him in Colorado, having celebrated his sixtieth birthday in a cage.

As she finished, Luna Vizguerra, Jeanette’s daughter, took the stage echoing the difficulties of a family losing its leader.

“I miss my mom, as many of the families here do as well,” she told the crowd, making eye contact with those with whom she’s shared this unique experience with. “It comes with a lot of hardships, a lot of turmoil. You come home to an empty space, my mom’s room is empty. It’s been four months. She’s missed not only our lives but she’s missed her life.”

To discuss the generational impact, passed down and felt in bloodlines, Courtney took the microphone next. A third generation Japanese immigrant, she spoke on her own father being kidnapped from Peru and being interned in a Crystal City, CO concentration camp during World War Two.

The children and grandchildren of those persecuted through generations of United States domestic policy then led the picket of the GEO ICE facility, walking the crowd now numbering in the hundreds across the streets to march along the sidewalk outside the private prison.

For an hour, community members, with the support of union representatives, a half dozen state level elected officials, and Notes of Dissent – a protest marching band – chanted, sang, and disrupted the quiet which had existed around the building only hours before.

Notes of Dissent, a Front Range protest marching band, plays a medley of anti-authoritarian anthems and spirituals while activists picket the GEO private prison facility licensed as the federal ICE processing center in Aurora, CO on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

As the heat continued to climb and shade quickly shrunk over the sidewalks, water was distributed and hand fans deployed. The picket line continued to grow as people continued to arrive, some still dressed from their air conditioned office jobs, tucking work badges into pockets and out of sight, they’d come as quickly as they could.

After an hour, marshals briefly blocked traffic and the swollen crowd stepped their way from sidewalk to sidewalk, crossing the street back to the field where there was now a full resource fair for nonprofit and political organizations set up, hoping to capture their energy and funnel it to the next moment. Pupusa was sold as a fundraiser, a lecture was given on a blanket about nonviolent resistance, an art build began for an action planned later in the evening, and programming resumed.

Araseli, from Aurora, spoke about her husband – Hector – being snatched while riding his bike in their neighborhood. With no warrant, and not on the ICE list of folk to look for, she spoke from her personal experience on the importance of those who want to be allies in this moment to visit detainees, because they’re families cannot for fear of detention and deportation.

With the air heavy with angst, Yuzo Nieto of Pink Hawks kicked off the music for the evening with his song “Want to be a Gangster,” energizing the crowd, bringing a reminder that art is a tool those who would dissent can use to raise their voices.

Organizations from across the metro, including Aurora Unidos CSO and Housekeys Action Network, spoke on community organizing together and that there is infrastructure to join for those who want to help, but don’t know how to start.

Then, a roar rippled across the crowd, the largest it would be for the day, as Luna Vizguerra re-took the stage. A phone was in her hand.

Political prisoner Jeanette Vizguerra speaks to rally attendees via video call and translation provided by her daughter during a protest demanding her release from a GEO private prison facility licensed as the federal ICE processing center in Aurora, CO on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

Jeanette’s voice, amplified from a video call through the PA system, was greeted by cheers. From inside the building across the street, the tearful and thankful grandmother spoke through her daughter’s translation for more than twenty minutes.

Grateful for the community which has continued to show up for her and all of those being swept away inside Stephen Miller’s punitive nightmare, she blasted Colorado’s Congressional delegation for using her platform to win their previous elections and failing to show up even once for her now.

Her case is moving forward in the courts, an appeal filed in the fifth district could be decided any time and her attorneys are hopeful that she’ll be celebrating her release soon, right there outside the walls she’s speaking from behind, rallying for everyone still inside.

“If worse comes to worse, my work will continue bi-nationally and I will be back sooner than later,” she closed.

The sun was starting to sink, dusk sweeping across the now-flattened field where hundreds were gathered, and the soft yellow light inside the GEO private prison illuminated out. All day, a station had been set up to cut out and decorate paper butterflies.

Now, they were carried across the street to be hung on a chain link fence which acted as a second cage outside the barred, amber-light windows. To add a little bit of color, for those who could see out. A reminder that people on the other side of the cage saw their humanity and cared about them.

Notes of Dissent played loud, solemn spirituals and demonstrators sang, silhouettes appeared in the windows. Detainees inside waved, made hearts with their hands, and held up scrawled messages for those outside – who returned the gestures.

It was a heartbreaking and powerful moment. Tears were shed by many, some having to step away as they were faced with the distant-but-intimate contact with those who the system has worked so hard to dehumanize and hide.

Protestors sing and hang a paper art installation of butterflies and streamers on the fence outside the A large crowd of people fill the tree lawn and sidewalk outside of a chain link cage and prison windows, spilling in to the street around parked cars, while hanging an art installation and singing for the detainees inside a GEO private prison facility licensed as the federal ICE processing center in Aurora, CO on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

Darkness crept around and it was decided it was time to turn up the volume and for the final three bands of the evening to take the stage – performing over the crowd before them for those locked inside behind.

Wheelchair Sports Camp, 2MX2, and Flobots were slated to close out the evening. Former Denver Mayoral candidate and Sports Camp frontperson Kalyn Heffernan started with a warning that “they’re punk now,” before making the crowd move and whoop with their band’s signature mash-up of experimental music, observant humorous lyrics, and defy-authoritarianism brand.

Flobots frontman Jonny 5 gestures to a sign reading ICE while singing a bilingual protest song during a community action at the A large crowd of people fill the tree lawn and sidewalk outside of a chain link cage and prison windows, spilling in to the street around parked cars, while hanging an art installation and singing for the detainees inside a GEO private prison facility licensed as the federal ICE processing center in Aurora, CO on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

2MX2 continued to ramp the energy up, fusing chicano melodies with rap / rock lyrics delivered in a fiery escalation. Headbanging, two-stepping, bodies were encouraged to move instinctively as the protest evolved toward the joyful party environment synonymous with many Colorado grassroots movements.

