The Lumineers kick off their tour at Mission Ballroom. (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)
Denver music lovers have a new playground. The Mission Ballroom officially opened its door last night for their first ever concert courtesy of hometown crooners The Lumineers. The venue itself is a spectacle and thing of beauty. We had a chance to check out the soft opening a few days ago, but this was our first time covering a show there. Amongst the many amenities of the venue include amazing sight lines (not a bad seat in the house), gorgeous murals adoring the walls throughout (sourced from some Denver’s best artist), relatively pain-free beer lines (they even have tall-boy White Claws).
The sold out crowd took to their seats as Irish country star Jade Bird kicked things off with her unique take on a genre which had her singing with no recourse and gaining new fans. We first saw Jade Bird about three years ago at SXSW and knew then she was going to be a star.
The venue is able to accommodate from 2,200 to 3,950. For The Lumineers it was a perfect way to introduce the venue as founding members Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites got their careers started right down the road at open mic nights at The Meadowlark. “If you built it, they will come” proclaimed Schultz in between songs. With a new album set to drop in September the crowd got a heavy dose of new material leading up to a few toe-tapping, tambourine shaking favorites such as “Opheia”, “Ho, Hey” and “Stubborn Love”.
We can sit here and blast you with praise about the venue(we would rather you check it out yourself), but it was The Lumineers that shined and what a better way to introduce to you the Mission Ballroom.
Jade Bird howling away. (Photo Credit: Robert Castro)
Words and photos: Robert Castro
