Boulder Insider 2023

THE 2023 BOULDER INSIDER

August 24, 2023

PUBLISHER: Fran Zankowski

EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Caitlin Rockett

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray

GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER:

Kaylee Harter and Will Matuska

FOOD EDITOR: John Lehndorff

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

Colin Wrenn

SALES AND MARKETING

MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER:

Kellie Robinson

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE:

Matthew Fischer

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Chris Allred

SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER:

Carter Ferryman

MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar

PRODUCTION

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER:

Mark Goodman

CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn

CIRCULATION TEAM:

Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer

BUSINESS OFFICE

BOOKKEEPER: Emily Weinberg

FOUNDER/CEO: Stewart Sallo

As Boulder County’s only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holdsbarred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county’s most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly. com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you’re interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper.

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READER, WELCOME TO BOULDER

From Chautauqua Park to Folsom Field, from the farm lands along Jay Road to the pedestrians spread across blocks of Pearl Street Mall, Boulder’s natural and manmade beauty is renowned. And while these areas are what most people associate with Boulder, our city has a laundry list of hidden gems, cult-favorites, gotta-listens, must-eats and more.

The Fitter is the head shop in Boulder, as far as most residents are concerned, and this year its co-owner sisters celebrate 50 years of holding it down on University Hill. The National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Mesa Lab, visible to anyone cruising through town, is rich in history and widely accessible. West End Tavern, the barbecue joint on Pearl Street, dares all to attempt the daunting “Winginator” challenge. There’s local musicians to listen to, secret menu items to seek out and live events out the wazoo. Join us in celebrating the history, wackiness, sights, sounds and tastes of the People’s Republic in this year’s edition of Boulder Insider Cheers, from your friends at Boulder Weekly

08 THE FITTER: 50 years on the Hill

12 ROOTED IN PLACE: A journey through NCAR’s Mesa Lab

16 JUDGMENT DAY: An overconfident attempt at West End Tavern’s ‘Winginator Challenge’

21 BOULDER SOUND: Four local musicians you need to know

25 GIVING THE GAME AWAY: Boulder’s best kept secret menu items and how to score them

28 FESTIVALS: The best Colorado fall festivals — all in one place

FROM THE ASHES

Feds, snakes and bongs: 50 years at The Fitter

BY CARTER FERRYMAN

Bonnie Dahl remembers exactly where she was on Jan. 29, 1991. “Black Tuesday,” she calls it, and as she recounts the events that took place at The Fitter, the landmark Boulder head shop she owns with her twin sister, Betty Gruskin, it’s as if she’s describing a near-death experience.

“I was working out at Rally Sport Health Club, and we didn’t have cell phones at that time, so I got a message at the club,” Dahl says. “I was given instructions to call the store immediately. So I called, and my manager at the time told me I had to get there right now.”

Upon arrival, Dahl was greeted by a swarm of federal agents ransacking her store. They were cataloging and seizing every piece of inventory The Fitter had in stock. Dahl was prohibited from using her phone. Her bank account was frozen.

“It was a true nightmare,” Dahl says. The next morning, Dahl closed on the

purchase of a new home in tears. She soon found out that her personal assets were in danger of being seized. Her store was above the fold in the daily newspaper: “Operation Pipe,” they called it, a joint effort between the state and federal government targeting “unlawful interstate trafficking of drug paraphernalia.”

THE 1970S: SNAKE-O

Dahl and Gruskin could write a book of stories on The Fitter. Moreover, they could probably write a book on University Hill, Boulder’s original epicenter of culture and entertainment,

and the place the sisters have called home for 50 years.

“Pearl Street Mall didn’t exist when we opened,” Dahl says. Fresh out of college at Arizona State, she moved north to another college town with the assignment of helping her brother, Bruce Klahr, open a store called The Pipefitter in an area of Boulder locals called “the Hill.”

Blacklight posters, light machines, beaded curtains, even waterbeds, The Pipefitter had it all. The store was a manifestation of the vibrant, hippie-centric culture of Boulder in the early ’70s.

“We had a boa constrictor in the store,” Dahl says.

Snake-O was the store’s mascot in its early years, chilling in a display case — decorated with a skull bong — or around Dahl’s neck as she rang up customers on an analog cash register.

“There was a point in time where we hadn’t seen our snake in over six months, so we went and got another one and put him in the case,” says Dahl. But as soon as snake number two was dropped in, out popped Snake-O from the bong’s mouthpiece. He had just been hibernating.

But business wasn’t all fun and games. In March of 1975, during a reces-

sion, Klahr sold his sisters the store.

“We paid $100 a week for two years to buy the business,” Dahl says, “and we thought we were getting ripped off.”

THE 1980S: ‘CALM BEFORE THE STORM’

Dahl admits, for the first half of the ’80s, she was disengaged from The Pipefitter. She had her first child in 1983, then her second in 1985, so her time at the store whittled down to an hour a week. When it came time to find their next manager in the late ’80s, Dahl had to make a decision.

“I put in an ad for a manager in the newspaper, and maybe one person applied,” she says. “My husband Gary suggested I manage it myself. I had never thought of that.”

Dahl stepped into the role, and business turned around quickly. The ’80s were fast and fun: Cocaine was as popular as Jerry Garcia. Smoking paraphernalia and band merchandise flew off the shelves, as those same musical acts filled the Fox Theatre and the late Tugali.

Across the country, a siege was taking early form. Throughout the ’80s, Ronald Reagan’s presidency keyed in on further expansion of penalties stemming from cannabis, including mandatory minimum sentences, as well as civil asset forfeiture, all as part of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984. These statutes left Dahl and Gruskin wondering where their business stood.

“We were always tuning in [to the news], because we knew we were in a

Betty Gruskin (left) and Bonnie Dahl (right) with cousin Jeffrey Garson in front of their original location on College avenue. Photo courtesy The Fitter.

Courtesy: The Fitter

gray area,” Gruskin says. The pair formed an organization for legal guidance, involving various shops in both Denver and Boulder. To the east, head shops in Adams County had already been hit hard. Still, The Pipefitter remained unscathed.

“The assistant DA here in Boulder was very helpful,” Gruskin says. “He was rooting for us. We felt very lucky and blessed until 1991.”

THE 1990S: ‘FAIR’

It all happened lightning fast: the message, the call, the dash to the store, the accusations, the news break — everything. The aftermath saw Dahl and Gaskin’s store, a home for culture and expression on Boulder’s colorful Hill, left with nothing more than $2 in petty cash. Dahl will never forget the name of the agent who spearheaded the raid: Fair.

The agent was anything but.

“They wanted to accuse us of money laundering,” Gruskin says. “That would put us up for indictment before a grand jury.”

The odds were stacked against Dahl and Gruskin, due in part to mandatory minimum sentences enacted by Reagan seven years prior.

“The judge didn’t have their own discretion [in our case]. They had to comply with what the law was,” Dahl says.

If the pair decided to fight the ruling and lost, they’d serve jail time. Of their three attorneys, one wanted them to fight it. The other two were strongly against the idea. Dahl and Gruskin chose to settle with the federal government. The very next day, Jan. 30, The Pipefitter reopened, but the damage was done. The next 13 months were bleak.

