Brandi Carlile, Katie Pruitt, Shooter Jennings & Fans Celebrate Return of Live Music (Photo Galleries)
Wow! There’s so much to say about this past weekend. Those three concerts with Brandi Carlile felt like no other shows we’ve ever had.
From the moment folks lined up at the gates, to the second Katie Pruitt started playing, all the way to the last song that Brandi performed ending with an amazing Independence Day fireworks display — it was a truly special weekend. Each day had a laundry list of highlights.
Seeing the fantastic Small Town Strings band busking for folks outside the venue and having them play on stage with Brandi was a great surprise. Their performance of “Wagon Wheel” was a real crowd pleaser.
Another welcomed surprise was listening to Shooter Jennings play piano each night. It’s pretty cool to see that much talent on one stage. The whole band was a treat to watch, especially as they whipped out a fun tease of “War Pigs” and covered “Case of You” and “Rocket Man.” Brandi absolutely did her friend Elton John justice on that one.
You could tell that Brandi was actually having a wonderful time each night, and she continuously expressed her love for the music, fans, venue and Montana.
For us though, aside from the music, possibly the best part of the weekend was seeing everyone with smiles on their faces. People were unbelievably happy to be at the Amphitheater and you could feel it in the air. We cannot thank you all enough for coming out and bringing your good spirits to the Blackfoot River. It means so much to have live music back. It probably goes without saying, but this last year was extremely challenging. At times, the future of live music looked troublesome, but we persevered… you all persevered and stuck with us and now we’re back and it feels incredible.
So thank you to the artists. Thank you to the fans. Thank you to all the staff who helped make these shows happen. Thank you to our parking partners Sentinel Kiwanis and Open Aid Alliance and to our food providers Biga Pizza, UM Catering and Kornutopia.
We have an immense amount of gratitude for everyone who was a part of these first three shows back. Relive the weekend with us and check out the photo galleries from each night below.