My Journey to Red Rocks and Back Sold out shows for two nights at Red Rocks has to be one of the highlights of the Nine Inch Nails-Soundgarden 2014 Tour.  It’s every band’s dream.  Crazy fans, people watching (including Jack Sparrow lookalikes) $8 beers and more.  Truly an epic tour since both bands are major headliners having platinum success on their own for so many years with loyal fans (NIN has almost 4 mill likes on FB,  Trent has almost 2 million on Twitter alone as does Chris). After recently shooting Soundgarden at SXSW Music Festival in 2014 in Ausitn-there was a live taping of Guitar Center Sessions with The Wild Feathers- I was determined to see them at Red Rocks, one of my all time fave venues- maybe second to my hometown Gorge Amphiteater in Washington that overlooks the Columbia River or the Hollywood Bowl- rich with history and memories, is in there somewhere too. As a concert photographer, these are my big three. The show itself was unbelievable- the odd start time of 7:30 for SG might have affected their set if they didn’t feel enough crowd love.  Black Hole Sun” still impresses every time. By 9 more people crammed in the rows (I laughed when someone asked me to find my seat- since there really is no way possible-they all blend together on the benches and noone really sits in their seat-mine had vanished long before).  ‘—-Inetersting how both Chris and  Trent talk to audiences with similar lyrics about going to hell and back.  The diehard fans and NIN showed me nothing like I’ve ever seen before and I’ve seen and shot tons of shows. Undescribable- headbangin’ rock, high energy, synth jam sets, and predictabley lots of sex after the show- an older woman shouting things to Trent about how badly she wanted him was the highlight of the night.  I had no idea that Trent was such an EDM, Synth God, using at least half the show with revolving sets, band members, and synth stations (6 I think at one point). There is actually a documentary with interviews about the sound influences and how the DX7 changed his life called, “I Dream of Wires” (which I must see after finishing this post). Find it on http://pitchfork.com. Interesting how he was a pioneer in the rock-synth progression since now you’d be hardpressed to find a band that doesn’t include EDM or synth somewhere, and there is a fast growing popularity (actually re-birth) of electro-synth-pop-duos and artists (Chromeo, The Crystal Method, Iconapop, Wye Oak, Phantogram, MSMR- not to mention DJ greats like Kaskade, Skrillex, Deadmaus…..).  More importantly, he is not bad to look at and must workout six hours a day by the size of his Biceps and Lats. Staying with friends nearby in historic Evergreen, CO was the perfect plan. Filled with wellness buisness, touchy-feely holistic healers (and probably an apothocary nearby) leftover hippies with a weirdness and charm much like Austin (and Boulder).   Trey Parker-cocreated South Park,  based on his life growing up in the area-and Willie Nelson had a ranch there-and the notorius John Hinkley Jr. once lived there too.   -racoons -1 1/2 hr show no encore sg -bad brat -sold out packed, more for nin -chris 50 stars cool cats -la col hipsters, people from allover -nin played down low -rough security- no smoking, camera issues -kim played solo at end mean chicks -lots edm -3 guitar colors very cool -strobes -hike up, not easy then stairs –