#Denverender

It has now been exactly two weeks since I got home from Denver for #Denverender, the event that drew people in from all across the country to close out Coheed and Cambria’s The Color Before the Sun Tour together.

I’ve been the person to fly across the country for shows before, and I know plenty of other people who have done the same. But generally it’s for a special circumstance like a one-off show, or a tour that hits maybe four cities instead of the whole country. I’ve never seen anything like Denverender before. It was a normal show on a normal tour. Everyone who went to Denverender had been to at least one other show on this tour already, and many of us had been to more than five.

Somehow the weekend worked out perfectly. There were absolutely no snags and the 50+ people who planned to come to Denver from out-of-state (or country) made it with very little to no trouble. We were all in agreement by the end that there was no way Denverender should have happened. It made no sense. It was a truly magical thing and honestly one of the greatest weekends of my life.

Let’s backtrack a bit. Where did the idea to go to Denver even come from?

I don’t remember exactly when it became a topic of discussion, but Captain Keywork is to thank for this adventure. Dan had been following the entire tour and even in the beginning he was worried about the last few shows. He’s from New Jersey, so most of his friends were in the Northeast, which is where the tour started. Pair that with the fact that the last show in Denver was two days before his birthday, and it was pretty understandable that he didn’t want to end the tour without his friends.

Something I don’t think he really anticipated in the beginning was just how many friends he would make along the way.

I was in St. Pete thinking it was probably my last show, although Denver had crossed my mind a few times. Biz’s family has a house in Crested Butte, which if I remember correctly is about three hours from Denver. He had been talking about taking the crew up there for a few days after the show. Unfortunately that wasn’t a thing that ended up happening, but when Biz decided to go (and Jason and Fen had already decided to as well) that made me think a little harder about going too.

You may remember that I was quite drunk by the end of the night in St. Pete. Drunk Lindsay is pretty easily influenced.

Immediately after that show I went and found the I the Mighty boys. I’ve known them for about a year and they see me probably more often than they’d like to (especially after this tour). I was talking to drummer Blake Dahlinger about Denver and he seemed excited that a group of us were planning to go to the last show, even though I hadn’t officially decided to at this point. My FOMO started kicking in after talking to Blake though.

After leaving the venue, I sat on the sidewalk with Dan and Brandon and Felicia and the rest of the Florida crew. I the Mighty came outside to load the van and their tour manager Matt Romero (better known as Bear) started asking us about how many shows we were doing and when he would see us again. Dan of course was doing all of them, and Brandon and Felicia had a few more planned. There was that FOMO again, saying this was probably my last show but would definitely be at the next tour. Six seemed like enough, and flying to Denver seemed crazy.

Then I went to a bar with frontman Brent Walsh, and two members of Glassjaw, bassist Travis Sykes and drummer Chad Hasty (I believe. Drunk Lindsay was there, I was not). Denver came up in conversation again with Brent. I told him Dan wanted me to go and Brent said I shouldn’t go if I couldn’t afford it, but that I should do whatever I want. Then somehow he was talking to the guys from Glassjaw saying “Lindsay’s gonna go to Denver. She does shit like that.” Well, he wasn’t wrong. After all, I did discover I the Mighty after flying from Boston to San Francisco for the first time to see the Matches.

I ran into Brandon on the street later and he rescued me and brought me to Waffle House with the rest of the crew. Dan kept saying things the whole night along the lines of “You’re going to Denver.”

I guess I finally just accepted the fact that I was going to Denver.

 

The Captain started a groupchat on Facebook with all of the people heading to Denver. I think it was originally intended for making plans and arrangements, but it quickly morphed into a ridiculous space of nonstop chatter. Dan continually added people to the chat who had either decided to go to Denver or he wanted at Denver (in hopes that we could convince them) until there were about 50 people. Maybe 20 of us are actually active in the chat, but it was a really substantial group. People who needed financial help along the way were given all that they needed, either by the group as a collective or by individual people. This was a family affair. Everyone needed to be there.

At some point, someone on Facebook (whose name I believe is Stephanie?) coined the term “Denverender.” Coheed and Cambria has a song called “Neverender” and they do tours playing each album front to back that they call “Neverenders.” The end of the tour being in Denver and the play on Neverender made Denverender the perfect title for the final show. It stuck.

