Topic: Music

Things may be slow around these parts, but Vail still knows how to do Cinco de Mayo right. Several Valley restaurants, which have remained open for the off-season, are offering appropriately themed drink and dining specials.

Two of the Valley’s favorite (and similarly named) Mexican restaurants will be celebrating Cinco in style. Fiesta Jalisco, with locations in Avon, Edwards and Eagle, will be offering Cinco de Mayo dining specials all day long until 11 p.m. Fiesta’s New Mexican Café & Cantina, located in Edwards, will be offering $4 Absolut Bloody Mary’s, dining specials, giveaways and tequila sampling throughout the day.

Vail’s rowdiest institution, Sandbar Sports Grill, will be offering beer and margarita specials starting at 11 a.m. all day long into Open Mic Night. So if you’re a little timid about getting on stage, why not head to Sandbar, celebrate Cinco de Mayo, and imbibe some nicely priced liquid courage before performing?

Avon’s Agave restaurant is going all out for Cinco de Mayo with some fantastic dining and drink specials, and live music. Enjoy $1 tacos, $2 beers, $3 margaritas and $4 rattlesnake tequila shots (sounds dangerous!) on their outdoor deck from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Local favorites The M.T.H.D.S. will rock out for the assembled Cinco celebrators starting at 5 p.m.

If you’re taking more of a DIY approach to Cinco de Mayo and plan to picnic or barbeque at one of the Valley’s many beautiful parks, we should see highs in the mid-fifties with partly cloudy weather.

Celebrate the spring and have a safe and happy Cinco de Mayo!

Most people who’ve spent a significant amount of time in either place know about the rivalry between Vail and Aspen. Sure, they’re both fancy ski towns full of expensive condos and stellar mountains, but somehow (like Catholicism and Protestantism), there exists a rift between them. Aspen (being clearly the less mature of the two) has even gone the length of manufacturing “Vail Sucks” T-shirts. We don’t, of course, think Vail sucks, but we have to admit, Aspen has something that Vail is sorely lacking: a nice concert venue for rock shows.

It's great to have the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Beaver Creek, but it is best-suited for musicians who play to seated audiences, comedians, ballets and plays.

Up until last spring, we HAD a rock venue. Although it held a special place in our hearts and was full of character in all of its bouncing floor glory, in many ways club 8150 was kind of a dive. And now it is just a hole in the ground waiting to be occupied by the forthcoming Solaris project.

Even during times of year when nothing can be heard but crickets and jackhammers in both Vail and Aspen, Aspen, with its one charming little rock venue, manages to bring in hundreds of concert-goers. On April 30, amid the noise of jackhammers and tumbleweed (or tarps or whatever) blowing down the streets, beloved sister duo Tegan & Sara played the Belly Up. The audience probably represented quadruple the number of the town’s population at that point in the year. The show was T & S’s only tour stop in Colorado and people flocked from far and wide. Many in the audience had flown in from Denver ... a few had followed the band from New Mexico.

When the lights hit the audience during the set of opening act An Horse, the band’s Kate Cooper observed, “Wow … this is intimate. You people are very lucky.”

Lucky indeed. Tegan & Sara, who played their second Coachella Festival just days before the Aspen show and have appeared on David Letterman and The Tonight Show, probably haven’t played a venue as small as the Belly Up since about 2002.

The venue, located smack in the middle of town adjacent from Aspen’s gondola building, features a subterranean lounge, stage, dance floor, two bars, food service and fantastic acoustics. Opened in 2005 by Michael Goldberg, the Belly Up holds a capacity of a mere 450 bodies ... but that doesn’t stop A-list musicians from playing here.

Some of our other favorite musicians the Belly Up has booked over the next couple of months include Ani DiFranco (June 18), Boy George (July 10) and Andrew Bird (July 18). We can’t wait.

Tegan & Sara's Sara Quin also commented on the intimacy of the Belly Up, after which Tegan began an amusing impersonation of someone coming to the show after riding the ski lift, to which Sara knowledgeably pointed out that the lifts had closed a couple weeks previous. It was almost like having your own conversation with them. It was, suffice it to say, awesome.

If you haven’t checked out the Belly Up, you really should. Aspen … we’re jealous.

by Shauna Farnell

Ah, the winter of 2008 ... how could we ever forget it? Check out these instrumental highlights from the 2008 Bon Appetit Culinary and Wine Focus, the Honda Session and tidbits from Jackie Greene and other big names who passed through town.

Singer/Songwriter Robert Selvaggio, also known as Big Water, stopped by Fresh Tracks on March 27, 2008, to share some material.

The Hotel Cafe made a stop through Vail during the 2008 Film Festival and musicians Jay Nash and Greg Laswell claim it's a great time to be an idependent musician.

Like all good things, Vail’s season, a season that saw more snow than ever in the institution’s history, must come to an end. And although everyone knows that in seven short days, they’ll no longer be able to ride Vista Bahn, someone forgot to tell Mother Nature because she continues to shower the Valley with snow. We’re all but guaranteed to have an epic final week, and so instead of a somber march towards Mud Season, let the coming days be a celebration of a truly fantastic season.

How does one celebrate a season as great as ’07-’08? Spring Back to Vail, of course. The annual end of the season party (week-long, mind you) returns with big musical acts, movie screenings, nightly parties and pub crawls, and the consistently crowd-pleasing Bacardi World Pond Skimming Championships.

Spring Back to Vail has developed quite a reputation for bringing amazing national musical acts to the Valley for the season’s final huzzah, and this year is no exception. While past years saw the likes of Snoop Dogg and Kid Rock, this year’s headliner is the equally renown Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals. Keep it tuned to Fresh Tracks every morning on Channel 16 from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. for a chance to win tickets. Other musical guests include Gov’t Mule, the Kottonmouth Kings, local rockers Little Hercules and a host of local and visiting DJs who will be playing at various on-mountain locations.

If you’re unable to make it to any of the Spring Back performances, you’ll still be able to send out the season in style. Bacardi and Coors Light will be hosting parties nightly at various Vail Village locations including Tap Room, The George, The Red Lion, Los Amigos, Garfinkels and Samana. And let’s not forget the ever-popular end of the week festivities, the World Pond Skimming Championships (Saturday, April 12) and the affectionately named Gaper Day (Sunday, April 13). World Pond Skimming will pit brave men and women against a slope and stretch of water, armed with nothing more than skis or a board. Only the strong will live to make it across the icy depths. Pond Skimming competitor spots are already all filled up, but, trust us, this is a highly entertaining spectator sport. Gaper Day, the final day of the season, is a silly celebration of ridiculous ski attire and all day parties across Vail Mountain. If you miss this ludicrous affair, you’ll be regretting it all summer long.

For a complete schedule of Spring Back to Vail Events or information on how to order tickets, check www.springbacktovail.com

Enjoy Plum’s coverage of the 2007 Bacardi World Pond Skimming Championships below.

Country rocker Steve Azar dropped by the Fresh Tracks studio to debut a music video and chat about upcoming events. Azar was visiting Vail to participate in the 2008 American Ski Classic.

Grammy award-winning family musician Dan Zanes speaks about the importance of participation and his philosophy of social music during his recent show at the Vilar Center.

Vampire Weekend, one of New York City's hottest new bands, made a recent stop on Saturday Night Live, but the boys hit Plum first. Check out the Plum exclusive interview and performance from Juan's Basement.

Stockholm Syndrome rocked Checkpoint Charlie as part of the Bud Light Street Beat concert series. Plum shot the concert and sat down with lead singer Jerry Joseph to learn about the band's history.