Review: Sombr solidified his rock-star status at Red Rocks

Not even the rain could stop Sombr from shining during his second sold-out night at Red Rocks.

After conquering TikTok with his single “Back to Friends,” the 21-year-old singer released his debut album, I Barely Know Her, in August of last year and has seen his star rise ever since, with billions of streams, an SNL performance, and a nomination for Best New Artist at this year’s Grammys.

Red Rocks was awash in the singer’s signature black, red, and white color combination on Monday night. The Gen-Z-heavy fanbase shuffled in with signs that featured everything from the Bald Sombr meme to one that read “notice me for +1000 aura.”

The show started with an abbreviated set from King Princess (Mikaela Straus). Dressed in rainbow fringe jean shorts and bug-eyed sunglasses, she ripped through seven songs accompanied by her three-piece band, starting with the wailing guitar one-two punch of “Cherry” and “Jaime” before moving to the gentler acoustics of “The Bend.”

The singer drew the ire of numerous parents accompanying their kids when she performed “Pussy Is God” and asked the crowd what they thought of the tune’s subject matter. Straus closed the set with “1950” and “RIP KP” before storming offstage in a wave of distortion and feedback.

Immediately after the first set finished, the rain began. Weather delays sent the majority of the crowd to their vehicles for about an hour while the remaining concertgoers gasped at the nearby flashes of lightning. After roughly an hour, the crowd received the green light to return.

The 6-foot-7-inch Sombr — born Shane Michael Boose — appeared on the amphitheater’s screens around 9:30 p.m., making a boxer-style entrance with a camera following him from the merch stand near the south ramp onto the stage, where he ditched his black fur coat to reveal a sequin top buttoned only at his navel and boot-cut leather pants.

The stage itself was an ode to Sombr’s hometown of NYC. Graffiti-covered construction signs, steam funnels, and a payphone were placed across the stage, surrounding his black-clad band.

Sombr immediately kicked into “We Never Dated.” While the penultimate song on I Barely Know Her has a reverb-laden detachment on record, the performance punched everything up. It sounded like an Interpol song if Hysteria-era Def Leppard recorded it.

He kept the energy going with “I Wish I Knew How to Quit You,” bounding across the stage, leaning up against his guitarists, and singing directly to the person responsible for making sure he didn’t trip over his microphone cord.

The show felt as much about playing to the cameras for content as it did to the crowd. There were no fewer than four folks with gimbals in the pit at all times; drones whizzed above the crowd; and Sombr and his band were constantly interacting with the onstage camera.  

The fans didn’t seem to mind as he broke out all the moves from the rock star playbook: wading into the front row, writhing around on the stage floor, and joking that he might have to take his shirt off — which received a massive roar from the crowd. He even incorporated “Red Rocks” into his performance of “Closer” before asking the audience to jump for the song’s closing.

“And if you’re too cool to jump,” he said. “Well, you can just take a hike,” joked, referring to the venue’s surroundings.

For the second half of the set, Sombr chatted with the crowd a bit more.

“I wish I had a song like this growing up,” he said, referring to “My Body Isn’t Ready,” his latest single that talks about body dysmorphia. “It’s normal to feel weird about your body, but you are beautiful.”

Later, stagehands brought out an NYC park bench for the opening of “Canal Street” before Sombr swung from a traffic light bearing a street sign with the song’s title.

He closed out the two-night Red Rocks stint with extended versions of “Back to Friends” and “12 to 12” that featured as loud a singalong as you’re likely to hear. During the former, he spray-painted a flag with “Sombr Red Rocks” to commemorate the event.

“I hope when you hear these songs on the radio, on Spotify, in your car, or in your coffee shop, you think of this moment,” he said to the audience before launching into the evening’s home stretch. “I know I will.”

After that performance, it’s safe to say they will too.