The 2024 concert calendar is still unfurling. Just this week, we saw big shows announced for the 18,000-capacity Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre, Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, and more are sure to arrive in the coming days.
While this is not a complete list of announced shows, here are 10 big concerts in Denver that you shouldn’t miss. Tickets for all shows are on sale unless otherwise noted. See the latest at denverpost.com/things-to-do/music. (Note: This list does not include festivals.)
NICKI MINAJ
Usher’s Super Bowl Halftime show was a convincing example of a comeback, but we’re more excited for Nicki Minaj’s Ball Arena show this weekend. Minaj is a deeply influential, funny, lacerating, much-missed voice in hip hop, and this year brings her largest tour yet. (Note: the show is Sunday, March 3, so warn your savings account now.) This is only the second date on her world tour, which means fans can expect an energetic performance. (In the victory-lap realm, see also Madonna’s makeup date at Ball Arena on March 16, and Usher’s concert there Sept. 18). nickiminajofficial.com
ZACH BRYAN
Concerts at Empower Field at Mile High can arrive like tsunamis of sight and sound (see Taylor Swift) but also be focused on a more stationary face, which will be the case when this hugely popular singer-songwriter visits June 14 and 15. That’s a pretty incredible booking, given that one concert can’t satisfy fans’ demand. The only shows we’ve seen along those lines are Swift’s — since even a single show from Foo Fighters (Aug. 3), The Rolling Stones (June 20) and Kenny Chesney (July 27) would seem to be enough. We should also mention country superstar Morgan Wallen, who’s playing Empower June 27-28. empowerfieldatmilehigh.com
JENNIFER LOPEZ
Lopez is in the midst of a promotional blitz, with a new documentary and, as of this week, her first Billboard No. 1 album in a decade, Forbes reported. “This Is Me… Now” also comes with a tour that visits Ball Arena on July 22 — with openers yet to be announced — that will likely reinforce why Lopez is one of the most powerful, alluring stage performers of the past three decades, beloved by both English- and Spanish-speaking audiences. ballarena.com
TROMBONE SHORTY + BIG BOI
Troy Andrews’ genre-spanning music, under the name Trombone Shorty, gets a boost from Big Boi, one half of legendary hip hop duo Outkast and a frequent, visionary collaborator with various performing artists; see Big Grams and Purple Ribbon All-Stars, but also TV, film, symphony and ballet projects. The artist pairing promises a raucous dance party at their show, with Shorty backed by his crack band Orleans Avenue. July 23 at Dillon Amphitheater. dillonamp.com
OLIVIA RODRIGO
This red-hot pop-rock star’s kaleidoscopic Guts tour is slated to play Ball Arena on July 30, with Pink Panthress, following a packed Mission Ballroom visit during her last Sour tour and her own international tour dates this year. Rodrigo’s rock credentials have been assured in recent years as she’s reached into alt- and indie-rock history to inform her livewire songs. If things keep going her way, we can also expect this to be the last single-date show she’ll play in Denver, at least for a while. oliviarodrigo.com
DIERKS BENTLEY
Bentley is playing the first big, regular-season show announced for Colorado Springs’ new Sunset Amphitheatre, set for Aug. 30, with openers Chase Rice and Zach Top. But this acclaimed country singer-songwriter’s Front Range run also includes a stop at Red Rocks Amphitheatre Aug. 31, hinting that we may be getting more of these double-dip shows in the future (meaning: less I-25 driving for fans).
PHISH
Why highlight a familiar band that has been playing Labor Day runs in Colorado since 2008? Because it’s still one of the biggest, most magnetic events in Colorado music, with impressive sales and fan loyalty since it debuted. The towering jam band’s summer tour follows their upcoming residency at Las Vegas’s Sphere venue, and the entire jaunt closes out with Aug. 29-31 and Sept. 1 concerts at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park soccer stadium in Commerce City. phish.com
GREEN DAY
Coors Field, the home of the Colorado Rockies, is one of the most surprisingly fun places to see a concert, especially given the potential for terrible acoustics and corporate blandness. And yet past shows there have gotten glowing reviews of performances from The Lumineers, Zac Brown Band and Denver’s own The Fray. This year’s lineup brings the supposed final tour from Billy Joel (July 12), country’s Kane Brown (Sept. 6), and a Def Leppard/Journey double bill with opener Cheap Trick (Sept. 8). Still, we’re most excited about Green Day, the ’90s pop-punks who are back with a new album and, on this date, excellent openers Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and the Linda Lindas, on Sept. 7. mlb.com/rockies/tickets/concerts
KACEY MUSGRAVES
This just-announced concert heralds the live return of the Grammy-winning country singer-songwriter, with a massive world tour — her biggest yet — and a stop at Greenwood Village’s Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre. The Sept. 15 show, with indie opener Father John Misty and Chris Thile’s bluegrass band Nickel Creek, is a substantive answer to the litany of reunion and throwback events at the venue. Fun is fine, but this looks finer (and also fun). axs.com
THE NATIONAL AND THE WAR ON DRUGS
After its Taylor Swift collaboration, The National has gone from indie darlings to amphitheater headliners. Like The War on Drugs, they’re also solid festival veterans who have learned how to play to massive outdoor crowds without losing their intimate intensity (if that sounds like a paradox, you haven’t seen them live.) This co-headlining set at Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre will likely bring out the aging hipster dads, but also a new set of fans who enjoyed the National guitarist and lead singers’ recent studio collabs with Swift. Sept. 28, with opener Lucius. fiddlersgreenamp.com
