Day 11 & 12: Tony P's and The Cloud Station

Day 11 was set to be our last show in Denver at a pizzeria called Tony P's. After spending the last three days in Colorado's capital we were excited to cap it off with a good old fashion hang out. Unlike the other venues we had played, Tony P's was very much a "Bring your own crowd" type place so our entire crowd of 25 ended up being our Denver friends, and some folks who had seen us either Monday or Wednesday. 

The show itself was very fun and super casual, a very different vibe than the rest of the tour so far and everyone was having a great time! Tomorrow we would head back into the mountains, but it was nice to r out our Denver run with a bang!

We woke up on Friday and headed for Crestone. None of us, or anyone we met this far had heard of the small town, but we were still very anxious to get there and play. We arrived around 3 pm and went to scope out the scene. The town was a fraction of the size of our hometown of Wilton - with tons of huts and a very obvious down to earth community. 

The venue ended up being a health food store on one half and a venue on the other side. Upon entrance, we were immediately transported to a different time. There was a man on stage playing guitar and singing the most beautiful middle eastern type music, this man we would later find out, lives in a cave and was about to move to Mexico. He was also one of the best guitarists I have ever seen. 

A few minutes later we were introduced to the owner, Ben. He was one of the nicest venue owners I've ever met. So sincere and genuinely friendly, it was such a nice change of pace. By the end of the night we all walked out as good friends. The venue also did not sell alcohol - so it smelled amazing and it was so CLEAN - why don't more venues do that? We had a great sound check and explored the town a little more, locating a camping area for the night. By show time, locals were trickling into the room, paying the $10 ticket price with no qualms whatsoever. Try charging $10 in Connecticut, and you won't find the same results. These people were here to dance and they appreciated it beyond our knowledge. We played the first set and had the entire room dancing the whole time - everything was going so well. We even had a local harmonica player sit in on Camp Cut-Coulie. 

By set two everyone was still hanging around and continued to dance the entire time. At its peak we had around 40 people in the room, not bad for a town of population 150! We even met a couple from Wilton who moved out west over 30 years ago, what a small world!

After the show we hung out with Ben a bit more to discuss our camping situation and he pointed us to a great hike to take in the morning which I'll discuss later. We set out on our way up the mountain nearby to set up camp. We lit a Bon fire and reminisced on this great adventure. With only one show left, we were feeling happier than ever. Colorado is amazing.