Boulder Weekly 11.07.2024

Nate Kinard, Jr.

COMMENTARY

MORE PERMEABILITY, LESS PARKING

BY GRACE PENG

Iam a homeowner at Horizon West, 1850 Folsom St., next door to the proposed development at 1840 and 1844 Folsom St. The proposal being considered by Boulder’s city council Thursday night is to redevelop two office buildings into 180 new homes with retail on the ground floor. I am happy that Boulder may get more badly needed homes in an area where

people don’t need a car to meet their daily living needs.

The area is in the FEMA 500-year extension flood plain. Although I did not live there at the time of the 2013 flood, neighbors told me that water poured off Folsom and Walnut and through our property.

The parcels at 1840 and 1844 Folsom are currently mostly asphalt parking lots

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

Volume 32, Number 12

PUBLISHER: Stewart Sallo

PUBLISHING CONSULTANT: Francis J. Zankowski

EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Shay Castle

ARTS EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray

REPORTERS: Kaylee Harter, Tyler Hickman

FOOD EDITOR: John Lehndorff

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey Grace Peng, Lindsay Temple, Dan Savage, Gabby Vermeire

COVER CREDIT: Derek Miles

SALES AND MARKETING

MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Kellie Robinson

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Matthew Fischer

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Chris Allred, Tony Camarda, Austen Lopp

SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER: Carter Ferryman

MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar

PRODUCTION

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen

GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Chris Sawyer

CIRCULATION

CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn

CIRCULATION TEAM: Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer

BUSINESS OFFICE

BOOKKEEPER: Austen Lopp FOUNDER / CEO: Stewart Sallo

and rooftops. The merged parcels are an opportunity to de-pave part of a heavily paved over and flood-prone area. I urge the city and developers to keep as much of the parcels permeable as possible. There are several ways to reduce impermeable surfaces that do not negatively reduce developability of the parcels. We can reduce the parking requirements, we can increase the height (for the same volume as a broader, lower building), or we can dig a giant hole for subterranean parking as the hotels at 26th and Canyon have done.

In the words of UCLA professor Donald Shoup, “Minimum parking requirements act like a fertility drug for cars.”

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OPINION

Urban planning researcher Adam Millard-Ball et al. used residential housing lotteries to show that households that start with the same amount of cars jettison or accrete more cars based on how much parking is provided at their new homes.

1840-1850 Folsom have a Walk Score of 92/100 and Bike Score of 100/100. The addition of protected bike lanes along Folsom Street will add to the already-great bikeability of the area. Developers should consider reducing car parking with bike parking. The bike storage room at 1850 Folsom is heavily utilized and a selling point for new residents. The city process should ensure there are larger spaces in 1840-1844 Folsom for cargo bikes as well.

Residents of 1850 Folsom have only one parking space per unit, regardless of size. We manage. Enough people own zero cars to rent spaces to those with two cars. The addition of car rentals at 26th and Canyon will make it easier to live car-free or car-light in the area.

Secondly, I am concerned about how the driveways for existing and new development along Folsom will negatively impact cyclists in the planned protected bike lanes. I hope city staff will consult with traffic engineers who specialize in bicycle infrastructure to minimize the danger to cyclists. This is another reason not to invite cars to the new development by provisioning more parking.

Thirdly, I want to discuss height. The “preserving views” argument never made sense to me. Won’t the buildings create more views for the people inside of them and more to view for the people outside of them?

It is the City of Boulder, not the Village of Boulder. Why would a city skyline that includes buildings in front

of the mountains be a bad thing instead of a point of pride?

There is no definitive answer for whether low and broad, or tall and skinny, is more aesthetically pleasing. But we do know that more permeability is better and less parking results in lower car ownership and less driving.

I researched the history of Boulder’s height limit and learned that one of the architects of the height limit, Ruth Wright, lived at 1850 Folsom, the very building that alarmed her back in 1969. After the trees grew in, this building sits more lightly and gracefully than shorter, newer buildings.

In reading Wright’s oral history of the Boulder height limit, I learned that the fight for a height limit was wrapped up in fears of population growth in Boulder. In 1969-1970, civil rights and fair housing legislation and court decisions had the potential to dramatically change Boulder’s complexion. Height limits are a facially neutral way to curb growth of the “wrong” kind. In 2024, part of our DEI efforts should be to critically reexamine our old rules and their motivations and to try to do better.

I love my home at 1850 Folsom.

Some of my neighbors on the south side of the building are concerned about losing light and views, and I want to minimize the impact on them. But I also don’t want to harm the feasibility of badly needed new homes.

We can satisfy both by building taller and narrower, just like the building next door.

Grace Peng earned her PhD in chemical physics at CU/JILA. Until 2016, she was clueless as to why Boulder banned all her living situations: a large house with four unrelated roommates, a large house subdivided into four apartments and an 11-story building.

GOV’T WATCH

What your local officials are up to this week

BY TYLER HICKMAN

BOULDER COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

On Nov. 12, commissioners will:

• Hold a public hearing for Boulder Rural Fire Protection District to adopt the 2021 International Fire Codes and amendments. Several fire protection districts in the county, most recently Lefthand and Fourmile, have already adopted the fire codes, which include several amendments that regulate safety during alcohol production and cannabis cultivation.

On Nov. 14, commissioners will:

• Review the county’s 2025 budget during a public work session. The recommended budget for next year is $644.4 million, a 1.3% decrease from 2024 that includes more than $4 million in cuts for safety net programs across the county. There will be no public testimony during this meeting.

The budget is on track to be adopted at a public meeting on Dec. 3.

BOULDER CITY COUNCIL

On Nov. 14, council will:

• Hold a public hearing during a joint meeting with the Planning Board to consider moving into next steps for activating the Area-III Planning Reserve.

The Area-III Planning Reserve is a 500-acre portion of largely rural public and private land located in North Boulder between Broadway and Jay Road. The city estimates this parcel could accommodate up to 6,700 housing units.

On Nov. 7, the city will make a decision on whether or not to “accept” the recently completed Urban Services Study, which determined the costs and challenges of bringing city services — such as police, fire, water, etc. — to this area. If there is sufficient interest, council

will vote Nov. 21 to add a study of unmet community needs — the next step in the process — to the ongoing update of the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan.

LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL

On Nov. 4, council:

• Appointed Zachary Cartaya as the city’s new Chief Financial Officer. Cartaya was selected from 43 applicants to replace former CFO Devin Billingsley, who left the city in August.

• Held an executive session to discuss potential land purchase for a new water treatment plant. Executive sessions are not open to the public.

• Scheduled a special meeting and executive session for Nov. 15 to interview applicants for city attorney. In the 2025 budget, council approved bringing legal services inhouse; the city currently contracts outside attorneys for legal matters.

LOUISVILLE CITY COUNCIL

On Nov. 4, council:

• Approved the city’s 2025 budget, which includes more than $90.5 million in spending.

• Discussed the residency requirement for the hiring of a new city manager. Staff said housing prices in Louisville are too high for many people to afford, which may limit the pool of candidates.

Louisville’s search for a new city manager comes after the previous manager, Jeff Durbin, resigned while under investigation for an undisclosed matter.

TOWN OF SUPERIOR

On Wednesday, Nov. 13, the Town of Superior’s planning and building department is hosting an open house for residents, contractors and developers to learn about rebuilding efforts following the 2021 Marshall Fire. Staff will be on hand at 100 Superior Plaza Way, Suite 200, from 1-4 p.m. to answer questions about permitting and inspections. Learn more: bit.ly/ SuperiorOpenHouseBW.

All agenda items are subject to change. Karen Norback and Mark Catchcart contributed reporting.

A rendering of 1840-1844 Folsom St. Courtesy: Coburn Partners

BOCO, BRIEFLY

Local news at a glance

BY SHAY CASTLE

ELECTION RESULTS

Boulder voters appear poised to approve higher pay and private meetings for city council, while a measure to give elected officials more power over citizen-staffed advisory boards was too close to call Wednesday.

Also too close to call were races in Erie, which re-elected its entire town council after adopting a charter last year. Anil Pesaramelli and Dan Hoback had sizeable leads in districts 1 and 2, respectively, but competitors for the second seat in those districts were within two and six votes of each other, respectively. The mayoral race had a margin of 26 votes. Louisville’s Ward 1 candidates were separated by just 41 votes. In Superior, which has three seats open on its board of trustees, Mike Foster seems poised to join incumbent Jason Serbu, while trustee Sandie Hammerly is currently leading for the remaining spot. Heather Cracraft is just 52 votes behind.

There are roughly 59,000 ballots left to be counted in Boulder County, according to data from the clerk’s office, and poten-

tially as few as 2,800 in Superior. Another results update was planned Wednesday evening, after Boulder Weekly’s deadline for publication. The last batch of unofficial results in Boulder County this week will be posted Thursday, Nov. 7.

