MUSIC

seemed like a fantasy land,” especially because his first time in Boulder included a now-legendary Jane’s Addiction show on the Nothing’s Shocking tour in the late ’80s — something he says changed his life.

“I had never seen a band like that, and their performance that night was absolutely unforgettable,” he says. “It was the same [weekend as] the Mall Crawl … I met all these super cool people and I thought, ‘Wow, Boulder is the coolest.’ I got that curse that night — Niwot’s Curse.”

Here Urata is referencing the local legend surrounding Southern Arapaho Chief Niwot, who allegedly spoke of “the Curse of Boulder Valley,” which has come to describe the breathtaking region’s knack for turning tourists into long-term residents. DeVotchKa’s music is now entwined with this stretch of the Front Range like Ennio Morricone’s scores are connected with the landscapes in classic films like Once Upon a Time in the West, and the collaboration with the Boulder Phil will bring that relationship to life right here where Urata got the curse.

ON THE BILL: DeVotchKa with the Boulder Philharmonic. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 6, Macky Auditorium, 1595 Pleasant St., Boulder. $25-$104