Last night, Jan. 13, Denver Comes Alive, a high-octane two-day mini-festival, returned to the Mission Ballroom in Denver. The first evening, hosted by Ari Fink, was focused on bluegrass and saw sets by Maggie Rose, the Kitchen Dwellers, Winter Wonder Women and a uniting main set by Yonder Mountain String Band, all of which was in benefit of Backline.
After exceptional sets by the aforementioned acts, Yonder Mountain String Band and fiddliest Jason Carter opened their festival-style performance with "Out of the Blue." From there, they played "Boatman" and a nod to the Mile High City, "40 Miles From Denver." Yonder Mountain String Band and Carter finished their finger warm-ups with "I Just Can't" before they welcomed Billy Failing on banjo and Lindsey Lou on vocals for "What the Night Brings."
From there, the set took off: Failing remained on stage for a run of "Rambler" > "Looking Back Over My Shoulder" > "On the Run," and the fretboard fireworks continued to fly as Nick Piccininni, and Jason Carter both took on the role of fiddliest for "Cherokee Shuffle." After a wild bass solo by Ben Kaufmann, they played "OTR" back into "Rambler," effectively bookending the jam. The ensemble's format stayed consistent for "Suburban Girl" before Tyree Woods joined on lead vocals for "Jesus On The Mainline" and "Ragdoll."
After the segment with Woods, Yonder Mountain String Band flowed into another jam, this time comprised of three songs: " Raleigh and Spencer" into the penultimate "Nowhere Next" and finally, "R&S" to close the frame. After much applause and wiping of brows, the ensemble returned with Failing and Woods for a rousing adaptation of "Dancing in the Moonlight."
Denver Comes Alive will celebrate again tonight, Jan. 14, at the Mission Ballroom, focusing on the funkier side of things with performances by Lettuce, The Main Squeeze the Word and more.
Yonder Mountain String Band
Mission Ballroom – Denver
Jan. 13, 2023
Denver Comes Alive!
Set: Out of the Blue, Boatman, 40 Miles From Denver, I Just Can’t, What the Night Brings *#, Rambler * > Looking Back Over My Shoulder* > On the Run *> Cherokee Shuffle *! > Bass solo> OTR * > Rambler*, Suburban Girl*, Jesus On The Mainline *^, Ragdoll *^, Raleigh and Spencer * > Nowhere Next * > R&S*
Enc.: Dancing in the Moonlight*^
Notes:
Entire show w/Jason Carter on Fiddle
* w/ Billy Failing on banjo
# w/ Lindsey Lou on lead vocal
! w/ Nick and Jason Carter double fiddles
^ w/ Tyree Woods on lead vocal