“I don’t know if Tim Hernández is still here,” Flobots’ Jonny 5 said as the Denver hip hop group took the stage, “but I’m reminded tonight of something he once said. We cannot become the thing we hate.”

Referencing the Colorado educator and former State House Representative’s assertion that authoritarianism robs the community of creativity and joy, he reminded the crowd that we have to have energy to have power, and our power is rooted in collective good.

Closing the evening with a wildly high energy set which included their Billboard charting hit “Handlebars,” the crowd amplified their reminder of joy as resistance, allowing it to ripple through the concrete and steel separating families and communities from their loved ones inside.

___________________________________

Best known for capturing striking content from the frontlines of social movements, Heartland EMMY-nominated filmmaker and photographer Vince Chandler has spent 20 years creating art and documentary visuals across the U.S. They served as Communications Director for Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, and Vince has earned national recognition for their work as a visual journalist for The Denver Post. Vince was the principal cinematographer for the feature documentary film Running With My Girls, which premiered at the 2021 Denver Film Festival. When they’re covering protest and autonomous action, you can often see the first draft of their articles as live threads on Bluesky. 

What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

Sometimes it’s a protest outside an ICE detention center. Sometimes it’s a rural nurse explaining how Medicaid cuts will shutter the town hospital. Sometimes, it’s a law professor teaching systemic racism at a University in a state where CRT is banned in public schools.

As Trump’s second term unfolds — and the One Big Beautiful Act guts healthcare, empowers ICE, and reshapes American life — independent journalism is more vital than ever. However, the national press rarely shows up in the places where policy has the most impact.

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These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

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The post Community Art, Music & Joy for Aurora ICE Detainees appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Since the days when Yellow Scene Magazine (YS) was printed on actual yellow paper, we’ve tried to give you a little bit of insight into the music community. Sometimes we found an interesting story about an artist in your backyard that you really ought to be listening to. But, on more than a few occasions, we managed to pull an interview with a fairly big-name artist for a small indie magazine based out of East Boulder County.

I recently took over doing our artist interview spotlights for our last few issues. I have a good amount of experience with interviewing musicians for other publications, but YS is a little different. Either you’re looking to find the interesting story in an up-and-coming artist that the reader hasn’t heard of yet, or you’re trying to find the appeal of a big-name artist for our particular corner of Colorado. In a lot of ways, it’s about finding the stories behind the music that are smaller, but still fascinating.

To celebrate 25 years of YS, we decided to pore over the artist interviews from the past 25 years to pick our 25 favorite interviews. While a lot of them are with the big-name artists we consider ourselves lucky to have gotten a chance to feature, a few of them are from local artists with really interesting stories. But that’s the one thing that unites these 25 interviews: they were all instances where we found riveting stories behind the music that are still interesting to this day.

The Dreamy Jason Mraz, September 2009

Our interview with singer/songwriter Jason Mraz came out when his song “I’m Yours” was becoming popular (and it remains his highest charting song to date). Mraz told us it was his “happy little hippy” song about generosity of spirit and giving your time to someone else, and explained how time in Hawaii and a visit to Bob Marley’s house in Jamaica inspired the tune. He explained that he wrote the song in a stream-of-consciousness style by simply picking up the guitar and seeing what he came up with. He was also donating his tour proceeds at the time to VH1’s Save the Music Foundation, which was fighting to keep music education in schools.

Irish Rockers Flogging Molly, September 2009

Irish band Flogging Molly isn’t the first band to combine Celtic music influences with punk rock, but they are definitely one of the most genuine and authentic bands to do it. In our interview with them, they explained how they thrived on a smaller indie label (at the time, all of their releases had been through SideOneDummy Records, which has gotten a bit bigger since then). They explained that industry professionals told them that their style of music wasn’t going to catch on, so they opted to take matters into their own hands rather than relying on a music industry that thought they were destined to fail.

Spotlight on Mandy Harvey, August 2010

The story of local jazz singer Mandy Harvey is genuinely one of the most unique and fascinating stories we’ve ever had in an artist interview. Harvey grew up in Longmont with dreams of being a singer, and trained her entire life to achieve her dream, only to be dealt a crippling setback in adulthood when she went deaf from progressive nerve damage affecting her cochlear nerves. After deciding, on a whim, to put together a recording of “Come Home” by One Republic for her husband while he was away on a trip, she came to the realization that her singing career was not over, saying that, “a light came on in my head that music was just another thing I needed to do differently.” The amazing singer, who has perfect pitch, by the way, later went on to be a contestant on the 12th season of “America’s Got Talent,” where she performed her own original work.

John Medeski, February 2011

Keyboardist John Medeski has been playing with his band Medeski, Martin, & Wood since 1991, playing a unique style of jazz fusion that incorporates funk, hip-hop, and even jam band elements into their sound. 2011 marked the 20th anniversary of the band’s formation, and we got a chance to talk to Medeski about their longevity as a band. According to Medeski, the band managed to survive changes in the music industry because, as an instrumental band, they never relied on radio play or record sales as their main source of income, but rather focused on selling tickets to their electrifying live show. As someone who has seen Medeski, Martin, & Wood live, I can confirm that their live performance is enough to win over anyone who doesn’t think an instrumental band has a lot to offer.

Hanson, September 2011

Everybody remembers Hanson for their 1997 pop hit “MMMBop,” which came out when the band members were literal children. What a lot of people don’t know is that Hanson is still around today and continues to release albums and tour with a much more mature sound now that they’re well into adulthood. In our interview, we talked with Taylor Hanson about his feelings on their first hit single, “MMMBop,” and how it was 14 years later. Hanson said that, while he would like the band to be noticed for their complete body of work, he still has positive feelings about their first monumental hit single. “There’s no question you always desire for people to have a wide and varied perspective on your career beyond a few hit songs,” he explained, “but you also have to be proud of anything that can reach millions of people, especially when it is with something that you created and has meaning to people.”

