Ask any up-and-coming band with stardom aspirations where they would like to play when they “make it,” and 99 percent of those performers will likely answer “Red Rocks.”
“If you’ve ever been to that place, it’s pretty special,” said Eric Bullock, guitar player for Denver rock band Ignatius Reilly. “If a couple thousand screaming people are yelling your music back at you at Red Rocks, there’s not much of a better feeling that I can think of.”
Ignatius Reilly has those aspirations. Formed two years ago, the band fits perfectly with Denver and Boulder’s numerous rock and roll bands that lean into jam-band territory, with one foot in the alternative country genre and the other in guitar and piano driven funk.
The emerging band is starting to make its way around the state, building a growing fan base and creeping closer to fulfilling that dream of performing on the Red Rocks stage. The band – Bullock, Brock Elam on guitar and vocals, Ethan Ice on keyboards, bass and vocals, and Jeff Lane on drums and vocals – will have a two-night run atop the corner of College and Main, with performances at The Balcony tonight and tomorrow.
See them when you can say “I saw them when … ” as they tour around the state in support of their EP, “Seersucker Vest,” a short record with tracks dipping into familiar rock territory of blues, alternative country and extended, guitar-driven jams.
No band members are from Denver. But when they ended up there, each brought musical influences from his own geographic region.
“Everybody has a different dynamic. Brock is from Savannah, Georgia, he’s the outlaw country guy. Ethan from the Bay Area, the jam-band scene influenced him. Jeff from Knoxville has country and some bluegrass influence, I’m from Louisville (Kentucky), I grew up on rock and roll,” Bullock said. “But Neil Young is one of all of our biggest influences.”
Jam bands have set the performance bar high, extending their time on the stage to over two hours; standard in the jam world is two sets plus a long encore.
Ignatius Reilly honors this schedule, with shows in the two hour and then some range. It’s bands like this that really will give the paying fan their money’s worth, giving back to the audience if the audience is willing to make the musicians stay on stage.
“We tend to do two long sets, we’re accustomed to the three-hour or four-hour show and we’re happy to do that,” Bullock said. “It depends on the crowd and what the venue’s feeling, but if they’re into it, we’re into it.”
[email protected]. Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager.
Reader Comments