Dave Matthews travelled to Commerce City, Colorado on August 15 to perform for 100,000 + fans who had gathered for the 2010 Mile High Music Festival. I know that I am biased, but I contend that there is nothing better in this world you can do for yourself than go to watch Dave and the boys play live. Add to this a perfect summer evening in Colorado, a cold beer and a killer sunset and there you have it, nirvana. Oh yes did I mention front row, no make that in front of the front row seats.

Over 60 photographers were led like school children to photo pit just before the start of the show, 3 songs, no flash, the standard shoot. I had been pushed out to the outside of the pit the night before for Jack Johnson so tonight I decided to assert myself a little and scored a nice starting location stage left about 2o feet from Dave. We had a long wait before Dave came out and I had a great deal of anxiety trying to decide whether I should stay with the f2.8 70-200lens  like most of the rest of the photogs or go for my fairly new f2.8 15-55 wide angle lens and get some unique wide shots. I changed from the wide angle to the zoom and hunkered down. The roar of the massive crowd was truly intense when Dave finally hot the stage, and even Dave seemed set back by the roar of his 100,000+ fan club.

After a few shots I moved across the pit through the dense traffic of 60 photogs and toook a few of Tim Reynolds located on stage right near the back of rge stage. Great lights are standard fare for DMB shows than this was no excpetion. Two huge screens where located on both sides of the main stage and two huge monitors were also placed at the back of the main stage, one above the other.

For a complete set of photos from this performance see my Flickr set here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gonzoshots/sets/72157624845582952/

I am about half way through the 4,000 + shots from this years incredible Mile High Music Festival so I thought I would put up a few more photos for those of you who keep coming back for more. Please check back soon for individual posts for Jack Johnson, Dave Matthews, My Morning Jacket, Nas and Damian Marley, Donavon Frankenreiter, Houses, Bobby Long, The Samples, The Motet, Keller Williams, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, Slightly Stoopid, Cypress Hill, Phoenix, The Chain Gang of 1974, Drive By Truckers, TR3, Jimmy Cliff, Train, Trevor Hall and Weezer.

Jack Johnson

Drive By Truckers

Tim Reynolds of TR3 and Dave Matthews Band

Bobby Long who just signed onto Dave Matthews label.

Donavon Frankenreiter

Amos Lee

Damian Marley

Nas

Slightly Stoopid

Train

Weezer

The Fans

The Grand Arch of Mile High Music Festival 2010

And one more just because he is Dave.

See the ever growing Flickr set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gonzoshots/sets/72157624621183189/

Brett Dennen (born October 28, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter from Oakdale, California who performed at the Usana Amphitheatre in Salt Lake City, Utah on August 17,2019, warming up for Dave Matthews. I first saw Brett perform live last fall at the 2009 Rocky Mountain Folk festival in Lyons Colorado where he was a clear stand out and drove the crowd wild with his incredible voice and disarming charm.

Biography

In 2004, Dennen released his first self-titled album, Brett Dennen. His second album, So Much More, including the singles "Ain’t No Reason", "She’s Mine" and "Darlin’ Do Not Fear". Dennen also contributed a cover of "Private Life" to the 2006 tribute album Drink To Bones That Turn To Dust: A Toast To Oingo Boingo. Dennen’s music has been featured in several television shows, including Roadtrip Nation on PBS, Grey’s Anatomy, the House episode "Family", The Unit episode "Freefall", and theScrubs episode "My No Good Reason".

He also appeared shoeless on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on April 8, 2008, Late Night with Conan O’Brien on February 9, 2009, The Ellen DeGeneres Show on April 21, 2009, The Late Show with David Letterman on October 9, 2009, and was the featured guest on Last Call with Carson Dalyon December 22, 2009.

In addition to television series, Dennen’s music, for reasons not immediately clear, has also been used in national advertising campaigns for companies such as Hilton Hotels. His single- Heaven has also been used in the ipod/iphone app taptap revenge

He has toured extensively across the U.S. with his band, opening for better known musicians such as John Mayer, Michael Franti, and guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela. In 2007, he toured with Guster and singer-songwriters Meiko and Joshua James.

Dennen has been a part of The Mosaic Project, a San Francisco Bay Area-based non-profit organization, since its inception. The Mosaic Project works towards a peaceful future by uniting young children of diverse backgrounds, providing them with essential skills to thrive in an increasingly diverse society, and empowering them to strive for peace.

As The Mosaic Project’s Resident Rock Star, Dennen created an original musical curriculum for the program, which they released as an album called Children’s Songs for Peace and a Better World, in 2003. It won a Children’s Music Web 2004 Award [1] and a Parent’s Choice 2004 Approved Award.