ERIE TOWN COUNCIL CANDIDATE SUED FOR ‘REVENGE PORN’

Dan Maloit, a candidate for Erie’s District 2 town council seat, is being sued by a woman for allegedly posting nude photographs of her online, along with identifying information including her name and place of work.

The plaintiff, who filed the lawsuit under the name Jane Doe, stated in court filings that she first discovered the photos in 2022 and to date has discovered 56 images “which depicted her in various

Scan the QR code for the most up-todate election results from Boulder Weekly

states of undress — including some in which her genitals and other private areas were fully visible. Plaintiff’s face was visible in some or all of the photographs.”

Court filings say Doe was able to “trace [the images] as far back as 2016, when they were posted to a 4chan imageboard.”

Maloit filed a countersuit against Doe alleging that the lawsuit was purposely timed to cause harm to his run for office and that she consented to and participated in posting of “erotic content” to the web while they were in a relationship, including “lingerie pictures that she asked Defendant to take for a third party.”

Maloit published a statement on his Facebook page calling the allegations false and condemning “the selective posting of specific portions of the plaintiff’s original motion by mostly anonymous accounts… intent on harming me to influence the election.”

“I do believe that the people who are posting this all over Facebook are only doing it as part of a smear campaign,” he said in an interview.

“It’s unintentionally causing that person and other people harm in an attempt to harm me politically, which I don’t think is right.

“I hope I have a chance to serve District 2 and bring the rational, level-headed voice of a single parent. We all have private lives I doubt

we’d want shared all over Facebook in our community.”

In unofficial results, Maloit was in last place with 1,432 votes Wednesday.

IN OTHER NEWS…

• The City of Boulder will partner with CU Boulder’s athletic department to build an indoor tennis facility and up to eight outdoor courts at the East Boulder Recreation Center. The announcement comes after 15 courts were lost due to the redevelopment of the Millenium Harvest Hotel. More are scheduled to close as the city prepares to build a dam and detention pond on land owned by the university, locally known as CU South.

• Feet Forward, a nonprofit serving Boulder’s homeless community and founded by Jennifer Livovich, a formerly unhoused woman, will dissolve by the end of the year, according to a late October press release. The organization will transfer its peer support and outreach services to Haven Ridge, formerly Mother House, on Friday, Nov. 8.

• Community Foundation Boulder County has relaunched TRENDS, its longtime data-tracking project, as an online dashboard. Previously, TRENDS was a biannual published report on key social indicators such as population, income, housing costs, health and more. View the platform at commfound.org/ourwork/trends.

WHY ARE CONCERTS SO EXPENSIVE?

Red Rocks ticket prices rose by 23% in the last year

BY KAYLEE HARTER

Many concertgoers have been there: Your favorite artist is coming to town, and tickets go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. You set an alarm to join the queue hours in advance. Then the clock strikes 10 and the AXS walking man starts his slow march toward your chance to attend the show of your dreams.

But alas, he hardly moves, going nowhere on a treadmill of despair as you wait and wait and wait. All my homies hate the walking man.

You frantically text the group chat: “Has anyone gotten in yet??” “If you get in first, will you get me one?”

If you’re lucky, he eventually takes you to the buying page and you rejoice as you select your tickets. For those less fortunate comes the dreaded message:

“There are currently no tickets available.”

Then it’s off to the resellers, where tickets can be double or even triple the face value price.

“It’s just getting out of hand to where I have resorted to buying tickets with zero plan,” said Celia Schwarz, who has lived in Colorado for the last seven years and goes to concerts almost every weekend. “Even if I’m not sure I want to go to a show, I do spend the money and buy a ticket, just to avoid dealing with scalpers later on, but I know a lot of people aren’t able to do that.”

Recently though, she reached her breaking point when she saw that tickets for Australian electronic trio Rufus du Sol at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park were $180 face value.

“They’re one of my favorite artists,” she said, “but I was not going to pay $180 for just GA.”

Plenty of live music lovers in my life have lamented the state of ticket-buying: the scramble, the prices, the dreaded resale market. So for the return of our dormant Weekly Why column, we set out to answer the question: Why are concerts so expensive?

Spoiler: There’s no easy answer, but we’ll give you a rundown of the factors at play.

ARE CONCERTS ACTUALLY GETTING MORE EXPENSIVE?

It’s true that concerts have gotten more expensive. Red Rocks ticket prices, for example, increased by more than 60% between 2018 and 2024.

Even in the last year, prices have seen a substantial jump, with Red Rocks tickets averaging $79.42 this year, compared to $64.80 last year — a 23% increase. Meanwhile, inflation in Denver was just 1.4% from September 2023 to September 2024.

Prices increased nationally too. Average ticket price for the top 100 tours in 2024 was $127.38, an all-time high and 9.4% above 2019, according to Pollstar’s mid-year report.

Despite rising prices, Joe Craig, CU Colorado Springs professor and chair of the economics department, begins answering our question with a caveat many music fans won’t like: Ticket prices are actually too low.

“If you have something that sells out or you have a queue that waits forever, it means whoever set the price was way too low,” he said. “That’s not how consumers feel, but generally, we think of concerts as actually being vastly underpriced.”

Craig said there’s a few theories as to why sellers might initially low-ball ticket prices.

One, he says, is to make sure young, rabid fans — who may have inflexible funds but flexible time — can be at the show to bring the energy.

“Concerts and events like this are experiential. You need the vibe,” he said. “You’ve got to get some of those people in there that are going to probably drink too much, probably take too many drugs, and then you can recoup that with luxury boxes, VIP passes, exclusive access, all sorts of things like that.”

Artists, Craig said, “know the value of that good is actually much higher than the price they release to the public” and will hold back tickets to put directly on the secondary market, aka scalping their own tickets.

“They should price the ticket higher, but if they do and they sell it, then Taylor Swift’s the bad guy. Muse is the bad guy. The artist is the bad guy, and that creates anger from the fans toward the artist that can diminish the sales,” he said. “But if you say, ‘Oh, I just sold out, can’t do anything,’ then no one is mad for just selling out.”

It’s not clear how common that is, but a 2019 Vox article reported that Live Nation (which merged with Ticketmaster in 2010) admitted to helping about a dozen artists scalp their own tickets between 2016 and 2017. At the time, the

Courtesy: Boulder Theater

Courtesy: Red Rocks Amphitheater

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company said that “requests have declined virtually to zero as tools like dynamic pricing, platinum seats and VIP packages have proven to be more effective at recapturing value previously lost to the secondary market.”

WHAT MAKES A TICKET PRICE?

Though fans often blame ticketing companies for high costs (and in part for good reason; more on that soon), they’re not actually the ones naming the prices.

Prices are set through conversations between promoters, artists and venues, according to David Weingarden, vice president of concerts and events for Z2, which operates and books for Boulder Theater and Fox Theatre.

“We’re all trying to make sure we don’t price it too high, because then not enough people will [buy] it,” he said. “And we’re trying not to price it too low, because then it sells out too quickly or the scalpers get them and they sell them for a much higher price.”

What it costs to put on a show — for both venues and artists — has also gone up, he said.

“We’ve had increases in rent, increases in property taxes,” he said. “We’ve had big-time increases in staffing [costs], salaries .... Minimum wage has gone up considerably. Healthcare and insurance goes up considerably.

“The cost of touring is insane right now. It costs $50,000 to rent one [tour] bus for a month, and that’s not even including gas.”

On top of that, how artists make their money has changed in the digital era.

““[G]oing on the road is one of the main ways artists make money these days, so the increase isn’t too surprising,” Ben Heinemann, a Red Rocks spokesperson, wrote in an email. “Especially in the era of streaming, I think paying to see one of your favorite artists live, even if it squeezes the pocketbook a little bit, is one of the best ways fans can support music, all things considered.”

Then there are ticketing companies, which are partially responsible for the fees and, in some cases, where shows get booked.

A 2018 U.S. Government Accountability Office Report found that

fees accounted for between 27% and 31% of ticket cost. What made up those fees was not always “fully transparent,” according to the report.

Earlier this year, the Department of Justice (along with 30 states, including Colorado) sued Live NationTicketmaster for monopolization. It’s worth noting that Anschutz-owned AEG and its ticketing arm, AXS, have far more sway than Live Nation/ Ticketmaster in Colorado. Some have even claimed the company has a monopoly here in the Front Range.

In Colorado, AEG owns or operates a gaggle of venues including Fiddler’s Green, Mission Ballroom, The Gothic, The Bluebird and The Ogden. It leases others with “near- or full-exclusivity,” including Red Rocks, according to reporting by The Denver Post

The Ticketmaster lawsuit alleges that the company stifles competition and strongarms artists and venues through exclusive contracts.

“The result is that fans pay more in fees, artists have fewer opportunities to play concerts, smaller promoters get squeezed out, and venues have fewer real choices for ticketing services,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a May press release about the Ticketmaster lawsuit.

‘LIFESTYLE OVER PAY’

Part of ticket cost comes down to supply and demand. By some metrics, demand for concerts in the Front Range is higher than average, driving up prices both on the primary and secondary markets.