“We had hardly any merchandise, just things like incense and rolling papers, which [the federal government] had to return because they took those during the raid,” Dahl says. “People thought we were shut down from the articles they read.”

Dahl estimates it was 1994 when The Pipfitterbegan selling pipes again. Business turned around quickly, and The Pipefitter was back.

“I used to say we’re like the phoenix that rose out of the ashes,” Gruskin says.

THE 2000S: ‘OPERATION PIPE DREAMS’

Walking into The Fitter on any given day, the first thing you see is a stunning array of glassware. From sturdy, reliable bongs to gorgeously crafted bubblers, it’s clear this is the shop’s bread and butter. It’s become a retail gallery of sorts, synonymous with the name on their neon sign.

“I still remember the very first [artist] I bought glass from,” Dahl says. “He doesn’t even know that he’s the one that opened it up for us.”

Courtesy: The Fitter

Bonnie Dahl (left) and Betty Gruskin (right) with former employee Gabbie Stark at the company’s 50th anniversary party.

Photo courtesy The Fitter.

Glass roared onto the scene at the turn of the millennium, marking one of the many high points for The Fitter. It was smooth sailing by the time February 2003 came around — the shop’s 30th anniversary — and while the sisters were busy planning a celebration, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft was picking off distributors and wholesalers coast to coast. Ashcroft hated places like Boulder — communities he believed were filled with liberal bastions. This time around, Dahl and Gruskin weren’t taking any chances.

“We liquidated all of our pipes in a huge sale. Since kids now had cell phones, word got around, and there

was a line out our door for days,” Dahl says.

When the sale was over, Dahl claims there were maybe one or two pipes left in the store. Once again, reinvention was on the horizon, and this time, a name change was in order. In 2004, the store officially became The Fitter, dropping “Pipe” from its name. Name brand women’s clothing and footwear was the next addition, and with the help of her daughter, a student at CU at the time, Dahl began carrying brands like Roxy, Uggs, Rainbows and more.

“The name was also more fitting because on credit card statements it’d say ‘Pipefitter.’ And a lot of college kid’s parents would pay for their cards,” Dahl says with a laugh.

THE 2010S: ‘FRIENDLY FACE, HAPPY PLACE’

Over the course of 50 years of operation, Dahl and Gruskin know they’re fortunate to have found a number of valued, knowledgeable managers. Two of note are Dane Stauder, who’s helped man the shop since 2005, and Jason Dahl, Bonnie’s son, a manager and recognizable face to frequent customers since joining in 2008. Creating a “happy store,” as Dahl describes it, where custom-

er service and a respect for the industry intersect, that’s a recipe for success.

Gruskin, Jason and Bonnie Dahl agree that Stauder has an eye for special glass.

“The big [artists] actually don’t tell Dane that he was the first person that really bought their pieces,” Dahl says. “Dane’s definitely got a reputation for buying in the industry,” Gruskin adds.

Stauder, who is approaching 20 years behind the counter at The Fitter, has his fair share of stories too, one involving a huge face in the rap world that, in 2013, during his Odd Future collective days, offered a free show at the Fox Theatre.

“Tyler, the Creator’s manager came in and bought a pipe, and then apparently Tyler smoked it on stage at the Fox that night,” Stauder says. “It was a doughnut pipe that we had from a famous glass artist — there were videos of him with it at after parties.”

THE 2020S: GENERATIONS OF STONERS

“[2020] was our best year ever,” Gruskin says. When the national lockdown forced people to stay inside, Coloradans passed the time with cannabis, and The Fitter was there to help.

“We stopped going into the store when everything hit,” Gruskin says. For a local business that’s survived raids, multiple location changes, and a halfcentury of cultural changes, they finally caught a break in the face of crisis.

The story of the 2020s is celebrating 50 years of friendly service in Boulder — a feat few lay claim to. It’s not uncommon that, over CU parents weekend, longtime alumni spanning decades go out of their way to stop by and say hello.

“I think the keys for us were customer service and changing with the times,” Dahl says. “Times change, college kids change, and that’s what we did too.”

Top image courtesy The Fitter

Bonnie Dahl, owner of The Fitter, and her son Gary. Photo by Laura Mariani Photography.

ROOTED IN PLACE

A journey through NCAR’s Mesa Lab

BY KAYLEE HARTER

Rising from the foothills, a geometric sandstone building sits alone atop a mesa like a specter over Boulder.

The edifice is difficult to capture in the mind’s eye. It seems to shape-shift as it’s viewed from different angles, and the number of floors is difficult to discern. A painting hung in the hallway of one of the towers reimagines the structure as one of MC Escher’s serpentine illusion paintings.

This is the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s (NCAR) Mesa Lab, a research center for the institution founded by Walter Orr Roberts in 1960 and funded by the National Science Foundation.

The building was designed by the now world-renowned architect I.M. Pei, who would later go on to design the Louvre Pyramid, the Bank of China Tower, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame among other famous works. Leonard Segel, architect and executive director of Historic Boulder, says the Mesa Lab was “the Rosebud of [Pei’s] career”

“He loved this project,” Segel says. “It made him feel connected to the ground, to expand his design skills, to explore materials he was using, materials like you’ve never used them before… I think it gave him confidence

that he could take on almost any single project and come up with a grounding solution that would feel like it belonged.”

most thrilling moments of his early career. He was taken out of his normal comfort zone into this spectacular, beautiful setting, and he was blown away that he had this responsibility to design a building that would feel like it fits into this environment.”

Pei traveled across the Southwest and drew inspiration from Indigenous

Built using concrete mixed with the same sandstone that makes up the surrounding cliffs, the lab’s color matches the hills in which it sits. Its corduroy-like texture was created using bush hammers to meticulously chip away vertical grooves on the surface that refract light and expose glimmering mica in the stone.

The structure’s meandering facade was created with a purpose beyond mere aesthetics.

“We preserved every tree,” Pei said in the 1985 interview. “The building wiggles and twists and turns to avoid damaging anything. Because those trees took a long time to grow. A tree like that may be a hundred years old, so you don’t just take it down.”

Mesa Verde influenced Pei to use what he called “powerful, elemental” forms like cylinders and squares to create the premises’ multifaceted form. “It’s complexity… and that always fits better with nature,” Pei said.

The complexity is fitting for a center that studies the atmosphere and all the earth systems it interacts with.

Pei described the Mesa Lab as his first “important” independent project, and having previously worked in denser urban settings, he was stunned by the natural surroundings when he arrived onsite.

“He was a three-piece suit kind of guy,” says Segel. “It was one of the

architecture, modeling his design after Mesa Verde’s cliff dwellings. Those ancestral Pueblo homes taught Pei a valuable lesson he summarized in a 1985 interview captured in NCAR’s archives: “You can’t dominate [nature], you join it. How can you dominate nature?”

Today, NCAR has a budget of around $188 million, eight different labs and a supercomputing center in Wyoming. Over the years, the scientific organization has expanded into other buildings in northeast Boulder to accommodate its more than 850 staff members and needs for different labs, but the Mesa Lab remains the metaphorical heart of NCAR.

The architecture both reflects and

Walter Orr Roberts chats with I.M. Pei outside the Mesa Laboratory. Courtesy: NCAR/UCAR

inspires the work, its perch above the city an apt place to study the atmosphere. NCAR President Everette Joseph says the site remains a place of inspiration both to staff and to the public.

