The last song of the last stop on this year’s True Colors Tour Saturday at Red Rocks Amphitheatre sweetly summarized what this production was all about: community, responsibility and a good time.
After an hour-long set in which headliner and tour creator/producer Cyndi Lauper flaunted textured, eclectic and evolved renditions of her music — including classics like ”She Bop“ and ”Girls Just Wanna Have Fun“ along with snippets from her new dance pop album, ”Bring Ya to the Brink“ — the performer launched dozens of oversized rainbow balloons into the crowd. ”This used to be my song,“ she said in her characteristic Brooklyn-heavy, squeaky speaking timbre as vivid globes pogo-ed over the near-full theater. ”Now it’s your song.“
Lauper was then joined on stage by the other artists who pitched in for this particular show: The B-52s, Joan Armatrading, Girl in a Coma, comedian Rosie O’Donnell and gabby fashion guru/host Carson Kressley. The colorful collective led an equally colorful audience through a sing along to Lauper’s song ”True Colors,“ the anthem for this 24-city tour benefiting the Human Rights Campaign, sponsored in Colorado by the GLBT Center and Boulder Pride, and forwarding the mission of encouraging voter participation and ”change in the country,“ according to press materials.
Non-believers may snicker at the Pollyanna notion of an outdoor sing-along. But Saturday’s encore was a fitting and touching cap to a tour in which Lauper, whose major-label debut was nearly 25 years ago, spoke directly to a fan base that has consistently bolstered her career — the GLBT crowd — and at the same time showcased her growth as a performer, pushed a non-threatening but poignant political and philanthropic agenda, and brought like-minded entertainers along for the ride.
That ride was all the more fun for this crowd punctuated by drag queens and rainbow glow necklaces thanks to a campy yet current set by the B-52s, jokes and the occasional dance or musical accompaniment from O’Donnell (who knew?), and a well-rounded listening melting pot courtesy of folk rocker Armatrading and the San Antonia indie rockers Girl in a Coma.
With a checkerboard pencil pant-clad Kressley steering the way, this was five hours of fun rolled into a show that boasted a lovely sense of camaraderie. It was a perfect fit for the Independence Day weekend.
Elana Ashanti Jefferson is the editor of The Denver Post’s Room section.
Contributor John Leyba is a photographer for The Denver Post.
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