Acoustics

I have two very creative daughter-in-laws. One of them creates exquisite cake designs for the Colorado bridal marketplace. I have followed her works for years and each is specially crafted for a hopefully “once in a lifetime” event. Her latest is an understated, elegantly “simple” masterpiece to delight hundreds of festive wedding guests. The focus of this ditty is not wedding cakes but I would be remiss if I didn’t add that it is sheathed in glittering white sugar crystals for those of you who are into that type of thing. (www.intricateicings.com)


Her reputation has spread throughout the Eastern Slope area of the Rockies and beyond. Today is a relatively local event up in the majestic Rocky Mountain foot hills overlooking the spreading Denver metropolis. This area is a people magnet, especially for “outdoorsy” nature-loving young families. This delivery drive is nostalgic since our family spent most of the seventies living and working in the Denver area. In fact, both of our sons are Colorado natives.


Today’s venue is at a world famous natural amphitheater called simply “Red Rocks.” The drive winds up from our suburban altitude of 5400 feet to eventually a little over 6500 feet. It’s not a Mount Everest altitude of 30,000 feet but it still registers on my sea level-conditioned body. I strain to see all that is new in our “old stomping grounds” and then try to spot the sprawling Coors complex in Golden. Finally, we exit in Morrison for the final short drive to Red Rocks.


What exquisite beauty! The slopes of the Rocky Mountains are actually situated in desert-type climate so foliage is limited. We do spot some large mule deer grazing. One looks up to display his massive twelve point rack. This is four-wheeling country but I think that activity actually takes a back seat to hiking. It seems everyone has escaped the city today to don their hiking boots and venture up these majestic slopes.


Finally, we round a curve and slip through a thirty-foot high entrance carved into the red rocks. Just beyond are parking lots and the entrance to a 9450 seat natural outdoor amphitheater sculpted into the massive hundred-foot high red rocks. We slip into the delivery entrance and my daughter-in-law disappears into a banquet area with her massive creation. Now it’s time to hoist my grandson on my shoulders and explore the amphitheater and accompanying museum. It’s nostalgic to relive our Rod McKuen and John Denver concerts of our younger days, framed by the distant Denver cityscape in the background. This arena was likely used long ago by the Ute Indians and called the “Garden of the Titans” but has been in use commercially for over one hundred years. Renowned opera singer Mary Garden put Red Rocks on the world musical map with her performance on May 10, 1911. Having performed at many opera halls around the world, she pronounced Red Rocks the finest venue at which she had ever performed.


All of this is fascinating, but what I really find intriguing are the “everyday” folks who come here to personally try out this venue. Some “jocks” come to “run the seats” in this rarified air like Rocky running the steps of the Art Museum in the namesake film. But the folks I’ve really enjoyed since my first trip here are those who try out their lungs “down in the depths” of this huge natural amphitheater. For verification, they usually have friends stationed far above them, a football field length away on the lip of this wonder. They whisper, they shout, they sing, and some even put on a mini performance after they escape their shyness. To me, it’s a confirmation that we all want to be heard in our own way. This venue with its natural acoustics can and does bring that out in many of us. Unfortunately, few of us will ever have this opportunity and then it will probably be fleeting. As I reflect, I realize that most of us aren’t looking for “perfect acoustics” or a famous venue—we just want an outlet to be heard. The is just one Red Rocks Amphitheater but so many of us with a desire to be heard. Perhaps I can be a readily available listening ear for those without access to this or a similar facility. The question is, “Am I available as ‘an arena’ for them to be heard?”