“I sit in my office and I can see a snowstorm coming in over the valley,” he says. “Sometimes you just have to stop and watch it. That is an immersive experience and an inspiring experience.”

BRINGING THE OUTSIDE IN

From the inside of the building, you can see that the corduroyed sandstone walls wrap inward.

“That’s a really important modernist sensibility is that the outdoor materials come inside and indoor space feels like it’s going right outside. There’s that sense of space that flows inside and out,” Segel says.

The lab’s design often draws comparison to a fortress or a castle, but bringing the outside world in has been essential to NCAR since its inception.

The Mesa Lab sits above Boulder’s Blue Line, a 1959 amendment to the city charter disallowing water services above a certain boundary with the intention of curbing development and preserving the open space of the foothills.

This posed a barrier for the construction of the Mesa Lab, but citizens of Boulder passed a referendum making an exception for NCAR in 1961. Roberts also laid out the need for public exhibitions in his 1961

Prospectus for a Laboratory.

“There was a lot of collaboration and work with the community to get Boulder residents on board with making this exception to allow the water services to the Mesa Lab, and Roberts in return promised that the site would remain open and be kind of a nature preserve,” NCAR archivist Laura Hoff says.

Today, the Walter Orr Roberts Weather Trail offers a hiking path connected to the lab. The middle section of the building between the two towers is home to a science exhibit, and NCAR invites the public into the space 363 days a year. In a given year, more than 100,000 people wander through the double balcony area beneath a T-shaped skylight.

“[NCAR] is part of the Boulder community, but it’s part of a much larger community as well and it is open to anybody — whether you’re interested in science or whether you’re interested in architecture or art, there there might be something for you,” says Hoff.

On a Wednesday in July, a group of 32 gathers in the lobby for a public tour as science education specialist Tim Barnes guides the group through a history of the building, NCAR’s most significant discoveries, and explainers on various phenomena. The visitors range in age and have traveled from across the state, country and world — including Connecticut, West Virginia, California and London.

The kids on the tour are engrossed in interactive exhibits like the cloud simulator and tornado model.

Barnes, who has worked at NCAR for 28 years, makes the science approachable and engaging, comparing different greenhouse gasses to various hot sauces and coronal ejections — the solar events that cause the northern lights — to “the sun sneezing while on a merry-go-round.”

At the end of the tour, visitors ask questions about climate adaptations, how to talk to others about climate

change and where to find hope for the future.

“People are happy to be here,” Barnes says. “It’s authentic. It’s rich. It’s transparent. This is open source. Like, you ask, and we can tell you.”

‘SCIENCE IN SERVICE TO SOCIETY’

From its outset, NCAR’s mission has been “science in the service of society.”

“I have a very strong feeling that science exists to serve human welfare,” Roberts once said. “It’s wonderful to have the opportunity given to us by society to do basic research but in return, we have a very important moral responsibility to apply that research to benefiting humanity.”

NCAR Science education specialist Tim Barnes leads a public tour through NCAR’s Mesa Lab.

Photo by Kaylee Harter.

Black and white photographs of concrete construction at the Mesa Laboratory site. Courtesy: NCAR/UCAR | Copyright: I.M. Pei

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This pursuit, which has now evolved to “science with and for society” has manifested in a variety of ways over the years.

In 1982, the Federal Aviation Administration funded NCAR to study microbursts — a wind shear event that can be fatal during jet takeoffs and landings. Wind shear accidents caused more than 1,400 fatalities worldwide, including more than 400 deaths in the United States between 1973 and 1985, according to NCAR. The center’s research led to improved detection of the events, and no documented commercial wind shear accidents have occurred in the United States since 1994.

Today, NCAR scientists study everything from wildfire prevention to solar storms and there’s an office dedicated to education, engagement and early-career development.

Senior scientist Gabriele Pfister studies air quality, pollution, the impact of wildfires and how local and global systems interact. She collaborates with the Colorado Department of Public Health, serves on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency panel and works to better understand what stakeholders need from research.

“I feel really fortunate that I actually not only indirectly provide information to the ultimate decision makers, but that I can actually be on this intersection, and learn from this two-way exchange,” she says.

Michael Wiltberger, deputy lab director of NCAR’s High Altitude

Observatory, studies solar flares and space weather that can disrupt the power grid and radio frequencies.

“It really is science trying to understand that system, but with a direct connection ... to how we live on the planet today,” Wiltberger says.

Dan Zietlow, an educational designer at NCAR who has a background in film and geophysics, supports public engagement events and traveling exhibits to help bring community members into the fold.

“We really want to avoid what we call ‘parachute science’ or ‘helicopter science’ where we just pop into the community, take what we want, extract what we want,” Zietlow says. “We want to build relationships with whatever community we’re working in, provide them with resources, to make sure we’re building an equitable relationship.”

Looking to the future, NCAR president Joseph says the goal is to continue to make the science more actionable — an interdisciplinary project that is more important today than ever.

“We are in a climate crisis and I think the urgency and the responsibility of a place like NCAR is to really do the underlying research to give the public the information they need to better protect themselves in these extreme situations, and also [to provide] information for decision makers to make decisions on how to make society more resilient, communities more resilient.”

NCAR’S Mesa Lab is open to the public 363 days a year. Photo by Kaylee Harter.

JUDGMENT DAY

THE WHOLE BIRD

BY CARTER FERRYMAN

When Adam Richman inhaled 180 oysters in one sitting at Acme Oyster House in New Orleans, I thought he was a superhero.

Admittedly, it didn’t take much to impress my naive, pre-teenage self. Most kids my age found televised refuge in Courage the Cowardly Dog, iCarly or MadTV (if you had cool parents). My Saturday-morning fix was Man vs. Food, a hugely popular cable program that followed Richman across the country in search of our land’s most daunting food challenges.

I remember some of Richman’s victories fondly, like the abhorrent 72-ounce steak at The Big Texan in Amarillo, or the borderline illegal spicy phaal at Brick Lane Curry House in New York City. His failures, however, made just as much of a mark: The tastefully named “Fire in Your Hole” competition

at Munchies 420 Cafe in Sarasota, Florida, and the “Winginator” Challenge (formerly known as the Wing King Challenge), the latter of which I stumbled upon on YouTube this past month.

In the clip, a tin bucket piled high with wings is kicking Richman’s ass.

Halfway through, a man in a Colorado Buffaloes shirt enters the shot to offer Richman staged moral support, a pep talk that would prove futile — Richman fell 14 wings short. The key detail, however, was the man in the Buffs shirt. The Winginator challenge takes place here in Boulder at West End Tavern, right under my nose, and I hadn’t realized it until this summer.

Upon discovering this news, a 13-yearold, prepubescent voice called out to me: Tackle what Richman couldn’t. I was going to conquer Boulder’s premier food challenge.

Buffalo chicken wings are on my Mount Rushmore of food, carved between chicken makhani, a Chicagostyle hotdog and Vietnamese pho. When they’re done right, chicken wings are tough to beat. No one knows this to be true quite like West End Tavern’s executive chef Ronnie Oldham. Sitting across from me in the heat of Boulder’s late-July sun on West End Tavern’s rustic rooftop patio, Oldham is calm and collected: He’s lived the heat of top-tier kitchens for 26 years, from New Orleans to Seattle, from pastry to pizza.

