Ghost Light Sessions: The Runaway Grooms

Vilar Performing Arts Center - Beaver Creek, Colorado

May 7, 2020

Six weeks of quarantine. Six weeks of fear in the headlines. Six weeks of being overly cautious of old friends and family. Six weeks of not petting other people's dogs on the sidewalk. The initial shock of Covid-19's rapid and deadly spread across the globe had been replaced with a new normal as day by day the world seemed to be slipping into a Mad Max prequel. Everyone wears masks, there are oddly cheerful PSA’s about a deadly virus airing daily on the local radio, and things are quiet. Then came a ray of hope.

The Runaway Grooms, the five piece American rock and roll band originally from Leadville, Colorado, were going to play their first show in weeks. They had been booked as guinea pigs in the great virtual concert experiment and were to become the first musical act to appear at the first ever Ghost Light Sessions at the Vilar Performing Arts Center.

While we’ve all been blessed by couch concerts and intimate live-streams from our favorite artist’s living rooms over the last few weeks, The Ghost Light Sessions aimed to take virtual concerts to the next level by bringing back as much of the live concert experience as possible, without creating an irresponsible gathering of potentially infected humans. It would be a live streamed show from a venue with full sound and lights, but with no crowd. The Grooms would be playing a one hour set on stage to an empty theatre.The only people allowed in the 500 seat music hall were the band, lighting engineer, sound engineer, the two folks running the live stream, and me.

When I arrived, The Grooms were in the middle of sound check, dialing in the mix for the live stream. The stage was rigged with as many microphones as you would expect to find at a live studio recording. The band, as well as the engineer, were taking as much time as necessary to broadcast every single vibration possible out into the world, and to make the mix as true to the band’s live show as they could.

Sound check over, the band jammed on Dead and Dylan tunes in the green room, waiting for the live stream to begin. As time went by there was a nervous electricity in the air. It was The Groom’s first time performing at such a large and prestigious venue. It was their first live stream. It was their first time performing live in almost two months. The Groom’s debut album, Tied To The Sun, was released just a few days before the shutdown began. This show would be the first time for many of their fans to hear some of their original music live.

As the band members took their place on stage, the lights dimmed leaving only the light of a single incandescent bulb on stage, known as the Ghost Light. In the darkness, the live-stream director waited for a pre-recorded video to air, then silently counted down with her fingers 5...4...3...2..1

The music played. The lights came on. The room filled with sound and energy. For an hour and fifteen minutes, my stress over a global pandemic was carried out to sea on psychedelic sound waves, and replaced by the joy and freedom only music can bring. I couldn’t stop smiling. It just felt so good to be back at a live show again. It was a reminder of how good life can be when people are able to come together to create and share, and why we need to cherish every day we have on this earth.

I'm looking forward to the day when we can all celebrate music together again. But until then, let's all do our part to stay healthy, stay happy, and enjoy some amazing shows from home.

View the live recording of The Runaway Groom's performance on The Ghost Light Sessions HERE

Check out The Runaway Grooms music HERE