The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Band may schedule two base-area shows next year
During Saturday’s sound check, the Yonder Mountain String Band practiced with the wind in their face and cold numbing their fingers. Then the weather lifted, wind mellowed, and temps climbed 15 degrees as the sun shone across the base area. Yonder played a tight, energetic show up at the base area, and people inside the snow amphitheater and out took it all in with smiles and sun on their faces.
Things went so well that Yonder wants to play two shows at the base area over the course of a weekend next year. The band’s manager, Chris Tetzeli, said the show went off great.
“We were really happy with it,” Tetzeli said. “The folks at the mountain, including Ethan [Mueller], Daren [Cole], and Laci [Wright], were fantastic and put this thing together pretty quickly. With just seven weeks of promotion, we were really happy with the turnout and see it as a building block for what we hope to be something bigger and better in the future.
“Yonder and Crested Butte are a good match,” Tetzeli added. “There’s a lot of demand for Yonder; things are going great across the country but especially in Colorado. Hopefully we establish this and keep it going and add it to the other key plays for Yonder, like Telluride Bluegrass and Red Rocks. The band would like to add Crested Butte to that list.”
From Crested Butte Mountain Resort’s perspective, the show exceeded expectations. According to CBMR’s vice president for sales and marketing Daren Cole, they ended up selling just over 1,400 tickets.
“Everyone I spoke to was really happy!” Cole said. “For a first-year event we were encouraged with the turnout and execution for the event. With the weather breaking in the afternoon, I’m not sure you could have found a better venue for an inaugural springtime music event!”
Yonder would like to promote the event earlier next year so their loyal fan base has more time to pencil in a multi-day event, Tetzeli said. “We’d like to announce the date sooner—mid- to late fall—and make that their excuse for a ski trip every year.”