Oldham’s travels were a masterclass in culinary art. Regional specialties vary greatly, but food waste does not, and at Balzac Wine Bar in Milwaukee, he put his operating theory to the test. Each Sunday for 96 weeks, Oldham and his kitchen crew offered between 30 and 100 diners a free meal curated from leftovers that had built up during the week. “No-waste happy hour” became Oldham’s weekly opportunity to test his culinary skills

and reduce his kitchen’s carbon footprint in the process.

And the industry noticed.

“Chef Ronnie Oldham will change the way you look at leftovers forever at Milwaukee’s Balzac,” said industry staple FSR Magazine in 2017.

When Oldham headed west to his new home on Pearl Street, his sustainable sensibilities followed.

“When you bring in fresh, local ingredients in bulk, there is going to be an element of waste,” says Oldham.

“Corn cobs and parsley stems and onion peels and carrots and pork ends become the stock for our white chicken chili.”

Oldham waxes poetic about his process. It pushes him to remain creative.

“Zero waste” is so intertwined into the fabric of West End Tavern’s menu that Oldham doesn’t need a weekly event: It’s just what they do. It keeps him and his team on their toes, and cuts back on food costs, because when you’re buying the high-quality meat Oldham demands in his kitchen, using every inch of an angus prime brisket is a no-

An overconfident attempt at West End Tavern’s ‘Winginator Challenge’

brainer. (Fun fact: Oldham has a threepage manual on brisket that covers everything from trimming technique to repurposing leftovers into sausages and patties.)

Quality and process, the yin and yang of Oldham’s kitchen, hold true even for the humble chicken wing.

“First of all, the size has to be big enough — I don’t like baby wings, and I don’t like big ol’ honkin’ wings, and never frozen,” he says. “A wing suffers completely if it’s frozen, it’s terrible. Honestly, the only thing we buy frozen is our ice cream.”

The process is as classic as it is particular, with some definitive twists: “We lower our fryer [temperature] so as to confit [the wings] a little bit, low and slow. Then we let them rest so they can absorb all their own juice and cool off.”

The finale is a second fry in a fresh batch of oil to warm the wings through

and create a perfect outer crisp. Oldham then tosses the chicken in a buffalo sauce made of unsalted butter,

Worcestershire sauce and Frank’s Red Hot. If this doesn’t make your mouth water, it’s entirely possible you don’t have taste buds.

But 50 wings in 30 minutes?

“I think I could do it,” Oldham says, “Yeah, I could do the whole thing. It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten that many wings, but back in the day I could knock ’em down.”

MEAL PREP

In March of 2021, my friends and I planned and executed a friendly competition at the Hooters in Westminster. It was “Wing Wednesday,” when $20 (plus tax)

got you as many wings as you wanted. Like any other reasonable foursome of 20-somethings, we wanted to see who could eat the most in a single sitting. In front of numerous families enjoying their meals, we sat inciting poultry carnage, and I emerged victorious, consuming 40-odd wings and a comically large stein of ice cold Coors Light. Since that night, my self-confidence in any wing-related challenge has been sky high, so I was relaxed in the week leading up to my Winginator Challenge. Not wanting to go in totally blind, however, I studied the experts. There’s perhaps no better maestro than Randy Santel, a professional eater who holds the record for the most worldwide food challenge wins (1,186 across all 50 states and 39 countries).

Pen and paper at the ready, I watched Santel’s YouTube video “How To Train For a Food Challenge or Eating Contest.” To start, Santel recommends “maxing out” with a large portion 18 to 22 hours before your competition. His food choice? Four pounds of

Photo courtesy West End Tavern

steamed vegetables drenched in Frank’s Red Hot. He obliterates the vittles in four minutes.

Having just moved into a new apartment, I find my fridge/freezer contains: four Upslope beers, a six-pack of cherry dilly bars, a gallon jug of distilled water and some hot sauce. I mull over the options and decide to look for other tips from the Santel bible. I find that on the day of the contest he recommends a “colon cleanse,” which, for me, would happen at work.

I close my laptop. I think I’m as prepared as I’m going to be.

THE WING KING

West End Tavern founder Dave Query’s recollection of the Winginator Challenge centers around one anomalistic man: longtime general manager Mike Lawinski.

“While Mike had some ‘David Koresch’ overtones, he was a phenomenal marketer,” Query says. Nothing was “too goofy” for the former Young Life camp counselor. He turned West End Tavern’s rooftop into a can’t-miss circus of exciting events.

“Mike started a robust live music program on the rooftop, and hermit crab races,” Query says. “He launched our bourbon program, as well as our more aggressive and interesting beer tap line-up, with celebratory tappings that had lines down the block at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.”

Lawinski’s sharp eye for unconventional marketing tactics found its opus

when he began noticing the same group of regulars coming in to see who could eat more of West End’s delicious chicken wings. It was then Lawinski birthed what we now know as the Winginator Challenge. It didn’t take long for the contest to become a hit.

“We had it advertised in a box on the top of the menu,” Query says. “Almost daily, someone would try and do it.” Winners got their pictures on the stairwell wall, a nod to Jax Fish House’s “Wall of Fish Fame” next door. Query remembers fondly the day Adam Richman squared up on the patio for his attempt.

“While Richman was failing the challenge, a dude quietly sitting in the corner did 50 in like 24 minutes,” Query says. That man was immortalized on the wall. I planned on joining him.

THE WALL

At 4 p.m. on Friday, the day of the challenge, I’m scheduled to meet my fried foe in two hours. The night before I ate some Cheerios, a banana and a glass of water. I’m starving.

I’ve asked six friends to provide moral support, because the only thing crazier than mauling 50 wings in front of strangers is doing so at a table by yourself. When I enter West End Tavern, the bartender recognizes me from my conversation with Oldham a few days prior.

“They’re ready for you upstairs,” she says, like a high-stakes poker game awaits my buy-in. Upon reaching the

top, a cluster of employees usher my friends and I to a long table in the back corner. As I turn to take my seat, one employee explains to me how he attempted the challenge a while back.

“Make sure you get plain wings,” he says. “I had to stop because the vinegar from the buffalo sauce sat in my stomach.”

Our waitress tells me she’s excited to watch me try the challenge, as she’s never served someone attempting it. When we arrived, the patio was empty, but by the time the battalion of employees march my order out to me (25 plain, 25 buffalo, piled high on two

enormous wooden cutting boards), there isn’t a table open.

Accompanying my ridiculous meal are bowls of ranch and blue cheese dressing. Bowls, not cups.

When the timer starts, I lunge for wing number one like a rodeo bull, and in the next three-or-so minutes, I fly through 12 wings — a blistering, idiotic pace, in hindsight. The next eight go down a little slower, as I realize that time is very much on my side, but the fatal error has already been self-inflicted. After wing 20, I hit a wall. I come to terms with the hard truth: There’s no chance I’m eating another 30 of these. I went too fast, and as a result, the thought of chewing wing 21 makes me nauseous. Looking at the remaining wings makes me nauseous. The buzz of the neon signs on the wall make me nauseous. I imagine my adolescent self watching me on TV from my family living room in Chicago. He yells at me: This is embarrassing — not even halfway?