According to a September Finance Buzz article that compared resale ticket prices across 22 major cities for 10 of the biggest tours (think Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen and Drake), tickets in Denver are 19% more expensive than the average across the cities, putting it behind only San Francisco and Toronto on a list that included the likes of NYC, Las Vegas and L.A.

“There could be less supply in terms of sizable places to play,” Craig said. “Or we really like concerts. …If you really like concerts and you’re a wealthy city, you’re gonna pay more.”

“Colorado is such a transplant state,” he added. “People that move a lot, people that choose lifestyle over pay,

are going to be more plugged into music and spending money there.”

That holds true for some artists who don’t fall under that “biggest tours” umbrella — though it fluctuates from genre to genre.

Red Rocks tickets for Atlanta-based electro-soul and hip-hop producer Daily Bread were $70 on presale. In the weeks leading up to the show, they neared $200. Tickets are just $60 after fees for his upcoming show opening for Zeds Dead at Detroit’s Masonic Temple — a venue with half the capacity of Red Rocks.

Meanwhile, Cody Philips, who has lived in Denver for two years and estimates he goes to about 50 shows a year, said he was able to snag Fred Again tickets at Ball Arena for just $40.

“If you go to a place where the house genre is much more popular like New York and San Francisco, that’s not gonna happen,” he said. “Denver people love the wubs, jam bands, bluegrass. If you go to a Billy Strings concert, it’s going to be pretty expensive. If you go to a Daily Bread concert or Excision — any of those guys, that stuff’s just way more popular. It’s going to be way, way harder to get tickets.”

‘PARASITES’

Both fans and those within the industry say they want to see regulations on the resale market, where costs can become astronomical.

“It’s really raising an eyebrow for all of us to understand how much people are potentially willing to pay for a ticket,” Weingarden said. “That being said, there’s nefarious people in the mix, and they’re gouging people.”

Weingarden calls professional scalpers “parasitic.”

“They have no skin in the game, and they’re benefiting from all of our hard work and making and taking in the money, rather than the artists,” he said.

Colorado passed a law this year that requires ticket prices shown to consumers to be “all-inclusive” rather than tacking on hidden fees at the end, but Weingarden said it stopped short of preventing speculative ticketing, a practice in which resellers list tickets before they’ve even obtained them — perhaps best known from the recent Oasis scandal, when more

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than 9,000 tickets were listed on resale sites before legitimate tickets had even been released.

The National Independent Venue Association, of which Z2 is a member, is advocating for the Fans First Act, which would put a ban on speculative ticketing (though it would allow a similar practice with the proper disclaimers), among other reforms.

Schwarz, the concert-goer from the beginning of this story, said she would like to see limits on how much tickets can be marked up on the resale market. In countries like France, Portugal and Belgium, for example, selling tickets for more than face value is illegal. But given lobbying efforts from companies like StubHub, such legislation is unlikely in the U.S.

“[Ticketing platforms] are getting money from the original ticket purchase and the reselling, so I think they’re just choosing money over doing something morally right,” Schwarz said. “There’s no reason why on AXS, the ticket resale exchange opens up as soon as the concert goes on sale.”

‘HOW TO PLAY THE GAME’

Pending stricter regulations, some artists and fans are finding creative ways around scalpers and fees.

In October, Jack White announced a surprise show at Bluebird Theater one day ahead of the event. Those tickets were going for as low as $25 for students and required ID for pickup. Tickets were non-transferrable.

In 2023, singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers did a one-day, physical ticket sale at venues across the country to take aim at bots and fees.

Facebook groups and platforms like Cash or Trade also offer a place for fans to resell tickets — but try to sell for over face value and you’ll be booted.

And sometimes, waiting until the day of to buy a ticket can pay off, when resellers have to offload any unsold tickets.

“A lot of it’s just knowing how to play the game,” said Philips. “Having the cash put down for presale for most shows usually pays off if you’re able to get on it… but having all of these bots buying up tickets and then reselling them for a way higher price is just ruining the market.”

MUSIC

PUNCHING UP

BY LINDSAY TEMPLE

After four decades in the music industry, Aimee Mann has learned to take a punch. Whether dodging left hooks in the boxing ring or pouring her heart out on stage, shepherded by the squared-up pugilist tattoo on her left deltoid, Mann’s strategy for accepting disquieting surprises is to relax into the fact that they are inevitable.

From the formation of ‘Til Tuesday — the pop-rock outfit behind the 1985 smash hit “Voices Carry” — to the genesis of her own label SuperEgo Records, the Berklee College of Music alum’s sport of choice has taught her that the only moment you have is the one you’re presently in.

“If you’re in the ring and get hit, you can’t stop and say, ‘Hey that hurt!’ If you do, you’re going to get hit again. You just get up and keep going,” Mann tells

Boulder Weekly. “I apply that to being on stage. The boxing experience helps me say, ‘It’s in the past. Just move on.’”

To that end, Mann suggests we may have more power over our circumstances (or, at least our perception of them) than we readily admit. It makes sense to be stressed about playing a show with a disorganized sound guy and a stage light that burns out minutes before show time, but one could also see it as an exercise in patience — a funny, humbling reminder that things rarely go the way we want them to.

so many shows and staying in countless sketchy hotels with her bandmates and touring partner Jonathan Coulton, she says they know how to find their footing, even if a song starts off a little squirrely.

“I like to tell myself to stay inside the music,” she says.

Take a line from the song “Patient Zero” on her 2017 album Mental Illness:, “Life is grand / and wouldn’t you like to have it go as planned?”

‘STAY INSIDE THE MUSIC’

Mann intends to roll with the punches during her upcoming performance at the Boulder Theater on Nov. 11. After playing

“For me, that means allowing myself to go with the musical experience and stop thinking about anything happening outside of it.”

Plenty of distraction can be found outside that experience, as Mann has learned from her many decades on the road.

“There’s some gritty aspects of [touring]. Like, there’s not always a place to shower,” she says. “But it really does make up for that. You get to be with your friends and play music and share in this experience with an audience.

“There’s something nice about having a group where everybody’s on the same page.”

MOVING THE NEEDLE

Known for her songs about lost, unsettled characters whose egos and shortcomings are their greatest hindrances, Mann is no stranger to exploring the contours of depression, anxiety and being your own worst enemy. From her work on the soundtrack to the 1999 Paul Thomas Anderson film Magnolia, to her latest woodwind-laden album Queens of the Summer Hotel 一 based on the novel Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen 一 the 64-year-old artist explores themes of codependency, delusion, abandonment and rejection.

Mann says she finds something amusing and relatable about the sad lives and circumstances of the folks in her songs.

“You know, it might ring true, or it’s funny because it’s so terrible, funny because it’s pathetic,” she says. “Even [in] the most grim song I’ve written, there will probably be a handful of lines that I find funny.”

Perhaps it’s the universality of her expressions of brokenness that has kept Mann’s career marching on for the last four decades. That stands true even for “repugnant” president-elect Donald Trump, whose interior life she imagined on the track “Can’t You Tell?” after the 2016 election: “Isn’t anybody going to stop me? / I don’t want this job,” she sings. “Can’t you tell? / I’m unwell.”

“He’s a miserable person looking for outside solutions to internal problems, and I certainly can relate to that,” she told Elle that year. “I know a lot of people who do that.”

But whether it’s an ill-tempered tyrant or a wave of righteous anger in response, Mann’s artistic project is about exploring the root causes of our individual and collective pain.

“People who are broken and acting out are looking to make themselves feel better by stepping on the backs of others,” she says. “But it’s not realistic and it’s not problem-solving. It doesn’t move the needle.”

ON THE BILL: Aimee Mann with Jonathan Coulton. 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11, Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder. $45+

Aimee Mann is still swinging

Aimee Mann performs with musician and NPR personality Jonathan Coulton at the Boulder Theater on Nov. 11. Courtesy: tk

Aimee Mann’s latest LP, Queens of the Summer Hotel, was released Nov. 5, 2021. Courtesy: SuperEgo Records

BLACK BANJO RISING

Dom

Flemons

on the undersung stories of the West

BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

Beyonce’s hit “Texas Hold ’Em” opens with a beat seldom heard on hip-hop tracks: the unmistakable clip-clop of a four-stringed clawhammer banjo. It comes via folk icon Rhiannon Giddens, who was invited by the pop superstar to play on the song from Cowboy Carter, an album celebrating the Black roots of country music.

For Dom Flemons, “Texas Hold ’Em” is more than music to his ears. It means a broader swath of listeners will be introduced to the banjo’s Black roots while doing the TikTok dance.

“It is very similar to Lil Nas X and ‘Old Town Road,’” Flemons says. “Those particular songs are bringing the idea of Black banjo and Black folk songs to a huge audience, along with the reality of Black cowboys.”

But these chart-toppers weren’t the millennium’s first foray into this underexplored history. With Giddens and Justin Robinson, Flemons co-founded the pioneering all-Black string band The Carolina Chocolate Drops in 2005.

