CONCERT RECAP: Bonobo brings Outlier and a bunch of friends to Red Rocks Amphitheatre
This is the proof that dance music is best heard surrounded by sandstone.
I don’t think I have been to a venue as perfect as Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The way every genre seems to be elevated at Red Rocks is fascinating to me, and it has been a dream of mine to one day catch a dance show at Red Rocks. Being in the middle of huge sandstone rock formations surrounding the amphitheater with lights, lasers, bumping bass, and one of the greatest genres imaginable seems like a recipe for a beautiful night. When I discovered Bonobo was bringing his Outlier series to Red Rocks, I knew I had to be there. The lineup consisted of Bonobo, Barry Can’t Swim, Sofia Kourtesis, and Yu Su with Chris Lake as a special guest which is a perfect amalgamation of some of my favorite artists in electronic music and dance music.
Yu Su opened the evening with an easy set filled with a global curation of electronic music and genres like IDM and certain songs with heavy ambient influences. Opening up a set with some lightweight music and ambient techno is a smart way for the crowd to settle into the night before going crazy as the night continues.Â
Sofia Kourtesis came on next and balanced her set between her original songs such as Madres and Si Te Portas Bonito and other great deep house cuts like Laurence Guy’s Hey Baby, Caribou’s Honey, and Disclosure’s She Gone, Dance On. She brings a lot of energy to her DJing, balancing singing her original songs and dancing on stage for the rest of the set. Finally catching her live was amazing, and from our very brief chat, she was very nice and gracious.
Barry Can’t Swim was the third act on the bill and might’ve been worth the price of admission himself. I found Barry Can’t Swim from his song Jazz Club After Hours from 2021, and I have been a fan of his work since. His 2023 album When Will We Land? was a favorite of mine last year. He has risen even more with his festival run playing incredible sets at Coachella, Primavera, and Glastonbury. Here, Barry performed a set mostly comprised of his originals from When Will We Land? like How It Feels, Sunsleeper, and Dance of the Crab as well as the recently released single Still Riding.
I got to meet him after his set, and he’s genuinely an incredible guy who talked about how excited he was to finally have the Kali Uchis sample cleared on Still Riding, though it’s new for everyone, it’s an old track for him since he’s been playing it for a bit. I wished him luck in Austin since he was playing weekend one of Austin City Limits, and he told me how excited he was to spend some time in the city and Texas.
Bonobo was the closer of the night. The lights really kicked up a notch during his set as he played songs from his extensive discography including his recently released single Expander and songs from the 2022 album Fragments with songs like Rosewood and Age of Phase having extended club versions that really elevated the set. Hearing songs like Linked and Fold live was fantastic to witness. Â
Bonobo welcomed Chris Lake on stage about an hour and a half into his set where for the last hour before curfew the two went B2B playing a ton of great house music including Joy Orbison’s flex fm and Chris Lake collab with Sammy Virji, Summertime Blues. Together they were a force of nature creating a beautiful closer of a set. Chris Lake has a relaxed swagger to him that plays perfectly in Bonobo’s meditated energy, so as they share the stage it feels like two pros playing a perfect set while just having a good time.
As a whole, it was a fantastic night filled with excellent music and high energy led by Bonobo and filled with an incredible accompaniment of some of the best in dance music currently.