Brantley Gilbert and George Birge Get Loud at Red Rocks: PHOTOS

01 of 08

George Birge

I just wanted to explore the space. I wanted to see what it looked like from the other side, because you sit down there on stage, and you feel so small when you look at the top of the rocks. I wanted to walk up to the top and see what the view is for the very last person to walk in here. You stand at the top and you look to one side, and you see downtown Denver, and then you look to the other side, and you see just these wide-open spaces, and in the middle is the most iconic music venue that you could think of.

02 of 08

George Birge

There's something about that moment when the crowd matches your energy. It's just magical. We went out there and just rocked it and the crowd gave it right back to us. They were on their feet, and they
had their hands up in the air. I feel like Denver is such a music city. People understand music and they are there to enjoy it. They support art and culture. I felt fully embraced by the community. The coolest thing for me was when I got up there, I told them that this was my first night playing Red Rocks and it was a dream that I always felt was too big to come true. And they just went bananas. It was like the city hugged me and wrapped me in their arms. It was magical.

03 of 08

George Birge

My wife bought that shirt for me the day before I left for Colorado. She was like, 'Hey, I saw this, and I thought of you.' I saw it and I thought it was perfect, so I wore it all day out there. When it
got cooler at night, I just put a jacket over it. It was awesome.

04 of 08

George Birge

"Mind on You" has really taken a life of its own. To have this song that means everything to you connect with a crowd at a place like Red Rocks, it's like you finally get to say to yourself, 'Oh s—, this might really work.' So, getting to see people bob their heads and singing along, and then just feeling the power of that song coming through the full wattage of the speakers of Red Rocks was cool.

05 of 08

George Birge

I spent all day Sunday just reliving those shows. I had been tagged in all these posts on Instagram and I went through every single one of them and commented and watched the videos and saw people's reactions. The band and I spent about six hours in the airport on Sunday, and we just kept talking about our favorite moments from the show and the folks that came out to support us and our favorite parts of the venue.

06 of 08

Brantley Gilbert

To perform somewhere as iconic as Red Rocks is what we all as artists aspire to, so it never gets old! Being in such a cool setting, hearing your songs sung back to you, seeing all the faces in the crowd, and knowing you're all there together for the same reason is an amazing feeling. It was a weekend I'll never forget!

07 of 08

We knew we wanted to up the ante with these shows, so we added some new elements on the production side of things, and we made sure we did a mix of old favorites and new songs. It's a lot of fun to dig out and revisit some of the earlier stuff, but it's always exciting to perform new songs and see the crowd's reaction.

08 of 08

George Birge

"It's no secret that Brantley and I both have some rock and roll guitars in our music and like to get loud. And so, we weren't going to change the show. We went out there and just rocked it and the crowd gave it right back to us."