Summer officially ended on Monday, but Denver’s 2025 concert season is still hot. Here are eight shows to see outdoors before the first snow flies in the metro area, which averages in mid-October, with flakes already falling in the high country.
Bonnie Raitt has gotten some much-deserved and overdue love in recent years from younger indie musicians as her lived-in voice and wide-ranging catalog get another listen. The blues-rock singer and guitarist has put on some scorching shows in Colorado over the years, so don’t miss her Thursday, Sept. 25, concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. With Jimmie Vaugh & the Tilt-a-Whirl Band. axs.com
Emancipator, a.k.a. DJ/producer Douglas Appling, makes ethereal, often breathtakingly stripped-down electronic music out of Portland, Ore. He’s bringing songs from his latest, “Stories of the Melting Sun,” to Colorado for a Friday, Sept. 26-Saturday, Sept. 27 run at Mishawaka Amphitheatre in Bellvue. With pheel. and Aphorize (Sept. 26) and Pooldore and Lapa (Sept. 27). Note: Mishawaka is a shuttle-to venue, so arrive earlier than usual. etix.com
Levitt Pavilion will close out its free summer concert series — and its 2025 calendar — on Sunday, Sept. 28, with a visit from The Slackers, the longtime New York ska band. The show, with Volores and 5150, should provide some throwback satisfaction for fans of that jumpy genre that had a major moment in the 1990s. While it’s free, you can RSVP or upgrade via levittdenver.org.
Air is on a globe-spanning nostalgia lap for 1998’s “Moon Safari,” which snared a generation of listeners with its soft, sweeping electronica (as it was called then) and gossamer melodies. The band’s Thursday, Oct. 2, concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre will see “Moon Safari” performed in its entirety as part of the French duo’s debut at the Morrison venue. axs.com
Haim’s new album, “I Quit,” finds the L.A. sister trio continuing to mine platinum from pop, rock and folk traditions with catchy-as-a-cold melodies and airtight playing. They’ll delve into the breakup themes of the new album (and other hits) when they headline Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre in Greenwood Village on Friday, Oct. 2, with Dora Jar. axs.com
Laufey’s genre-resistant music and powerhouse voice may lean toward jazz, pop and bossa nova, but there’s so much more to her expansive sound, from orchestral compositions to intimate torch songs. The Icelandic-Chinese artist’s Wednesday, Oct. 8, stop at Red Rocks Amphitheatre promises to be one of those transcendent, instantly memorable concerts at which the venue excels. axs.com
New Zealand pop juggernaut Lorde could hardly be more fired-up, with a new, intensely vulnerable album (June’s “Virgin”) and a synth-driven sound that recalls her early work. She’s touring behind her celebrated fourth studio album with a late-season concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Tuesday, Oct. 14, including openers Blood Orange and The Japanese House. axs.com
Prolific Miami rapper Denzel Curry’s collab-heavy song for new horror movie “HIM” (also titled “HIM”) has a chant-like quality that plays off the film’s dark take on masculinity, sports and religious zealotry. He’s still rocking tracks from his 2024 release “King of the Mischevious South Vol. 2,” so expect those and more when he headlines Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Halloween (Friday, Oct. 31), with the stacked lineup of Freddie Gibbs, Earl Sweatshirt, 2 Dead Boyz, and Lexa Gates. axs.com
