Broncos Game Soundtrack

By Jack Stephen

My wife and I went to the Denver Broncos Game. What did we listen to?

Driving down to the game, we exited off I-25 to I-70 and got off on Pecos to sneak through the Highlands Neighborhood. I lived there for a bit when I was an undergraduate at Metro State University. It’s a pretty cool neighborhood. We crept down Federal and around the side streets looking for free street parking, as the paid parking can run $50 or more! 

What was on the radio? “Dream On” by Aerosmith. I guess this is a fairly cool Aerosmith jam, I don’t know? Aerosmith seemed like one of those bands that got a lot of airplay and had a lot of hits, but does anyone know why? That is, except for “Sweet Emotion,” which is classic rock at its finest! “Yes it diddd.” Overall, as far as power rock bands go, I’d say they sound pretty milquetoast. I don’t know if anyone has used that word to describe Aerosmith before, but right now I feel pretty good about it.  

It was a real nice day. As we moseyed through the neighborhood after parking, we could feel the energy build as the stadium rose in the east. The Broncos were playing the Green Bay Packers. We put this matchup together when noticing the cheese heads mixing in with all the Bronco fans walking to the game.

Waiting to go through the security line, they played: “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC. Yep, the easy choice, the fans love it. “Diddly diddly diddly diddly diddly diddly; aaah aaah uuhh uuhhh aaaaahhh uuuuuhhh; thunder.” I think I would still like this track more if the Iron Man movies didn’t ruin it for me. Even now, I start looking around for Robert Downey Jr. to come flying in. Yeah, I get it its cool to sellout, but it was different in the 1980s. I would say AC/DC and Aerosmith are a couple of sellouts, but what do I know. Who cares when you got rich from your songs? (More on AC/DC in the third quarter, and, yes, you can call me a moron.)

Possible joke idea: While waiting in the security line, I noticed some guy accidentally drop his box of anti-diarrheal medication. Although tempted to tell him, as he was unaware, I’m just not the kind of guy to point out such a thing to a stranger. I hope you enjoy the game, the overpriced refreshments, and the questionable lavatories! 

We had some pretty good seats. There were a lot of strange heavy rap songs—few were recognizable—but all had big, danceable intro beats. 

Around the 7:00 minute mark in the first quarter, they played, “Where the Freaks At?” by Timmy Trumpet and Savage.  

I knew nothing about the song, so I dug into the interwebs. The genre is called Melbourne Bounce—who knows what the hell that means. This song is a perfect example of the evolution of the music industry back around 2014, as they are tunes that didn’t even need to be on an album. These guys just had one song! It was some sort of viral sensation, which they made with a bunch of computer beats and a trumpet hook. While I thought this track was pretty stupid, the crowd was definitely into it. Not sure the crowd could list another Melbourne Bounce track—actually I’m pretty positive they couldn’t.

The fans sure were some characters. There was a guy walking around dressed like Hulk Hogan carrying the Broncos Ten Commandments?! I’m sure the Ten Commandments were sponsored by someone, maybe Frank Azar or BetMGM? This in-person game experience was completely interwoven with ads. It was out of control—the penalty flags were sponsored by Ramos Law? What the fuck is happening?

It was 3-0 with the Broncos leading at the end of the first quarter. 

What song did they play? “It’s Tricky” by Run DMC, which is a perfect song by the great crossover rap pioneers.

During the break between the quarters, the Denver Bronco Cheerleaders danced in the end zone, Fun! What song did they play? “Play Something country” by Brooks and Dunn. What a horrible choice, by a lame-o country band.

What would I have liked to hear? “Birmingham” by Shovels and Rope. This husband-and-wife duo from South Carolina leave it all on the stage every time. It would have been interesting to see the Cheerleaders dance interpretation of this track.

As the second quarter started, they spun the track “The Joker and the Thief” by Wolfmother. I thought this was a pretty excellent selection. My wife and I caught Wolfmother on tour after their first album. We sang and danced to every song, kind of what this Bronco crowd would like to do now, they but can’t quite put together a good dance move for this track. I get that. I would have gone with “Dimension” by Wolfmother, as it might have fit the mood a bit more, if you already got the album cued up?

We had some enthusiastic drunk Bronco fans in our seating area. It was pretty funny with their loud opinions complemented by F bombs. “You fucking suck it ref!” It was 14-13 Broncos, pretty good game so far. 

Next up, they played: “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns ‘n’ Roses. It seems that this track is de rigeur for any live sporting event. Good for them, as they are a fantastic band with some pretty good tracks. Appetite for Destruction was an incredible album! They probably should have packed it in before the tiresome “November Rain,” nonetheless.

Then they played, “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Metallica. Pretty good choice, but there’s a number of Metallica songs that would’ve fit fine here—say “Seek and Destroy” or “Sad But True.”

Next, it was “Hypnotize” by Notorious B.I.G. It was great to hear this song. I loved it, and the crowd loved it. Sucks that such a cool jam was cowritten and produced by P.Diddy.

During all the breaks, I would have liked to hear, “I’m Only Sleeping” by the Beatles, maybe once or twice.  

At the two-minute warning, at the end of the second quarter, they rolled into, “Get Low” by Lil Jon and the Eastside boys. No matter what I thought about this song, the crowd was ecstatic, even with just the thirty seconds or so that was played. People got up with heads bopping—a whole bunch of people, at least it felt like it, judging by the floor vibrations.  

