South Park's 25th anniversary concert at Red Rocks is a rush, in more ways than one

The second night of the South Park 25th Anniversary Shows at the historic Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado on Wednesday night held plenty of surprises - even, in some cases, for key characters on stage, not all of which had been prepared in advance about a catchy musical appearance by two Rush members.

With an unprecedented number of Kyle, Cartman, Stan and Kenny costumes dotting the sold-out crowd, the concert began with Comedy Central animated series co-creators (and proud Colorado natives), Trey Parker and Matt Stone, performed "Uncle Fucka" which magically brought some of those watching to tears. Despite the expected crude lyrics, the song felt more like a ballad, with Parker on the grand piano singing along and Stone on the microphone shouting the word "fucka" with Pavarotti's passion.

Parker explained that they would play a few songs from the show, then intersperse the set with "real music" from Primus and Ween. Primus frontman and bass impresario Les Claypool, still the host, was dressed as if he was indeed ready to sail the cheesy seas; all that was missing was a monocle.

After performing "Here Come the Bastards" from "Sailing the Seas of Cheese" in 1991, the motley crew - including Dean and Gene Ween - quickly introduced the evening's first special guest, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, who presented Parker and Stone with a proclamation declaring August 22 "South Park Day." "South Park character", Mr. Hankey, the Christmas poo.

The entire event, which an AEG Live spokesperson confirmed to Variety, was the most money Red Rocks had ever spent on production, had a moving tune - and it wasn't just the weed smoke that hung over the site. Parker wiped away tears on at least one occasion while talking about the humble beginnings of "South Park." With Claypool's help, Parker also told the story of the theme song "South Park", which Claypool assured the crowd they "didn't do for the money". In fact, he joked, they only got paid $74 for the intro ("Last night was $72," Claypool admitted).

But nothing compares to the look on Stone's face when he realized that Claypool and Parker had gotten him to rehearse the drums for a Rush song for some reason he didn't know. . As they explained, Rush are one of Stone's favorite bands and they wanted to surprise him with a message from vocalist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson, who appeared on screen as characters from "South Park ". Seconds later, Lee and Lifeson took the stage to the shock of Stone and the entire audience, then played "Closer to the Heart" from the 1977 album "A Farewell to Kings." A man in the audience could be heard saying, "I've never been happier in my life," summing up the energy bouncing around the giant red rocks that make up the venue. (Pictured above, left to right, are Lifeson, Stone, and Lee.)

Trey Parker and Matt Stone perform during the South Park 25th Anniversary Concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater on August 10, 2022 in Morrison, Colorado. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Comedy Central) Getty Images for Comedy Central

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