“People were starved for this kind of music,” the 42-year-old musician says. “They really embraced [us].”

Flemons has since become the Swiss Army knife of contemporary Black folk music. During his story-filled shows, he plays various banjos, guitars, a harmonica and rhythm bones. Producer of the American Songster Radio Show on Nashville’s WSM, he is regarded as a major curator of early Black country and jazz history and recordings.

FROM AFRICA WITH LOVE

Arizona might seem like an unlikely spot for such a banjo scholar to emerge. But that’s where Flemons first became entranced by the instrument after borrowing one from a friend and playing along with his favorite blues and country songs.

“One of the first times I heard a banjo was Earl Scruggs playing ‘Roll in My

Sweet Baby’s Arms.’ A lot of old cartoons would also feature old-time jazz with the banjo,” Flemons recalls. “So I got into both bluegrass and New Orleans jazz at the same time, but I wasn’t thinking about the banjo’s origins.”

As Flemons became swept away by the instrument’s natural syncopation and versatility, his understanding of its history broadened when he picked up Pete Seeger’s How to Play the FiveString Banjo.

Black banjo curious?

Check out these current and historic Black banjoists, recommended by Dom Flemons.

• Rhiannon Giddens

• Tray Wellington

• Taj Mahal

• Gus Cannon

• Henry Thomas

• Papa Charlie Jackson

• Emanuel Sayles

• Lesley Riddle

“Pete talked about the banjo being a string instrument derived from Africa that became used in Southern mountain music,” he says. “I was 22 or 23. I was already aware that there were four-, five-, and six-string banjos that were used in the Black community.”

Flemons discovered a tradition of Black banjo stretching back more than 200 years. He points to early recordings of players like Lesley Riddle, whose tutoring of the Carter Family helped shape what country music became.

‘THE BEAUTIES OF THE BANJO’

The debut Black Banjo Gathering in North Carolina in 2005 was a turning point in Flemons’ life and Black acoustic music in the 21st century.

“I met banjo scholars and about two dozen Black banjo players and African players of the instruments that led to the banjo,” he says. That event was also where the members of The Carolina Chocolate Drops first met.

Flemons will share what he has learned since at two different Front Range shows. Swallow Hill’s debut BanjoFest on Nov. 9 is an all-day blowout featuring banjo workshops and concerts.

Joining Flemons in Denver is acclaimed five-string bluegrass virtuoso Tony Trischka, an Earl Scruggs archivist and Béla Fleck’s banjo teacher, as well as Baltimore-based clawhammer banjo specialist Brad Kolodner.

“I’m going to be pulling out some of my unique arrangements. There’s one South African song I’ll perform called ‘Mahala,’” he says. Flemons will also tell stories and play tunes by Black banjo icons like Papa Charlie Jackson, Gus Cannon and Henry Thomas.

“I wish I had enough hands to bring all the banjos I play,” he says with a laugh.

The musician’s Nov. 10 show at the Chautauqua Community House in Boulder offers something a little different. The first half of the performance features Flemons accompanying an edited version of the 1939 film, The Bronze Buckaroo, an all-Black production starring Herb Jeffries, the first African-American singing cowboy. He’ll also share songs from his 2018 Grammynominated Black Cowboys album, researched in part at Denver’s Black American West Museum.

After the intermission, Flemons returns to pick and sing through a century of Black American folk, string and jug-band songs alongside his original tunes.

Ultimately, Flemons says the banjo’s enduring appeal — and the reason successive generations “discover” it — is its versatility in jazz, folk, blues, country, bluegrass, rock and, occasionally, even classical music.

“One of the beauties of the banjo is it allows you to go way beyond any singular style of music,” he says. “I’ve been able to take ideas from the banjo’s history and push them forward in some new directions.”

ON THE BILL: BanjoFest. Nov. 9, Swallow Hill, 71 E. Yale Ave., Denver. $50+ | Dom Flemons Presents Black Cowboys. Nov. 10, Chautauqua Community House, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. $35

Banjo scholar and musician Dom Flemons performs two nights on the Front Range, Nov. 9-10. Credit: Steven Holloway

Dom Flemons Presents Black Cowboys was nominated for Best Folk Album at the 2018 Grammy Awards. Courtesy: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

GOBLIN MODE

Party monsters, Nordic metalheads and Salvador Dalí get weird at the Dairy Arts Center

BY JEZY J. GRAY

Shay Wescott wants to clear something up: You don’t have to be a weirdo to get down with Friday Night Weird. The co-founder and programmer behind the longrunning weekly underground cinema series at the Dairy Arts Center says even the most high-falutin culturistas among us will find something to love during this offbeat showcase of all things strange.

After all, hasn’t film always been about shocking the system?

“From some of the earliest examples, cinema has always been a violent and provocative medium,” she says. “I just recently had the privilege of watching The Great Train Robbery at the Denver Silent Film Festival, famously ending with a gun pointing directly in the audience’s face.”

Even if you’re not a B-movie obsessive or horror aficionado, Wescott hopes cinephiles of all stripes will push themselves out of their comfort zone for this month’s offbeat offerings. From a biopic about surrealist painter Salvador Dalí to a creature comedy about pint-sized party goblins, here’s all the weirdness coming to the Boedecker Theater in November.

PEEPING TOM

FRIDAY, NOV. 1

Michael Powell, 1960, UK, 1:41, NR

When Boulder Weekly film critic Michael J. Casey wrote about Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom earlier this year, he said of the English director’s controversial 1960 masterpiece: “It cost him a lot, but it gave us so much.”

What it cost was his reputation, as the critical response to the disturbing protoslasher flick slammed the brakes on the filmmaker’s sterling career. The celebrated auteur’s hard left turn into voyeurism

and violence repulsed the press and the public, leaving him an industry pariah despite an undisputed legacy of excellence. But nearly 65 years later, Peeping Tom stands as a heralded hallmark of cinema.

“It is an intoxicating, lush, highly influential masterpiece of film,” Wescott says. “More cinematically and thematically sophisticated than Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, released the same year.

“There is nothing I can say about this film that has not already been said by the likes of Martin Scorsese or the infamous theorist Laura Mulvey, who coined the term ‘the male gaze,’” she continues. “I highly suggest checking out some of those commentaries before or after the film.”

THE PARAGON

FRIDAY, NOV. 8

Michael Duignan, 2023, New Zealand, 1:25, NR

A hit-and-run victim seeks revenge with the help of a psychic in this multiverse fantasy-comedy from Kiwi director Michael Duignan. Made with a measly $15,000 budget — for comparison, Wescott points to the eye-popping $350 million price tag of Disney/Marvel’s Dr. Strange — this campy and psychedelic romp does a lot with a little.

“It’s Flash Gordon meets The Princess Bride through the distinctly earnest comedy of New Zealand,” she says. “The Paragon’s stylism is mainly an exercise in pastiche, but what’s refreshing is the sincerity of its truly independent, scrappy filmmaking.”

FRANKIE FREAKO

FRIDAY, NOV. 15

Steven Kostanski, 2024, Canada, 1:25, NR

Who doesn’t love a good creature feature? From Gremlins to Ghoulies, little freaks and goblins raising hell in the buttoned-up world of the normies is a proud tradition that found its purest form in the low-brow cinema of the 1980s.

Canadian filmmaker Steven Kostanski takes a page from this well-worn playbook in Frankie Freako, an off-the-wall throwback comedy following the tribulations of a straightlaced yuppie (Conor Sweeney) whose call to a late-night hotline unleashes a pint-sized party monster and his legion of impish goons.

“Jim Henson’s character in Saturday Night has a great line about there being a place for ‘high-stakes puppetry’ — just remove the stakes, and you have Frankie Freako,” Wescott says. “If I were to try to intellectualize a film like this, I could say it takes postmodern metatextuality to new heights. But all I really mean is that this is a movie unabashedly in love with ’80s trash cinema.”

DAAAAAALÍ!

FRIDAY, NOV. 22

Quentin Dupieux, 2023, France, 1:17, NR

When the pandemic reared its ugly head in the spring of 2020, Quentin Dupieux’s Deerskin was the first FNW screening to get the ax. Nearly half a decade later, Wescott says the “bonkers” work of the “French filmmaker and madman” holds a special place in the hearts of the film geeks behind the weekly underground cinema showcase.

Now the prolific director returns with an unorthodox homage to surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. Telling the story of an unrealized documentary project about its iconoclastic namesake, Daaaaaalí! is a fittingly absurd portrait of the Spanish artist that turns biography on its head to dazzling effect.

“With The Dairy’s award-winning visual arts galleries, artist biopics are a pretty straightforward way to celebrate our building’s multi-disciplinary nature,” Wescott says. “So something like Daaaaaalí! doesn’t immediately ring weird, until you learn that there are actually six different actors playing Dalí (one for each ‘A’ in the title) completely non sequentially, sometimes changing mid scene, with plenty of additionally confounding, non linear storytelling devices thrown in for good measure.

