Denver Botanic Gardens announces 2023 Summer Concert Series lineup

If the 2023 Summer Concert Series at Denver Botanic Gardens looks a bit deeper as compared with previous years, it’s because of the emphasis on diversity.

Announced Thursday, the annual series has inched away from its usual slew of adult contemporary, light-jazz and gray-haired-folk genres — despite welcoming back some of the younger series veterans — with indie rock and pop icons that straddle Boomer, Gen X and Millennial tastes.

That includes showings from towering vocalist Neko Case (solo, but also of The New Pornographers); neo-soul group Fitz & The Tantrums (festival and Red Rocks favorites); multi-Grammy-winning bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding; and genre-blending vocalist, producer and songwriter Santigold.

Tickets for the series, produced by Swallow Hill Music, are on sale starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 21. Denver Botanic Gardens and Swallow Hill Music members get early ticket access on March 15-20, based on membership level. Tickets, which range from $80 to $96 per show, will be available at concerts.botanicgardens.org.

The 10 shows take place in June, July and August, with each show beginning around 6:30 p.m. They also herald the return of Evenings al Fresco, the Gardens’ series in which “talented local musicians and small ensembles perform throughout the York Street location as visitors stroll and explore at their own pace,” organizers wrote.

Those will take place select weekdays during the summer, 4:30-8:30 p.m., with performances starting at 5:30 p.m., and the same ticketing as above (on sale March 15-20 for members, and the public starting at 10 a.m. March 21). Note: Evenings al Fresco tickets cannot be purchased from Swallow Hill.

Here’s the full 2023 lineup for the Summer Concert Series, which takes place at Denver Botanic Gardens York Street location, 1007 York Street in Denver.

Neko Case and Nora O’Connor
Tuesday, June 20

Marc Cohn & Shawn Colvin
Wednesday, June 21

Rising Appalachia
Monday, June 26

Santigold
Thursday, July 6

Esperanza Spalding
Tuesday, July 11

Fitz and the Tantrums
Monday, July 17