It stuck so much that even the bands caught on to it.

     

 

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I landed in Denver around 4pm the Saturday before the show (which was on Sunday). My friend Max, who I had met at the meetup before the NYC show (but is now living in Denver), picked me up and took me to my hotel after a quick pit stop to see his dog, Roo.

Everything was conveniently within walking distance—the two hotels the majority of us were staying at, the venue, and many bars and restaurants. We went to a bar with the rest of the crew that had arrived that day. We ate pizza and drank and talked and laughed until it was time to crash.

The next morning we were all scrambling to make plans. Dan had just gotten to Denver early Sunday morning coming straight from Salt Lake City along with Jason, Fen, Adam, a guy called Panda Steve who I met in Boston, and another guy I hadn’t met yet (but had talked to plenty in the groupchat) Unicorn Steve. (They wore panda and unicorn onesies and using them in their names makes it easier to differentiate.) Finally Niki told everyone to meet at a restaurant called Prohibition at 1pm. Done. Plans made.

That group that met at Prohibition was probably around 30, if not more. They were not prepared.

I walked in and Niki was more or less arguing with someone who worked there because they wouldn’t give us a big table. I think they were pissed there were so many of us. Whoops. We basically took over the entire restaurant.

While we ate, we took turns signing special Denverender prints Adam designed for all the bands. Four of each, one for each member of every band. This was a group of close to 50 people who had gone to multiple shows on this tour and traveled from all parts of the country to finish it in Denver. It was a big deal and we wanted to show our appreciation to the bands in some way. We knew we’d find a way to get them to them somehow.

            

I think I need to backtrack again.

I mentioned discussing the possibility of going to Denver with Brent Walsh of I the Mighty, yes? Well when Dan was making plans for Denverender, he jokingly said something about helping me do a handstand on top of the crowd during I the Mighty. Rather than tell Brent I had decided to go to Denver like a normal person would, I sent him a screenshot of the conversation.

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“You bet.”

Welp. Guess I have to do a handstand on top of the crowd now.

Luckily the guys in my crew are the absolute best. I’d trust them with my life and they were down for anything. So mid-chill at Prohibition, someone mentions the handstand and then Dan, Jason, Brandon, and Biz, right on cue, tell me to go outside so we can practice.

These are the guys I’m with. Dan in full Captain Keywork gear, Biz in a Star Wars onesie, and Brandon decked out in all pink with his super tall pink liberty spikes.

A group of people stopped us almost immediately after we stepped outside to ask for pictures. I handed the woman my phone and told her she wasn’t prepared for what was about to happen. I wanted pictures.

Surprisingly it was super easy. They flipped me upside down with no problem and I only slightly freaked out once. “I’m done! I’m done! Put me down!” This was on Captain’s shoulders, so they made the executive decision to put me on Biz’s shoulders instead since he’s shorter. They also decided to have Jordan, who’s pretty light, go up on Brandon’s shoulders to hold my legs. For the first time since I made the bet, I felt like I would survive Denverender and I was really excited for it.

We came back inside to sing Captain Happy Birthday, cake included. There was a bit of an issue with trying to light the candles under a fan. How many Children of the Fence does it take to light some candles?

Eventually we got it going (after moving to a different table) and were about to sing Dan Happy Birthday. But then Fen in full Beast attire started something so much better. He started singing the “Whoa oh oh ohhh”s from “In Keeping Secrets” instead, and we all joined in. It was truly a celebration for Captain Keywork. That poor restaurant really didn’t know who they were dealing with.

Handstand nailed, prints signed, and cake eaten, and then Dan tells us that Coheed and Cambria has specifically asked for a picture with the Denverender crew. THEY wanted a picture with US. I knew Dan wanted a crew picture with them, but I never would’ve guessed that Coheed would be the ones to request it.

Perfect!

All 50 of us head out to the venue. I the Mighty comes outside before Coheed does. Also perfect. I get my hugs and Adam and Dan present them with their prints. They seemed to love them.