“This is an iconoclastic biopic for audiences who hate biopics — and I think Dalí would have loved it.”

HEAVY TRIP + HEAVIER TRIP (DOUBLE FEATURE)

FRIDAY, NOV. 29 | SATURDAY, NOV. 30 Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren, 2018 / 2024, Finland, 1:32 / 1:36, NR

Turo lives a quiet life in his small Finnish village, but the volume cranks up when he steps behind the mic as the lead singer of garage metal band Impaled Rektum. First-time directors Jukka Vidgren and Juuso Laatio tell the story of the extreme outfit’s unlikely odyssey to a dream gig in Norway with 2018’s Heavy Trip and the fallout from their bloody misadventures in this year’s sequel Heavier Trip

Recalling the fun and ferocity of heavymetal satires like Metalocalypse and This Is Spinal Tap, this high-octane film pairing turns it up to 11 — described by Wescott as “loveable buddy comedies with a slightly more macabre sense of humor and lots of bodily fluids.”

That may be familiar terrain for the weekly weird showcase, but the one-two punch of this double feature is something new.

“Somehow, amid the franchise driven landscape of genre cinema, FNW remains mercifully sequel free. I briefly considered trying to capitalize on Terrifier 3 — but without 1 and 2, it feels kind of hollow,” she says. “However, the ethos for all of our programming is community driven, so who am I to deny the genuinely kindhearted Nordic death-metal community their sequel?”

Frankie Freako screens Nov. 15 as part of the Dairy Arts Center’s Friday Night Weird showcase. Courtesy: Raven Banner Entertainment

MUSIC

Boulder Bookstore

FOUND SOUNDS

What’s in Boulder’s headphones?

BY BOULDER WEEKLY STAFF

As we bid adieu to spooky season and cannonball into the holidays, now is a good time to start thinking about your end-of-year music list. Good thing we’re back with the latest roundup of new vinyl bestsellers at Paradise Found Records and Music (1646 Pearl St.) From local deathmetal darlings Blood Incantation to Texas R&B crooner Leon Bridges, here’s what October sounded like in the People’s Republic.

BLOOD INCANTATION

Elsewhere

Imagine The Beach Boys, but instead of bronzed blonde men crooning about surfing and girls, it’s three art kids pumping out lo-fi songs about Godzilla, Rapunzel and the existential drag that is life under late capitalism. EELS, the sophomore album from Austin, Texas-based Being Dead, is the perfect album for this absurd moment in world history: kitschy, campy, silly fun with an undercurrent of aching depression. Being Dead could have written Pet Sounds, but The Beach Boys could never have created EELS — Shay Castle, editor in chief

THIS IS GONNA HURT

‘A Real Pain’ is a real treat

BY MICHAEL J. CASEY

Slightly neurotic and a little anxious, David Kaplan (Jesse Eisenberg) moves and talks like he’s wound a bit too tight. He’s the type to use a flood of fast-flowing words to keep his real emotions at bay. Social decorum is important to him. So are schedules.

Neither is of high importance to his cousin, Benji (Kieran Culkin). Every family has a Benji: life of the party, always speaks his mind no matter the opinion or the situation, constantly present even at the sacrifice of the future. Benji says exactly what he feels when he feels it. It’s refreshing. It’s also unnerving.

ONLINE ONLY: Boulder Weekly film critic Michael J. Casey shares three can’t-miss movies for the final weekend of the Denver Film Festival: bit.ly/DFFBW.

And it all makes for great comedy in A Real Pain, Eisenberg’s masterfully written and directed film about the two cousins’ pilgrimage to their recently deceased grandmother’s home country of Poland and all of the generational trauma that comes with.

“One of the ideas about the Holocaust is that it’s not over,” says Kathryn Bernheimer, founder and programmer of the Boulder Jewish Film Festival where the film screens Nov. 10. “The ripples are still being felt in so many ways.”

David and Benji feel those ripples, both as echoes of the past when they visit Majdanek, the concentration camp their grandmother survived, and as they look to the future with two very different attitudes about navigating the contemporary world.

A Real Pain is a treat. It’s funny and sweet, and there’s a good chance David and Benji will linger in your heart long after the screen goes dark.

ON SCREEN: A Real Pain opens in limited release Nov. 11 and screens at the Boulder Jewish Film Festival on Nov. 10. The Boulder Jewish Film Festival screens Nov. 10-17 at the Dairy Arts Center. Tickets and information: bit.ly/BJFF

Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg in A Real Pain Courtesy: Searchlight Pictures

DEAR WHOLE FOODS DADDY

Your burning Boulder questions, asked and answered

BY GABBY VERMEIRE

We all have questions and need advice, but sometimes the pseudo therapy in the Instagram stories of astrology girlies doesn’t cut it. Or maybe the gate-keeping culture of adventure bros has you fearing the judgment that comes with revealing yourself as a newbie at anything. This advice column exists to hold space for you and your Boulder queries (especially the uncool ones).

Why are his roommates nicer to me than my own friends?

There is a special relationship in every gal’s life, and it’s between her and that guy Jordan who walks in on her peeing at least once a month. Unlike the emotionally intense relationships between girlfriends, the roommate/roommate’s S.O. relationship is as loose and easy as the standards of cleanliness for their house. Was there some sexual tension the first time you noticed that goofy, wake-n-bake Jordan was, like, totally jacked after he came out of the shower in just a towel? Sure! Jacked and so offlimits, which means you now have TWO dudes to ensure that you never learn how to fix anything on your bike yourself.

Best first date spots?

The St Julien hotel. You and your date spend the day pulling some Eloise-atthe-Plaza ass shit, culminating in a night of carnal, room service-fueled ecstasy in the suite you scammed a traveling businessman out of.

University Bicycles at 2 p.m. on a Thursday. “Kind of an unorthodox spot, huh?” teases your date what’s-his-face (literally cannot remember his name). “Haha yeah, I just thought we should come here instead of a cliche Bitter Bar date!!” you say, willing yourself to believe it. Deep down, you know it’s because Bitter Bar doesn’t have your former situationship Matwith-one-T and calf tattoos working the afternoon Thursday bike mechanic shift. Sure, maybe you’re technically using what’s-hisface, but he should be grateful he doesn’t need to pay for your mezcal Negroni.

The workplace of your *favorite* female bartender. Does she know this is a date? Not yet, but the fact that you’ve ordered three whiskey sours in the past hour and you’ve asked her about her sign, her relationship status and what dreams of hers you could support beyond her menial service job should be tipping her off. First date? Maybe the first … in this life-

time. ;) Her furtive, anxious glances to her manager reveal her intimidation and attraction to you.

I made eye contact with a girl in my CU class. What colors would be good for our wedding? What class was it? School and Society (EDUC 3013)? Was she cute in an Ella Emhoff but sloppier kind of way? Did it happen when her book bag fell open and you helped pick up the contents, which included a marshmallow vape, a half-eaten Snarf’s sammie and a clearly unread copy of Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed? Surely such a goddess must have countless suitors fuckboys in the wings, ready and waiting to not text her back. No, but this was special, because her beauty was as melancholy and striking as Boulder Creek in November, and just as fragrant with weed — and the look she gave you might as well have screamed, “He definitely knows I’m high.”

Why do the people I date move away?

Wow, so you’re a real life Good Luck Chuck but for breaking Chief Niwot’s curse? But really, if you’re saying that your sweet lovin’ has the power to make anyone move out of Boulder, then someone needs to call up Boulder City Council, the NIMBYs, the Housing Coalition, the landlords and the socialists — we’ve solved Boulder’s housing crisis! Actually, can you please date everyone you can, especially if they drive a Rivian and have a gentrifier haircut?

Should King Soopers and Safeway be allowed to merge? “Fuck no!” says your favorite advice columnist. Courtesy: Wikipedia

Seafoam Green ##9FE2BF, with undertones of Chicory Brown #362511.

Do you think King Soopers and Safeway should be allowed to merge?

This is not technically asking for advice, unless … wait, is this Denver District Court Judge Andrew J. Luxen, who is presiding over the Kroger-Albertson’s merger case and will release his ruling any day? Glad you wrote in, your honor! My take? Fuck no!

Got a burning Boulder question? DM @wholefoods_daddy on Instagram or email letters@boulderweekly with the subject line “Dear Whole Foods Daddy.”

There is a special relationship in every gal’s life between her and her guy roommate who walks in on her peeing at least once a month. Meriwether Productions / 20th Century Fox

“Kind of an unorthodox spot, huh?” teases your date what’s-his-face (literally cannot remember his name). Courtesy: University Bicycles

7

BOULDER POTTERS GUILD FALL SHOW & SALE

Various times. Thursday, Nov. 7 through Sunday, Nov. 10, Boulder County Fairgrounds, 9595 Nelson Road, Longmont. Free

Looking for local handmade pottery, sculpture and ceramics? Swing by this seasonal exhibition and market presented by the Boulder Potters Guild for offerings from local artists alongside light refreshments, wheel-throwing demos and more.

