Bonnie Paine shares Elephant Revival's trip through the unknown to unification ahead of Saturday concert at Planet Bluegrass
Aug. 17—Last year, after an extended break from touring, Bonnie Paine took the stage with her fellow Elephant Revival bandmates to play a special reunion show in Lyons — more than four years after the Nederland-born band's last appearance together at Red Rocks in 2018.
The reunion show was slated to be an difficult one for the group, as it would be the first show that Elephant Revival would play without former frontman, Boulder-based musician Daniel Rodriguez.
"I thought it was going to be challenging," Paine said. "I was definitely nervous."
But in the days ahead of the reunion show, the post-Rodriguez rendition of the band — with a new addition of Daniel Sproul, of Boulder's rock band Rose Hill Drive, on guitars and vocals — made it through rehearsals with surprising ease.
"We didn't want to even confirm the show before we did some preliminary rehearsals, because we wanted to make sure the energy with Daniel (Sproul) would be good," Paine said. "But it was just amazing. With all due respect to what has been our band — sometimes you have to step into the unknown. Change is necessary to move forward. The change had to happen for us to move on, and that was pretty clear to everyone. I think that initial rehearsal was affirming, and it made me realize that going into the unknown is worth it. We try to avoid the unknown at a very high cost a lot of the time. But we had already kind of stepped through that unknown during the rehearsal process. So after that, we had this new sense of unification, going on stage. It felt really natural, surprisingly."
And the rest is history. The August 2022 show was a smashing success, with the latest rendition of Elephant Revival selling out Planet Bluegrass weeks before the concert took place.
The band is set to return to Planet Bluegrass Ranch on Saturday and the show promises to deliver a performance as breathtaking and as singular as last year's show.
"Last year was like witnessing magic," said Katie Harrington, a long-time fan and attendee of Elephant Revial's reunion concert. "There was electricity in the air. The band plays well live, but more than anything, they know how to put on a show."
The production at this year's show will be larger than life. Elephant Revival will perform a couple of tunes with The Father Time Drum Line — a group that has played at Denver Broncos and Colorado Rockies games as well as with Odesza. There will also be a parade of dancers from Lyons-based Mayama Dance Studios and an opening set from the Midwestern indie rockers Fruit Bats, known for twangy, emotionally charged anthems that salute love and life of years gone by.
"I'm so excited," Paine said. "I love visual art a lot. I like it when you can see the music, and that's what we wanted to do again this year."
Lyons is a special place for Paine, who not only calls the 1.36 square mile wedge of sandstone-adorned land home, but reveres the town for its physical beauty and artistic abundance.
"The St. Vrain River is special," Paine said. "It's such a beautiful town. It's this very sweet, artistic musical community. Planet Bluegrass has very dramatic cliffs, with the stage to the left of that. There's a little backstage river dipping spot that (fiddle player) Bridget (Law) and I always try to jump into right before we go on stage. It feels like a little reset after soundcheck. It's a magic place with a lot of good energy."
While the 2022 concert was more of a reunion for the band, this year seems like the perfect year to celebrate Elephant Revival's homecoming, after five years of not quite knowing where the band was headed next.
"Last year felt kind of like a test," Paine said. "I didn't know what to expect. We wanted to play that initial gig and see how it felt, and see if we were ever going to be able to play together again after everything. But everyone was so appreciative, and encouraging, and really receptive to our new songs. It felt like a pretty clear yes to us, from each other, and from our fans. We took it as everyone accepting us as we tried this whole band thing again."
Gates open at 5 p.m. and the show will start at 7 p.m. Saturday at Planet Bluegrass Ranch, 500 West Main, Lyons. Tickets are $65. Kids age 12 years old and under are free with a paid adult.
