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by Mike Sheahan
 Welcome
to “The Goods,” the weekly scoop on entertainment
that is currently wondering what will happen with the downtown
space that was once the Main Avenue Marketplace. My hope is
for a hip vegetarian eatery by day and dingy dive bar by night.
The dive bar would have only the best in live music, an air
hockey table and a sign out front that says “No Trash
Can Tippers Allowed.” It will probably become a pizza
joint, coffee shop or T-shirt store, but a guy can wish, right?
Even without the opening of a hot new night spot in town, there
is still plenty to do starting tonight, March 27. The Wild Whisky
Boys will bring their hillbilly-informed and alcohol-fueled
brand of mayhem to the stage at Storyville. Guitars, banjo,
mandolin, and a washboard and stand-up bass rhythm section make
up the sound that is the Whiskey Boys. I recently asked Storyville
owner Dave what the band sounded like, and he replied “pretty
much what you would think a band with that name would sound
like.” I expect an old-time hoe down.
The very next night, March 28, features more craziness at Storyville
with Pagosa Springs country punks Dixie Wrecked. This is a band
that rocks hard and fast even if they are a little cartoonish.
Somewhere around the time the singer drops his 21st F-bomb on
the audience or goads the whole crowd into raising a flipped
bird into the air, you might find yourself wanting to leave
and rightly so. But if you stick around you will find that when
they cut the shenanigans they are a really good rock band. If
you go, go early as local murder balladeer Greg Oldson will
perform at 5:30 for Storyville’s supper club.
If hard and fast with middle fingers flying is not your style
then you might enjoy the local group Freewill Recovery at the
Summit on the same night. Decidedly kinder and gentler than
the Dixie guys, Freewill Recovery will be laying down jam-based
grooves with a whole lot less profanity.
In the mid-’80s, probably about the time David Lee Roth
got kicked out of Van Halen, I decided that my taste in music
stank and set out to do something about it. I subscribed to
Rolling Stone and purchased every album that received a four
star review from the magazine. The result of my efforts was
a mixed bag – some records were great and some stank (I
think the Grateful Dead’s “In the Dark” somehow
got four stars).
One of the great ones was Los Lobos’ first release called
“How Will the Wolf Survive.” It was a great mix
of American rock and Mexican folk that made a lifelong fan out
of me. I tell you all this because Los Lobos will be landing
dangerously close to Durango on Saturday, March 29, when it
performs at the Mesa Theater in Grand Junction. I’ve seen
the band several times and it is definitely worth the drive.
If per chance you are heading to the Front Range this weekend,
Los Lobos will be playing at the Fillmore in Denver with The
Jayhawks (another great band) opening the show.
If you’d rather stay close to home this weekend, you
can check out Jerry Joseph and the Jack Mormons at the Diamond
Circle Theater on Saturday night. The Jack Mormons play an interesting
style of straight-up rock that hangs out on the jammy side of
things. The band is touring behind its most recent release “Conscious
Contact,” and one should expect an intimate night of good
rock and roll, even if the beer is overpriced.
Finally, on Wednesday, April 2, the Matt Flinner Quartet will
perform at the Durango Arts Center. Probably best known for
his work with Leftover Salmon and Drew Emmitt, Flinner’s
solo work is nothing like what those associations might suggest.
The quartet plays mandolin-led instrumental jazz (I know, but
it’s not as weird as it sounds) that manages to be thoroughly
original without shocking. The band’s take on the Police
classic “Walking on the Moon” is worth the price
of admission alone, I’m not sure that I’ve ever
heard a mandolin played that way. The show starts at 7:30 p.m.
This Week’s Signs the End Is Near: With Auburn and Butler,
collateral damage, “Sorority Life” on MTV, the movie
“The Core,” the “subdued” Oscars, and
Shock and Awe, this has been a very surreal week.
This Week’s Album That Is Good: Lou Barlow, along with
his band Sebadoh, helped usher in the wave of “shoegazer”
bands in the early ’90s. After that band’s demise
he went on to form the group Folk Implosion. That group is back
with a new collection of songs creatively titled “The
New Folk Implosion CD.” This album of mostly mid-tempo
rock songs may just be a masterpiece. The songs are drenched
in reverb, distortion and feedback, but Barlow manages to keep
his tunes melodic and tuneful. The lyrics are oblique and at
times seem to serve as another instrument rather than a method
of conveying the songs’ meaning. Not all the songs rock
hard though. “Pearl” is an acoustic folk tune about
baring one’s soul to a loved one that is entirely not
sappy. “Coral,” on the other hand, made my cat run
out of the room with its noise and feedback.
I have never been a huge fan of Barlow’s output with
either band, but “The New Folk Implosion CD” is
definitely one for the collection and may just end up on some
folks’ Top 10 lists.
I would like to close this week by clearing up some unfinished
business: Jessica Williams is the funk queen of Durango! There
I said it.
What’s up? mpsheahan@yahoo.com
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