7

MOVEMENT AND MINDFULNESS WITH BUTTERFLIES

6-7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, Butterfly Pavilion, 6252 West 104th Ave., Westminster. $40

Emerge from your cocoon and spread your wings amid more than 1,000 butterflies during this one-hour session. The experience includes intentional breathing exercises, light movement and meditative visualizations to help you “embark on a personal and transformative journey.” Bring your own mat and water, and be sure to register in advance.

8

LONGMONT LIVE

8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, Longmont Public Media, 457 4th Ave. $35

Don’t miss “the finest improv this area has to offer” during this sidesplitting event from Longmont Public Media and Longmont Out Loud. Host Steph Lujan will be your guide during this hour of spontaneous live performance guided by audience suggestions.

8

FALL HEAVY METAL NIGHT

7-10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, Dickens Opera House, 302 Main St., Longmont. $17.75

Head-banging Longmonsters: Tonight is your night. Open up the pit at the Dickens with a lineup of local metal you won’t want to miss. The night features sets from Tarnage, Awake in Ashes, Goat Hill Massacre and War Ends in Silence. Reserve a table at the Passenger to level up the night.

9

CHILDREN’S BOOK FESTIVAL

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, Boulder Public Library, 1001 Arapahoe Blvd. Free

Grab the kiddos and head to the Main Branch of Boulder Public Library for a free event featuring children’s author talks, a panel for teachers, activities for the littles and more. Authors and illustrators include Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw, Brittany Cicchese, Julie Leung and others.

9

STANDLEY LAKE STAR PARTY

4-6:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 9, Eldorado Canyon State Park, 9 Kneale Road, Eldorado Springs. Free ($10 day pass or annual state park pass required)

Celebrate the end of daylight savings time and still get to bed at a decent hour with this stargazing event at Eldorado Canyon State Park. Kick things off with a pre-party mixer hosted by Outdoor Asians, a group promoting inclusivity in the outdoors. Then look to the sky for stargazing starting at 5 p.m. Organizers will provide telescopes. Registration required: bit.ly/StarPartyBW

9

10

2024 NATIVE ART MARKET

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9 through Sunday, Nov. 10, The Dairy Arts Center 2590 Walnut St., Boulder. Free

Native artisans’ creations will be on display while dancers and musicians perform at this annual Art Market hosted by Creative Nations. Peruse the art or attend a free workshop from Indigenous drum group Drifting Bull (Saturday, 10 a.m.) or dance group Rocky Mountain Indigenous Dancers (Sunday, noon).

10

GOBBLE! GOBBLE! WILD TURKEY PROGRAM

10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10, Wapiti Trailhead at Heil Valley Ranch, Boulder. Free

Leave the baster at home — for now. Boulder County volunteer naturalists lead this educational hands-on experience in the natural habitat of Colorado’s wild turkeys. Take a hike through Heil Valley Ranch and enjoy some turkeythemed crafts while you learn everything there is to know about our semi-flightless feathered friends. Registration required: bit.ly/TurkeysBW

10

SECOND SUNDAY JAM

Noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10, 204 4th. Ave., Longmont. Free

Baking and jamming are both optional at this wake-n-bake potluck and open jam circle hosted by Longmont Musical Supper Club. But just like democracy: “It works best when most everyone participates!” BYOB and a dish to share; coffee will be provided. RSVP required: bit. ly/SecondSundayJamBW

10

MOMS UNHINGED

7-10 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10, Louisville Underground, 640 Main St. $23

Leave the kids at home and let loose for a night at this 21+ traveling comedy show that will have you in stitches over “motherhood, midlife crisis, marriage, divorce, online dating, and other things that irritate us.” Grab your friends, or your mom, for this night of “clean-ish” laughs.

11

“THE CAPTAIN” SKEEBALL TOURNAMENT

7-8:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11, Quarters Bar & Arcade, 475 Main St., Longmont. $10 per team of two

Channel your inner Captain Jack and compete in a friendly skee-ball tourney at Quarters Bar & Arcade. Competitors must assume the pirate stance — one leg up on a chair or stool while they roll. Bonus points if you don the captain’s hat. Winners get a trophy and lifetime bragging rights.

11

MOZZARELLA MONDAY

6-8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 11, Oskar Blues Brewery 1640 S. Sunset St., Longmont. $40

Ever wanted to take a walk in a cheesemonger’s clogs? Head to the Oskar Blues Tasty Weasel Taproom and learn from the experts at Truffle Cheese Shop. Enjoy two beers with your ticket while you transform milk into fresh mozzarella to take home.

Want more Boulder County events? Check out the complete listings online by scanning this QR code.

LIVE MUSIC

THURSDAY, NOV. 7

COWBOY BEBOP: LIVE. 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $35+

THOMAS GRONBERG 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free

QVEEN HERBY WITH MAILBU BABIE AND N3PTUNE. 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $45+

KENNYTHEINDIGO 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free.

FRIDAY, NOV. 8

SATURDAY, NOV. 9

THE GREYBOY ALLSTARS. 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $35+

PISSED JEANS WITH MUSCLE BEACH, CANDY APPLE, CHEAP PERFUME AND CHERRY SPIT 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $32. BW PICK OF THE WEEK

DOGS IN A PILE WITH SIMPLE SYRUP 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20+

CARSIE BLANTON WITH BRITTANY ANN TRANBAUGH. 7 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. $35+

SPACE IN TIME WITH MOON PUSSY, CHURCH FIRE, QUITS AND DEBASER. 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $18

MINDCHATTER WITH FAMILIAR FACES 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $25+

DEAD FLOYD. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20+

JEFFREY MARTIN WITH BART BUDWIG 7 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. $25+

BIG PINCH 6 p.m. Trident Booksellers & Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

MAU P. 9 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $50+

CHAIN STATION WITH MOONSHROOM 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $21

SOUL MEDICINE. 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free

STEVE AND THE CRUISERS. 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free

FINALEYES 7 p.m. American Legion Post 32, 315 S. Bowen St., Longmont. Free

WW5. 2:30 p.m. Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road, Longmont. $8+

JAZZETRY WITH VON DISCO. 6 p.m. Trident Booksellers & Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

BANJOFEST: TONY TRISCHKA, DOM FLEMONS AND BRAD KOLODNER Swallow Hill, 71 E. Yale Ave., Denver. $50+

PEAK2PEAK 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $19

MANY MOUNTAINS 8 p.m. Longs Peak Pub, 600 Longs Peak Ave., Longmont. Free

NICK NIELSEN. 6 p.m. 300 Suns Brewing, 335 1st Avenue, Unit C, Longmont. Free

YACHT ROCK REVUE 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $40+

AUDIO MEDZ. 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free

LOS CHEESIES 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free

SHAWN CUNNANE 6 p.m. Abbott & Wallace Distilling, 350 Terry St., Suite 120, Longmont. Free

HUNTER JAMES & THE TITANIC. 7 p.m. Dickens Opera House, 302 Main St., Longmont. $23

LIVE MUSIC

ON THE BILL

Pennsylvania noise-rock bruisers Pissed Jeans make their first-ever appearance in Denver at the Hi-Dive 21st birthday party on Nov. 9. The ferocious and fun punk quartet performs in support of their latest LP, Half Divorced — out now via Sub Pop Records with support from a stacked bill of local talent: Muscle Beach, Candy Apple, Cheap Perfume and Cherry Spit. See listing for details

SUNDAY, NOV. 10

DOM FLEMONS PRESENTS THE BLACK COWBOY

Chautauqua Community House, 900 Baseline Road, Boulder. $35. STORY ON P. 13

ZZ WARD WITH ANGEL WHITE. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $30+

BANDANA 4 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free

LIONEL YOUNG DUO. 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free

LOCO UKULELE JAM 2 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free

MONDAY, NOV. 11

AIMEE MANN WITH JONATHAN COULTON. 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $40+ STORY ON P. 12

MODEST MOUSE 8 p.m. Mission Ballroom, 4242 Wynkoop St., Denver. $50+

DUSTER WITH DIRTY AIR CLUB

8 p.m. Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $40

TUESDAY, NOV. 12

THE DIP WITH JORDAN MACKAMPA.

