Judas Priest, the Avett Brothers and essential metal

by Chris Aaland

Cross another one off my list. Monday night at the Sandia Resort & Casino marked my first-ever Judas Priest concert. Chalk one up for the old guys: on this tour, they celebrate the 30th anniversary of “British Steel” by performing the album in its entirety. There was no cheese, either: “Hot Rockin’” and “Turbo Lover” were spared for oldies like “Diamonds and Rust” and “Freewheel Burning.” Guitarists Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing ripped one solo after the next, and Rob Halford – well, he’s simply the best frontman in heavy metal. Decked out in a studded black leather jacket during most of the show, he switched to a frilly, silver lamé one when he rode his Harley onstage for the encore. With his four-octave vocal range, nobody can scream like Halford.

Not all went smoothly. Cocktails before the concert were difficult. The liquor store a few blocks from the casino didn’t sell beer. The gas station next door had plenty of Bud, Coors and Miller, but hardly any micros. Dave, Jared, Muff and I settled for 12 packs of Tecate and High Life. When we unloaded our bags, the bellhop informed us that customers can’t bring alcohol into their rooms. Bummer. We did, however, notice big signs advertising Sandia’s four bars and happy hour from 5-7 p.m. with half-priced drinks. The bar overlooking the gaming tables only had specially priced wine. The sports bar across the floor was no better. The two bartenders were more interested in watching E!, which blared the latest gossip about Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears, than taking our order. So much for the Red Sox and Tigers. Then we tried the 9th floor bar. Strangely, the elevator stopped at the 8th floor. After taking the stairs for the final floor, we found the door to the bar locked. Upon further review, the fine print on the sign said the 9th floor bar is closed Mondays. So we shelled out $25 for a round at the sports bar and learned a lot about Jon & Kate from E!

Once inside the venue, we bought $9 yards of margaritas that had enough sweet and sour in them to pucker us up for weeks. But we went big, raising our plastic, souvenir, yard glasses of margaritas in unison during “Metal Gods” – that’s how we roll.

Following the 90-minute metal marathon, we returned to the casino, won some money at craps, blackjack and roulette and sipped on another round of $6 beers. We came, we conquered, and by mid-morning we headed home blaring Priest, Metallica and Pantera on the ipod.

George Winston returns to the Durango Arts Center at 8 p.m. Monday. Winston is a rural folk piano historian, first inspired by the instrumental jazz, R&B and rock of the ’60s. He later heard Fats Waller’s recordings from the ‘20s and ‘30s and became a proponent of up-tempo stride piano. In recent years, he’s championed New Orleans R&B piano, taking note of great Crescent City pianists like Professor Longhair, James Booker and Henry Butler. Winston’s latest album, “Gulf Coast Blues and Impressions: A Hurricane Relief Benefit,” not only pays homage to these men, but raises money for those affected by Katrina.

Motivator – the band and the beer – will be at the Durango Arts Center at 7 p.m. Friday. DBC’s new Scottish ale and Faye Harmer’s new music project were unleashed Aug. 8

Durango DOT Comedy performs “She’s Just Not That Into Us” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Durango Arts Center. In addition to improv comedy, Ska beers are just $1.

The Starlight’s musical offerings this week include Salsa Night at 8 p.m. tonight (Thursday), Cyle Talley at 6 p.m. Friday, Cosmic Accident at 9 p.m. Saturday, Musica del Mundo with DJ Maize & X at 9 p.m. Sunday, Colin Rooney at 9 p.m. Tuesday and Club Meds with Jonezy at 9 p.m. Wednesday.

The Summit brings Tullie the Rapper tonight, Brwn Buflo with DSP & DJ Bram on Friday, and Freeman Social, the Dropskots and Boldtype on Saturday.

Elsewhere in the county, the Kirk James Blues Band plays Virginia’s Steakhouse at Vallecito from 8-midnight on Saturday, and guitarist/songwriter Pete Giuliani plays Trimble Hot Springs from 6-9 p.m. tonight and Sweeney’s 6-9 p.m. Sunday.

Larry Carver has three gigs this week. Rockin’ Randy Crumbaugh (of the Jelly Belly Boogie Band), Nina Sasaki and Carver play rock at the Derailed Saloon at 7 p.m. tonight; he and Nina play Rylee Mac’s at 5 p.m. Friday; he and Ben Gibson (of Tumblin’ Dice) play blues and rock at El Patio at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

Joan Osborne plays a free concert at 5 p.m. Friday at Sunset Plaza at Telluride Mountain Village in the kickoff event for the Telluride Festival of the Arts. She’ll return to the area Oct. 28 when she plays the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.

The Avett Brothers play a free concert at Telluride Mountain Village next Wednesday

The Avett Brothers also have a free show at Mountain Village this week. Often mislabeled a bluegrass band, they mix everything from country, punk, folk, rock and honky-tonk. KDUR station manager Bryant Liggett just saw them in Baltimore a few weeks ago. Needless to say, he’ll be heading to Sunset Plaza for the 6 p.m. Wednesday affair.

This week’s Top Shelf list features 10 essential British metal albums.

1. Black Sabbath, “Paranoid,” 1970. The granddaddy of them all.

2. Deep Purple, “Machine Head,” 1972. The mother of all riffs.

3. Slade, “Sladest,” 1973. Sure, it’s a greatest-hits package. But it was the first album to feature “Cum on Feel the Noize.”

4. Ritchie Blackmore’s “Rainbow,” 1975. “Man on the Silver Mountain” is the best thing Ronnie James Dio ever recorded.

5. Black Sabbath, “Heaven and Hell,” 1980. Bye-bye Ozzy. Hello, Dio!

6. Judas Priest, “British Steel,” 1980. Rock at its best.

7. Motörhead, “Ace of Spades,” 1980. Lemmy’s finest hour.

8. Diamond Head, “Lightning to the Nations,” 1980. One of Metallica’s biggest influences.

9. Def Leppard, “High ’n’ Dry,” 1981. A Mutt Lange-produced classic.

10. Iron Maiden, “The Number of the Beast,” 1982. Bruce Dickinson joined, and Maiden became one of the world’s biggest metal bands.

All inside it’s so frustrating? E-mail me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.

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