String Cheese Incident, Yonder Mountain String Band, and Leftover Salmon
The Boulder Theatre–an art deco masterpiece and one of the nicest venues in the land– hosted not one, but three, consecutive shows highlighting the very best of the Colorado acoustic-based music scene. First up, String Cheese Incident on the 19th. It was sweet to get Cheesey with it in such a cozy environment again (for The Cheese have gotten big). Sax man Joshua Redman added a lot to the mix and was a welcome influence on the evening’s music. On the 30th Yonder Mountain graced the Boulder stage. These boys can flat pick and sing. I am more and more amazed by their talents each time I see them play. New Years Eve brought Leftover Salmon in off the road for one special night at the Boulder. Given that Salmon had been playing the much larger Paramount Theatre in Denver for New Years over the past couple of years, it was great to see them in the Boulder. Salmon is family and The Boulder Theatre is almost like a living room big enough for all your family and friends. Nice! 2002 was an intense year on many levels, especially so for The Salmon who lost banjo player, Mark Vann to cancer. As such, it seeemed to me that the joyous celebrations of life at year’s end had particular poignancy in 2002.