Colorado’s biggest musicians boycott Fiddler’s Green as pressure mounts against Greenwood Village police resolution – The Denver Post

From a distance, it may have looked like a breezy summer concert in an affluent Denver suburb. But the hundreds of people that gathered in the park behind Greenwood Village City Hall on Monday night weren’t just there to hear Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, the Flobots or Wesley Schultz of The Lumineers.

They were there to let the Greenwood Village City Council know its resolution shielding the city’s police officers from civil liability in instances of civil rights violations won’t stand. Not if they and some of the state’s most prominent musicians have anything to say about it.

The “march and play-in for justice” was the second demonstration outside Greenwood Village city hall since the council sought to undermine the state’s new accountability legislation by resolving never to find its officers acted in bad faith in interactions with residents. After the resolution passed July 6, more than 100 protesters took to the streets despite the use of a city snow plow to block street access to the city hall parking lot.

In between Rateliff’s hit “Say it Louder” and Schultz’s cover of Bruce Springsteen, State Sen. Jeff Bridges took the microphone. Bridges, who lives in Greenwood Village, said his first concert was at Greenwood Village venue Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater, but that he won’t return to the venue until the City Council rescinds its resolution.

“Our officers must be exemplary, not exempt,” Bridges said.

Just after 9 p.m., after more music from the Brothers of Brass brass band, the assembled crowd set out for a march to the amphitheater. Tay Anderson of the Denver School Board helped lead the demonstration, along with the police reform bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver.

“Do your job,” he called. “Uphold the law,” the crowd responded.

Senate Bill 217 was drafted and passed this spring following protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the deaths of other unarmed Black people, including Aurora’s Elijah McClain last fall. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, The Lumineers, Flobots and DeVotchKa, along with gospel group Spirit of Grace and artists Erica Brown and Andrea Marchant all participated in Monday night’s protest.

“Live performances at Fiddler’s Green are a major source of revenue for the city of Greenwood Village,” the petition read. “Because the city council does not understand why it is imperative — from a civil rights and safety perspective — to abide by our statewide laws, we hope that they understand why it is also an economic imperative that we as artists and fans will now refuse to spend our money in Greenwood Village.”

For residents with long memories, the protests are reminiscent of the early ’90s boycott of Colorado by touring musicians such as Madonna and Elton John, the result of Amendment 2, a statewide ballot initiative that passed by a slim margin in 1992 and prohibited Colorado from enacting anti-discrimination protections for gays, lesbians and bisexuals.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the amendment in 1995 for being unconstitutional, but its three-year reign cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues from concerts, conventions and other business, according to historians and news reports.

“Amendment 2 may be the biggest public-relations disaster ever to hit Colorado,” The Denver Post reported at the time.

Withholding performances, and therefore revenue, is just the starting point, musicians say. If the resolution doesn’t disappear, the goal is to erode the prestige formerly associated with Fiddler’s Green — as well stigmatize it as being located in a city that’s unsafe for people of color.

“In general, that is an ability artists have that most people don’t have,” said Storm Gloor, associate professor of Music and Entertainment Industry Studies at the University of Colorado Denver. “If I were to take a stand on something, I wouldn’t have a lot to personally negotiate with. But artists do.”

That’s the point, of course, of corralling platinum-selling acts such as The Lumineers, whose singer — Schultz — provided one of the top-billed names at Monday night’s event. Their voices give the message a different tenor, said Leslie Herod, the Denver Democrat who chairs the state’s Black Democratic Legislative Caucus and put the event together.

“Nathaniel and his band were the first to sign on board — and I mean within hours,” she said. “But of course bands like Flobots have always been there. This isn’t just a moment for Colorado artists, but a movement. It’s not just about police accountability, but about the way we show up in life and respect Black lives, period. (These artists) are willing to put their livelihoods on the line for Black lives, and that can’t be understated.”

Mega-promoter AEG Presents, whose Rocky Mountain office books Fiddler’s Green and all but controls the regional touring scene, also released a statement in support of the event Monday night.

“AEG Presents and the Museum of Outdoor Arts, the nonprofit which owns Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater, stand together in support of Black Lives Matter and against social and racial injustice. We also stand in support of all the artists who have come forward to lend their voices to progress, both locally and nationally,” it read. “AEG Presents, as a music company that operates a venue in Greenwood Village and works closely with its police department, has unique perspective and connections to this issue. We have already reached out to key voices on both sides with the intent of bringing all parties together for meaningful dialogue and resolution.”

Singer Lerea Edwards performed at the event with her gospel group, Spirit of Grace.

“I’m glad to see the musicians who are standing up for this, but there are so many more who have been marginalized over the years and who don’t have that voice,” Edwards said. “From what I’ve seen, the music community stands united in this, and if you can’t love one of us, you can’t love any of us.”

Edwards, who is Black, said she took part because she doesn’t feel safe inviting her family to Greenwood Village to see her perform, something she’s done all over the state with acts ranging from famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma to Colorado pop act OneRepublic.

“We’ve tried holding police accountable by being quiet, by prayer, by peaceful protests,” she said. “All these different avenues to try to have equal civil rights. And nothing.”

Wesley Schultz of @thelumineers covering Springsteen’s “My City of Ruins.” Vid doesn’t capture refrain of “Come on rise up.” pic.twitter.com/BTy9mWxTOR

— Joe Rubino (@RubinoJC) July 21, 2020

The goal of Monday’s event, and other recent protests, is not to tear down the city, Sen. Bridges said. It’s to show how many people disagree with the city council.

“Senate Bill 217 on police accountability is one of the most important anti-racist bills in state history, and it passed with unanimous, bipartisan support,” he said. “Saying parts of it don’t apply to the city I live in undermines the bill and sends a very dangerous message to communities of color.”

Colorado musicians using their star power to bring attention to the Greenwood Village resolution puts added pressure on city council, he said.

“These musicians bring with them enormous fan bases and media attention,” Bridges said. “This was already getting some attention, but nothing like the kind it’s getting now.”