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by Mike Sheahan
What a difference seven days can make. Last
week several readers complained of tumbleweeds actually blowing
across this page while in search of things to do. They were
right. Durango, with a couple of exceptions, really was a ghost
town. This week finds us going from bust to boom virtually over
night with much to be done almost every day of the week. To
start with, whatever your favorite local band is, it is probably
playing somewhere this weekend. Check this paper’s calendar
for details though, we’ve got other things to discuss
here.
The big, big fun starts Friday, Nov. 14, at Steamworks with
a hosted MC competition ala Eminem and friends in the movie
“Eight Mile.” If you fancy yourself a buster of
rhymes, or are locally known on the microphone, then take your
free stylin’ self down to Steamworks and show the people
what you’ve got. Durango freestyle rappers don’t
often get an
opportunity to display their skills. Hence, this is the perfect
chance to turn that ball cap sideways, yank those boxers up
to your belly button and drop some lyrical love. The format,
of course, is the classic double- 30-second style, and the winner
will get mad prizes.
Fans of authentic country and western swing need look no further
than Storyville on Saturday night when Halden Wofford and The
Hi-Beams take the stage.
Coming from the surprisingly fertile scene of Front Range honky
tonk and rockabilly bands, Wofford and his Hi-Beams are consistently
mentioned as one of the best and were recently nominated by
the weekly paper Westword as Denver’s best country/bluegrass
band. The music that I’ve heard is authentic sounding
and not
concerned with modern conventions or themes. A stand-up bass
is used and the pedal steel looms large. If you like Hank Williams
but can’t stand to even look at
Garth Brooks, this is the show for you. Plus, at a mere 5 bucks,
who cares if I’m wrong?
When the Durango Society of Cultural and Performing Arts (DSCPA) takes
its annual summertime sabbatical, already-starved Durango live
entertainment
consumers really feel the pinch. The promotion collective is
back at work putting together evenings of entertainment for
us, and we all should be happy. On Wednesday, Nov. 12, folk
music legend Chris Smither will play at the Durango Arts Center.
Smither has been hanging out with, and playing in, elite folk
circles since
before I was born. In an effort to not date neither myself nor
Mister Smither, let’s just say he’s logged an impressive
run. Because I know very little about music,
I only became familiar with Smither’s work last year with
his release “Live As I’ll Ever Be.” It is
an impressive collection of songs delivered by a seasoned pro
who still seems to love his job. One should expect exactly that
from his show. Opener Peter Mulvey sounds, from the one album
I’ve heard, like an older, wiser Dave Matthews. Whether
that is appealing or not is entirely up to you. The show starts
at 7:30 p.m.
Website of the week: Ever wanted to
read the mental ramblings of a fairly intelligent punk rock
author? Now, thanks to the internet and a thing called
web logs, you can. Web logs, or blogs as the kids call them,
are an online “diary” that anyone can create. Most
blogs are boring and pointless, but every now and
then one can come across a great one. www.nealpollack.com
is one of the great ones. Neal Pollack is a fairlyintelligent
punk rock author whose latest rants have included a verbal attack
on a New York Times critic who dissed his book, a dissection
of the latest Democratic presidential debate and an honest discussion
of his addiction to the child-labor-inducing drug Oxytocin.
All with hilarious results. His entries are long, and he posts
frequently making it hard to stay caught up, but
whether you get deeply involved or just need a quick laugh,
Pollack fits the bill.
Album of the week: Ryan Adams seems
bent on making me look like an
idiot. As soon as I (and many others) started calling him the
next Dylan or at
least heir apparent to Tom Petty’s throne, he released
a couple of indulgent, bland
albums that were nearly impossible to listen to all the way
through. Then, right
after I claim him to be washed up and out of decent ideas, he
hauls off and releases his best work in six years. “Rock
and Roll,” spelled lloR n kcoR on the album’s cover
(an annoying Adams’ conceit), should find legions of long
departed believers returning to the fold. Maybe even wondering
if they just didn’t “get” the last
few records.
Drawing on influences as varied as mid-’80s post punk,
’70s glam and modern garage rock, Adams provides a sonic
assault that is virtually nonstop over the
album’s 14 tracks. The fact that “Rock and Roll”
features electric guitars and full volume surely adds to the
album’s appeal, but it doesn’t stop there. Adams’
vocals possess the angry, confessional intimacy with which his
best early work with Whiskeytown was filled. Songs like “This
Is It” (an obvious nod to the Strokes’ first release
“Is This It”), “Note to Self: Don’t
Die” and the title track feature Adams laying it all on
the line without the pretension that plagued his most recent
releases.
At just 29-years-old, Ryan Adams will surely disappoint again,
but that is a nonissue today. “Rock and Roll,” in
spite of liner notes that name Adams’ girlfriend
Parker Posey “exe(cute)ive producer,” is one of
2003’s best.
Are you “down with it” or “Jiggy?”
mpsheahan@yahoo.com
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