Sting @ Red Rocks :: April Smith and The Great Picture Show @ the Larimer Lounge

April Smith and The Great Picture Show showed up at the Larimer Lounge last night. Rollicking, moxie, spunk, are words that come to mind. April belted out tunes about not thinking about an ex, keeping a rival away from her man, and good ol' trouble. She got the crowd into it, telling stories, dancing on stage, clapping and keeping the energy up, up, up. Everyone in The Great Picture Show can improvise and throw down, from the stand up bass to drums to guitar to the accordion/keyboard/etc, etc man. All on a night when Sting was playing with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra at Red Rocks.

April Smith and The Great Picture Show

Songs by April Smith and The Great Picture Show are engaging enough, with hints of swing or ragtime and sweet adelines, but word has it their live show is even more of an old-style, entertaining, big tent event. We'll see soon enough when they come to the Larimer Lounge this Thursday, 6/10.

Weekend musings...

Entertaining conversation at the garage sale today when I tried to buy a mini-Igloo cooler marked $5, and a plastic colander and a shrunken CU Buffs T-shirt that didn't have prices on them:

Me: How much for all three?
Homeowner: For all three? It'd be $15
Me: Oh. How much is the shirt??
Her: Each one is $5
Me: What if I just get the cooler and the colander how much is that?
Her: Oh, well, I'll give them to you for $5 altogether.

Don't ask me about the math. I still didn't get the shirt.

Good weather for the Five Points Jazz Festival on Welton yesterday and the pool party at 9th and Pearl. Even better weather today ... a bit cooler. Jazz in City Park starts in 2 weekends. Free jazz in the park!

Brontë Sisters Power Dolls

Free at Twist & Shout

Nathaniel Rateliff (The Wheel, Born in the Flood) plays at Twist and Shout for free 6 p.m. Tuesday, 5/4, the same day his new album comes out on Rounder Records.

The University of Colorado's Conference on World Affairs is going on this week, and Roger Ebert and Werner Herzog are scheduled to appear. Check out the schedule and details

Music notes

Been listening to new music by Achille Lauro, and boy, the song "Summertime" sounds so gorgeous. "Sandra" is all right too. Their record release party is April 10 at the Hi-Dive.

By the way, Pee-lander Z is back in town and playing at the Larimer Lounge tonight, 3/31. $8.

The Flobots are playing on Saturday, 4/3, at the Colorado Rapids' home opener. Game time is 2 p.m.

News via The Seattle Times: All the old issues of Spin are available on Google Books now.

-- A

Law and Order

Watch Law & Order tonight (3/15) and see if you think it rips from the headlines on Northwestern University's Innocence Project

A poem

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

Colorado's James Beard nominees

The list of Colorado nominees includes not only Frank Bonanno for outstanding restaurateur (the man behind Mizuna, Luca d'Italia, Osteria Marco and Bones) but also Chipotle Mexican Grill founder Steve Ells.

A bunch of Colorado chefs got recognized with nominations for best chef in the Southwest:

Alex Seidel, Fruition, Denver
Mark Fischer, Six89, Carbondale
Jennifer Jasinski, Rioja, Denver
Kelly Liken, Kelly Liken, Vail
Bertrand Bouquin, Summit at the Broadmoor, Colorado Springs
Ryan Hardy, Montagna at the Little Nell, Aspen

Yasmin Lozada-Hissom (Duo, Olivea) picked up another nomination for outstanding pastry chef.

James Rugile from Venue Bistro in Denver was nominated for Rising Star Chef of the Year.

The Penrose Room at the Broadmoor was nominated for Outstanding Service.

Here's the full list.