In November 2007, Dennen was named as one of Rolling Stone Magazine’s "10 Artists To Watch."

In 2008, Entertainment Weekly named Dennen one of its eight "Guys on the Rise"

After a spring tour co-headlining with Mason Jennings and Missy Higgins, He spent the summer of 2008 on tour with John Mayer and Colbie Caillat, playing festivals such as the Rothbury Music Festival in Michigan, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Lyons Folk Festival, and the Mile High Music Festival in Colorado.

Dennen is tenuously signed to Downtown Records through a partnership with Dualtone.

In 2008, Dennen, along with Jason Mraz, contributed the song "Long Road to Forgiveness" to the Survival International charity album Songs for Survival. Earlier in the fall, Dennen toured Australia with Pete Murray.

In late October, Hope for the Hopeless, Dennen’s third album, was released on the Downtown/Dualtone partnership. The song "Ain’t Gonna Lose You" was featured on Grey’s Anatomy and topped the iTunes folk charts. The record reached number 6 in the digital charts, and was followed by a successful mini-tour.

In January 2009, Dennen embarked on a 3-month headlining tour of the US, with support acts Erin McCarley and Angus & Julia Stone. Dennen also announced plans to tour the UK and Europe, including a show at the Hoxton Bar & Kitchen in London on the 7th May.

In 2009, Brett’s song "Ain’t Going to Lose You" was also used in the closing sequence of an Ugly Betty episode. Brett also played a major songwriting role in the July 14th solo debut release of the Crosby Loggins album "Time To Move", which also features John Mayer.

On August 1, 2009, Dennen performed at the Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. On the Waterside Stage he and his band performed the following songs to an overflow crowd: "When You Feel It," "Who Do You Think," "Wrong About Me," "Ain’t No Reason," "Darlin,’" "Heaven," "I Ain’t Gonna Lose You," and "She’s Mine."

For a complete set of photos of this performance see my Flickr set here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gonzoshots/sets/72157624702161427/

For those of you who have come to this site to see photos of Denver’s Mile High Festival please be patient, I will many, many photos up very soon. But in the mean time here re a few to hold you over. Sorry for the omission of Jack Johnson photos but don’t worry I have many great shots just out of time and still on the road home.

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The Samples performed at the 2010 Mile High Music Festival with all their original members. This historic coming together of the original members has been a long time coming as they have not played together in over 15 years. The Samples were a band formed in Boulder, Colorado in early 1987. The band’s name came from the members’ early sustenance of food samples from the local grocery store. The music has been described as “reggae influenced folk and rock/pop”.

The founding members were Sean Kelly (Guitar/Vocals), Andy Sheldon (Bass/Vocals), Charles Hambleton (guitar), Jeep MacNichol (Drums/Vocals), and Al Laughlin (Keyboards, Vocals).

Their live shows helped them on the college circuit selling out venues in the 1990’s. Their records blended soulful pop sensibility with a mix of folk, reggae, jazz, and rock to create their own signature sound. They wrote songs about nature and the environment giving the band an “eco-friendly” reputation.

The band headlined the H.O.R.D.E. tour shows in 1993 and 1996 and they shared the bill with Sting The Allman Brothers Band,Blues Traveler, Spin Doctors Collective Soul Widespread Panic and Phish. On their own tours, many up and coming bands opened up for them including Dave Matthews Band, Tragically Hip, Hootie & the Blowfish, andLisa Loeb. They have also appeared on The Jay Leno Show.

Since the last time Sean played with the original lineup he has recorded six or seven Samples CDs under The Samples name and continued with non stop touring since 1996. He is currently working on a solo album to be out in the near future and has a song on a major movie coming out soon called Santorini Blue starring Richard Belzer Ice T and Deirdre Lorenz.

Charles Hambleton and his team recently produced and had a major role in the Oscar award winning documentary (The Cove). Jeep has released 2 successful albums under the name Mr. Anonymous and made several videos and performs regularly available on youtube and hosts a weekly reggae radio show on 95.3 Fm or greenlightradio.com in Colorado every Thursday from 4:00 PM to 6:00 Pm.

Andy has also recorded 1 solo album available on cdbaby.com. Al has also released an album under the name Highway 50 and played in numerous bands as well. “It has been 12 years since this group has played together and it is going to be magical to reunite with original members.” Sean Kelly”

For a complete set of photos of this performance see my Flickr set here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gonzoshots/sets/72157624853614168/

I am shooting the Mile High Music Festival directly for AEG this year, August 14th and 15th in Denver, special access should make for some great shots, stay tuned..

To see photos of last years festival click here: http://gonzoshots.com/archives/1184