It’s Almost Heaven For Denver-Heads Folk Singer Draws Hard-Core Fans To Concert In Riverfront Park
John Denver has driven a long, winding country road since his string of hits in the 1970s, but fans still think he’s the coolest thing since the lava lamp.
Denver belted out old chestnuts and new tunes to more than 3,000 fans in Spokane’s Riverfront Park on Sunday night.
Fans started showing up in the afternoon to claim prime spots and get comfortable. They brought blankets and lawn chairs but were forced to leave their picnic baskets and food at the door.
Rusty Baxter scrunched into a square of grass with his cousin in the front row. If there were groupies that followed John Denver from town to town, Baxter would drive the bus.
Baxter, 25, of Post Falls, said he has listened to Denver every day for almost 18 years.
“I want to go home with him,” Baxter said. “I want to quit my job and hang out with him.”
Denver’s show, billed as “The Wildlife Concert,” featured songs with environmental and wildlife themes, reflecting Denver’s advocacy of environmental and social causes.
The performance was the second big concert of the summer in Riverfront Park. Almost twice as many people showed up for Bob Dylan in June.
Some at the concert first had started listening to John Denver on eight-track tapes. Others had first heard him sing with Kermit the Frog. At least one had listened to Denver since he had sung with a folk group in the early 1960s. One said he’d been a fan for all of four minutes.
Everyone had a Denver moment - even teenagers.
“When we watched the ‘Muppet Show,’ that was probably the first time I saw John Denver,” reminisced Eric Odegard, 18.
“I just remember my dad - he used to have eight-tracks and we used to plug in ‘Rocky Mountain High,”’ added Ryan Jonak, 18.
Susan Parkhill is a true Denver-phile. She was attending the Air Force Academy High School in 1969 in Colorado Springs, Colo., when she first heard Denver sing.
Since then, she has been to 10 Denver concerts. The show Sunday was her first in Spokane. Denver songs always have stood out, Parkhill said.
“It was easy, happy music,” she said. “It kind of had a different message, when there was a lot of hard rock ‘n’ roll, like Led Zeppelin. He offered a kind of alternative.”
The first time Denver came to Spokane in the early 1970s, tickets at Gonzaga University were about $2.50, said Mike Kalstad of Valleyford. Kalstad missed that concert. He tried to see Denver the next time he came to town for the 1974 world’s fair, but tickets were sold out.
“I got so mad, I hung up, slammed the receiver down so hard I broke the telephone,” Kalstad said.
Another show was added, and he bought tickets. He hasn’t missed Denver in Spokane since.
“He’s a fantastic poet, and poets have a window to the soul,” Kalstad said. “He expresses my thoughts better than anyone else.”
Denver inspires strong feelings, one way or the other. Many people in the crowd said he is their favorite artist. Others wished he had gone the way of eight-track tapes.
“If my friends see my name in the paper, I’ll never be able to go back to Pullman,” Joe Harari said.
Harari came because his wife, Denise, has been a fan for years. He told his friends he was running errands in Spokane. During Denver’s heyday, Harari listened to other artists. “Unless you lived in Colorado, it was too corny,” he said.
But corny sells. Songs such as “Rocky Mountain High,” “Annie’s Song” and “Country Roads” have garnered Denver 14 gold and eight platinum albums in America.
Today, 20 years after he was a fixture on the Top 40 charts, Denver is still one of the top five recording artists in the history of the music industry.
Baxter remembers his first Denver song with scary clarity. He was only 5, and the song was “Sunshine on my Shoulder.” Baxter listened to the radio as he played outside. Snow was on the ground, but the sky was sunny.
“I love him,” Baxter said. “He’s awesome. He’s inspired me to do lots of things, to get through a lot of problems and have a good time. Him and Ted Nugent.”
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