Four Questions with Pop Favorite: G. Love, January 2012

Garrett Dutton, aka G. Love — frontman of the trio G. Love & The Special Sauce who blew up onto the alternative music scene in the mid-’90s with their unique mixture of soul, blues, funk, and hip-hop — sat down with us in 2012 to discuss the history of the band as it approached its 20-year anniversary. When asked about what Dutton missed most about the early days of the band, Dutton said that he missed the “innocence and blindness” of being a 20-year-old who thought he knew everything while driving around to do 250 shows a year in a “crappy van.” Now that he had a tour bus and lost that blind innocence, it seemed like some of the magic was gone.

10 Questions With Jazz Great Ron Carter, October 2012

Ron Carter has been involved with a lot of different projects as a jazz musician, ranging from his early breakthrough as a member of Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet to his appearance on alt-hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest’s seminal 1991 jazz-rap album “Low End Theory.” In the interview, Carter explained that his upbringing in Detroit didn’t inspire his jazz career because, when he left Detroit around the age of 17 or 18, he was still playing classical music. It wasn’t until he got to New York and became influenced by the likes of Paul Chambers, Sam Jones, and Charles Mingus that he got turned on to the magic of jazz.

Weird Al Yankovic Talks Parodies, Movies and Children’s Books, June 2013

“Weird Al” Yankovic is a music legend for his parodies of songs, and most musicians consider it an honor and a privilege rather than an insult to be parodied by the legendary comic artist. But in our interview, we talked to Yankovic a little bit about one of his then-new endeavours of writing a children’s book called “When I Grow Up.” In the time since the interview, he wrote a second children’s book called “My New Teacher and Me!” Yankovic explained that he had always wanted to write children’s books and, when an editor from Harper Collins named Anne Hoppe approached him randomly and told him that his clever wordplay would work well in children’s books, he jumped at the chance to fulfill one of his dreams.

Ani DiFranco, March 2015

LGBTQ+ icon and seasoned indie folk artist Ani DiFranco has been a trailblazer in independent music both for her creative talent and her business sense. We talked to her about how her decision to start her own label, Righteous Babe, instead of tying herself to a big label was groundbreaking and almost as important as her music, but she didn’t seem to agree. She said that she gained fans with her music, not her decision to go independent, and that that’s what her staying power has been in her career, which has spanned, at this point, about 35 years.

Duran Duran, September 2015

British new wave legends Duran Duran stopped in Colorado in 2015 to promote their 14th album as a band, Paper Gods. The band took us through some of the details of the two years they spent working on the album and how they connected with collaborators for the album. The first collaborator that contacted them was Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante. The band wasn’t looking to collaborate with anyone, but felt they couldn’t turn down such a talented guitarist as Frusciante. Saying yes to Frusciante opened the door to further collaborations with the likes of Nile Rodgers, who co-produced the album, as well as another co-producer named Mr. Hudson, who has worked with Kanye West and Jay-Z. The result was one of the best albums of Duran Duran’s long and storied career.

Spotlight on Tammy Ealom, March 2016

Tammy Ealom’s Denver-based indie pop band, Dressy Bessy, holds a lot of distinctions that give them indie cred including having had their songs featured in the cult queer classic film “But I’m a Cheerleader” as well as being one of the few Denver-based bands to be part of the legendary Elephant 6 collective. In 2016, we talked to Ealom about the story behind the band’s sixth studio album, “Kingsized,” which was their first album in eight years. Ealom said she never thought of the time in between as a hiatus because she was writing the whole time. The death of her father and the economic impact of the recession were major factors that she cited as the reason for the gap between albums.

Spotlight on Flo, April 2016

Multi-instrumentalist and percussionist Bill Summers has had a lot of major accomplishments in his career, but the one that probably stands out the most is his work on the iconic jazz-funk fusion album “Head Hunters” by Herbie Hancock. In this interview, Summers took us through his journey from dropping out of high school, to working at a racetrack, to winning enough money to go to California and enroll UC Berkeley as a music major where he put together a band that opened for Hancock, leading to him being invited to participate in one of the most important jazz albums of all time.

Spotlight: It’s Times Like These We Need Flobots Most, May 2017

Hip-hop group Flobots may be remembered by the rest of the country as a one-hit wonder for their 2007 hit “Handlebars,” but in Colorado, they’re known for being a pillar of the local hip-hop scene and political activists. In the interview, MC Johnny 5 (aka James Laurie), told us about the Flobots’ mentor, the late Vincent Harding, who was a social activist and Professor of Religion and Social Transformation at Iliff School of Theology in Denver. Harding encouraged the band to think more deeply about what protest music really was, so the band started gathering people together to come up with songs that could be sung at rallies, which became the basis for Flobots’ 2017 album “Noenemies.”

Spotlight on Josh Barrett of The Wailers, March 2018

Reggae band The Wailers were once the backing band for the legendary Bob Marley, but since his death in 1981, they’ve soldiered on without him. In 2018, we talked with the band’s then-vocalist Josh Barrett about filling the huge shoes of Marley, and he spoke about his journey from singing in church choir, to learning instruments from his community, to starting his band, Judah Tribe, which had the opportunity to open for the Wailers in 2012. Barrett talked about the privilege of fronting such a legendary band and how the music that Marley wrote is still relevant today.

Spotlight on Bill Frisell, June 2018

Bill Frisell is not just a legendary guitarist — having appeared as a session musician on tons of albums, not to mention his solo material and his long-standing working relationship with the legendary John Zorn — he’s a local legend, having grown up in Denver and graduated from Denver’s East High School. In this interview, Frisell talked to us about how he started playing music with neighborhood kids, but he owes a lot of his musical education to music programs in local schools like Teller Elementary and the now-defunct Gove Junior High. “I’m so glad they still have a music program in Denver because in so many places it goes away,” Frisell told us.

Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot!, June 2018

Brian Setzer is famous for his role in the legendary rockabilly group Stray Cats as well as his role in the ‘90s swing revival when his band, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, covered Louis Prima’s “Jump, Jive, an’ Wail.” In this interview, when he was promoting his latest “Rockabilly Riot!” album, we talked to him about the changes in the music industry since he started, and he talked about the changes in how important record sales and music videos were and how so much has shifted to the importance of live performances. Luckily, Brian Setzer could always put on a good live show.