8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $30

KRIS BAHA WITH VOID PALACE, COMBAT SPORT AND KILL YOU

CLUB 7 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $18

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 13

D.O.D. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $27+

ORIGAMI ANGEL WITH ARMS LENGTH, MACSEAL AND FORESTS

7 p.m. Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Englewood. $40

SYMPHONIC BAND: THE PLACES YOU’LL GO 7:30 p.m. Macky Auditorium, 1595 Pleasant St., Boulder. Free

ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): I rarely recommend acquisitive behavior. But my analysis of the astrological omens tells me you now have cosmic authorization to indulge in a sublime version of voracity. We might also refer to it as a license to practice a spiritually correct variety of greed. Here’s the fine print: You should NOT interpret this as permission to amass materialistic treasures and status symbols. Instead, the things you gather will be rich feelings, encounters with inspiring beauty, epiphanies about your divine purpose and exquisite states of consciousness. You can also ask for and receive colossal supplies of love and affection.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): The last time I ate a hamburger was in 1994. I doubt I will ever eat another. Why? The taste is not enjoyable to me, and no matter how well I chew it, my stomach always rebels. There’s an additional problem: For several reasons, cattle farming is a significant factor causing the climate crisis. I would rather not contribute to that decimation. Does my attitude toward hamburgers mean I am a judgmental, closeminded zealot? No, it doesn’t. I don’t proselytize to those who relish burgers, especially if they take other measures to reduce their carbon footprint. In this horoscope, dear Taurus, I am illustrating an approach I hope you will cultivate in the coming weeks. Be extra zealously devoted to your ideals and proclivities without condemning and dismissing those who don’t share them.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): There are numerous approaches to getting good results from meditation. One is to sit silently and still in a tranquil sanctuary. Another is to lie on the ground under a dark sky and beseech the stars to bestow inspiration. One of my personal favorites is to sing rowdy hymns to birds, insects and trees while hiking vigorously in nature. How many other varieties can you imagine, Gemini? The coming weeks will be a favorable time to develop and expand your meditation skills. Here’s a key consideration: How can you achieve maximum fun while meditating? I recommend you free your mind to experiment with a host of interesting approaches.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): If there was ever an appropriate time for you to indulge in creatively rowdy thoughts and inspirationally unruly behavior, it would be now. Life is giving you license to de-emphasize decorum and formalities — and to emphasize boisterous enthusiasm and plucky adventures. For the sake of your mental health, I believe you need to engage in experimental improvisations that include maverick expressions. What areas of your life need liberation? What feelings need to be released from their constraints? What worn-out old theories and opinions should be abandoned?

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): Are your talents even slightly underrated and overlooked by others, Leo? Have your gifts received less than the full appreciation they deserve? Could you be of greater service and inspiration to your fellow humans if only your offerings were better known? If you answered yes to any of those questions, I’m pleased to tell you that the coming months should bring remedies. Life will be conspiring with you to help spread your influence and boost your clout.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): I wish it were true that the forces of darkness are lined up in opposition to the forces of light. Life would be so much easier for you. But I’m afraid it’s not that simple and clear. In my view, a more accurate metaphor might be that the energies of smokey gray are squaring off with the energies of dusky beige. Each side has a touch of both wrongness and rightness, a bit of ugliness and beauty. So what is the most honorable role you can play in this showdown? My suggestion is to develop a third side, an alternate way.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): In the early part of his career, Libran author Mario Puzo wrote short stories and novels, but never a screenplay. At age 49, he was asked by director Francis Ford Coppola to co-write the script for the film The Godfather. It turned out to be a sensational rookie effort. He was ultimately awarded an Academy Award for it and later garnered another Oscar for his screenplay for The Godfather Part II It was only then that Puzo realized he had found his calling and decided he should study the art of screenwriting. In the first chapter of the first book he bought about the subject, he read with great amusement that the ideal screenplay was the one by Mario Puzo for The Godfather. I bring this story to your attention, Libra, because you are approaching a time with resemblances to Puzo’s situation before Coppola solicited his work. Trust your rookie instincts!

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): In the life cycle of a butterfly, the earliest stages are larva and pupa. As a larva, the future beauty crawls around as a caterpillar, cramming itself with nutritive substance. After it transitions into the pupa state, it’s inert for a while, working on the inside of its cocoon to transform itself into its ultimate form. I don’t want to be too literal about the comparison, but my sense is that your time as a larva will last another two months, whereupon you will begin your pupa phase. When will you emerge as a winged creature? It depends on how earnestly you work as a pupa, but I expect no later than March 2025.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys, is one of the most innovative and imaginative songwriters ever. Many of his compositions have become bestselling hit tunes. But he had a rough start in his craft. The first song he ever wrote was “Surfin.’” He submitted it to fulfill an assignment in his high school music class, but his teacher gave it an F, the lowest possible grade. Fifty-eight years later, Wilson returned to the school for a visit, and the new principal changed his original grade to an A. I foresee a comparable event occurring in your life sometime soon: a vindication, restitution or reparation.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): Earlier this year, 79-year-old rock singer Rod Stewart performed his greatest hits during a multicity tour in many countries. “I shall never retire!” he proclaimed. Can you guess what astrological sign he is? Capricorn, of course. Many members of your tribe age very well, displaying stamina and vitality into later life. I bring this to your attention because I think you are close to discovering new secrets and tricks that will serve you well as you ripen. Here are some meditations that might be helpful: 1. What haven’t you been ready to do before, but might be soon? 2. What fun things would you love to be doing years from now, and how could you seed their future growth?

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): Scientists have discovered the fossil remains of over 700 dinosaur species buried underground. But the experts agree there are many more down there. Previously unknown species are still being unearthed every year. Let’s use these facts as a metaphor for your life in the coming months. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you could learn a host of fresh truths about your history. You may have imagined that your past is finished and finalized, but it’s not. I encourage you to have fun hunting for revelations and investigations that will transform the story of your life.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): You haven’t fully tapped into all of your vast potentials, Pisces. Latent talents and aptitudes within you may still be at least partially dormant. It’s even possible that some of your future powers are so foreign to your self-concept that they will feel like magic when they finally come into full expression. Now here’s the very good news: The coming months will be an excellent time to figure out what you need to do to express a more complete version of yourself.

Do straight women belong in gay bars?

Some (straight women, gay bars), not all (straight women, gay bars).

How do I stop people from falling in love with me when they meet me? Put that MAGA hat on.

Do all straight men secretly want something up the ass?

Considering that not all gay men want something up the ass, I feel pretty confident saying not all straight men want something up the ass. What’s different now is that straight men who do want something up their asses are less likely to feel shame and more likely to ask people — randos, FWBs, sex workers, romantic partners, spouses, etc. — to put something up their asses.

How do you stop wanting what you can’t have?

By focusing on something you can actually get — or someone you can actually get — and then willing yourself to believe you wanted this other something/someone as much or more than you wanted the something/someone you couldn’t have.

SAVAGE LOVE

BY DAN SAVAGE

and partying, remains the single best way to see what’s out there.

My wife lost all interest in sex 10 years ago but insists I remain monogamous. Arguments often end with her angrily saying, “No one owes you sex.” What can I say in response to that?

“No one owes you celibacy.”

What’s the best way to find a loaf of gay bread and make a fuck sandwich? Gay guy here who wants to be the meat in one.

My single gay friends are constantly complaining to me that they never meet single-and-available guys online or out in the bars. All they’re meeting are partnered guys in open relationships and/or couples seeking thirds for an evening, a weekend, or a lifetime. So, finding that loaf of gay bread — finding a gay couple seeking meat — shouldn’t be that hard. Get on the apps, go the bars.

How do I stay GGG even though I hate getting any kind of hair — including mine — in my mouth?

Three options come to mind: seek out sex partners with alopecia; keep a hair clipper on the bathroom sink and tell new sex partners a quick trim gets them oral; or make a kinky virtue of irrational hangup and actively pursue perverts who get off on being ordered to keep their bodies hairless.

Are friends of exes or exes of friends always off limits?

No and no — and since anyone who believes they can declare exes or friends off limits needs to learn that they don’t actually have the power to do that, you’re doing people like that a favor when you fuck their friends and exes.

Is it okay to set up an online dating profile just to see what’s out there? It is — but going places and doing things, e.g., joining and volunteering

Is it rude to ask to borrow a hookup’s douche if you’re out of town and not prepared?

Perhaps — but since shitting on someone’s dick would be far ruder, you should err on the side of asking to use their douche.

Any tips for mind-blowing blowjobs? The best blowjob is 25-50% handjob.

Can I eat ass and pussy in the same session?

You can, but you shouldn’t.

How admirable is it to work as a fetish porn star in 2024?

A fetish porn star — or a humble porn content creator — is more admirable than a rightwing standup comic.

Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan. Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love

A TIME FOR HYGGE

In a turbulent world, Süti dishes comfort, coffee and exquisite buttery Danish treats

BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

Danish-born chef Andrea Uzarowski opened Boulder’s Süti & Co. as a bakery, coffee shop and housewares store two years ago, but she always had another agenda. She wanted to spread hygge

The Oxford English Dictionary defines hygge (pronounced HUE-guh) as “the quality of being warm and comfortable that gives a feeling of happiness.”

For Uzarowski, hygge is much bigger than candles, sweaters and comforters. It’s about connection … and delicious little cookies.

“Hygge means you feel content in the moment,” she says. “You choose to forget the pain of life for a while and notice small things. You enjoy other people and turn off your phones.”

Downtown Boulder boasts a bevy of coffee shops, but none of them look like Süti & Co., set in an 1890s-era house just off Pearl Street. The home’s sunny front lawn patio is filled with groupings of chairs sporting lambskins and blankets.

