Colorado’s best mountain towns for live music fans

HEAD ON UP

From Aspen to Telluride, these towns bring the beats year-round

Telluride Bluegrass “festivarians” race to get a close spot to the stage during the annual “running of the tarps” on the first day of the 50th Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Town Park in Telluride on June 15, 2023. WILLIAM WOODY — SPECIAL TO THE DENVER POST

The Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, home to the Bravo! Vail Music Festival. PROVIDED BY BRAVO! VAIL MUSIC FESTIVAL

Image

By Tiney Ricciardi

cricciardi@denverpost.com

Colorado’s mountain towns are destinations for hiking, biking, hot springs and more, but choose the right one and you’ll also tap into music scenes that are destinations in their own right.

Here are five places worth adding to any music fan’s bucket list. Don’t forget to pack your dancing shoes.

Aspen

Aspen is a small town with big city energy when it comes to live music, thanks to its mix of venues, festivals and sporting events that draw bands from around the country. Belly Up Aspen is the premiere club to catch a concert whether you’re a fan of EDM, country music, blues, indie rock or reggae. The historic Wheeler Opera House caters to fans of classical music and opera. And the festival season runs year-round with winter attractions like Palm Tree Music Festival and summer events like Up in the Sky Festival. In June, the Jazz Aspen Snowmass festival takes over the town with a plethora of events at indoor and outdoor venues, before its sister festival, JAS Labor Day Experience, pops up with a more traditional main stage festival experience in the fall. All that, plus free shows during ski season and summer make Aspen a must-visit for music lovers.

Buena Vista

Whether you’re a casual music fan or a hardcore festivarian, Buena Vista has the tunes to sonically satisfy. The town’s most high-profile venue is Meadow Creek, a sprawling 277-acre plot of land used as a festival grounds complete with the full destination camping experience. Previously the site of Billy Strings’ Renewal festival, in 2025, Meadow Creek hosts Pretty Lights for the two-day Yahn Dawn festival (June 27-28) and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard for a three-day event called Field of Vision (Aug. 15-17).

Downtown Buena Vista boasts several indoor venues, such as the Ivy Ballroom at the Surf Hotel and The Lariat, that host local and nationally touring bands across a variety of genres. When the weather is nice, fans can take in a concert at outdoor spaces like The Lawn (also at the Surf Hotel) and The Beach, 6 miles south of town on the banks of the Arkansas River.Dillon

First opened in the 1990s, the Dillon Amphitheater got a major upgrade in 2018 and has become the hallmark of the town’s summer music scene. It regularly attracts artists you might otherwise see on the lineup at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, including Alison Krauss & Union Station, Tash Sultana and Rainbow Kitten Surprise in the 2025 season. But with a roughly 3,600-person capacity — less than half that of Red Rocks — seeing those acts in Dillon promises to be a more intimate experience. And because it’s located on the shore of Lake Dillion, which is surrounded by peaks, the view isn’t bad either. Shows usually require a ticket, but not always, as bands

play for free as part of the venue’s Monday music series.

Telluride

Though it’s one of Colorado’s far-out enclaves, Telluride is a stop on nationally touring bands’ calendars because of the myriad festivals it hosts each summer. The box canyon comes alive with the sound of music for events like the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in June, which has become a time-honored tradition for locals and artists alike over its 50-plus year history, and Telluride Jazz Festival in August, which includes a second line parade down Colorado Avenue every year. Free concerts on Wednesdays and Fridays in Mountain Village, which is just a short gondola ride away, keep the vibes rolling through the summer before the season concludes with the incomparable Telluride Blues & Brews Festival in September.

Even in the winter, though, fans are likely to catch an act they like at the historic Sheridan Opera House or local bars like The Alibi and O’Bannon’s Irish Pub. The ski resort also books local DJs to play at restaurants on the mountain, because dancing is the best way to stay warm — trust us.

Vail

Similarly to Dillon, the town of Vail boasts a state-of-the-art amphitheater that bands forgo radius clauses to perform at. The Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater opened in 1987, and in July of that year, Willie Nelson was the first artist to christen the stage. The outdoor venue has grown from hosting six concerts in its first year to dozens, including acclaimed acts like O.A.R. and Melissa Etheridge, both of whom will be stopping by this summer after performances at Red Rocks.

The amphitheater is also known for hosting dance performances and classical music, like the annual Bravo! Vail Music Festival.

Elsewhere in Vail, Shakedown Bar is a mainstay for live music with performers almost every night of the week, and Chasing Rabbits is the place to dance the night away to the tune of DJs. All the aforementioned venues book their calendars in the winter months, too, from après hour to late night.