We got our first group picture with I the Mighty.

Then Coheed came out. Dan was talking to them like it was no big deal, and I’m sure it wasn’t for him. But I was internally freaking out a bit. Again, Adam and Dan presented the prints. They seemed to love them too. If I was so happy, I can’t even imagine how excited Adam must’ve been.

They went back in the venue and I wasn’t too far behind. I had thought the St. Pete show was a perfect way to end the tour, so I had to do what I had to do to top it. So I bought a VIP ticket for the first time so I could get a Meet & Greet with the band.

Josh did most of the talking at the Meet & Greet and Claudio was just as awkward as everyone told me he’d be (but it was cute). I told them this was my seventh show of the tour and that I was Dan’s friend. Josh said something about hoping I’d enjoy the show and I said, “Of course it’s gonna be a great show! It’s Denverender! It’s an event!”

 

I got hugs from all of them and then made my way to the bar to chug a cider before heading to the barricade.

Niki has a tradition of making bands take “Squad” pictures with her, so when we saw I the Mighty pass by, we had to get a Squad pic with them.

The early entry song was yet again Davenport Cabinet’s “Damned Renegades.” And then it was T-1 hour til showtime.

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Captain was convinced we would go hard for every band. I had been warned that the altitude in Denver meant I would have to take breaks to catch my breath every once in a while so I was a little worried about that. But he was right. It’s Denverender. We had to go hard.

Our group included four guys in onesies. Three that I mentioned already—Panda Steve, Unicorn Steve, and Biz as Bro Dameron—and Moose, whose real name is Mike.

When Silver Snakes came on, I was in that pit. I knew most of their songs by this point (aside from lyrics unfortunately) so moshing wasn’t remotely an issue. Dan asked if I wanted to crowdsurf at one point and I have no idea why I said no. I think I wanted to wait for a different song but then I just didn’t surf. Whoops. I moshed for their entire set though.

And then I the Mighty hit the stage.

We had balloons we blew up in between sets, some of which glowed which was pretty cool. You remember the intro to “Lady of Death” that leads off their set? Right before the song starts, Brent yells “She was screaming at the sky!” Everyone in the venue threw the balloons up right on sky. It was perfect and beautiful and both the crowd and the band loved it.

I had decided I wanted to handstand crowdstand during “Psychomachia” because it was the second song and I wanted to more or less get it out of the way so I could mosh and corwdsurf with no worries for the rest of their set. But when “Psychomachia” started Biz was nowhere to be found and Jason was in the front without any word on the plan. I stood there and yelled for a bit to get his attention until he came back and then it was go time. Still no Biz, so they put me on Panda Steve’s shoulders instead.

Someone was holding one of my legs for what felt like a while so I was a bit slow getting up there. But it took long enough that people in the crowd started to take notice. They had me facing the band so when I was finally straight up I lowered my head so I could see them. I was upside down so I couldn’t exactly make out expressions, but I knew every head in the room was facing me and the cheering was getting louder. They were cheering for me. That was definitely the coolest thing I’ve ever done and the cheering was even cooler than that.

      

I felt my hips start to fall so I just went with it. The boys let me down and sent me off to crowdsurf straight toward Brent. I can only imagine the smug look on my face trying to telepathically say “I told you I’d do it,” and he was smiling back (and according to Brandon he gave me a thumbs up but I missed that).

One of the photographers snapped this picture of me during my surf and it is by far my favorite picture I’ve ever seen of myself. I don’t think I’ve ever seen myself so genuinely happy. But that’s how I know the place I belong in the world is in or on top of the pit. (And occasionally upside down on top of the pit.)

Of course the rest of their set was just as amazing. I moshed and crowdsurfed and then we got a surprise. Instead of playing “Failures” like they tended to when they had a 30 min. set rather than a 25 min. one, Brent intro-ed a song talking about how Josh had begged for them to play this all tour so they were finally playing it just for him: “Slow Dancing Forever.”

If I remember correctly, I did in fact slow dance with a few from my crew to this song. It was beautiful. And unexpected. And amazing.

I learned quickly how easy it was to lose my breath at a show in Denver. So I needed that break during Glassjaw.

