I never cease to be amazed at the sheer amount of quality live music available in Northern Colorado. Music festivals happen here year round from Fort Collins to Greeley.
On June 10, one of Colorado’s most anticipated music events will kick off. The Greeley Blues Jam is a nationally recognized blues festival held every year at Island Grove Arena in Greeley, Colorado.
The Greeley Chamber of Commerce and the City of Greeley host the event, laying down 45,000 square feet of fresh green sod on the arena floor creating the perfect dance floor for bare feet of all ages. One of my twitter buddies said this is, “the best dance floor in the world,” and she should know, her husband plays in two Colorado bands.
The weekend kicks off on Friday, June 10, with free music at 9th Street Plaza and other venues in downtown Greeley, including restaurants and bars. Blues talent from around Colorado will be showcased from 11:30 a.m. until the late hours of the evening.
The Main Stage Greeley Blues Jam headliners on Saturday, June 11, at Island Grove include Robert Randolph and the Family Band, the North Mississippi Allstars Duo, Coco Montoya, Trampled Underfoot, The Nighthawks and Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers.
The Back Stage line up includes Erica Brown, the Otone Brass Band, Big Jim Adam, John Stilwagen, and Another Kind of Magick.
The Greeley Blues Jam is a festival for the entire family and shouldn’t be missed. Get all the information on the event at their website: www.greeleybluesfest.com.
I’m super excited to be giving away a pair of tickets to this event. You can enter to win tickets by leaving a comment below. Be sure to include your favorite live music memory, whether it was a concert under the stars, or a sing-a-long around the campfire. A winner will be chosen at random this Thursday (May 26) at 10 a.m.
Good luck! And as always, if you aren’t a winner, you can still attend by purchasing tickets at www.greeleybluesfest.com. Tickets are currently $25, and $30 at the door.
A Note from the Mayor: Be sure to visit the blues jam website for a chance to win a new Dobro Hound Dog acoustic guitar! You can also follow the Greeley Blues Jam on Facebook here.
— CONTEST NOW CLOSED —
Permalink
My favorite event was Jazz in the Woods when I lived in Kansas. There was barbecue, beer, and great live music.
Permalink
Oh yum… Kansas BBQ is the BEST! Thanks for the comment and good luck!
Permalink
WOW!! what a glorious way to spend a weekend!! My fondest memories is bluegrass at Telluride, soooo many years ago, with tons of great people, having specular laid back fun! I look forward to great sound emitting from the front range this summer and a chance to wiggle my toes in all that fresh green sod!
Permalink
The Telluride Bluegrass Festival is on my bucket list!!! Good luck!
Permalink
James Taylor, alone on a stage in Washington DC – singing the steamroller blues and holding the audience in the palm of his talented hand!
Permalink
Love James Taylor. 🙂
Good luck Suzanne!!!
Permalink
Seeing Phish for New Year’s Eve at Big Cyprus in 1999. Epic.
Permalink
I have a girlfriend who used to follow Phish around the country… 🙂 Ah the good old days. Thanks Eric & good luck.
Permalink
I dig blues… best concert I wish I was at ….1975 Junior Wells… at Teresa’s, in Chicago…
Permalink
So much good music in Chicago! We have relatives there. Wish we got out there more often. Thanks for the comment Nate. Best of luck!
Permalink
A few of my favorites have been a blues concert at Mishawaka, and Jalan Crossland at Avo’s.
Permalink
I’m super embarrassed to say I still haven’t been to The Mish. Driven by a million times on my way to Steamboat or camping, but have never caught a show there. Gotta change that! Thanks Kevin & bon chance!
Permalink
I attended a fantastic Blues festival in Eureka Springs, Arkansas many years ago. It was fantastic to wander and enjoy a fun and happy atmosphere with great music and great food.
Permalink
That reminds me that I failed to include the fact that there will be food and drink available at this festival as well.
Thanks for the comment Kristi! And good luck!
Permalink
Joe Bonamassa, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Robert Cray, and B.B. King at Fiddlers Green! Great shows, great weather, and cold beer.
Permalink
Those sound like GREAT concerts Jimmy. Fiddlers Green is an outstanding venue. Best of luck in this contest!
Permalink
Seeing Ani Difranco right after I finished college (the first time) with all of my feminist friends in Atlanta at Theatre of the Stars.
Permalink
Sounds like an awesome memory Yendra. Thanks for stopping by and entering this contest. Good luck!
Permalink
Taking the kids to Vail to see Weezer after a great day of skiing.
Permalink
That sounds like a good day indeed. I love me some pork and beans. 😉 Good Luck!
Permalink
Several fun music memories . . . one when I rode the train from Otis (Akron), Colorado, to Denver when I was a teenager, because my Aunt Jo had tickets to the Herman’s Hermits concert. Big time for a small-town girl. Some 45 years ago! Another trip to Denver on the train as a teenager to the Green Spider . . . a beatnik place, what fun that was! Many trips to Denver/Red Rocks transporting my daughter and her friends to Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cure, Bowie Spider Concert, Michael Jackson, Prince, New Order, Willie Nelson, Echo and the Bunnymen, DePeche Mode, etc. Lots of fun memories!
Permalink
AWw Gena! Such good music memories and all Colorado related. LOVE IT!! Good luck and thanks for entering!
