Flashbacks, dark sides and road trips


by Chris Aaland

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. I’m not sure who “they” are, but usually “they” are full of it. Only in this case, they’re right.

I just spent eight days in Denver on the longest business trip of my life. Eight days of smog, graffiti and traffic jams. And eight days away from my wife and 11-month-old son. But business was good, and at least I got to eat Mom’s home cooking and visit some of my old high school stomping grounds. The degeneration of my childhood peaked during the spring of 1986 in the West Denver suburbs.

Once my Wheat Ridge basketball team had been eliminated from the state playoffs, I immediately turned my attention from the hardwood to the weak stuff – and in pre-1988 Colorado, the weak stuff meant 3.2 kiddie beer that could legally be consumed by thirsty 18-year-olds like me.

My wasted youth saw countless concerts at Red Rocks and the Rainbow Music Hall, drown nights at Thirsty’s and After the Gold Rush, cruising on West Colfax, and regular pilgrimages to the Gates Planetarium for semi-psychedelic Laser Floyd and Laser Zeppelin experiences. There’s a good chance I pulled my first beer bong in the Gates parking lot.

This week’s best chance for a flashback: The Community Concert Hall hosts Paramount’s Original LaserSpectacular featuring the Music of Pink Floyd at 7 and 10 p.m. Friday. The first half of the show focuses on “The Dark Side of the Moon” while the second half highlights the rest of Floyd’s best. You’ll be welcomed to this machine with lasers, 3-D and a wall of sound.

Bluegrass fans can get their fix on Saturday when Durango Acoustic Music brings the Steep Canyon Rangers to the Henry Strater Theatre for a 7 p.m. all-ages show. SCR headlined the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown in 2003 and ‘06 and won the IBMA Emerging Artist of the Year award since they last played our little burg. The Badly Bent will unveil their new four-piece lineup to open the festivities.

Sunday finds a different kind of trip as EOTO performs at the Summit at 9 p.m. Featuring Jason Hann and String Cheese Incident drummer/percussionist Michael Travis, EOTO improvises breakbeat, house, drum & bass, and trip hop. The duo takes its cue from some of the great DJs and computer artists of the world. Their Myspace page says EOTO uses “cutting-edge technology to create truly original and melodic dance music in the moment, with the undeniable power of live drums.”

Ye Olde Snowdown is on the horizon. Durango’s 30th annual winter celebration officially starts on Wednesday, running Jan. 30 - Feb. 3. Unless you’ve lived in a cave on Molas Pass for the past 30 years (and I know a few of you who may have) or just recently fell off the turnip wagon, Snowdown is yet another reminder of why we choose to live, dance and drink here and not in some crime-ridden metropolis.

Yeah, I’m still bitter about eight days on the road. Being away from Durango for so long also meant I slacked in finding a local music personality to share his or her Top 10 list for the week. Thus, you’ll have to indulge some fond recollections of past road trips that spurred a trip down memory lane while I moseyed down U.S. 285 last Sunday.

My list has rules. Each concert must have been at least a two-hour drive from Durango; travel had to be by car (no flights allowed); the main purpose of the road trip was to see a concert; and no multi-day festivals would be included.

You can hear most of these artists (minus the ’80s hair metal cheese) on my “Cask Strength” radio program, which airs from 8-10 p.m. each Wednesday on KDUR, 91.9 and 93.9 FM and www.kdur.org. Cask Strength features what my old on-air partner Nathaniel Miller called “high test Western,” which is a catch-all phrase for classic country, alt-country, bluegrass, folk, blues and rock.

EOTO

Chris Aaland’s Top 10 road trips to see live music, in chronological order:

1) Cheap Trick, Sept. 5, 1988, Colorado State Fairgrounds, Pueblo. How can you go wrong with corn dogs, livestock pens and State Fair rock?

2) The Who, Aug. 5, 1989, Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City. When Pete Townshend launched into a mini “Tommy” set, it was as close to a religious experience as I’ve ever had. Seeing Faith No More at the Bottleneck in Lawrence the night before was an added bonus.

3) Motley Crue and Warrant, Nov. 17, 1989, Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix. Life was simpler when “Dr. Feelgood” and “Cherry Pie” ruled the airwaves.

4) David Bowie, June 1, 1990, McNichols Arena, Denver. My rabbi friend Jeff Lipschultz and I turned a routine trip to Denver into a dicey one by driving over Cottonwood Pass and barely walking into McNichols on time. Bowie made it worth the white-knuckle drive above timberline.

5) Beat Farmers, Aug. 17, 1990, Herman’s Hideaway, Denver. At their best, the Beat Farmers were the world’s greatest bar band. They delivered three sets of rock and honky tonk on this night, which included shotgunning 3.2 Olympia behind a 7-11 and Dave Thibodeau escaping the mosh pit by climbing onto my shoulders.

6) Lyle Lovett, Oct. 19, 1998, Lincoln Center, Fort Collins. His Large Band featured harmonies from Alison Krauss in an unforgettable evening.

7) Robert Earl Keen’s Texas Uprising, Aug. 22, 1999, Adams County Fairgrounds. REK’s one-day Lone Star fiesta included Steve Earle, Joe Ely, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Delbert McClinton, Jack Ingram, Kelly Willis and Charlie Robison. ‘Nuff said.

8) Guy Clark and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, May 29, 2003, the Lensic, Santa Fe. Cask Strength took to the road as Nathaniel and I played hooky from work to drive down and back for these two Texas legends.

9) Drive-By Truckers, Son Volt and Curt Kirkwood, April 30, 2006, El Rey Theatre, Albuquerque. Erik Nordstrom, Chris Loftus, David Smith and I lost our collective hearing for at least two days at this three-act alt-country bill.

10) Bob Dylan and My Morning Jacket, July 21, 2007, Telluride Town Park. Sure, it wasn’t the best Dylan performance any of us had ever seen. But hearing his Bobness sing the famous “I hope that you die, and your death will come soon” verse of “Masters of War” proved that he’s as relevant during the Iraq War as he was during Vietnam.

Ever been 10,000 miles in the mouth of a graveyard? Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.

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