Felicia and I basically snuck backstage to use the VIP bathrooms where there wasn’t a line. There was a security guard giving us a bit of a hard time thinking we wanted to bother the bands, but we were just peeing so eventually he let us pass. I caught a glimpse of Donovan Melero of Hail the Sun while we were back there. Wasn’t expecting that.

Also wasn’t expecting:

“You’re awesome! You’re the girl who did the handstand!”
“Aww thank you! Yeah, that was me!”

When we came back from the bathroom I needed to drink an entire bottle of water. I went too hard during the first two bands and needed to regain all my strength for Coheed. I couldn’t help myself from telling the first person I saw at the bar that I was the girl who did the handstand. I got a high five.

Felicia, Max, and I all crashed at the balcony overlooking the crowd in the front. We could see Adam rocking out to Glassjaw on the rail and that was all we needed for this set.

Eventually we started looking for the light up top hat and found the Captain chilling in the back of the venue. He couldn’t even go hard for Glassjaw despite his claims that he would for once. We joined him and the rest of the crew that wasn’t at the barricade.

Then it was time. And I’m even getting chills just thinking about it. There was magic in that venue that night.

Biz did this thing at the second show in Boston during “Ghost” where the guys held him up while he laid down on his side. He was even wearing the same “Bro Dameron” onesie as he was that night, and he did his “Ghost” thing again. Gotta go out the same way you start.

Dan snuck his camera into the venue to get some good footage inside the pit. Here’s “In Keeping Secrets,” which is still one of my absolute favorites. (I can’t stop watching this video over and over and over trying to relive it. Let’s play find me. I’m in there a lot.)

I mentioned our crew was about 50 people, right? Our crew was THE ENTIRE pit. Imagine moshing and being able to not even just name every single person you see, but truly love every single person you see. Being surrounded by all of your favorite people. I’d known most of them for a little over a month, some for longer, some I had just met that weekend. But I love all of them so much. And there’s nothing better than running a pit with 50 of your favorite people in the world.

Wanna see that same song from a different view? I personally prefer the video from inside the pit, but this is pretty cool too. (For this one let’s play find Brandon or Unicorn Steve or Captain.)

I love when Claudio just stops singing because we’re so loud. That happened so many times at Denverender.

I feel like these videos show what the pit that night was like better than any words I could use to try to do it justice. For instance, look at just how much love was in this pit during “Peace to the Mountain.” It was literally a love pit.

So so so many crowdstands happened during this show. I was content with my handstand crowdstand during I the Mighty, so I just crowdsurfed a lot. But there were some really epic crowdstands. Here are a few of my favorites: Fen, Biz, and the Captain.

And then there was the encore… The last song Coheed played at every show (and I believe they close every show with it) was “Welcome Home.”

Brent had told us he would mosh with us at Denverender. I assumed he wasn’t when he didn’t find us earlier in the night, but right at the end of “Welcome Home” I heard my name. He sang the “Ohhhh ohhh ohhh”s with me for like all of five seconds and then all of a sudden he’s asking Brandon to throw him up to crowdsurf. So yes, that is in fact Brent Walsh of I the Mighty crowdsurfing in the video. Max attempted to crowdsurf right before him and got dropped, so he did his part to prevent that from happening again.

And then there’s Dan’s epic final crowdstand. He’s really something else. He did this amazing journey, and then did something even more amazing by bringing 50 people to Denver as a FAMILY. It’s mindblowing. So that’s how he finished the tour: on top of the crowd.

But my favorite is that group hug at the end. You can’t see me, but I promise I’m there. These people, this show, that whole weekend… So much love. All of the love.

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After the show we continued to have a little love fest in the venue for a bit. We got a big group picture on the stairs and just kinda hung out. Then I went to find Brent to rub it in his face that I pulled off the handstand.

Mid-hug:
“Did you see me?! I did it! You didn’t think I’d do it but I did!”
“Yeah, well it took you forever to get up there and then you only held it for like five seconds.”

Welp. Unimpressed. That didn’t change how impressed the rest of my crew was. Every single person who walked up to us said something along the lines of, “Did you see Lindsay’s handstand?”