Spotlight on Jeff Gutt, August 2018

Iconic grunge band Stone Temple Pilots has had bad luck with frontmen, with both of their first two lead singers — Scott Weiland and Chester Bennington — having died at tragically young ages. Former Dry Cell frontman and “X-Factor” contestant Jeff Gut became the third person to step into the lead vocalist spot in the band, and we talked to him about the process of auditioning for the gig. He talked about how nerve-wracking it was to meet a band he had admired for so many years, but eventually his idols turned to friends as they worked together on the band’s second self-titled record.

SPOTLIGHT on Nick Urata of DeVotchKa, January 2019

It’s hard to talk about the Denver music scene without bringing up the dark, indie folk powerhouse that is DeVotchKa, who rose to prominence in 2006 with their talked-about performance at Bonnaroo as well as their score for the Oscar-winning film Little Miss Sunshine. In 2018, the band released their album “This Night Falls Forever,” their first record in seven years, and we talked to them about the gap between albums. They said that, with all the opportunities they had gotten since their previous album — including working with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and being involved with movies like “A Series of Unfortunate Events” and “Paddington” — they had to take the time to make their new album as grand as all their other side projects.

SPOTLIGHT on Tivoli Club Brass Band, April 2019

Denver’s Tivoli Club Brass Band isn’t your traditional brass band, with their 2019 debut album featuring covers of Queen, Taylor Swift, The White Stripes, and even Aretha Franklin. In our interview, bandleader and percussionist Dean Hirschfield talked about the band’s origins, which apparently started with a meal at Jose O’Shea’s in Lakewood when someone asked, “What would the song ‘Seven Nation Army’ sound like if it were played by a brass band?” They also talked about the Kickstarter campaign to finance their album, which was initially planned to be an EP. However, after the overwhelming support for Kickstarter, they decided they might as well put out an LP.

Spotlight: Jimbo Mathus and the Squirrel Nut Zippers, June 2019

Squirrel Nut Zippers are somewhat of a relic of the short-lived neo-swing craze in the 1990s, despite the fact that they didn’t quite fit in with the other swing bands with their neo-vaudevillian style. We talked to the band three years into their reunion and talked to founder and frontman Jimbo Mathus about why he chose to reunite the band in 2016. Mathus said that he thought of just doing a few shows around the 20th anniversary of their 1996 album “Hot,” but decided that there was so much theatricality and musicianship that went into the band that doing a few one-off shows seemed hardly worth it, and it would be better to revive the whole band and jump back into the swing of things, so to speak.

Spotlight on Lynyrd Skynyrd, October 2019

Lynyrd Skynyrd was probably the biggest name band that we have ever interviewed. At the time, the band’s so-called farewell tour was coming through Fiddler’s Green, and we talked to the band’s guitarist, Rickey Medlocke, about why they were retiring from touring. Medlocke talked about how it was no secret that founding guitarist Gary Rossington was having heart issues and the band could no longer handle rigorous touring. Still, Medlocke assured us the band was not completely done and might record another album and play one-off shows. “The funny thing about this all is — when you’re a musician that’s been playing for as long as we’ve been playing, you just don’t wake up one day and say, ‘Okay, I’m going to put my instrument down that I’ve had this big love affair with for 50-60 years,’ and not pick it up anymore and not want to play music or anything like that,” Medlocke told us. Sadly, Rossington died in 2023, but the band continued on and did another tour with ZZ Top in 2023-2024.

Spotlight on Reese Roper and Five Iron Frenzy, March 2021

Since their founding in 1995, Denver’s own ska band Five Iron Frenzy has made a career out of Christian-ish music, but it was always a more progressive form of Christianity than what we’ve come to expect from the religious right. Frontman Reese Roper talked to us about his brand of Christianity and said he didn’t align with the right-wing form of the religion, which he chalked up to a plot between Richard Nixon and Jerry Falwell to turn the Republican party into the Christian party by using wedge issues like abortion to garner Christian votes. “There are so many diabolical things that have been done in the name of Jesus Christ in this world,” Roper told us. “But, I cling to the character of Christ. I know that what He offers is redemption and forgiveness.”

Spotlight on Taj Mahal, March 2022

Legendary blues musician Taj Mahal is one of the most prolific and enduring musicians in the genre, having put out over 50 albums in the course of about 60 years. We talked to him about what was, at the time, his most recent album, “Get On Board,” which was a collaboration with fellow music legend Ry Cooder. Mahal told us about how Cooder had worked with him on the 1966 album “Rising Sons Featuring Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder” and on Mahal’s 1968 self-titled album. After Cooder and Mahal ran into each other and started hanging out again, they decided to collaborate again, but the pandemic got in the way until 2021, when restrictions had lifted enough for the two great guitarists to work together again.

Courtesy of Steve Schnepel

Spotlight on Faceman, December 2022

FaceMan is both the name of a Denver-based indie-American trio and the stage name of the band’s mysterious frontman, Steve Schnepel, who performs in various masks and costumes that give him different faces. Schnepel told us that the idea was inspired by his youth when his father told him he had a “rubber face,” and, in 2008, after taking a brief hiatus from music, Schnepel came up with the vision of a band he could front anonymously with a constantly changing face. The idea really took off when he met designers Justin Hicks, Katie Webster, and Kellie Sequoia from the Denver Center who elevated his basic idea into an even bigger spectacle.

Dervish Takes the Stage with Traditional Irish Music | Spotlight, February 2025

Traditional Irish band Dervish has been lighting up stages with their unique take on Irish music for almost four decades now, since the early days when the original members met at a pub and named themselves the Boys of Silgo, after their hometown in Ireland. We talked to them about their music, which is about 90% traditional songs, and they explained how there’s still a lot of writing and creating that goes into playing traditional songs, including creating new arrangements, harmonies, and instrumental breaks, to the point where traditional music practically becomes their own.

