Just the Christmas gift I was hoping for!

The Gorge is pretty dang nice, but not sure if it quite compares to Redrocks. It's about triple the capacity so even though it feels pretty intimate, it probably isn't as intimate as Redrocks.

I've seen some great shows at the Gorge, though:

Steve Miller
Charlie Daniels Band
Dave Matthews
Journey
A bunch of others that I can't remember......

But the top 2 Gorge concerts for me were definitely

Pearl Jam 2005
John Hiatt/Stevie Ray Vaughan/Robert Cray in a crazy lightning storm in 1989

Speaking of the Vaughan show in 1989, I just did a quick Google search to see if there were any videos of it online. One of the first links was to Mike McCready's wiki page, and it seems like that concert was pretty special to him also! I remember lots of rain afterwards and actually left probably halfway through Cray's setlist, but the way the rain and lightning played out during "Couldn't Stand The Weather" was unbelievable. If there were any possibility of it being completely scripted, I'd have believed it!

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McCready lost interest in playing guitar for some time, stating that he "was so depressed about life."[5] He cut his hair, enrolled in a local community college, and spent his nights working at a video store.[2] He credits a friend named Russ Riedner for "getting me out of my college mode and back into playing guitar."[2] McCready was inspired to pick up his guitar again after attending a Stevie Ray Vaughan concert at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington. McCready said:

"As soon as he started "Couldn't Stand the Weather", these huge clouds rolled in overhead, and rain began pouring down. When the song ended, the rain stopped! It was like a religious experience, and it changed me. It lifted me out of the negative mindset I was in, and it got me playing again. I thank him forever for that."[5]

McCready gradually went back to playing guitar and finally joined another band called Love Chile.[2] A childhood friend, Stone Gossard, went to one of the band's shows and appreciated McCready's work after hearing him perform Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Couldn't Stand the Weather".[6] Gossard had known McCready from back before high school when the two would trade rock band pictures with each other.[2] After the demise of Gossard's band Mother Love Bone, he asked McCready if he wanted to play music together with him.[3] After a few months of practicing together, McCready in turn encouraged Gossard to reconnect with his Mother Love Bone alum Jeff Ament.[6]

Dave Matthews has a video short about The Gorge. Sounds like it's his favorite place in the world to play. It's been quite a while since I've seen him there, but I'm told he tries to end yours there with multi-day shows.

Just found the video with DM and his band talking about The Gorge. Keep in mind that this venue DEFINES the meaning of BFE when it comes to location. It's a few hours from any major city, and around 45 minutes from even my small town. But the place is really a great venue and draws some great crowds for just about any genre of music.

If you come to The Gorge for DMB, make sure you get tickets for each night he's here. From what I gather, each night is a completely different show so you end up with like 8 or 9 hours of different songs, vibe, etc. And let me know, I'll make sure you stay somewhere decent and even tour you through some
of our local breweries.