Permalink
My favorite music memory would be last year’s New West Fest. My wife and I found a curb that we could stand on to see the Flobots. It raised us up nicely, but it also looked like there was room behind us. So we spent most of the concert directing traffic away from the Rose bushes that were actually behind us. At one point during the concert, a man walked through those very rose bushes from the other side. As he made his way across, he tripped and fell forward, right into a wagon that only moments ago held a sleeping little girl. The mom having had some foresight picked up the little girl just in time. Not the most pleasant experience, but VERY memorable.
Permalink
That mom’s spidey sense must have been turned on! Thanks for the story and thanks for entering the contest. Best of luck!
Permalink
So many great memories… But last summer Widespread Panic at Red Rocks there was a huge rainbow… too cool for words.
Permalink
Yep, that sounds pretty cool Andy.. way cool. I love Colorado rainbows. We used to live near Red Rocks. Such an amazing venue. Good luck!
Permalink
I’ll date myself now but the best live music memory I have is Pink Floyd, June 1994 @ Mile Hi Stadium – unforgettable – AWESOME SHOW – 13 rows from the stage!!!! ALL the shows I’ve seen @ Red Rocks through the years have been great – love that place too!!! Aerosmith – August 2009, Fiddlers Green, Tom Petty – June 2010, Red Rocks… I could go on and on….. Anyone remember the Blues on the Rocks shows back in the day?? BHT&M used to open up the shows – Fabulous memories!
Permalink
I think we’re so lucky to have so many amazing music venues here in Colorado and Deb, it sounds like you’ve been to most of them!!! Awesome concert lineup. Good luck!
Permalink
I took her to The Stones (with George Thorogood & Heart) at Folsom Field in October, ’81 and she took me to John Denver at Red Rocks in ’82 – both great shows with great memories!
Permalink
What is how to keep a marriage together? LOL! I wish I could have seen John Denver in concert. My dad’s a guitarist and I grew up listening to JD music. Good luck Marc! Maybe you’ll get a chance to take her to GBJ!
Permalink
My favorite concert was last summer at the Pepsi Center. James Taylor and Carol King together. It was wonderful!
Permalink
As I mentioned earlier, James Taylor would be amazing to see. Jealous. That sounds like a great memory!!! Good luck!
Permalink
I remember seeing Robert Randolph and the Family Band in 2002 play with the Del McCoury Band on stage and did a beautiful rendition of “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” that at the time took my breath away.
Permalink
I feel that way about a massing of the bands I saw years ago during a Scottish Festival in Washington State. It was two football fields full of pipe bands from Canada and the United States. When they played Amazing Grace and Scotland the Brave it literally took my breath away. Good luck AE!
Permalink
Talk about dating yourself… my favorite concert was probably my very first concert. It was August, 1973 at the Iowa State Fair and it was Elton John. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Double LP had just came out… I’ve seen him 4 other times since then but that one was the best! I was almost 15, didn’t smoke any pot that day but I did inhale ; )
Permalink
Elton John played the Iowa State Fair??? Now that’s just crazy talk. LOL! I once saw Garth Brooks make a surprise visit to a tiny county fair near my hometown in the 90s. My friend and I thought we were going to get crushed by the crowd rushing the stage. Pretty memorable. 🙂 Thanks Vicki! Good luck!
Permalink
I have lots of great concert memories including Steve Miller Band, Billy Joel, Pearl Jam and Jimmy Buffet. But, my favorite right now is finally getting to see my little brother play drums at FoCoMX. He’s been playing for 10 plus years and I’ve never gotten to see it live. Was awesome!!!
Permalink
Fort Collins is so luck to have FoCoMx!!! Thanks for your comment and good luck!
Permalink
My husband and I have recently started going to shows again, we used to see a lot when we were first dating 11 or so years ago. Last year we saw Spoon and 2 Door Cinema Club at the Ogden in Denver. Love those date nights!! We LOVE Robert Randolph, so this would be a cool prize to win. Thank you for the opportunity!
Permalink
Denver date nights are gooooooood!!! And a concert date night even better! Thanks for entering Angie… good luck!
Permalink
The winner of a pair of tickets to Greeley Blues Jam is Morgan T. You have been contacted via email. Congrats!!!
Thank you to everyone who entered and thanks for all the great music memories. Please remember that tickets to GBJ are still available through their website http://www.greeleybluesfest.com/. It’s going to be an amazing event so don’t miss it!
Permalink
Permalink
I have so many good music memories I hardly know where to start. First rock concert was front row center for the Rolling Stones in 1965. But my best blues memories are from 1968 in San Diego (not all at the same time, of course): Lightnin’ Hopkins, Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Wells, Bo Diddley, John Mayall, Charlie Musselwhite, Paul Butterfield, and the biggest thrill of all – meeting Brownie McGhee upstairs before the show at a little club in La Mesa, California. And I still have my autographed Lightnin’ Hopkins “Mojo Hand” LP.
Permalink
MY best musical memory is from 1983. My friend John,brother Tim and I were living in Sterling and were new to Colorado.On a last minute whim we decided to go see Elvis Costello at Red Rocks.We were kinda bummed because our tickets were in the second to the last row. By the time the sun went and EC came out we could see all the city lights while a full moon rose directly behind the stage. Out on the far plains to the left and right of the stage were tremedous lightning storms.I thought the worst seats at Red Rocks were far better than the best seats in most venues.