What a stunner. Oh, sure, the band was also great. But the real star of this show — at least for this first-timer to the venue — was the unbelievably beautiful Quarry Amphitheater.
And most people in Northern California don’t even know this place exists. Thankfully, the friendly folks at Noise Pop — the organization that puts on the same-named festival in San Francisco in late-winter each year — is helping to change that by hosting such cool shows as the Remain in Light Tour featuring Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew that touched down on Friday night at the 2,600-capacity amphitheater tucked away on the lovely UC Santa Cruz campus. The 10-piece band, which featured three horn players and four singers trading off on lead vocals, did a splendid job entertaining the crowd with a 14-song that was built almost entirely off selections from Harrison’s old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame act — The Talking Heads.
In all, there were 12 Talking Heads numbers, half of which hailed from this current ensemble’s namesake album — 1980’s Brian Eno-produced “Remain in Light.” That left time for one Harrison solo cut (“Rev It Up”) and one number (“Thela Hun Ginjeet”) from Belew’s King Crimson catalog. Related Articles The show started while it was still light outside, which allowed fans ample time to enjoy the stunning setting of what’s known as “Red Rocks in the Redwoods.
” Any positive comparison to the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, of course, .