FREE stuff this weekend

It's FREE to visit a bunch of national parks and monuments this weekend!

Juneteenth festival in Five Points today, 6/20.

Free jazz in City Park on Sunday night, but watch for T-storms.

The Big Lebowski is the movie playing at Red Rocks tonight, with The Wheel and Rob Drabkin playing music beforehand. What could be better! (well, as long as there's no storms.)

Weekend in Denver in photos!

It's the Italian chalk art festival (La Piazza dell Arte)! Centered on Larimer Square, but it stretches down 14th Street. Just one of the free events in the streets of Denver this weekend. It continues today, 6/7 ...





Just down the street, The Heyday et al played on a stage set up at 14th and Curtis for the Denver Day of Rock (which included a fundraising concert by the Flobots at the Fillmore.) Also free, but donations were accepted for Concerts for Kids. There was a balloon artist and a guy walking around on stilts plus free samples of Mike's Hard Lemonade.



Still going on today, the People's Fair, in Civic Center Park. And tonight, free jazz in City Park. Let's hope the weather holds.

Colorado Film Commission is becoming a state agency

Gov. Ritter signed a bill today moving the Colorado Film Commission under the state office of economic development. So instead of operating as a public-private nonprofit, it will be a state agency. Some of the legislators who backed the bill have ties to the film/TV/multimedia industry. Sen. Nancy Spence's son works for HBO. Former Rep. Anne McGihon has done commercials. "I just want to be a stunt man in my next life," Sen. Dan Gibbs said. The film folks are still working on legislation to boost incentives for productions that spend a majority of their money in Colorado or on Colorado talent.

Denver this weekend

The Wheel and Porlolo are at the Hi-Dive Thursday night, 6/4.

The People's Fair takes over Civic Center Park, across from the state Capitol, this weekend. FREE entry and live music. Bring money for snacks, drinks or if you want to buy something from the booths. Starts 10 a.m. Saturday, 6/6.

Also free this is the weekend when artists make elaborate chalk drawings at Larimer Square. It's Italian chalk art at Larimer Square. Starts 10 a.m. Saturday, 6/6.

The Heyday, The Epilogues, Roe play FREE at 14th and Curtis on Saturday, 6/6. The fun starts at 1:30 p.m. (Or noon if you want to see Savage Henry too). Bela Karoli plays FREE at Fillmore and 2nd in Cherry Creek at 3 p.m.

Nuggets, Nuggets, Nuggets!

Game 6 tonight, 5/29. 7 p.m.

Kenyon and Carmelo warming up before Game 3:



Besides the usual suspects, the new Mini Bar (2nd and Columbine, look down) in Cherry Creek will have the game on before their launch party starts at 9 p.m. Blake Street Vault (on Blake, between 15th and 16th, roughly across from the Rio) will also have it. Drinks are a little pricey there, but you have a good shot at getting a booth, and if you get there before 6, you can get free happy hour snacks with a drink.

Music news

The Westword Music Showcase is fast approaching June 13, with Built to Spill headlining, plus Meese, for a measly $9.33. Plus Cursive, Fluid and A Place to Bury Strangers and tons of local bands. Buy the ticket now, because it's $20 the day of the showcase.

Meiko was at The Walnut Room in Denver last week as part of her headlining tour, and she'll be back June 7 opening for Eric Hutchinson at the Bluebird. The lyrics are relatable, the voice capable, and she's got the VH1 look and sound down. The Denver performance was good since she apparently had friends in the audience, and it was an intimate enough setting. Would be great to see her play at the Meadowlark's outdoor stage sometime. Middle-of-the-road sounding stuff for fans of Colbie Caillat.

Nuggets vs. Lakers tonight. Game 5.

Economic woes in the music world

The teaser on this alone ... from the Wall Street Journal: The recession is cramping the style of hip-hop artists _ many of whom are finding it hard to afford the diamond-encrusted pendants and gold chains long used to project an aura of wealth.

Joshua Bell in Denver

Joshua Bell was in Denver this week for one night only with the Colorado Symphony and he managed to nearly fill Boettcher Concert Hall on Thursday night. It's been sparse at some symphony concerts this year what with the economy, but it was so full Thursday that the CSO CEO said, "Where have you been all year?" to the audience before the concert started. Some of Bell's Indiana University alums were there, plus a group from University of Denver. It was an all Mendelssohn program, and from the first notes Bell played of the Violin Concerto in E Minor, Bell's talent was clear. All the technical prowess was there but made to sound effortless, light and easy. The bow moved smoothly across the strings for a beautifully buttery sound, and yes, he's playing a Stradivarius, but the control of the bow hand made for silky sound. For an encore, he played variations on the Yankee Doodle theme, which made the audience laugh: Yankee Doodle in harmonics, double stops, furious pizzicato. Alas, after that, Bell was done.

The Colorado Symphony has more great concerts lined up for next season, with Yo-Yo Ma and Lang Lang on the schedule.

Also coming up this summer, free concerts on July 3 (@City Park) and July 5 (@t Red Rocks). The July 5 concert includes the overture to "Russlan and Ludmilla" by Glinka!

Ice Palace, Say Hi and Cloud Cult drew a big crowd to the Bluebird last night. Ice Palace seems much edgier live. They got the crowd amped with the energetic "Thoughts/Facts." Cloud Cult drummer Arlen got on stage with them to play tambourine and sing.

Say Hi (Eric Elbogen has a curly mini-fro and beard now!) played songs new ("Maurine," after someone kept shouting it out over and over!) and old ("Northwestern Girls.") A tiny group was moshing down next to drummer Alex Westcoat, who was thrashing on his kit even in the steamy room.

Cloud Cult put on a show. They've built up quite a following here after playing at Monolith Festival and some associated shows, and the crowd was singing along. Images were projected on a movie screen overhead, and the two painters started working on their canvases early while the music played. As is custom, the paintings were up for bid at the end of the show. Last I heard, bids for Connie's painting (melancholy portrait in pastels of two people with downcast eyes) were in the $200 range and bids for Scott West's blue and green figure with flaming red hair was about $500ish. So glad they played "Take Your Medicine."

-----

Meiko playing tonight 5/20 at the Walnut Room

It's getting to be the last day for you to enter our Cloud Cult contest. Enter now!

Tuesday is shaping up to be Minnesota day in Denver. We've got Cloud Cult and Ice Palace (w/ Say Hi) at the Bluebird, and One For the Team at the Hi-Dive, both on 5/19.

Meiko plays at the Walnut Room on 5/20.

And just a random note. If you want to take a cab from Denver to Northglenn and have it wait there to take you back to Denver once you're done talking to whoever you need to talk to, the bill's going to be $66.