ere
at “The Underground,” we (OK, actually it’s just
me) sometimes take things a little too seriously. This time of
year, it’s easy to get entirely too wrapped up in the
obligations and guilt associated with the season of giving. Surely
you can empathize, unless you’ve given up on the idea that
you should do nice things for others during this cold, dark month
of December, if for no other reason than to save your loved ones
from depression and self-destructive behavior. Well, I’m here
to tell you that while it is better to give than to receive, there
is one gift you ought to give yourself. Chill out, be reasonable
and don’t get so wrapped up in finding stuff to wrap that you
forget to enjoy the holidays. So crank up some Nat King Cole, pour
a little peppermint schnapps in your hot cocoa, and rest your merry
mind.
Take a break from generosity and start the
weekend off tonight at Steamworks with the balls-out regional rock
’n’ roll band Knucka at Steamworks.
Combining influences from the world of barn-storming country-blues
and outlaw punk with guitar-driven rock, this band has been
starting fights and wearing out boots around the Southwest for
years. Formerly operating under the moniker Dixie Wrecked Revival,
these guys from the Pagosa area are sure to bring a high-energy,
hard-drinking good time. The show starts around 9:30 p.m. and only
costs a few bucks – combine that with $1 Pint Night and
you’ve got yourself a good, cheap night of hot entertainment.
Saturday night begins a special two-night
engagement at the Abbey Theatre with rap legend RZA of Wu-Tang fame. Also
known as “Bobby Digital,” among other aliases, RZA is
all over the scene with his work as a producer, recording artist
and actor (you can catch him now in the Denzel Washington film
“American Gangster.”) RZA first surfaced in the rap
game during the early ’90s as a member of the rap group All
in Together Now, a group from Staten Island, N.Y., which also
contained fellow Wu-Tang members such as GZA/Genius and Ol’
Dirty Bastard. Aside from the rise to fame of Wu-Tang and its
members, RZA, as a producer, is responsible for many influential
hip-hop classics such as the group’s 1993 debut “Enter
the Wu-Tang 36 Chambers,” considered one of the most
influential albums in its genre. Since that album, he has created
countless solo albums for the group, plus three more group albums.
His first solo album as simply the RZA, “Birth
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of a Prince,” was released in 2003 and
spawned the single “We Pop.” As a sought-after
producer, he has created great songs for legends such as the late
Notorious B.I.G. and Big Pun. Catch RZA with special guest Black Pegasus (solo hip-hop artist out of the Denver area, touring
this month with RZA) for an all-ages show at 10 p.m. this Saturday at the
Abbey. Then on Sunday, it’s same time and place but for the
21-and-over crowd.
It is holiday time again, with the attendant
family-friendly, happy, high-culture music events. Avail yourself
of some traditional holiday fare on Sunday at the Durango Choral Society’s Traditional Family Christmas, an annual holiday
extravaganza, with all three Durango Choral Society choirs
participating. See your family, friends and neighbors perform
another rousing celebration of the season in a program that is
guaranteed to get you in the holiday spirit. Showtimes are 3 p.m.
and 7 p.m. on Sunday at the Community Concert Hall.
If that’s not enough holiday cheer for
you, don’t miss the annual FLC
Music Department Bash, Friday night at
the Concert Hall. It’s a fun, informal campus and community
holiday party, complete with cookies, hot chocolate and Christmas
sing-alongs. The concert features many of the college’s
performing ensembles with 150 plays altogether. A great alternative
to caroling or singing in the shower, take in the bashing good time
at 7 p.m. tomorrow.
Speaking of high culture, we don’t often
talk about dance here in the Underground, but this is as good a
time
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as any to start. A new dance performance
called Kinetic Kaleidoscope, directed by Anne Berg, features diverse and unique
original choreography from a host of local dance professionals and
students. The showcase of local movement masters begins tonight at
7:30 p.m. at the Mainstage Theatre at Fort Lewis College, and runs
through next weekend.
It’s not wintertime in Colorado without
a nice cozy bluegrass show. Catch the Colorado
Playboys on Wednesday at the Henry
Strater Theatre (f.k.a. The Diamond Circle). This occasional band
is comprised of pickers who play in other bands, and they’ve
gotten together just for this tour during the holiday season. Andy
Thorn, formerly with Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, will be
playing banjo. Travis Book, of the Infamous Stringdusters, will be
holding down the low end on bass. John Frazier, of Hit and Run
Bluegrass, will be playing mandolin. And Jon Stickley, of The
Biscuit Burners, will be playing guitar. Thorn, Book and Stickley
have played together previously in the Rockygrass-winning band
Broke Mountain (spare me the cowboy jokes, please) and are taking the
stage together again. The show starts at 8 p.m.; mark your social
calendars now.
Finally, the Abbey comes to our rescue again,
saving us from the crapulent dreck that is the blockbuster
Christmas movie season. Opening Friday is “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” a Sidney Lumet film
starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke and Marisa Tomei.
Lumet is famous for his gritty, urban masterpieces,
“Serpico,” “Network” and “Dog Day
Afternoon,” and critics are calling this latest a welcome and
fitting addition to his oeuvre. While it lacks Al Pacino, this
movie has a lot going for it. It’s a (surprise) suspense
thriller about the desperate and foolhardy act of two brothers who
plan “the perfect crime” to haul themselves out of a
financial black hole. The plan, of course, goes awry and threatens
to destroy their own family. In the hands of such a masterful
director, even a seemingly done-to-death plot could yield an
excellent film. You be the judge, and support honest-to-goodness,
grown-up movies at your local neighborhood theater.
Only 25 shopping days ’til Christmas,
people! Lindsay_damico@yahoo.com. n
1. Rodrigo & Gabriella, “Rodrigo
& Gabriella”
2. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss,
“Raising Sand”
3. Neil Young, “Chrome Dreams
II”
4. Eddie Vedder, “Into the Wild”
Soundtrack
5. Bruce Springsteen, “Magic”
6. Led Zeppelin, “Mothership”
7. Soundtrack to the Motion Picture
“Across the Universe”
8. Nine Inch Nails,
“Y34Rz3R0R3Mix3D”
9. Eagles, “Long Road out of
Eden”
10. Gorillaz, “D-Sides”
-Courtesy of Southwest Sound
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