Photographing Peter Knudson’s last FoCo show

Photographing Peter Knudson’s last FoCo show

Romey

I’ve had the privilege of running in the same drumming circles as Peter for over twenty-five years. Peter was a longtime staff member and instructor over at the legendary Colorado Drum shop, where I purchased the vast majority of my gear over my thirty years of playing. Peter has been a fixture in our Northern Colorado drumming community, whether it was at numerous clinics, drumming events like The Big Beat, or at other educational opportunities he created for his fellow drummers.

He’s moving to New York to begin a new chapter and will be greatly missed. I was glad to hear that he planned a final show at Avogadro’s Number, featuring his quartet and a reunion of The Atoll, an incredible band that featured Peter on percussion.

It was my privilege to bring my camera and capture a few shots of this fantastic evening, reconnecting with some of my fellow drummers, and being able to give Peter a send-off with gratitude and love.

Peter started the evening playing the drum set with his quartet (which had five members that evening). This group featured instrumentals and tunes with Peter on vocals. It was fun trying to figure out some of the song meters and appreciating all the incredible musicianship on stage.

The Atoll then took the stage, showcasing these incredible musicians.

Lastly, Peter took the stage to give a “goodbye” drum solo to his Fort Collins community. I was glad we stuck around to witness such a sentimental musical gesture.

Thank you, again, Peter, for all of the musical memories and for being such a tremendous influence on my drumming. I wish you all the best in your New York chapter!

Photographing FoCoMX 2025

Romey

After a busy winter, I was able to dust off my camera for the first time in months and photograph FoCoMX in April. Aside from being one of the best music festivals around, it’s also a great chance to shoot several bands in a short time span.

However, being that it is an April weekend in Colorado, the weather isn’t always going to cooperate for an indoor and outdoor music festival. Snow ended up falling on Friday, combined with the bitter cold, made it difficult to shoot bands outside. However, I was still able to get some great shots.

Swashbuckling Doctors

I love watching the Swash Docs play, but the previous year, they were playing at the same time as Heart Medicine. Watching them brave the cold weather on the New Belgium Main Stage inspired me to put my raincoat over my camera and capture a few shots. They turned up the heat during freezing weather.

Atom Son of Man

It was such a pleasure catching my friend Felix’s band, Atom Son of Man, rocking the unique space that is the Art Lab. With their energy, they made that small room feel like an arena.

Old Man Saxon

I couldn’t resist the unique lighting of The Magic Rat and took the opportunity to go see the provocative and prolific rapping of Old Man Saxon. He gave an amazing performance in front of a packed room, making it challenging to stake out a photo spot.

Cactus Cat

We stuck around the Magic Rat to watch the Cactus Cat, an eclectic band that features saxophones. Like many FoCoMX venues, Magic Rat remained crowded, confining me to sneak towards the front of the stage to get a few shots.

I had an early morning at work on Saturday, so we called it a night. After working for most of the day, Heart Medicine played our FoCoMX slot at 830 North.

Drifting West

Our good friends at Drifting West played immediately after us at 830 North, and I had my camera on hand to take advantage of their unique lighting. We go far back with this band, and it’s been a pleasure watching their band mature into their fantastic lineup.

The Pamlico Sound

We left 830 North and went to Odell Brewing Co. to see The Pamlico Sound. They always energize the stage, and in addition to their funkadelic music, they had dancers waving colorful fabric. It was one of the most entertaining sets we saw at FoCoMX!

Kind Dub

The weather got cold again, bringing a few of the previously outdoor bands indoors, including Kind Dub. They still rocked out Illegal Pete’s upper room.

Tim Hanauer

I went behind Illegal Pete’s, into Salt Road Brewing, and caught part of Tim Hanauer‘s set. Salt Road Brewing is quickly becoming one of my favorite places in Fort Collins to watch live music, it’s such a cool vibe!

Eclectic Pickup

I ended the night by catching Eclectic Pickup at Scrumpy’s Hard Cider. I was thrilled to see my friend Rob’s band get to play FoCoMX. It was a great way to end a fantastic musical weekend!