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The post Spotlight on Spotlights: 25 Years of Yellow Scene Artist Interviews appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Spotlight

LunaFest 2024 was a helluva concert with over 70 bands playing over seven days in Boulder at DV8 Distillery. The event ran from April 21st to 29th, 2024. The pre-party was on April 21st, 2024, and was held at Velvet Elk, with the party being kicked off by DJ Drake and Mr. Gettdowne. The post-party was on April 29th, 2024, and the location was top-secret, which had festival-goers watching for its announcement. The genres run the gamut, but with over 70 bands, how could they not? Headlining acts included: Seckond Chaynce, Spyda JC, Biotechnick, and Float Like a Buffalo.

LunaFest bills itself as an inclusive event welcoming all. Since the founder fled Florida due to the draconian anti-LGBTQIA+ bills passed into law, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, we decided to sit down with her to hear her backstory.

Red Tornado: How did you land in Colorado?

Luna Rose Wolf: I sold my house, bought a truck and trailer, sold most of my belongings, and packed the rest in the trailer. Once it was ready to go, I drove for three days straight, sleeping in the back seat of the truck in between semis at truck stops whenever I began to feel worn down.

RT: Did you leave Florida because there were problems?

LRT: Yes. The political environment of Florida has been getting exponentially worse for the LGBTQIA+ community for a while, and Governor DeSantis was directly responsible for the loss of my job, a decline in mental health, and the loss of both my gender-affirming hormones and antidepressants. I was actually in relapse and battling headaches, brain zaps, and more on my journey to Colorado.

RT: How’s your reception been in Colorado?

LRT: I’ve felt much more comfortable in Colorado overall compared to Florida. While there are a few areas in the state that are a little less welcoming, I have become very attached to the Longmont, Lafayette, Erie, and Boulder areas.

RT: What was the inspiration for LunaFest?

LRT: Sometime around April of 2023, I was chatting about throwing a celebration for my second year of hormone replacement therapy in May. Bands offered to perform when they heard the news, and I thought that would be a great idea.

I contacted some friends and found a pool hall that welcomed the event. Within a matter of weeks, 3 bands became 52. Food trucks, vendors, sponsors, and more suddenly became part of what became a festival, and the pool hall had to move its tables to accommodate the event.

Once I moved to Colorado, several bands and fans of the first event asked if I was doing it again, to which I replied, “Maybe, but definitely not in Florida.” To my surprise, many offered to come to Colorado, and thus LunaFest ’24 was born. I decided to run LunaFest ’24 under a Colorado non-profit organization I founded in December 2023. 

RT: You told us about your previous experience in Florida. How is this experience compared?

LRT: From having to pay out of pocket for all of my medicine and medical needs to having them fully covered by the state of Colorado, from having disgusted stares from most guests of every restaurant I entered to having smiles, some curious expressions, and a very rare judgmental gaze, and from sweat and mosquitoes to refreshing air and a rare fruit fly, I do not have a single regret moving away from Florida.

RT: You’re getting a lot of airplay now. How is that feeling?

LRT: It’s extremely validating, and it brings me joy that my efforts to benefit the community are being seen so quickly after only living here for a few months. I am putting just shy of 100 hours a week into the event, so it is wonderful that my dedication has not gone unnoticed.

RT: What do you see or hope the final outcome to be?

LRT: While my primary goal is to bring joy, health, entertainment, and safety to the community via our events, my long-term goal is to open a brick-and-mortar photography studio. I would certainly keep the organization and festivals going as well, since they are not technically a full-time obligation. If the non-profit grows enough to provide highly affordable or free entry, that is certainly a goal of mine, as long as the artists get paid exceptionally well. This will require a large volume of sponsorship, which is something that will take some time to grow.

RT: What is the non-profit for?

LRT: The first festival was inclusive, diverse, and exciting for every demographic, and the feeling of community it delivered sparked a special place in my heart to continue to provide that experience. The organization also provides help to those in need, partners with organizations to train people about the dangers of fentanyl and to stop overdoses, and donates to other benevolent organizations with similar missions.

Learn more about Lunafest2024 at https://lunarluxfest.com; we are sure there will be a band that tickles your fancy. Besides, tickets are incredibly affordable, starting at $30 for a day pass and $120 for a full event pass. Since many of the bands are playing for a cut, making this a sell-out event not only makes for a good time for all but it makes sure the bands get their fair share too. Sponsorships are also available.

The post Spotlight on Luna Wolf, producer, founder, and organizer of LunaFest 2024 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Photo by Luna Wolf

LunaFest 2024 is a helluva concert with over 70 bands playing over seven days in Boulder at DV8 Distillery.

The event runs from April 21st to 29th, 2024. The pre-party is on April 21st, 2024, and is being held at Velvet Elk with the party being kicked off by DJ Drake and Mr. Gettdowne. The post-party is April 29th, 2024, and the location is currently top-secret, but watch for its announcement. The genres run the gamut, but with over 70 bands, how could they not? Headlining acts include: Seckond Chaynce, Flobots, Spyda JC, Biotechnick, and Float Like a Buffalo.  See the full schedule here.

Seckond Chaynce

Float Like A Buffalo

Flobots

Biotechnick

Spyda JC

LunaFest bills itself as an inclusive event welcoming all. Since the founder fled Florida due to the draconian anti-LGBTQIA+ bills passed into law, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, we decided to sit down with her to hear her back story.

What’s your name?

Luna Rose Wolf. It is both my legal and chosen name.

How long have you been in Colorado?

I have been in Colorado since October 16th 2023.

Where did you come from?

Florida

How did you land in Colorado?

I sold my house, bought a truck and trailer, sold most of my belongings, and packed the rest in the trailer. Once it was ready to go, I drove for three days straight, sleeping in the back seat of the truck in between semis at truck stops whenever I began to feel worn down.

Did you leave Florida because there were problems?

