Driving rain at Levitt Pavilion: Derek Woods Band

For most of a decade, I hoped my path would cross with the Derek Woods Band. 

For most of that decade, I knew little about them or their music, just that my old friend Chris was their bass player. 

In mid-April, Chris let me know the Derek Woods Band would hit Colorado. They planned a quick micro-tour around Denver, including Strange Craft Brewing near the Broncos stadium, a venue in north Denver I did not really know, and the Levitt Pavilion, which I knew quite well. At one stop or another, I would catch their act. 

DWB plays a fun brand of rock music as a quarter – Woods sings and plays guitar, Justin on saxophone, Chris on drums, and my friend on bass. The broad amphitheater of the Levitt Pavilion that spreads across Ruby Hill was a perfect fit for such danceable tunes. 

After spending Saturday with Chris roaming around Boulder County, we drove to their show at the Levitt Pavilion. I got to spend time with them through the day and hang out backstage. I agreed to take pictures from the crowd and get them a few shots from behind the stage. It was good music for running around that big lawn and trying to get good angles. 

As an opener for Black Joe Louis, they had just 30 minutes for their show. 

Several hundred people gathered in the light rain. More were coming in as they began. The rain did not deter them. Still, the crowd stayed in the hundreds but while Levitt management had RSVPs in the thousands. Bad holiday weather undoubtedly changed many plans. 

DWB packed a half-dozen songs in that short time, and it breezed past. By the time they reached their next-to-last song, the rain turned from mist to downpour. Basic on the small opener sample size, I wanted more. 

Denver is just far enough from Colorado Springs that too many trips bunched together leads to fatigue, so I did not get to the other stops. But I suspect the short tour was good enough that the band will grace the Mountain West with its tunefulness before too long.