If there is one thing Macklemore wanted the CU community to take from his show, it was that he loves Colorado. Macklemore, a.k.a. Ben Haggerty, spent time between songs laying on the Boulder love thick. It was all this local love and Haggerty’s awesome stage presence that made the show seem like a much more personal affair than the sold-out Balch Fieldhouse show that it was.
All in all, Macklemore and his cohort, Ryan Lewis, played a fairly short show—only ten songs prior to the encore. Yet, there were many gems in the short setlist. After playing “Same Love,” a number that left the crowd swaying and throwing up peace signs, Macklemore switched from this more tender moment back into full-on party mode.
“Everything up until this point has been a warm up,” Haggerty said.
Then, as the opening strains of “Can’t Hold Us” swept over the Fieldhouse, the crowd began clapping along in an absolute fervor. This excitement hung on until the end of the set three songs later.
To 21-year-old chemical and bio-engineering major Michael Nehls, the best song of the night was reserved for the encore.
“I’m a sucker for ‘And We Danced,’” Nehls said. “I really enjoyed it.”
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis waved their goodbyes at the tail end of “Wings,” only to be screamed back on stage by the insatiable audience who had just started to get into the groove. As the duo hit the stage again, they did not disappoint. At the first sounds of the epic, Star-Wars-esque intro to “And We Danced,” the audience did exactly that. Pockets of the crowd even opened up to make way for dance battles between strangers.
Unfortunately, the encore dropped into a steady decline at the end of “And We Danced.” The track was followed by “Irish Celebration,” which paled in comparison. After these two tracks, Haggerty talked to the crowd for the rest of his time on stage, leading them in a call-and-response chant of “You guys are f***ing awesome,” “We are f***ing awesome.” He then talked about his connections to Boulder and his first show in Boulder and ended the night with yet another chant, this time, “Goodnight.” (
Haggerty’s stage presence was especially important given a rather rocky start to the show for many patrons. As Macklemore’s set time drew closer, more and more fans lined up outside with their tickets. The Argus event staff turned many fans away for a variety of reasons: bags said to be too large, student ticket-holders without student IDs and those who behaved as if excessively drunk.
Allison Atkin, a 19-year-old integrative physiology and studio art double major, was trying to help a friend get into the concert who had been turned away for not having a student ID.
“[My friend] hasn’t registered yet, so she isn’t technically able to get in [to the concert] because of the student ID thing. We weren’t prepared for what we were faced with, getting in. If we had known while buying the tickets that we had to present our IDs and our information about being a student, we would have been more prepared.”
Though it might have taken Macklemore & Ryan Lewis a little while to warm up the crowd after being left in the cold by the event staff, the pair brought a much-needed dance party to Boulder. At the end of their encore, Haggerty called Colorado his “second home.” By the screams that erupted with their final goodbye, it is safe to say that Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are welcome back any time.
Contact CU Independent Senior Staff Writer Sarah Elsea at Sarah.elsea@colorado.edu.
