This week, 303 Magazine asked a bunch of Denver music people questions to round up 2016 and one of them was “who is your favorite Denver band that has made it big?” I almost said The Fray but didn’t, because that just seemed like *too* much of an obvious choice. But the truth is, these guys remain one of my all-time favorite bands, so I jumped at the chance to see and photograph them when they returned home over Thanksgiving weekend.

They played an intimate show at the Boulder Theater on Friday night and then the grander affair at 1stBank Center on Saturday, which was, of course, easier to get tickets to. American Authors accompanied them both nights, a perfect match for the mood of the concert.

Isaac Slade and Joe King talked sentimentally about how they had to desperately save a few hundred bucks for their first recording time 10 years ago, and how they signed their first recording deal literally inside the Boulder Theater. Hard to believe it’s been a decade for The Fray, but the proof is in their new greatest hits album, Through the Years: The Best of The Fray. They started the night with the only new song on that album, “Singing Low,” and truly did run through all the hits.

Thanks for all the music, guys. Here’s to another 10 years!

The Fray Concert Photos 2016

American Authors

The Fray

The Fray Concert Setlist

1stBank Center – November 26, 2016

Singing Low
You Found Me
Hurricane
Look After You / Wonderwall (Oasis cover)
All at Once
Rainy Zurich
Vienna
Closer to Me
Corners
How to Save a Life
Heartbeat (Acoustic)
Heaven Forbid (Acoustic)
Heartless (Kanye West cover, acoustic)
Hold My Hand
Our Last Days
Never Say Never
Love Don’t Die

Encore:
Syndicate
Changing Tides
Cable Car (Over My Head)