Somehow I take down five more wings. I’ll be disqualified for “ejecting,” as the Winginator rules sheet calls vomiting, so I do what any reasonable human would do in this situation: I begin swallowing pieces of chicken with my cup of water like pills. I take down six wings with this technique, but at 26, I signal to my server that I’m throwing in the towel, just over halfway, with 14 minutes to spare.

I ask for the remaining 24 wings to be boxed up, as if I plan on eating them in four days when I’m hungry again. When my server delivers the check, she brings a bag of prizes typically awarded to those who complete the challenge, most notably a koozie that reads, “I ate 50 wings in 30 minutes at West End Tavern, and all I got was this awesome koozie.” It’s a reminder of my failure, but a nice gesture nonetheless, and as I walk out of West End Tavern, I can’t help but think of my next attempt. One of the Winginator directives is “one attempt per year.” Next summer I’ll find redemption on the West End patio.

Photo courtesy West End Tavern

(Left) Chicken wings at West End Tavern: 25 plain, 25 buffalo. Photo by Carter Ferryman. (Right) Reporter Carter Ferryman hits a wall mid-challenge on West End Tavern’s rooftop patio. Photo by Maddy Unger.

BOULDER SOUND

Four local musicians you need to know

BY BOULDER WEEKLY STAFF

RIVER MANN: MYTHICAL AND MYSTICAL

Forming just over a year ago, River Mann has stunned local audiences with what lead guitarist Gabriel Anthony calls progressive folk rock.

“But I would say the heart and soul of our music is Will [Thomas’] songwriting,” Anthony says.

Thomas, a graduate of Naropa University’s literature program, spins mythical stories supported by the mystical sounds conjured by Anthony, Madelyn McCoy (violin), Cole Sexton (bass) and Ben Wasterson (drums).

Drawing inspiration from sources like Chinese philosophy and the beat-era poetry of Diane di Prima, Thomas creates moody, engrossing worlds that shift as time passes. What starts out as a somber Irish folk song might turn into a raucous, fiddle-fringed hoedown.

“Gone are the days when the carnal fire burns,” Thomas sings in a demo on Bandcamp. “Corpse’s apology, act like they never knew / You were the one who held all of the keys / But you set the locks and now noth-

BOULDER’S

MUSIC SCENE

HAS FOSTERED NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED NAMES in bluegrass (Hot Rize), jam (Leftover Salmon), rock (Big Head Todd) and electro (3OH!3) — and it just keeps on giving. Local musicians say the DIY space is alive and well in the city, not to mention supportive and innovative, with house shows and locally owned coffee shops filling the gaps in performance space in the city. The ultimate goal for young Boulder artists is a show at Fox Theater, offering a world-class stage to test run material — from pop to punk to folk — in front of eager enthusiasts. Let us suggest getting out there and experiencing these exciting artists live in intimate venues you know and love.

ANNA CUTLER: THE SCIENCE OF SONG

ing is free / Scared they’ll discover the lie that you told / The guard of the prison: Love’s not a rose / The apple was golden, the spark still remains / And the words of the sermon were written in vain.”

“We want our music to move people and take you on a little bit of a journey,” Thomas says.

The journey is guided by River Mann, a nod to Charon, the ferryman of Hades who carries the souls of the dead across the rivers Acheron and Styx. While often dealing with the heavy subjects of love and life lost, River Mann’s music is vibrant, danceable and uplifting.

Part of that is a reflection of the music community in Boulder, which Thomas says has fostered the band’s growth.

“I feel like there’s a revival of some kind going on in Boulder’s music scene,” he says. “And it’s cool to see everyone supporting each other. It feels very organic.”

It’s Friday — ski day at Horizons Charter School — but instead of chatting with her friends on the bus to Eldora, Anna Cutler is studying.

In a time before ubiquitous smartphones, the seventh grader sits with a notebook and iPod dissecting early works by Taylor Swift as she and her classmates bounce west on 119.

“I would memorize all her songs,” Cutler says. “At lunchtime, I would circle all the words that rhyme and where she went high and went low, internal rhymes; I was trying to figure out why does this song work?”

Cutler is still learning the math of melody: She’s just come back from Song School at Rocky Mountain Folks Fest when we catch her. This is the beginning of a period of “introverted song writing” for the 26-year-old folk pop-oriented pianist. She’s played since she was 6 and performed since she was 13. In a gap year before college, she traveled internationally with Denver-based cultural exchange nonprofit Up With People, and just this month, at Folks Fest, her song “Candle” — a pleading ballad searching for

meaning in the wake of heartbreak — was chosen from 400 submissions nationwide, snagging Cutler a Main Stage performance at Planet Bluegrass.

But Cutler says it’s time to get under the hood of her music and really learn what makes it work.

“I’m gonna take a couple months to study theory and learn,” she says. “I’m hoping that next summer I can book some bigger shows and grow as an artist.”

A disciple of Norah Jones and John Craigie, Cutler is as much a performer as she is a songwriter, cracking jokes between verses of re-imaged cover songs, like a lounge-ified version of Fergie’s 2006 uber self-confidence anthem “Fergalicious.”

“I love performing,” Cutler says. “One of my favorite things about being a musician is being on the stage. I would love to be a little more locally known. I would love to play more festivals. … I don’t want to be famous because I don’t want to give up my normal life.”

Understandable: In her 9-to-5, Cutler works as a food scientist.

PAMELA MACHALA: TALK ABOUT POP MUSIC

Back on Planet Bluegrass, just a few tents down from Anna Cutler, singer-songwriter Pamela Machala also fine-tuned her craft at Song School this summer.

“It’s just one of my favorite weeks of the year; it’s so much fun,” the pianist says of her fifth time at the multiday workshop experience at Folks Fest. “It’s a great reset.”

Machala, who has called Boulder home for nearly 10 years, is gearing up to release a four-track EP called Scorpio this November.

“There’s a sex song and a death song and a jealousy song and a song about being sensitive,” Machala says. “It’s these qualities of myself that are stereotypically associated with that particular star sign that are hard to talk about. I’ve done a lot of work in therapy around accepting myself, and the idea behind the EP was [the] normalization of talking about uncomfortable, sort of shadowy things. And perhaps me being honest about this will resonate with someone else and help them feel less shitty.”

Machala’s vulnerable lyrics — supported by slinky soul backbones and polished to a high gloss by impeccable indie-pop sensibilities — have resonated with writers at American Songwriter, who in 2018 awarded Machela an honorable mention in the bimonthly pub’s lyric contest for her

original ballad “Cardboard Cutout.” The following year, her R&B-tinged “Bleeding Me Dry” received the Grand Prize in the SongDoor International Songwriting Competition.

“I don’t know how much longer I can risk my heart,” Machala sings in the bridge of the penultimate track from her 2020 LP Something Simple. “Am I too old for missing some vital part? / I don’t know if I’ll ever be good enough / And it feels like forever I’ve been hanging tough / And I can’t do this anymore, I’m giving up … My dreams are bleeding me dry.”

“I really love R&B and soul. I love pop music. I love musical theater. I love jazz and folk,” Machala says. “I have all these wide-ranging things in my head. But the place that I always felt hemmed in was trying to release music and craft a brand. When you’re releasing music, you have a drop-down menu of genres in Spotify and you have to pick a box as you’re digitally distributing your songs. And there are artists who have gotten around that, like Carsie Blanton, who was at Folks Fest [in 2022]. I think she’s a great example of someone who’s a genre chameleon, but she’s made a great name for herself and found her fan base. So yeah, when I say I make pop music, I’m not trying to headline arenas.”

