Nathaniel Rateliff announced a live album, Red Rocks 2020, captured at the iconic Colorado venue just outside of the singer-songwriter’s home base of Denver with a limited capacity crowd due to the pandemic. Rateliff previewed the live LP, due out on July 16 via Stax Records, with the single “Mavis.”
Rateliff’s annual Red Rocks concerts are always among the most anticipated of the year. But 2020 looked as if it would change that. The pandemic posed challenges, however, Rateliff and company found a way to carry on what has become a Colorado tradition.
Rateliff detailed the effort in a statement. Read his words below:
We started out 2020 very excited. The solo record [And It’s Still Alright] was out and me and most of the guys in the Night Sweats were going hit the road to present the songs to the world. We were looking forward to performing the songs together with a string quartet and how it was going to make us better band. We had some of our favorite songwriters and friends hitting the road with us. With a grand finale at Red Rocks with Kevin Morby and Damien Jurado. Then the world came to stand still.
The songs on And It’s Still Alright are about finding hope in times of struggles, and now it seemed the whole world was struggling. So, few months into the pandemic we started to wonder if there was a way to bring the show we worked so hard on to everyone. If you can’t find a light you have to create one. Somehow, we were able to play 6 nights at Red Rocks with the full 10-piece band and the production we had created for the show. Kevin Morby and Katie Crutchfield drove out from Missouri to join us. Five of the night had 175 people and one night we filmed to an empty amphitheater that normally holds 10.000 people. It was beautiful to be there, even if it was 175 people. But the night we recorded this record it was heart breaking. It was a realization that our world had changed and maybe forever. Needless to say, it was a hard night to make it through. But we did it and now we are bringing it to you.
Not only did singer-songwriters Kevin Morby and Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) join in, Rateliff was also backed by members of his longtime band The Night Sweats including bassist Joseph Pope III, keyboardist Mark Shusterman, multi-instrumentalist Patrick Meese and guitarist Luke Mossman as well as drummer and guitarist James Barone and string section Joy Adams (cello), Rachel Sliker (viola), Adrienne Short (violin) and Chris Jusell (violin).
Rateliff released his solo album And It’s Still Alright in February 2020. During his Red Rocks run he performed the album track “Mavis,” which he shared to preview Red Rocks 2020.
Watch Nathaniel Rateliff and company perform “Mavis” at an empty Red Rocks below via the JamBase Live Video Archive:
Red Rocks 2020 Tracklist
- Tonight #2
- All Or Nothing
- Expecting To Lose
- Shroud
- You Need Me
- Right On
- What A Drag
- Still Out There Running
- Early Spring Till
- Kissing Our Friends
- Oil & Lavender
- This
- There Is A War
- Mavis
- Still Trying
- And It’s Still Alright
- Time Stands
- Rush On
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