Magoo Year’s Eve Celebration in Buena Vista: Magoo feels like the family we all need in 2026

Magoo played the Ivy Ballroom at the Surf Hotel in Buena Vista, CO.  December 31, 2025.

An unseasonal warmth had descended upon the riverfront town of Buena Vista, CO when we arrived at the Surf Hotel on New Year’s Eve to celebrate the end of 2025, and the hopeful new beginnings that 2026 might gracefully bestow upon us.

While climate change and high pressure systems have something to do with the outside temperature, the warmth we felt in BV was more powerful than the weather.

In the weeks and days leading up to this celebration, online chatter and anticipation were already pointing to an event of epic proportions. Before a note of music was played, there was a feeling that we were all going to be a part of something special.

As we began to gather in the iconic Surf Hotel in Buena Vista, the energy level was high – but not in a tense way as can sometimes be the case before a party with the expectations New Year’s Eve often carries. It was a buzzing and positive energy, but somehow also comfortable and relaxed. It was what happens when hundreds of Magoobers gather together. There is a knowledge that we are onto something ahead of the rest of the world, a comfort in the understanding that we are all in this together, and a camaraderie amongst those prepared to ride this train as far as it’s willing to go.

Wearing that energy like a fuzzy sparkly blanket, we all gathered in the Ivy Ballroom, ready for whatever Magoo had in store.

Magoo took the stage with the enthusiasm we have all come to love about this young and new(ish) band experiencing a meteoric rise with no end in sight. The precision and skill with which they approach every tune – beautiful originals, well-chosen modern covers, and traditional bluegrass mainstays – is nothing compared to the expert guidance they employ while taking us all on an epic journey, through each and every song they play.

The foursome of Dylan Flynn (Dobro, Vocals), Erik Hill (Guitar, Vocals), Courtlyn Bills (Mandolin, Vocals), and Denton Turner (Upright Bass) has skills well beyond their years, but their youthful enthusiasm and creativity brings memories of some of our long favorite bands in their infant years – Greensky Bluegrass, Infamous Stringdusters, Yonder, Billy.

But they aren’t just another jamgrass band. Magoo is creating something completely different, completely original, completely Magoo.

Magoo was joined throughout the evening by the immensely talented Dan Andree on fiddle, whose energy matched that of the band, driving songs to new heights, adding face-melting auto-wah and layer upon layer of beautiful, colorful funk and soul that seemed otherworldly, but also felt so perfectly Magoo.

The feelings that emanated throughout the Surf Hotel went beyond the performers on the stage. Magoo has that X factor that can’t be planned, can’t be conceived: incredibly passionate fans that truly believe in this band. And they want the world to know, to share in this experience. But, most importantly, they are gracious fans. The Magoobers are a family, but not a closely guarded one, rather an open family that wishes to grow and share and love.

That is the feeling that engulfed Buena Vista as the New Year descended upon Colorado this December 31st, 2025. That is what MagooYear’s Eve was. A family reunion, a tribal gathering of love and warmth, and an epic jam-filled dance party as we’ve never seen.

After a 2025 that in some ways felt accented with darkness, Magoo may just be the light we need to usher in a New Year, and the Magoobers are ready to lead the way.

(as long as 2026 isn’t filled with balloons. IYKYK)