TWO

CHUMP: PSYCHEDELIC PUNK ROCKERS

Acollege music scene is nothing without some gritty punk rock, and Two Pump Chump is more than happy to fill that role in Boulder.

The four-piece purveyors of “psychedelic garage rock,” as the band has dubbed their sound, blend the raw emotion of punk with complex technical proficiency the genre often eschews.

“I think the sound of punk rock has definitely evolved,” says drummer Rob Balsewich. “We’re trying to incorporate different time signatures, surprising structures, dynamic changes, putting in a lot of guitar solos and extending out those sections so it’s not just 4/4 [time] all the way through.

I think [songwriter Grayson Dollarhide’s] songwriting process tries to capture that raw emotion, but we strive to develop a unique sound.”

Balsewich and Dollarhide met at CU Boulder’s Jam Society, where musicians can meet, mingle and col-

laborate. Dollarhide had already formed Two Pump Chump, but, according to Balsewich, needed a dependable drummer. After Balsewich joined, the band quickly picked up steam, playing house shows on the Hill and eventually landing a gig at Fox Theatre as a supporting act for local indie rock outfit On the Dot. Come September, Two Pump Chump will take the lead and headline their own show at the storied venue on the Hill.

“The music scene [in Boulder] is honestly, from my experience, absolutely unreal,” Balsewich says. “In terms of the DIY scene, seeing people turning their houses into music venues has been really impressive to see.”

The band has five or six new songs they plan to debut in their Fox show, and, come fall, Balsewich hopes they’ll be able to record tracks for an EP.

PUMP

GIVING THE GAME AWAY

Boulder’s best kept secret menu items and how to score them

BY COLIN WRENN

Ah, to relish in the illicit. There’s something so delightfully indulgent about treats enjoyed on the sly. Luckily, plenty of Boulder restaurants have items that are meant especially for those in the know. Here’s a treasure map of those clandestine goodies intended to be ordered in hushed tones and only when the coast is clear.

CHEF’S CHOICE BURGER @ BLACKBELLY

1606 Conestoga St., #3

There’s no wrong time of day to visit Blackbelly. The marketplace and restaurant from Chef Hosea Rosenberg has continued to establish itself as one of the Front Range’s truly great sources for all things meat.

And while it’s no secret the breakfast burritos served on the market side are one of the pillars of any properly started morning, the Chef’s Choice burger has remained a more closely guarded treasure. The burger, available only at dinner time, takes the typical brioche-bound model and tops it with a fried egg and a healthy helping of red pepper jelly. It’s an expectedly messy affair, with plenty of yolk pleasantly oozing from atop the burger’s standard issue of Tillamook cheddar. A substantial helping of bacon seals the deal, making the plate a covert detour into decadence amid the more decidedly refined offerings like the braised Buckner lamb shank or the saffron bucatini.

“It’s the best treat ever, and the chefs always make that for themselves,” says Lauren Feder Rosenberg, Blackbelly’s director of marketing.

YUCA FRITTERS @ POLLO TICO

1401 Pearl St.

Chef Byron Gomez worked at Eleven Madison Park, competed on season 18 of Top Chef and most recently graced Avanti Boulder with a Costa Rican chicken joint by the name of Pollo Tico. Gomez grew up in Costa Rica before relocating to New York where he had a meteoric rise across the city’s Michelin scene.

While Pollo Tico’s bread and butter is chicken — be it a half-bird or the phenomenal chicken sandwich — Gomez and company are offering yuca fritters, but only during happy hour Monday through Friday between 2 and 6 p.m.

“This is a fried delight. It’s crispy on the outside due to the organic starch in the Costa Rican root vegetable of yuca,” Gomez says. “It is made by folding sofrito vegetables and is served with our sweet and tangy salsa de tamarindo. Think of it as a hush puppy with the benefits of being gluten free, dairy free and vegan,” says Gomez.

The fritters are downright addictive and segue nicely into either the arroz con pollo or the Tico tacos.

THE SHOTTINO @ AMANTE UPTOWN 4580 Broadway

For close to two decades, Amante Coffee has been guilty of putting many peps in many steps. It exclusively sources its coffee from a third-generation coffee roaster in Northern Italy and maintains an aura of the Old World, particularly at its standalone location in north Boulder.

All the classics, including lattes, mochas, Americanos and cappuccinos, are done with particular panache. But sometimes, when folks are in need of something a little more high octane, they can call upon the Shottino.

Arriving as what may be the most elegant single sip in all of town, the Shottino layers equal parts Amaretto, espresso and heavy cream. It’s a good uplift for the afternoon, with a few acting as a solid launchpad for a happy hour well spent.

Word to the wise: The Shottino is only available at the uptown location. When the Walnut location joined the Galvanize workspace, it was only licensed to sell wine and beer, though it’s still worth visiting, boasting specials like a cold brew with tiramisu foam.

Credit: Colin Wrenn

Credit: Colin Wrenn

Credit: Colin Wrenn

CHEZ CHEESE AND SCOTT’S TOTS @ RUTHIE’S BOARDWALK SOCIAL

1397 Pearl St.

Directly in front of the Boulder County Historic Court House sits one on the town’s great windows into nostalgia. Ruthie’s Boardwalk Social serves an array of grilled cheese sandwiches, the kind your mom used to make, straight from a walk-up window.

There’s The Classic, with American white cheese and mayo, and there’s The Mahalo, with smoked gouda, white cheddar, ham and grilled pineapple. Even at its most far out, the restaurant knows keeping it simple works. The grilled cheese sandwich might be the culinary world’s most quintessential “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

So even the secret items don’t stray too far from the classic mold. The Chez Cheese comes with ham and Swiss, and the Scott’s Tots arrives with American and cheddar cheeses, smashed tater tots and a choice of dipping sauce, the latter being one of the best things the house serves.

With no seating, this is probably the best spot on the list for whispering an order to the secluded ears of whoever will shortly thereafter pass you the goods.

CINNAMON ROLL PANCAKE @ SNOOZE

1617 Pearl St.

Of all the items on this list, this one may be the least under wraps. All it takes is a quick scan of any packed brunch at Snooze and guests are sure to find a table with the Cinnamon Roll Pancake sitting proudly as its centerpiece.

While the dish — a stack of the fluffiest white chocolate chip-laced buttermilk pancakes topped with vanilla crème, caramel, cinnamon butter and candied pecan — isn’t listed on the menu, servers have been known to openly offer the information, unabashedly admitting that the mammoth dessert-for-breakfast is one of the eatery’s true triumphs.

First opened in 2006 by brothers Jon and Adam Schlegel, Snooze has since grown to boast nearly 60 stores across the country. Its success should come as no surprise, seeing as the brothers seem to have distilled the great things about brunch down to their absolute essence. There are pancake flights, kimchi-laced bloody Marys, a seemingly endless array of benedicts and myriad mimosas with house bubbles.

Snooze has done a good job of building a menu that has something for everyone. But anyone with good sense should make this part of a balanced breakfast, if only just to have one, or maybe two, shared bites.

SUPER TACO @ ILLEGAL PETE’S

1447 Pearl St.

1124 13th St.

