Award for best DJ dressed like he is about to go to a nice family dinner Flume. Sporting a blue button-down, khakis, and perfectly side-parted hair, the Australian DJ was a crowd favorite. He was a pro and managed to get the mostly-full venue dancing and screaming well before the sun went down.
Award for creepiest guy of the night The neon tank-wearing bro who was pointed out to me by a friend because he was so obviously grinding his teeth. When he was first spotted he was about fifteen rows ahead of us, but in some kind of move only capable of a teenager high off his ass, he managed to suddenly appear behind us ten seconds later to ask how our night was going. He used at least three too many "Heys" in his greeting.
Award for the most state pride The girl who somehow managed to wear a Colorado-state-flag bandana as a top. That must have taken some serious planning.
Award for surpassing the crowd's expectations: Chromeo. The duo took way too long to set up, and many in the crowd were wondering if it would be able to equal or surpass Cut Copy's fantastic set.Chromeo does throwback, stuck-in-your-head-for-weeks dance songs well, but would it be Red Rocks good? Yes. The show was simple and wonderful. The iconic girls'-legs synth stands glowed perfectly against the night sky. Dave-1 and his metallic guitar and tight pants strutted around the stage like Mick Jagger at his height of sexual prowess. It was a short set, and there were few whistles and bells, but there wasn't one person who wasn't dancing with the possible stranger next to her during "Fancy Footwork."
Award for the sulkiest Red Rocks attendees The group of ten or so eighteen-year-olds who spent most of Cut Copy's set sitting down and playing with their phones while passing around a vape pen. Maybe they just didn't understand electronic music that wasn't full of ear-drum shattering "whomps," but they missed a good party.Award for stealing the show Cut Copy. They played a longer set than Chromeo and they threw out every ounce of energy they could into the ecstatic crowd. They had simple visuals, mostly psychedelic swirls and yellow and red tinted lights, spot-on playing. And Dan Whitford's vocals are as enrapturing live as they are blaring out of a speaker at a house party.
Award for most confusing visual Cut Copy again. For most of their set, the back drop was just simple text that read "Free Your Mind." It would've been inspiring, and came close to be a fitting message for the night. However it was printed in white text on a blue background in the exact same font Facebook uses. No one wants Facebook to tell them to free their mind. What was meant to be inspiring was ultimately just unsettling and unwanted.
Award for best performance of the night Mother nature. The ominous clouds that had built in the west managed to stay away. The light breeze that wafted through the venue every ten minutes or so was a welcome relief. And the double rainbow that stretched across the venue right before sunset that is probably all over Denver's Instagram accounts was the kind of moment that can only happen at Red Rocks.
• BACKBEAT'S GREATEST HITS • - The fifty best rap lyrics of all time - The ten biggest concert buzzkills - Five more concert buzzkills - From Phish to Floyd, the ten best light shows
Follow @Westword_Music