Folk rockers Caamp come to the Ford Amphitheater July 17
The band will perform a creative set that gets listeners on their feet as part of their "Lavender Days" album tour
Sophia Matinazad/Courtesy photo
Caamp, the popular folk band out of Columbus, Ohio, is set to play at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater on July 17. The band’s music, which bass player Matt Vinson described as “rock and roll with acoustic instruments,” has reached millions of listeners. Their top song, “Vagabond,” has over 125 million streams on Spotify.
The concert is a part of the continuation of their Lavender Days tour, which celebrates and shares Caamp’s 2022 album “Lavender Days.” The band considers this to be their fourth album, and, according to Vinson, “Lavender Days” “directly shows (the band’s) musical maturity and personal maturity.”
The name Caamp, initially stylized CAAMP, is, according to Vinson, a “reflection of the music and the lyrics.” Additionally, when the name was initially written in capital letters, “it kind of looked like mountains and teepees,” Vinson said.
The band’s style of music contains a complexity that enables its songs to encompass slow and mournful, upbeat and high energy, and everything in between. “Taylor (Meier, the lead singer and primary songwriter) has a lot to say lyrically, and our music should generally inspire hope for everybody. It’s supposed to make you feel good, or make you feel something, whether it’s looking forward to something or being current in the moment,” Vinson said.
“To the Vail residents and anybody traveling in, we’ll do our best to make it a night to remember. Bring your dancing shoes, because we’ll be curating the vibe for a party.” —Matt Vinson, bass player, Caamp.
With four albums, Caamp has the ability to curate each show to fit the audience and venue. “The more records that you put out, the more fun shows get, because there’s so many sonic palettes, and moments, as we call it—whether like a big electric party dancing moment, or an acoustic, grab your lover and really sit back and enjoy it type of deal. We’re very proud of the record (“Lavender Days”), and excited to play more of it this year,” Vinson said.
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One of the features that will make the July 17 concert special for attendees is Caamp’s ever-changing performance. The band rarely puts on the same show twice, preferring to base their concerts on the energy of the crowd and the performance space. “We don’t really ever stick to a set. Sometimes we don’t write a set list at all, and call songs on the fly. It really just depends on the night. The venue will inform itself. The crowd that we get for a night—maybe we’ll cut some songs, maybe we’ll add some different ones—but we always have a lot of fun going up there, and deliberating between songs, and you never know what you’re going to get. It’s fun,” Vinson said.
The band put out their eponymous first album, “Caamp,” in 2016, but its members have a much longer history of making music together. “Taylor (Meier) and Evan (Westfall) went to elementary school and high school together, and Tay started penning the songs in 2014, 2015, in Athens, Ohio,” Vinson said. Vinson, who was also playing music in Athens at the time, began playing shows with Meier and Westfall shortly after “Caamp” came out. When Vinson moved to Denver, Meier and Westfall followed, and in 2018 the trio put out the six-song EP “Boys,” which they consider to be their second album.
This will be Caamp’s first concert in Vail, but “Boys” solidified Colorado’s impact on the band. Vinson, himself, lived in Denver for three years, and made the occasional snowboarding trip up to Vail. “I would always get the Keystone/A-Basin pass when I lived there, so Vail was kind of a treat once a year,” Vinson said.
On the day of the show, Caamp band members might be found exploring Eagle County’s fairways or waterways. “We just recently started taking our golf clubs on tour. We like to fly fish. The world is your oyster on a show day. We have a little window when we need to sound check, and then you can do practically whatever you want else wise until showtime. We’ll be frolicking around in the mountains,” said Vinson.
Though the musical performance will be a surprise, one thing is guaranteed: Devoted Caamp fans and new listeners alike are in for a treat on July 17. “To the Vail residents and anybody traveling in, we’ll do our best to make it a night to remember. Bring your dancing shoes, because we’ll be curating the vibe for a party,” Vinson said.