It would almost be inappropriate if the rabble rousing Illegal Pete’s didn’t have an item based on the presumption that customers “know a guy.”

The super taco is just such an item. Taking the Crunch Wrap approach, it fuses a soft and hard taco shell with a choice of either guacamole or queso. From there guests are invited to go wild with toppings that include Mexican Coke carnitas, grilled chicken, shredded cheese, black olives, diced onions, tomatillo verde and green chile.

It’s a robust affair and is best enjoyed with any one of the margaritas, all of which also pack thorough punch.

PHILLY CHEESE STEAK AND PORK BELLY TACOS

@ T/ACO

1117 Walnut St.

At most places, simply uttering the code words to an attentive server will likely get folks the secret dish they so desire. T/aco has opted for a slightly more discrete approach.

“At T/aco we have a secret menu that is accessible through QR codes hidden throughout the restaurant,” says managing partner Peter Waters. Even without the secret items, there’s plenty to love at the bustling downtown joint. But the Philly cheese steak taco, with sautéed white onion, grilled skirt steak, melted cheese, tomatoes, chipotle mayo and cilantro, and the Korean pork belly taco, with Korean pepper sauce, apple cider vinegar cabbage, pickled red onions, honey and cilantro, currently both sit near the top of the totem pole for not only best tacos in the place, but some of the best morsels in town.

Waters says the secret menu often evolves, keeping seekers on their toes. And while there’s plenty of joy to be found in the novelty of stealth, the tacos at T/aco are always sure to please, with or without the wide-eyed discovery never found too far from the exclusive stuff.

Credit: Colin Wrenn

Credit: Colin Wrenn

Credit: Colin Wrenn

Courtesy: T/aco

FESTIVALS

The best Colorado fall festivals — all in one place

SAN JUAN BREWFEST

Fri.-Sat., Aug. 25-26, Buckley Park, 12th Street and Main Avenue, Durango

MEOW WOLF VORTEX

Fri.-Sun., Aug. 25-27, The Junk Yard, 1098 Yuma St., Denver

BREWFEST

Saturday, Aug. 26, Broomfield Community Park, 2nd Avenue and Main Street, Broomfield

JAZZ ASPEN SNOWMASS

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 1-3, Snowmass Village, Aspen

TASTE OF COLORADO

Sat.-Mon., Sept. 2-4, Civic Center Park, 101 14th Ave., Denver

1234FEST

Saturday, Sept. 9, The Junkyard, 2323 W. Mulberry Place, Denver

CHILI AND BEER FEST

Saturday, Sept. 9, Community Park, 1350 Coalton Road, Superior

BEE + BOULDER FESTIVAL

Saturday, Sept. 9, Central Park, 1236 Canyon Blvd., Boulder

BIG CHILI COOK-OFF

ERIE BISCUIT DAY

Saturday, Sept. 16, Historic Downtown Erie

DENVER OKTOBERFEST

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 22-24 and Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 2100 Block of Larimer St., Denver

PUEBLO CHILE & FRIJOLES FESTIVAL

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 22-24, Historic Downtown Pueblo

MOUNTAIN HARVEST FESTIVAL

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 22-24, Town of Paonia

AUTUMN GOLD FESTIVAL

Sat.-Sun., Sept. 23-24, Bond Park, 170 MacGregor Ave., Estes Park

LEFT HAND OKTOBERFEST

Fri.-Sat., Sept. 29-30, Left Hand Brewing Company, 1245 Boston Ave., Longmont

POUDRE POUR

Saturday, Sept. 30, Windsor History Museum, 100 N. 5th St., Windsor

MAPLETON HILL PORCHFEST

Sunday, Sept. 17, Historic Mapleton Hill Neighborhood, Boulder

COLORADO STATE FAIR

Aug. 25-Sept. 4, Colorado State Fairgrounds, 1001 Beulah Ave., Pueblo

TELLURIDE FILM FESTIVAL

Aug. 31-Sept. 4, Sheridan Opera House, 110 N. Oak St., Telluride

CAVEMAN MUSIC FESTIVAL

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 1-3, Weston Lake Resort, 4789 CO-12, Weston

Saturday, Sept. 9, Buchanan Park, 32003 Ellingwood Trail, Evergreen

LONG’S PEAK SCOTTISH-IRISH

HIGHLAND FESTIVAL

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 8-10, Estes Park Fairgrounds, 1209 Manford Ave.

BRECKENRIDGE OKTOBERFEST

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 15-17, The Riverwalk Center, 150 W. Adams Ave., Breckenridge

TELLURIDE BLUES AND BREWS

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 15-17, Telluride Town Park, 500 E. Colorado Ave., Telluride

ASPEN FILMFEST

Tues.-Sun., Sept. 19-24, various locations, Aspen and Carbondale

ANDERSON FARMS FALL FESTIVAL

Sept. 20-Oct. 30, Anderson Farms, 6728 County Road 3 ¼, Erie

GREAT AMERICAN BEER FESTIVAL

Thurs.-Sat., Sept. 21-23, Colorado Convention Center, 700 14th St., Denver

BROOMFIELD DAYS

Saturday, Sept. 23, Midway Park, 1270 W. Midway Blvd., Broomfield

ELK FEST

Sat.-Mon., Sept. 30-Oct. 1, Bond Park, 170 MacGregor Ave., Estes Park

GOLDEN BEER TASTING & CHILI COOKOFF

Saturday, Oct. 14, Parfet Park, 719 10th St., Golden

PUMPKIN FESTIVAL

Fri.-Sun., Oct. 6-8, Chatfield Farms, 8500 W. Deer Creek Canyon Road, Littleton

APPLEFEST

Fri.-Sun., Oct. 6-8, Town of Cedaredge, 235 W. Main St., Cedaredge

TELLURIDE HORROR SHOW

Fri.-Sun., Oct. 13-15, various locations, Telluride

BOULDER FALL FEST

Fri.-Sun., Sept. 22-24, Pearl Street Mall, Boulder

MINERS PUMPKIN PATCH

Fridays in October, 225 North Gate Blvd., Colorado Springs

CONCERTS

The best local concerts this fall — all in one place

FOX THEATRE

1135 13th St., Boulder

Friday, Sept. 1

TWO PUMP CHUMP WITH TOADSTOOL, DJ IRIS AND SERATO BLISS. 9 p.m. $15

Saturday, Sept. 2

KROOKED KINGS 8 p.m. $20

Thursday, Sept. 7 CAITLYN SMITH. 8 p.m. $18

Friday, Sept. 8

PLANET BLOOP WITH RSENIK, BWRZ, JIX, RIJ AND REDS 9 p.m. $15

Saturday, Sept. 9

NICK SHOULDERS AND THE OKAY CRAWDAD WITH RIDDY ARMAN. 9 p.m. $20

Thursday, Sept. 14

RAVENSCOON WITH SMITH., GREEN MATTER AND W/OUT 8 p.m. $23

Friday, Sept. 15

NO RUSH WITH BEAUPREX, ON THE DOT AND BIG PINCH. 8 p.m. $15

Tuesday, Sept. 19 EMICIDA. 8 p.m. $25

Thursday, Sept. 21

SANTA ANA RODEO WITH THE DIRTY TURKEYS AND THE FREE LICKS 8 p.m. $15

Friday, Sept. 22

BALKAN BUMP WITH DYNOHUNTER 8:30 p.m. $20

Saturday, Sept. 23 DANIEL DONATO. 8 p.m. $20

Wednesday, Sept. 27 JAWNY WITH ADAN DIAZ 8 p.m. $25

Thursday, Sept. 28

JALEN NGONDA 8 p.m. $20

Saturday, Sept. 30 SUECO. 8 p.m. $22

Tuesday, Oct. 3

TROUSDALE WITH ANNA VAUS 8 p.m. $18

Thursday, Oct. 5

THE GALENTINES WITH BRIEFLY GORGEOUS AND BETTER WEATHER. 9 p.m. $15

Friday, Oct. 6 MOON HOOCH 9 p.m. $18

BOULDER THEATER 2032 14th St.