Yes. The political environment of Florida has been getting exponentially worse for the LGBTQIA+ community for a while, and Governor DeSantis was directly responsible for the loss of my job, a decline in mental health, and the loss of both my gender-affirming hormones and antidepressants. I was actually in relapse and battling headaches, brain zaps, and more on my journey to Colorado.

How’s your reception been in Colorado?

I’ve felt much more comfortable in Colorado overall compared to Florida. While there are a few areas in the state that are a little less welcoming, I have become very attached to the Longmont, Lafayette, Erie, and Boulder areas.

Photo by Luna Wolf

What was the inspiration for LunaFest?

Sometime around April of 2023, I was chatting about throwing a celebration for my second year of hormone replacement therapy in May. Bands offered to perform when they heard the news, and I thought that would be a great idea.

I contacted some friends and found a pool hall that welcomed the event. Within a matter of weeks, 3 bands became 52. Food trucks, vendors, sponsors, and more suddenly became part of what became a festival, and the pool hall had to move its tables to accommodate the event.

Once I moved to Colorado, several bands and fans of the first event asked if I was doing it again, to which I replied, “Maybe, but definitely not in Florida.” To my surprise, many offered to come to Colorado, and thus LunaFest ’24 was born. I decided to run LunaFest ’24 under a Colorado non-profit organization I founded in December 2023. 

You told us about your previous experience in Florida. How is this experience compared?

From having to pay out of pocket for all of my medicine and medical needs to having them fully covered by the state of Colorado, from having disgusted stares from most guests of every restaurant I entered to having smiles, some curious expressions, and a very rare judgmental gaze, and from sweat and mosquitoes to refreshing air and a rare fruit fly, I do not have a single regret moving away from Florida.

You’re getting a lot of airplay now. How is that feeling?

It’s extremely validating, and it brings me joy that my efforts to benefit the community are being seen so quickly after only living here for a few months. I am putting just shy of 100 hours a week into the event, so it is wonderful that my dedication has not gone unnoticed.

Photo by Luna Wolf

What do you see or hope the final outcome to be?

While my primary goal is to bring joy, health, entertainment, and safety to the community via our events, my long-term goal is to open a brick-and-mortar photography studio. I would certainly keep the organization and festivals going as well since they are not technically a full-time obligation. If the non-profit grows enough to provide highly affordable or free entry, that is certainly a goal of mine as long as the artists get paid exceptionally well. This will require a large volume of sponsorship, which is something that will take some time to grow.

What is the non-profit for?

The first festival was inclusive, diverse, and exciting for every demographic, and the feeling of community it delivered sparked a special place in my heart to continue to provide that experience. The organization also provides help to those in need, partners with organizations to train people about the dangers of fentanyl and to stop overdoses, and donates to other benevolent organizations with similar missions.

Learn more about Lunafest2024 at https://lunarluxfest.com; we are sure there will be a band that tickles your fancy. Besides, tickets are incredibly affordable, starting at $30 for a day pass and $120 for a full event pass. Since many of the bands are playing for a cut, making this a sell-out event not only makes for a good time for all but it makes sure the bands get their fair share too. Sponsorships are also available.

Photo by Luna Wolf

The post Spotlight on Luna Wolf, producer, founder, and organizer LunaFest 2024 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Ruin: A New Play at Dairy Center for the Arts

Take a historic look into Colorado’s past via Blunt Force Drama and its premiere of Ruin: A New Play by Aaron Klass. It takes place in the Colorado territory during the spring of 1865 (many years prior to Colorado achieving statehood), in the ruins of old Fort Vasquez. A woman enlists the help of two frontiersmen to find her missing husband and the investigation leads them through an unexpected journey. Drawing on historical source material, this script paints a fictional portrait of the early years of Colorado’s history. Tickets start at $24; Ruin runs June 30–July 2 at the Carsen Theatre at the Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder. Visit www.thedairy.org for more information.

The Flobots at Levitt Pavilion 

“For us, the question remains the same. How do we use our music to speak to inspire positive transformation? And the answer is the same: we have to reach people deep down — in unexpected, visceral ways.” That quote is from Flobots frontman Jamie “Jonny 5” Laurie’s interview with YS back in 2017, while the band was touring in support of that year’s release NoEnemies, a double-EP of original and well-known protest songs. Since then, they’ve continued to tour heavily and released several new singles, all featuring their patented style of politically relevant activist hip-hop. Catch them at a special free show at Levitt Pavilion in Denver on July 1. Doors open at 6 p.m., visit www.LevittDenver.org for more information. 

Original art by Luis Eades at Dairy Center for the Arts

The Dairy Center for the Arts is home to a few visual arts galleries. Beginning July 7 is an exhibition of original paintings by Luis Eades, with an opening reception on July 8 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Eades was born in Madrid, Spain in 1923. His artistic career spanned nine decades and brought him to teach painting at the University of Colorado at Boulder for 38 years. “I make allusions in my work to the art of the past, as well as to cultures other than my own; I do so out of respect and because they have produced images and ideas that endure and enrich the way we perceive the world we live in,” Eades says in an artist statement from a previous exhibition at the William Havu Gallery in Denver. At the Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut Street, Boulder. Visit www.thedairy.org for more information.

Los Lobos with Ozomatli at Chautauqua Auditorium 

Iconic American rock band Los Lobos is an unparalleled celebration of American cultural diversity, drawing from a deep well of influences including rock, folk, blues, and traditional Mexican music that spans across a career of more than four decades. They’ll be joined by LA-bred Grammy Award winners Ozomatli for what promises to be an unforgettable show at Chautauqua Auditorium on July 8. Ozomatli’s eclectic sound blends Latin, hip-hop, reggae, funk, and rock influences into a wholly unique and stunning conflagration of musical genius. Don’t sleep on this one — it’s also the 135th Birthday Bash for the celebrated venue. Tickets start at $50, visit www.chautauqua.com for more information.

agriCULTURE: Art Inspired by the Land at various locations in Boulder

In agriCULTURE: Art Inspired by the Land, 18 local and national visual artists, in collaboration with Boulder County farmers, are exhibiting their works to showcase the connections between art and agriculture. These artists were commissioned to collaborate with farmers to shed light on the practices being used by the farming industry throughout the Front Range. The multi-venue exhibit includes work on view at two museums and site-specific installations at three local farms, including Ollin Farms in Longmont, the. Boulder JCC Milk & Honey Farm, and the Agricultural Heritage Center in Longmont. For details on all the locations, visit agriculture.stqry.app. These exhibits are now open through October 1, 2023.

