A wild game, Strater double date & Motown Sound

by Chris Aaland

Super Bowl 50 is finally upon us. At 4:30 p.m. Sunday, the wait will finally be over. Hopefully at 4:32 p.m., we won’t have to watch a snap sail past Peyton Manning for a safety like last time.

The optimist in me says this year will be different. Defense wins championships, and the Broncos have the best in the league. The pessimist in me sees #1 in a black Carolina Panthers jersey. Enough said.           

The realist in me knows my annual Wild Game Super Bowl will feature such ridiculous fare as pheasant and chanterelle mushrooms in a creamy wine sauce (Otto and I gathered the fungi last fall while grouse hunting and dry-seared and froze them for later consumption), antelope and smoked oyster pie, elk osso bucco, quail-stuffed jalapeño poppers (wrapped in bacon, of course), venison stew and smoked trout. Brew and bloodies will flow, and good friends will gather around the living room and man cave. Much fun will be had by all.

But the last dance was a clumsy one. If not for a well-timed raspberry gummy thingie, I might not have been so mellow. My orange-clad team is 2-7 in Super Bowls. The losses, from the initial 27-10 pounding by Dallas in Super Bowl XII to the 43-8 drilling by Seattle two years ago, were painful, with an average margin of defeat of 29.6 points. Certainly, Denver ranks among the NFL’s all-time elite. Denver’s eight Super Bowl appearances rivals Dallas, Pittsburgh and New England as the most in league history.

KSUT & the Henry Strater Theatre present two couples – Mollie O’Brien & Rich Moore and Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum – at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Henry Strater Theatre. The duos will each perform a set of music, joining each other from time to time. O’Brien has staged similar couples’ shows the past decade in the Front Range around Valentine’s Day. Both duos are familiar to local audiences. O’Brien has played multiple times regionally, as a duo with her husband, Rich; with her brother Tim and his old band, the O’Boys; and with her own outfit. While Tim O’Brien’s music is firmly footed in bluegrass, Mollie’s is more of an Americana mix, combining elements of rock, blues, folk and jazz. Lewis & Rozum have been inseparable on the concert stage for decades. Both are singers and multi-instrumentalists, although Lewis is best known for her fiddle playing, while Rozum is considered a master of the bluegrass mandolin. The recording catalog of both duos is part of the soundtrack of the classic Durango folk and roots scene for at least 25 years. Save $5 per ticket by buying in advance at henrystratertheatre.com and at Southwest Sound. Since the first two KSUT 40th anniversary shows sold out, advance purchases are wise.

The Community Concert Hall pays tribute to classic Motown with So Good for the Soul at 7 p.m. tonight (Thurs., Feb. 4). Featuring a cast of eight veteran entertainers plus a live band, So Good for the Soul is a nonstop, high-energy show celebrating the best of the best from Berry Gordy’s Detroit hit-making factory. The classic Motown Sound is recreated down to the slightest vocal and musical nuances to emulate American music icons such as Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Gladys Knight & the Pips, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Mary Wells and more. The look and feel of authenticity extends to costumes from Tony Award-winning designer Evie Ross and classic Motown choreography from American Dance Theater director Terri Giordano.

The Durango Celtic Festival concert series continues with Willson & McKee at 7 p.m. Friday in the Strater Hotel’s Pullman Room. The duo has 10 albums that feature two voices with Celtic harp, Irish bouzouki, guitars, dulcimers, bodhran and more. Specials at the Mahogany Grille and Diamond Belle Saloon specially prepared for the Celtic series will be available for your dining pleasure.

The Durango Children’s Chorale and Durango Youth Chorus present Voices of Youth at 6 p.m. Saturday at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. The evening begins with a collection of songs from the sacred, folk and contemporary world music genres. After the concert, the singers will serve at a dessert bar in the parish hall.

Up in Telluride, the Infamous Stringdusters bring their Ladies & Gentlemen Tour to the Sheridan Opera House for a two-night Mardi Gras run at 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. The Dusters have a brand new album, “Ladies & Gentlemen,” set to be released Friday. This time around, Travis, Andy and Jeremy hand over lead vocal duties to some of their favorite female roots musicians … folks like Joan Osborne, Sara Watkins and Lee Ann Womack. This record is on the heels of last fall’s tasty five-song EP, “Undercover,” which saw them tackle Pink Floyd, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Johnny Cash tunes, among others. This week’s dates mark their only San Juan Mountain appearances of the winter.

Ska hosts the release party for the official 2016 Durango Film beer, Eleventh Kiwi Saison, from 6-8 p.m. Friday at the World Headquarters. The event will also serve as a volunteer party, but there’ll be beer specials, movie trivia and prizes throughout. The event celebrates 11 years of Durango’s independent film festival.

This month’s Firkin Friday at Steamworks features Chai Stout, based in their award-winning Backside Stout (which has won a Gold and Bronze at past Great American Beer Festivals). “Chai is an East Indian tea with flavors of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and clove,” said Steamworks Head Brewer Ken Martin. “We’ve found that these flavors blend nicely with the chocolate and coffee flavors of the Backside Stout.” Brewer Spencer Roper added that “to achieve the smoothness of a traditional Chai beverage without using any dairy products, we used lactose milk sugar to give the Chai Stout a sweet creaminess.” As always, the keg gets tapped at 3 p.m. Friday. It will also be available at Purgatory on Fri., Feb. 26.

And at Moe’s, DJ CK spins at 9 p.m. Friday, while DJ Noonz takes control of the turntables at 9 p.m. Saturday.

This week’s Top Shelf list is my prediction for Super Bowl 50. Elk and pheasant be damned, I hope I eat crow on Monday: Carolina 27, Denver 20.

Time to ride? Email me at chrisa@gobrainstorm.net.