Guests open the front door into a space

still set up like a home, with dining areas in former bedrooms. Calming Danish minimalist design rules here: cream colors and lots of natural wood.

The shop also offers a curated selection of cups, candles, napkins, blankets and other household items that reflect Uzarowski’s taste and philosophy.

A LITTLE TREAT

Everything about Süti & Co. is extremely personal to Uzarowski, a former investment banker who also cooked for two years at Copenhagen’s Noma, one of the most acclaimed restaurants on the planet.

When she was devising Süti’s menu, the chef looked to her cherished, worn binder of recipes, some handwritten by her grandmother and great-grandmother.

All the shortbreads are named for significant people in Uzarowski’s life.

Her grandmother is celebrated in the Magdalena, a vanilla shortbread sandwich with fig jam and candied walnuts. The Lilly, named after her daughter, is filled with chocolate ganache and dipped in

chocolate. The Anna — lemon zest shortbread filled with raspberry jam — is like the ultimate Pop Tart.

Süti & Co. uses freshly ground flour from Moxie Bread and goes through more than 70 pounds of imported Danish butter a week to create upward of 1,000 shortbreads from its tiny kitchen. These are pastries made to nibble and linger over, not to gulp.

“It’s costly,” she says, “but the treats don’t taste Danish without Danish butter.”

The veteran chef is turned off by the massive, sugary desserts offered at American java joints.

“I love sweets, and I always get dessert,” she says, “but I like small treats that are not too sweet.”

TASTE OF THE WEEK: HOT HAWAIIAN PIE

For some Boulder County pizza snobs, the very idea of putting pineapple on a pizza is an abomination of the worst sort. They will publicly shame anyone who dares to eat one in their presence.

That’s why Hawaiian pizza fans like me order this treat for their private enjoyment as I did recently at Ghost Box Pizza. The sister eatery to Acreage by Stem Ciders (also in Lafayette) offers good woodfired round pizzas and calzones, but I gravitate toward the square Detroit-style pan pies. It’s hard not to rave about the twice-baked cheesy crust – chewy outside, pillow-soft in the middle, topped with quality Canadian bacon, pineapple, red onion and mozzarella. A simple tomato sauce is added when it is served.

Andrea Uzarowski of Süti & Co. Courtesy: Cognoscenti Creative

Danish shortbread from Süti & Co. Courtesy: Cognoscenti Creative

Detroit-style Hawaiian pie at Ghost Box Pizza in Lafayette. Credit: John Lehndorff

NIBBLES

5TH ANNUAL WINTER GEAR DRIVE

According to Uzarowski, a “süti” (pronounced shoot-ee), is a “little sweet treat at the end of the day.”

A COZY COCOON

Another thing Uzarowski hates about U.S. coffee shops? The absence of hygge.

“Coffee house culture is big in Denmark and all over Europe, but they are places to restore and relate,” she says. “Coffee houses here are about getting charged up to

work. Everyone has their head in a screen.”

According to Uzarowski, coziness and togetherness were among the worst losses from the pandemic and her inspiration in opening Süti & Co.

“I wanted a space for myself and others to get used to slowing down again,” she says. “I wanted a cocoon with a protected vibe so people could come here to recharge.

“It makes me happy to give hygge to people.”

LOCAL FOOD NEWS: BIDDING TORTUGAS ADIEU

Longmont’s Tortugas Restaurant closes Nov. 8 after 30 years in business serving Caribbean and Cajun seafood.

Mono Mono Korean Fried Chicken has closed at 599 Crossing Drive in Lafayette. Opening soon at that location: Saigon District One

Vietnamese Restaurant

Maine Shack has closed at 2010 16th St. in Boulder. The restaurant announced on social media: “With the rising cost of labor and goods, along with current economic challenges facing small businesses, closing Boulder was best for the health of our company.”

The Rusty Melon has closed at 6525 Gunpark Drive in Boulder.

Wapos Cantina has reopened at 4929 Broadway. The North Boulder Mexican eatery had been closed more than two years after a fire.

As of Nov. 6, Luminous Tea, a teahouse and café, is serving at 624 Main St., Longmont.

Juniper Goods, a coffee shop, store and zero-proof bar, is open at 659 4th Ave., Longmont.

Coming soon: Hot Pot City, 800 S. Hover St. Longmont and a new tasting room for award-winning Boulder Spirits opens Nov. 30 at 1428 Pearl St.

CULINARY CALENDAR: MASTER ARTISAN LOAVES

How old is that flour on your shelf? As the holiday baking season begins, Niwot’s Farow restaurant hosts a Nov. 16 class on using fresh, locally milled Colorado heritage grain flour with baking experts from Moxie Bread and Dry Storage. farowrestaurant.com

WORDS TO CHEW ON: TIME TO CAROUSE

“Conviviality reigns — carousing and feasting, abundance and generosity, friendship and reunion, sighs and laughter, all around a pot upon a fire.”

— Jeffrey Steingarten

John Lehndorff produces Radio Nibbles and Kitchen Table Talk on KGNU. Listen to podcasts: kgnu.org/category/radio-nibbles

ON DRUGS

DOI, DOC AND THE DEA

Psychedelic researchers decry feds’ attempt to ban crucial substances

BY SHAY CASTLE

Members of the scientific community are pushing back on an attempt to criminalize two substances it says are critical to psychedelic research.

In 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said it planned to schedule 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine (DOI) and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-chloroamphetamine (DOC). The chemicals, created in the 1970s, are currently unscheduled, meaning they are legal for purchase and use. The DEA plans to move them to Schedule 1 alongside drugs like LSD, psilocybin and (at least for now) cannabis.

The federal government classifies such substances as having “no currently accepted medical use” and a “high potential for abuse.” As evidence, they cite the drugs’ similarity to dimethoxy-4-methamphetamine (DOM), which is already a Schedule 1 hallucinogen.

“In humans,” the DEA wrote in its 2023 filling, “anecdotal reports suggest that DOI and DOC produce classic hallucinogenic effects that are similar to DOM, including visual and auditory hallucinations, fatigue, headache, gastrointestinal

distress, insomnia and anxiety. … It is reasonable to assume that DOI and DOC have substantial capability to be a hazard to the health of the user and to the safety of the community.”

DOI and DOC are hallucinogenic, experts say, but very different from shrooms or acid. They activate just one of the brain’s 14 serotonin receptors, said Scott Thompson, director of CU Anschutz’ Brain and Behavior Innovation Center, whereas other psychedelics turn on all 14. That leads to a “rather unpleasant” high, Thompson said.

That’s also why the substances are so prized in research: They target the sole receptor that creates a “trip,” which allows for controlled research.

DOI and DOC have been used to help study anxiety, depression, substance use disorder and more. The drugs have been cited in more than 900 published studies, according to Kat Murdi, executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), a group advocating against scheduling the substances. In July, SSDP and others sued to force the DEA to allow expert testimony from researchers.

This process is “prohibitive” in both cost and time, Murdi said. Alaina Jaster, a postdoctoral scholar of psychiatric and behavioral neuroscience at Wayne State University who studied psilocybin and DOI in mice, said her colleagues are currently waiting six months to a year to complete the DEA process.

Reported harms include an unspecified number of emergency room visits when used with other unspecified drugs referenced by the DEA and just “three published reports” of “adverse events associated with DOC including, but not limited to, seizures, agitation, tachycardia, hypertension, and death of one individual” since 2008.

“They’re really contributing significantly to our understanding of how our brains work, particularly when it comes to serotonin,” Murdi said.

If DOI and DOC, part of the DOx class of amphetamines, become Schedule 1 substances, universities would need a special license to use them in research.

The DEA did not respond to requests for an interview or subsequent emailed questions. A hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 12-22.

Opponents of scheduling DOI and DOC have questioned the agency’s evidence of the drugs’ harms and widespread use in the U.S., which includes “anecdotal reports on the internet,” according to a December 2023 filing by the DEA.

C. Michael White, PharmD, distinguished professor and chair at the UConn School of Pharmacy, agrees there are some dangers to DOI and DOC.

“The dosing of the DOx substances is tougher to nail down,” White wrote in response to emailed questions. “If you overdo it, there are a lot of risks, versus psilocybin and LSD.”

Trips on DOx drugs tend to last longer than with psilocybin or LSD, according to White. And unlike MDMA, “there does not seem to be any oxytocin release (with a feeling of close bonding).”

“New people to psychedelics generally tend to not like this DOx experience,” White wrote.

On that, Murdi, Jaster and Thompson agree. That factor alone limits the potential for DOI and DOC to become popular street drugs like other psychedelics.

Said Jaster: “Even the most psychonaut people you’ve met, they’ll say, ‘I did it once and never want to do it again.’”

“It has no recreational purposes or value,” Thompson added. “The whole [DEA] process has been baffling for all of us.”

A campaign image from Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) opposing the scheduling of DOI and DOC. Courtesy: SSDP