The Book of Mormon at Buell Theatre 

One of the biggest and most extravagant musicals to tour the country is back in Denver for a few weeks – and tickets will surely be hard to come by. Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s hit musical The Book of Mormon returns to the Buell Theatre from June 21–July 2. The mega-hit musical follows the story of a pair of missionaries sent to the other side of the world. The original Broadway musical won nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and the New York Times has called it, “the best musical of this century.” Tickets range from $35 to $130. Visit denvercenter.org for more information.

The post Scene Stealers | June 2023 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

“Our default is complete freedom.”

There’s a lot in that simple statement from Flobots MC Johnny 5 (a.k.a James Laurie). In context, he was talking about the way the Flobots has always approached making albums — free from studio meddling. But there’s a greater meaning here that applies directly to the band’s new double-album release NOENEMIES, dropping May 5. The first half of the effort is a slick studio album with plenty of production featuring plenty of guests on horns and strings. The second half is a recording of regional protest songs from around the country. You know, the stuff freedom was built on. Funded entirely through a Kickstarter campaign that blew way past the original ask, NOENEMIES is a significant undertaking. Here, Laurie, talks about learning the language of the protest song, living in a deeply divided world, and working with Wonderbound, Denver’s contemporary ballet company.

French Davis: Your last album came out in 2012. A lot has changed since then — locally, nationally, internationally. How about with the Flobots?

James Laurie: A lot has definitely changed since 2012. But In some ways it’s only a matter of scale. In 2008 when we wrote Fight With Tools (Universal, 2007), there was a sense that a generation was waking up from the warmongering policies of the Bush administration. In 2011, you had the Arab spring and the Occupy Wall Street movement. Then of course, in the last few years we’ve had Black Lives Matter. It’s been interesting to watch the very idea of “waking up” become so widespread that “woke” is now a commonly used term. And now with the new administration, a new wave of people taking to the streets has stirred an ever-more widespread appetite for protest culture. For us, the question remains the same. How do we use our music to speak to inspire positive transformation? And the answer is the same: we have to reach people deep down — in unexpected, visceral ways.

FD: Tell us about NOENEMIES — the cuts you chose, the recording process, the messages you’re sending on this one. It’s a two-album project, starting with a collection of new music and then a collection of protest songs, right? Why lump this altogether?

JL: NOENEMIES came about through a very long process. For the first part of the process, we didn’t even realize we were making an album. We thought we were answering a question. A mentor of ours, Vincent Harding (social activist and Professor of Religion and Social Transformation at Illiff School of Theology in Denver — ed.), had always encouraged us to think more deeply about what “protest music” really meant. He emphasized to us that the southern freedom movement was a singing movement. People had songs that they knew, and they could sing them while they marched. “But where are the songs for today’s movements?” he would ask us. He honestly asked us that for like, 10 years in a row, and I don’t feel like we ever seriously tried to answer it. We hoped that listening to Fight With Tools might get people to go to a march, but we knew that once they’re there, it’s not like the whole crowd is going to start singing “Handlebars.”

Then in 2014, Dr. Harding passed away. It was kind of sudden and unexpected. At that point, we realized we had to try to answer his question. So we began gathering people from our community to try to sing songs together that could be used in marches and rallies. We did this over and over and over, all around our state, and even all around the country. We discovered that it wasn’t that hard to come up with songs that everybody could sing. Friends of ours who were part of marching bands started joining in. We developed a repertoire of “Common songs.”

And then we realized, hey, in creating this common culture, we’ve been cultivating the soil from which we can grow our new album. So, while the album contains very beautiful and polished studio tracks, with lush strings, horns and a vibrant gospel choir, those tracks were inspired and grown from all of the work we did with collective singing at the grassroots level.

It’s important to us to link the two: songs from the studio, and songs for the streets. Both of them are powerful in very different ways. The studio songs are like sculptures, finely crafted in a very specific way, and they live on the album you can buy. The songs for the streets are like stories that can be told and retold, altered and amplified. They live wherever a group of people are gathered to sing them.

FD: The entire cost of the album was funded by your Kickstarter campaign. Your goal was $50,000; you guys eclipsed that. When did you first decide to go this route instead of working with Shanachie again or another label?

JL: Of the three albums we’ve made, we only made one while we were actually on the label. Fight With Tools was made on our own, before Universal decided to release it. We made The Circle in the Square (Shanachie, 2012) completely on our own as well, and then began talking to labels. Our default is complete freedom. We knew that there was only one way to have that freedom: going directly to the fans. Taking that leap of faith was scary, so when people embraced the idea and lifted it up, it felt wonderful! At that point, it became very exciting because we knew that the only people we were beholden to were those people who truly care about our music. It made us want to create the best possible album we could imagine.

FD: Talk about the grassroots experiences you had collecting your protest songs — the different groups and places you went to collect them all.

JL: For our NOENEMIES project, we assembled people in a huge variety of settings. Sometimes it was climate activists in a church basement preparing for a march against the Keystone pipeline. Other times it was a retreat of national leaders of immigrants rights groups, sharing bilingual songs of empowerment. But it wasn’t always overtly cause-oriented. We took three weeks to travel the state of Colorado, visiting tiny rural communities and places we’ve never even heard of before, and asking people, What are the songs of your community? What is the emotional state change you would like to see here? We experienced some amazing answers. And even more amazing people. From the Southern Ute powwow to a hootenanny with cowboys in a town called Joe’s Colorado, to a singalong in a five-story-tall empty water tower in Rangely called The Tank where every note reverberates for 30 seconds, we found that immersing ourselves in real communities with real people helped keep us grounded in the music we were writing.

