Aww, it's so cute …

It's nothing new to say Colorado has one of the best venues for live music in the world. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater has as big of a reputation as it does sandstone walls — duplicating its energy or structure elsewhere would be an unlikely feat.

But as a collaboration effort between the Taste of Randolph Festival and VISIT DENVER, Red Rocks' mini-me was brought to the streets of Chicago, Illinois to showcase a bit of what Colorado has to offer.

The partnership was created as part of the venue's 75th anniversary, which hosted a stage that brought out some of Colorado's finest: DeVotchKa, The Motet and Michal Menert.

The two walls stood up to 30 feet tall and were 70 feet long, each handcrafted and hand painted to mimic the sandstone striations found here in Colorado.

"Chicago and Denver share a lot of similarities," the festival's site reads, "and many people travel between the two cities. So VISIT DENVER will bring The Mile High City’s tunes, urban adventure and outdoor spirit to Taste of Randolph with Denver Live on the Rocks.

Denver, recently named the #1 place to live by US News & World Report, has quickly become a top vacation destination in its own right with chef-driven dining and a thriving cultural scene that includes major museums and charming neighborhood art districts. Denver also ranks as the best beer city in the country, as named recently by CNN.com, with more than 50 craft breweries in the city and more than 100 in the metro area."

But unless the neighbors complained, it really wasn't much of an authentic Red Rocks experience at all, now was it?

photo credits: The Motet, Taste of Randolph, FB