I always have a blast shooting bands and wish that time and opportunity would allow me to do it more often. FoCoMX fills my cup every spring.

Revisiting the Broncos ticket dilemma 1 year later [Spoiler: it’s worse]

Revisiting the Broncos ticket dilemma 1 year later [Spoiler: it’s worse]

Romey

This is an open letter to my family and friends who buy Broncos tickets from me.

TLDR: Ticket prices went up substantially from last year.

Last year, I wrote My Broncos Ticket Dilemma, detailing the latest price hike the Broncos imposed on season ticket holders and the effect it would have on people who attend Broncos games. One year later, the pricing has worsened.

Perhaps this is the price we pay for a successful season, as relevance is costly; maybe it’s ownership trying to squeeze fans by slicing the stadium into dozens of price points, drastically increasing prices for their new slices. It’s likely a little of both; this context will hopefully help people deal with the sticker shock I experienced last month.

I’ve updated my “transparency chart” detailing what I’ve paid for these tickets since 2021.

YearSingle Game Face Value*Total Season Invoice CostAdjusted Sale Price**Y/Y % IncreaseSince 2021 % Increase
2021$104$4160$110––
2022$116$4640$13011.54%11.54%
2023$136$5440$14417.24%30.77%
2024$151$6040$16911.03%45.19%
2025$178$7120$18817.88%71.15%

* Years ago, the Broncos introduced dynamic pricing to mask the full-price costs they charged for preseason tickets. Now, they arbitrarily set ticket prices depending on the opponent and whether the game is in prime time. However, I’ve always maintained the same formula of dividing the invoice price by 4 (the number of seats) and 10 (the total number of games).

** My adjusted sales price has always been selling the preseason games by half, then spreading the other half between the other 8-9 games. For the 2025 season, the Broncos should have one preseason game and nine regular-season games (as I publish this, the 2025 schedule has yet to be released). I have never made a profit on any of my tickets, and in fact, I end up eating some or all costs on the preseason tickets.

Why the drastic year-over-year increase? When we moved down in 2021, the South Stands price was the same. Despite shifting one section lower, this was a horizontal move, price-wise. The Broncos then started slicing up the sections into more colors, first separating the 100 and 200 sections into two different price levels, ending with this year, where they introduced a “lower first level” section, shifting our 18th-row seats into that price. The 2025 map has every spectrum of the rainbow.

Once again, I’m forced to ask my family and friends whether you will accept a substantial increase to sit in section 133 for 2025. In full disclosure, I’ve already renewed the tickets, and after looking at the seat upgrades, I don’t foresee moving to a cheaper section this year, leaving two options on the table:

  1. Maintain the same ticket-pricing formula. ($1,780 / 10 games ($178) + 1/2 of the preseason game ($89) over nine tickets ($9.88) ). This is the same formula I have used for nearly 20 years of having season tickets.
  2. Sell each game at the Broncos-designated face value, with variable pricing per game. I’ve always been reluctant to pursue this approach, as it feels like the team artificially and arbitrarily sets the price based on early-season predictions. A terrible example of this was last year’s Chiefs game, where, despite being the most expensive game, it provided the least value, as the Chiefs rested virtually all of their starters.

One last thing: if you’ve been paying attention to the news reports, it’s apparent that Broncos ownership is serious about building a new stadium. A likely source of financing for the new stadium will be the requirement of a Personal Seat License (PSL), which requires season ticket holders to pay upwards of thousands of dollars for the privilege of owning season tickets. I’m adamantly opposed to this model, and given my finances, I will not be able to justify spending a “new car” amount of money for a piece of paper. As I see it, we probably have 4-5 years left of ticket ownership.

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. I’d be anxious to hear your thoughts on whether you’ll be interested in continuing to attend games with me or going in my place. As the years go by, I’m reminded how blessed I am to be able to experience these games with you and cherish each opportunity to do so. Please feel free to comment below, or email me at jeromey [at] balderrama dot org, especially if you’re interested in being included in my “Broncos friends” list.