D: When you first started this project, I’m guessing you had no idea we’d be looking down the barrel of a Trump administration. How does that impact your feelings on this project, as you get ready to release it on Cinco de Mayo?

JL: We wrote this album with no idea that Trump would win. But at the same time, we knew for certain that the country would feel divided after the election. We knew this because it was divided before the election. And we know these divisions come from the way we consume our media. The internet’s current business model is to feed us information that supports our worldview. This means caricaturing and the scapegoating people with opposing opinions. The algorithms make us into enemies. So, we knew that, regardless of the election outcome, NOENEMIES would be both relevant and necessary.

FD: You’ve been touring around the state performing your new material with dance troupe Wonderbound in a show called Divisions. Can you tell us about that project and what the experience has been like?

JL: Two years ago, when we were in the middle of the album, our friends at Wonderbound ballet asked us if we wanted to partner for their spring 2017 season. We were like, that’s two years away, and we have no idea what will be doing then, but sure. It turned out, the album took way longer to finish than we thought, so the timing was perfect. We finished the songs just in time to hand it to the folks at Wonderbound and say, have at it! We also created the ballet’s title about nine months ago. Since the album spoke to the aspirational side of things, we thought we’d go the other direction with the ballet. Hence, Divisions. Divisions reflects the reality we are immersed in right now. Or at least the story of that reality. Working with a ballet to bring a hip-hop album to life is truly a powerful experience. We’ve done a lot of collaborations during our career, but I don’t think any of them has been as in-depth, or creatively fulfilling as this one. People should definitely not miss this.

FD: The national spotlight on Colorado music is definitely brighter now than ever. When you look around, what do you see that inspires you here?

JL: What’s beautiful about the music scene here, is the way that so many people support one another. Across genres. And across projects. So when Natalie Tate performs, there are members of Chimney Choir performing with her. Or when Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats blows up, you’re looking at some of the most talented and hard-working Denver musicians, all of them with their own history of projects they have poured themselves into over the years. Beyond that, it’s also been amazing to watch musicians step into new roles.

At Youth on Record, the organization we co-founded back in 2007, musicians from the community use their talent to help young people unlock their own tools for self-expression. That creates a positive feedback loop. As part of our NOENEMIES project, we’ve been joined by dozens of musicians who wanted to use their talents to lead songs in the streets. From the Gora Gora Orkestar, to Dan Aid from Wiredogs, to Laura Goldhamer, to Kid Astronavt, it’s really exciting to see.

Then you have groups like the Colorado Children’s Chorale’s 303 choir, who have been constant partners with us through this whole project, reminding us that whatever message we put out there, we’re putting it out there to the next generation. That has helped us remember to trust our listeners, and never assume that we have the whole story.

Finally, in this current political climate, it’s beautiful to see bands using their power to help defend communities who are being targeted. Several weeks ago, Nathaniel (Rateliff) and the Night Sweats performed a fundraiser at the Ogden to benefit Project Worthmore, a group that works with refugees, who we have close ties to. They didn’t have to do that, but they stepped up and did it. And so did Devotchka. And Joe Sampson. And Gora Gora. And we even snuck in a some Flobots songs.

Musically, the night was off the hinges. And we raised about $40,000 to go towards work with refugees. Stuff like that gives me hope.

The Flobots fourth studio album, NOENEMIES drops May 5, 2017, available for purchase at www.flobots.com. In celebration of the release of NOENEMIES, Flobots and Denver’s Wonderbound dance company will partner for a unique live performance collaboration – DIVISIONS. Set to Flobots performing live renditions of songs from NOENEMIES, DIVISIONS promises an intimate first encounter with Flobots’ brand new music, and an immersive exploration of the power of collective movement. DIVISIONS opens with three shows at Denver’s Performing Arts Complex at Pinnacle Charter School (1001 W. 84th Avenue) on April 14, 15 and 16, moves to the PACE Center (20000 Pikes Peak Avenue, Parker) on April 22 and 23, and then to the Newman Center for the Performing Arts (2344 East Iliff Avenue, Denver) on April 29 and 30. Get complete DIVISIONS details and purchase tickets at wonderbound.com.

The post Spotlight: It’s Times Like These We Need Flobots Most appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

It will be tough for the Democratic National Convention host committee to top its opening party Saturday. Perhaps getting Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Brad Pitt and a margarita bar in a swank hotel suite would do it. Short of that, it would seem the biggest party of the convention has already been thrown.
The Convention with Altitude shindig Saturday night kicked off the festivities for delegates and members of the media. It was at Elitch Gardens, and was essentially every eight-year-old’s dream.

We had the downtown amusement park to ourselves and everything was free: beer, games, carnival prizes, funnel cakes and of course a few healthy servings of Rocky Mountain Oysters. Many of the 9,000 attendees left with bags filled with stuffed animals and other gaudy prizes.

Perhaps the most underrated aspect of the party was getting to ride all the attractions without waiting in line. In a 10-minute period, we tackled the halfpipe twice and the Boomerang. I was pretty dizzy after that. Drinking three or four Killians prior to that probably didn’t help, either.

The Flobots stole the show on the main stage, giving a politically-charged performance that backed our belief that they’ll be the next big band to come out of Colorado.

Then, of course, there were the fireworks. Let’s hope the Colorado Rockies hire the same people for next year’s 4th of July show.

Coming from three different directions, the park was showered in bright-colored explosions for 15 minutes.

Guess we know were a chunk of the $40 million raised for the convention went to.

Needless to say, it was a heckuva way to start off the week, although judging from some bloodshot eyes today at media check in, it’s probably a good thing everyone had a day off before the convention starts tomorrow.

—Jacob Harkins, Yellow Scene Magazine editor

The post Needing a Day to Recover appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.