Me: “You guys think it’s cooler than he does.”

I was still proud of myself.

Eventually we got kicked out of the venue, but not before getting confirmation on I the Mighty’s next tour. It’s no longer a secret: They’re touring with Pierce the Veil (who will be playing their new album Misadventures front to back) in June. My June is already full of graduations and weddings and cruises and the Matches’ Decomposer tour (priorities) so I’ll only be at the Boston and NYC shows (come say hi!) but Dan and Brandon will be following most, if not all, of that tour. They’re both wonderful, so go to whatever show you can make and give them hugs for me.

Sidetrack aside…

I the Mighty had a present for Dan as well: an All-Access Pass for the tour signed by all four members of the band, as well as their tour manager (Bear) and merch manager (Life).

We left the venue, and most of the crew decided they wanted to go back to the hotel to chill and warm up because it had gotten really cold during the show. I wasn’t ready to go back to a hotel. I just had an amazing night and hotels feel like endings. So I stayed outside with Adam while he attempted to find Glassjaw to give them their prints. Actually I don’t think that’s what he was doing. I feel like he was waiting for someone who works with Coheed, but I can’t remember what for. Anyway.

Silver Snakes came outside and we talked with them for a little while. They were so so so grateful for the prints we made them. And even more than that, they were grateful for the energy we gave them that night. They said it was definitely their best show all tour, and it was thanks to our crew. Frontman Alex Estrada then handed me an All-Access Pass. They knew I’d been to seven shows and they wanted to thank me for all the support. I’m nowhere near Dan level, but I was so so so happy to have Silver Snakes thanking me. There’s a thing I didn’t see coming.

Denverender didn’t end when we went back to the hotel (Room 407 to be exact). First there was a secret knock to get into the room. Adam couldn’t figure it out, but clearly it was the tune (beat? I don’t know words) of the “Whoa ohhh ohh ohhh”s from “In Keeping Secrets.” Come on now.

The next day was a love fest. A few people had left early (Jason, Adam, and probably a few more), but those of us that were left started the day at brunch, made our way to a record store (we’re a bunch of music junkies, what do you expect?), and then went back to Room 407.

There was Cards Against Humanity (during which we discussed making a COTF version—just imagine having cards like “cut the throats of babies” and “I’d slam your face in a door”).

There was more story time with Fen (because it’s not a Coheed adventure without the Beast explaining what an arm vagina is).

There was hand-to-hand combat between Captain Keywork and Coheed The Beast Kilgannon (of course Fen won).

There was a pillow fight (I shit you not). And there was an average of ten people on a bed at one time at all times (all of the cuddle puddles).

Once the Captain left that night it felt truly over. Our sad selves tried to recreate his hat out of sunglasses and a trashcan. It wasn’t the same.

    

Everyone else seemed to leave either that night or early the next morning. There were only three of us left on Tuesday, one of which was Max and he lives in Denver, and also Moose who had come down from Canada. So we hiked a mountain. It was gorgeous.

And then I went home.

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EPILOGUE:

It’s been two weeks since I got home from Denver. But the story doesn’t quite end there.

The groupchat hasn’t quieted down in the least. It’s still nonstop chatter all day every day. There’s always someone to say good morning or goodnight to. We skype (like 8+ people at a time), and a lot of us are making efforts to keep seeing each other. Max is actually on a cross-country roadtrip with Roo right now trying to see as many of us as possible. I’ll be seeing Dan and Max and Niki this weekend, and then Max and probably Adam next weekend, and then in a few weeks I’ll be in New Orleans and will probably see Zane there. And that’s not even to mention the I the Mighty tour where we’ll all see each other again. A group of them are also planning on going to Nocturnal Wonderland together in September. Unfortunately I’m planning on going to Burning Man this year which happens at the same time (well, not unfortunately to Burning Man, but unfortunately to missing the family reunion).

     

If I haven’t said it yet, I’ll say it now. Denverender made no sense. I’ve never seen anything like it and I don’t think I’ll see anything like it ever again. It was a once in a lifetime experience, but the family we found is forever. #tilnexttime #waitingforseason2

 

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Featured image by Manuel Casanova