Lucy Dacus. Red Rocks Amphitheatre. 09.12.22

Lucy Dacus and her band graced the stage at Red Rocks as openers for the second time in as many years. Last year they were accompanied by Shakey Graves; this year, they were warming up for The National. But it was more than just a warmup. 

Lucy’s voice is soothing, even when singing about awful things, but her band rocks. They were not your standard opening soundtrack to people chatting and getting drinks. The place was packed, and everyone was fully engaged. In fact, by the end of the night, I was convinced Lucy drew as many people to the rocks in Morrison as did The National. 

Having performed in Colorado quite a few times since the release of her debut album in 2016, it is no surprise she has built a fanbase in the Centennial State, but even she seemed astonished at the amount of love thrown her way. 

“Thank you so much for being here. I saw some of you singing! I hope it’s not the last time I play this freakin’ stage.” 

Her songs are hard not to sing along with, though. With catchy refrains like “You got a 9-to-5, so I’ll take the night shift and I’ll never see you again, if I can help it,” and choruses like “your poetry is so bad it took a lot not to laugh,” one cannot help but smile, knowing the song was written about someone else.

“I’m excited to see you here. You chose the right thing to do with your time.”

Joined by Dominic Angelella on bass, Sarah Goldstone on keys, Ricardo Lagomasino on drums, and Jacob Blizard on guitar, Lucy performed a good portion of her latest album, “Home Video,” including the excellent “Hot & Heavy” and “VBS,” but it was after a dedication of Springsteen’s “Dancing in The Dark” to her father in the front row (followed by 9,000 people singing “Happy Birthday” to him) that she lit the crystal clear night on fire. The moon rose above Stage Rock when she performed the song that introduced her to the world, “I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore,” and then the set ended with one of the best songs of 2018, “Night Shift.”

It is too bad that the opening act usually only gets forty-five minutes at Red Rocks, and that was the case with Lucy, but it was great to see her utilize that time to perform a headline-worthy set. If it wasn’t evident by the standing ovation she received that the crowd was impressed and satisfied, the roar of applause when The National brought her back out for “Rylan” solidified Lucy as a Colorado favorite.