I randomly wondered if Broncos part-owner, the former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, was having a nice time up in the owners’ box. I’d love to pop in the owners’ box and opine some song suggestions to improve this game day experience. I was pretty sure I could get her to agree that U2’s “Elevations” track wouldn’t be a good selection even on a Desert Storm soundtrack. Next, I would talk with the WalMart heirs, the Penners (Bronco majority owners), about some soundtrack ideas. Why not put “Lost in a Supermarket” by the Clash on the WalMart soundtrack? Just trying to help.  

When the Broncos got a big touchdown in the third quarter, they played some rap song with a sample from Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what this song was? This was another remix ruining an excellent song. We sat back down after cheering the score. I saw two guys walking around dressed to the nines as Denver Bronco-themed Mexican Elvises? Sponsored by T Mobile and Common Spirit health, I’d guess.  

By the mid third quarter, it was Denver up 24-23. The DJ rolled out “Paradise City” by Guns ‘n’ Roses—the Maximillion dance Remix. This was a heck of an effort to ruin a perfectly fine rock and roll jam, Maximillion.

At the end of the third quarter, there was an injury, time outs, delays, and a lot of down time to say the least. The injured player finally got up, and they played “Making My Dreams Come True” by Hall and Oates. This was a pretty good selection from the sweet 1980s pop duo. I would have picked a different song, perhaps “I Can’t Go for That,” as it is my favorite Hall and Oates song. I’m assuming Condoleezza Rice would go with either “Rich Girl” or “Private Eyes.”   

The Broncos got another touchdown, and they played “Whoo Hoo” by Blur. I thought this was a pretty good touchdown song from a mediocre band. Thinking about the Britpop genre, I would probably gone with the Stone Roses as the top band. This Broncos game soundtrack could use their track “Fools Gold” at one point, not sure when though?

Really every song they play was some kind of intro or walkup song, trying to capture the mood, if even just for a second or two. If they cut songs up, there’s some great choruses and hooks that would work as well. Maybe…each song could have a sponsor! Now there’s an idea! Here’s twenty seconds of “Hells Bells by AC/DC, sponsored by XCEL Energy! 

In the fourth quarter, the soundtrack wrapped things up with a few gems.

“Misirlou” by Dick Dale, which was recognizable probably from Pulp Fiction soundtrack. I love how Dick Dale worked the Fender Stratocaster, as he finessed such a cool sound out of it.

“All the Small Things” by Blink 182. I am not really a fan of the band, but this selection worked okay.

“Are You Gonna Be My Girl” by Jet. This is a cheesy song, but a great choice!

Solid tracks wrapped things up. During quarters one through three, I’d say Condoleezza Rice would agree there were areas in need of improvement. For one, work in “And the Beat Goes On…” by the Whispers—the fans wouldn’t see that coming!

The top played tracks of the day were the intro to “Hells Bells” by AC/DC three or four times (#2), the intro to “Elevation” by U2 about 4 or 5 times (#1), what horrible songs. I am so done with U2 at this point, I still have the dumbass Songs of Innocence on my old iPhone LE and don’t know how to get it removed. Suck it Bono! Or as I call you, Boner!

Suggestions to improve the soundtrack:

During an incomplete pass: “I Missed Again” by Phil Collins. Solo Phil Collins is about as good as the 1980s ever got; he never sold out. This change isn’t going to happen, because the fans got the in-com-plete chant locked down. But think about it; Phil Collins would be a fresh change!

During a Broncos punt: “The Way It Is” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range. Bruce Hornsby is a crusher if only just for this one song—not sure if I have ever played this song just once at a time.

During a sack from the Broncos D: “Ms. Jackson” by Outkast. God, I love Outkast. Fuck all those other sellout rappers from earlier in this essay. Andre 3000 and Big Boi define the genre in such a “dope” way.

During a Broncos touchdown: “Get Up Offa That Thing” by James Brown. I caught James Brown at a LoDo fest in Denver back in the day with my college roommate, let’s call him Griffen. We were so hung over from partying the night before at the Cruise Room we didn’t have much of a good time. Neither did James Brown, it looked like, watching him struggle through those dance moves. As I write this, I can relate to those hip problems.

After the Broncos got a big touchdown, late in the fourth quarter, we decided to leave. It looked like the game was pretty sewn up at this point, as the Packers fan sitting next to me seemed pretty despondent. We still had a thirty-minute walk to the car and an hour drive home, so getting a jump on the crowd seemed like the best idea. As we were almost to our car walking through the neighborhood directly west of the stadium, we heard one more song. It sounded like the whole crowd of 80,000 or so were belting out “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver! There was about a minute or so left in the game, from what we saw on somebody’s TV as we walked by. The Broncos were going to win, nice. What a great way to bring this game to a close, let’s all sing a song together! Pretty cool to hear this song. My dad was friends with John Denver when they were at Texas Tech in the 1960s. 

 

We got home and watched the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Important plot point:  The whole town’s holiday singing pushed him over the line, to where “That’s it,” he had to steal Christmas. Nevertheless, hearing all those Broncos fan’s singing “to the place where I belong,” felt pretty great, no offense to the Grinch.  

What’s a great Christmas movie? How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966).