In orange and blue,
-Jeromey

Cramming Spring Break Into One Day

Cramming Spring Break Into One Day

Romey

Having to work over most of spring break (and only getting to have the girls for half of the week), we tried to cram the bulk of our spring break activities into one day: venturing down to Denver to experience the Downtown Aquarium and the Denver Zoo’s Glowing Wild exhibit.

Despite experiencing it many times throughout the girls’ childhood, seeing it through their eyes offers new experiences and perspectives. It’s always fun seeing what fish and ocean life the girls gravitate toward and how they react to seeing incredible creatures like sharks and jellyfish. I love that the girls are still young enough to take silly pictures and that camera phones are available to capture their sense of wonder.

After spending two hours at the Aquarium, we grabbed dinner at Texas Roadhouse and stopped by a Denver Public Library branch to get a new library card. DPL offers fantastic online resources (like Udemy) that make it worth getting a card if you’re close by. We then went to the Denver Zoo to experience their Glowing Wild exhibit. Similar to zoo lights, Glowing Wild includes amazing lanterns throughout the zoo that look incredible when lit up.

We walked in a little after 6:15 pm, an hour before dusk, and we could see a few animals before they headed to bed. Despite not having much contrast, the displays were still impressive and made for some fantastic photos.

When dusk set in, the lighting made for the perfect contrast between the lanterns and the girls posing in front of them.

As it got dark, the lantern displays got even more impressive, but it was harder to get posed pictures (also because the girls were getting tired from their long day). One of the most impressive displays was a large alligator whose mouth you could walk through and out the other end.

This event is going on most evenings throughout April. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves the zoo, fascinating displays, or looking for a fantastic event with their family!

Experiencing the Broncos Combine

Experiencing the Broncos Combine

Romey

Earlier this month, the girls, our friend Brett, and I got to experience the Broncos Season Ticket Member Combine, where we got to take the field of Mile High Stadium and test our football-related skills. I’m grateful that I caught the email advertising this free event for Eason ticket holders and that I had the girls that weekend. There was a point earlier in the week when the girls had zero interest in going, seeing it as a frivolous trip to Denver; my middle schooler finally agreed to go but said she wouldn’t do any of the activities.

Days before, we had unseasonably warm weather, but with temperatures returning to normal and the highs in the 40s, I was worried that it would be too cold for us to enjoy it.

We rolled in and got to go directly into the lower tunnel entrance that’s typically gated off.

Once inside, we got to experience the Visiting Team Locker Room, which we were told “isn’t quite as nice”. The girls were blown away by the size, saying that the locker room was larger than our entire house. As you leave the locker room, you’re greeted with a wall reminding you of Mile High’s elevation.

After rounding the corner, we had direct access to the field through the Visitors Tunnel. It was cute watching the girls stage their entrance into the field.

Taking to the field at Mile High

Different stations were set up throughout the field, starting with the 40-yard dash. All of us tried it. Mariana ran it in about 11 seconds, and Clara clocked in at 7.25 seconds, beating me at 7.59 seconds.

Mariana running the 40-yard dash
Clara running the 40-yard dash

They also had an inflatable field goalpost and passing station, and the girls tried their hand at both and then saw how long and far they could jump. While Mariana was jumping, a photographer came by and snapped a photo, which is included in the recap email sent to all of the season ticket holders!

One of the neatest aspects of this event was bringing your football and playing in the middle of the field. The euphoria of being out in the field made up for my lack of skill. It was fun getting our shots and working on our touchdown dances.

Touchdown Celebrations:

We tried our hand at kicking some field goals, demonstrating that it’s absolutely harder than it looks.

The girls tried their hand at the 3-cone drill, running back and forth between three spaced cones. The last field activity was attempting to catch a punt. After watching grown men who struggled at it, Clara caught the punt on the first try!

We returned to the concourse and met former Broncos running back Gene Lang, who graciously signed their football, saw the Super Bowl trophies, the Broncos locker room from an outside window, the uniforms, the former injury cart, a throne, and a miniature Bucky statue.

We were blessed to experience it, and I’m grateful that the girls were receptive to trying all the different drills. Not many get to experience the field of that stadium, and we took away many unforgettable memories from the day.