8-26-12 Girls Night: Bonnie Raitt at Red Rocks

I think I've blogged before about Steph and Deana, but since this is my page and I can't remember, I might as well play the senile card and tell the story again.

Stephanie and I have known each other since the first grade, when we shared the beloved Mrs. Tulloch as our teacher. That's me in the front row center, blue jumper, and Stephanie, front row, further to the right.

And for the rest of our classes at Easthaven through 6th grade, there we are, both on the front row, in every class picture. Then I moved to Thompson, she went to Broadway, and we both ended up at Dobie, in very different crowds. We never had classes together. The most I saw of her was when she was working at Luby's and I was eating there all the time.

It wasn't until myspace came along that we reconnected, and then migrated over to Facebook. There were plans to see one another at the 20th reunion, but Steph didn't end up going. Finally, in 2010, we got together over the September 11 weekend, the day after I'd done my first Red Rocks 9/11 memorial stair climb, to hike the Chicago Lakes trail near Mt. Evans. She brought along Deana, who had also gone to Easthaven, but only in the summers, when I didn't attend. Deana was also at Dobie, but we only vaguely knew of each other's existence. Since Steph was only in Colorado for a short visit that time, she combined both of us into a visit. I'm so very thankful she did. 

This was the infamous hike all day in which, combined with the strain of the stair climb the day before, finally blew my knee out. Deana and Steph carried all my pack while I Franken-hiked back the whole way. But then there was pie. And much rejoicing. And a lovely friendship blossomed between the three of us.

Which brings us, finally, to the subject of this blog, which was Sunday night's concert at Red Rocks to see Bonnie Raitt.We hit old town Morrison along with a bunch of other concert goers to eat at Morrison Inn (mexican food, of course) and took our time visiting before getting to the concert. 

This was a change of pace for me, since I am usually going in as soon as the gates open, and typically have a reserved seat. We'd gotten general admission (aka, nosebleed) this time, so whatever space was open was where we were sitting in the very top rows. 

But honestly, who cared where we sat? This is the view from the nosebleed section:

And this is the sound (and some more of the view. Don't miss the moon.)

That voice.

The whole amphitheater is naturally formed and believed to have once been home to sacred rituals of the Ute tribe. The first concert was played here in 1906. Red Rocks was once called the Garden of Angels. And this is simply a magical place. When Bonnie sang "Angel from Montgomery? there was not a sound, other than that amazing voice carrying us all out over the top of the city.