Thursday, Aug. 31

TAB BENOIT WITH THE RUMBLE AND CHIEF JOSEPH BOUDREAUX JR 8 p.m. $28

Thursday, Sept. 7

NOAH CYRUS WITH ANNA BATES. 8 p.m. $30

Saturday, Sept. 9 HERE COME THE MUMMIES WITH PERPETUAL GROOVE. 8 p.m. $25

Sunday, Sept. 10

THE JAYHAWKS WITH FREEDY JOHNSTON 8 p.m. $30

Friday, Sept. 15

JAI WOLF WITH EVAN GIIA AND MYRNE. 8 p.m. $35

Saturday, Sept. 16 BAND OF HORSES WITH GRIFFIN WILLIAM SHERRY 8 p.m. $44

Wednesday, Sept. 20

RICHARD CHEESE WITH LOUNGE AGAINST THE MACHINE 8 p.m. $30

Sunday, Sept. 24

MATT MAESON WITH BRENNAN SMILEY. 8 p.m. $30 - sold out

Tuesday, Sept. 26

WILDERADO WITH HUSBANDS. 8 p.m. $25

Wednesday, Sept. 27

BLACKBERRY SMOKE WITH MILES MILLER. 8 p.m. $38

Tuesday, Oct. 3

AWOLNATION WITH IRONTON 8 p.m. $33

Wednesday, Oct. 11 THE ZOMBIES 8 p.m. $40

Saturday, Oct. 14

TENNIS WITH SAM EVIAN. $30

VELVET ELK LOUNGE

2037 13th St., Boulder

Saturday, Aug. 26

DAMN TALL BUILDINGS WITH JAKE LEG BAND. 9 p.m. $12

Wednesday, Aug. 30 MANY MOUNTAINS 9 p.m. Free

Thursday, Aug. 31 BEN HANNA 9:30 p.m. Free

Saturday, Sept. 2 CHATHAM COUNTY LINE. 9 p.m. $20

Thursday, Sept. 7 STILLHOUSE JUNKIES 9 p.m. $14

Friday, Sept. 8

GEN3 WITH HUNTER STONE 9 p.m. $14

Thurs.-Fri., Sept. 14-15 THE YAWPERS. 9 p.m. $6

Sunday, Oct. 8

SAY SHE SHE WITH NICKY EGAN 8 p.m. $20

Sunday, Oct. 15

TOMMY CASTRO & THE PAINKILLERS WITH DEANNA BOGART 9 p.m. $25

Friday, Nov. 10

PERT NEAR SANDSTONE WITH HENHOUSE PROWLERS. 9 p.m. $20

ROOTS MUSIC PROJECT

4747 Pearl, Suite V3A, Boulder

Friday, Aug. 25

TERESA STORCH BAND WITH MACKENZIE RAE. 8 p.m. $15

Saturday, Aug. 26

COLLAPSING STARS WITH DECHEN HAWK 7 p.m. $12

Tuesday, Aug. 29

PAUL SODERMAN AND THE OGS WITH DFK AND THE LAB RATS 6:30 p.m. $5

Friday, Sept. 1 BACK SABBATH WITH HOWLIN’ GOATZ. 8 p.m. $12

Tuesday, Sept. 5

CARLOS BARATA WITH INGRID AVISON 7 p.m. $15

Thursday, Sept. 7

TROUBADOURS WITH RAMAYA SOSKIN, BETH PRESTON AND HUNTER STONE 7 p.m. $5

Friday, Sept. 8

ROCKET PARADE. 8 p.m. $12

Saturday, Sept. 9 SETH GLIER. 7:30 p.m. $20

Monday, Sept. 11

AMY LAVERE WITH WILL SEXTON 7 p.m. $15

Tuesday, Sept. 12

BLAIR BORAX WITH MEGAN BURTT AND ALEX DUNN. 8 p.m. $12

Thursday, Sept. 14

ANTONIO LOPEZ WITH JONATHAN SADLER, LAURIE DAMERON AND LORRIE BAUM. 8 p.m. $15

Tuesday, Sept. 19 MOJOMAMA. 6:30 p.m. Free

Thursday, Sept. 28

THE TONY FURTADO ACOUSTIC TRIO WITH MATT FLINNER 8 p.m. $25

Friday, Oct. 6 BIRDS OF PLAY 8 p.m. $15

Thursday, Oct. 12

JEREMY GARRETT (OF THE INFAMOUS STRINGDUSTERS). 8 p.m. $25

Friday, Oct. 13 DELTA SONICS BLUES 7:30 p.m. $15

Wednesday, Oct. 18 BRENDAN ABERNATHY. 8:30 p.m. $15

Saturday, Oct. 21 HAZEL MILLER 7 p.m. $20

CHAUTAUQUA AUDITORIUM

900 Baseline Road, Boulder

Wednesday, Aug. 30 WATCHHOUSE WITH BELLA WHITE 7:30 p.m. $48

Saturday, Sept. 2 RISING APPALACHIA. 7:30 p.m. $33

Tuesday, Sept. 12 HERBIE HANCOCK. 7:30 p.m. $60

Thursday, Sept. 28

THE STEELDRIVERS WITH TROUBADOR BLUE. 7:30 p.m. $38

Friday, Sept. 29

TIG NOTARO 7:30 p.m. $41

Sunday, Oct. 1 SNARKY PUPPY 7:30 p.m. $50

Sunday, Oct. 15

CARRIE NEWCOMER. 8 p.m. $30

Sunday, Oct. 22 TAYLOR ASHTON 8 p.m. $20

ETOWN HALL

1535 Spruce St., Boulder

Sunday, Aug. 27

NICK FORSTER’S HIPPY BLUEGRASS CHURCH 10:30 a.m. $15

Wednesday, Aug. 30

BRUCE COCKBURN WITH ABRAHAM ALEXANDER. 7 p.m. $36

Friday, Sept. 8

GOODNIGHT, TEXAS WITH JOBI RICCIO 7 p.m. $20

Friday, Sept. 29

S.G. GOODMAN 7 p.m. $28

Sunday, Sept. 30

JOHN R. MILLER WITH RAYE ZARAGOZA 7 p.m. $28

Thursday, Oct. 12

CARSIE BLANTON WITH BRITTANY ANN TRANBAUGH 7 p.m. $28

Friday, Oct. 13

JEFFREY MARTIN WITH DEREK DAMES OHL. 7 p.m. $23

Tuesday, Oct. 17 THE WAR AND TREATY. 7 p.m. $38