2 westword.com WESTWORD FEBRUARY 16-22, 2023 | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 9 STILL HURTING Club Q victims take aim at the Colorado Healing Fund. BY CATIE CHESHIRE 14 NEW FRONTIER Vance Kirkland’s Cosmos explores strange new worlds. BY EMILY FERGUSON 17 FOR THE AGES The Thin Man is a well- worn staple poised to endure for decades to come. BY TONY WHITE 19 STILL BLASTING How the Blasting Room went from a DIY mothership to a sought- after historic studio. BY JUSTIN CRIADO 6 News 14 Culture 17 Cafe 19 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 22 28 Marijuana TOKE OF THE TOWN ................................ 28 ASK A STONER ......................................... 30 STRAIN GANG .......................................... 32 VOLUME 46 NUMBER 25 FEBRUARY 16-22, 2023 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun Editorial Operations Manager Jane R. Le News Editor Kyle Wagner Culture Editor Emily Ferguson Food and Drink Editor Molly Martin Cannabis Editor Thomas Mitchell Staff Writers Catie Cheshire, Conor McCormick-Cavanagh Senior Contributors Alan Prendergast, Michael Roberts Contributors Amy Antonation, John Bear, Staci Berry, Teague Bohlen, Jake Browne, Hyde Chrastina, Jacqueline Collins, Linnea Covington, Justin Criado, Susan Froyd, Lizzie Goldsmith, Nick Hutchinson, Marty Jones, Danielle Krolewicz, Karl Christian Krumpholz, Kristen Kuchar, Katrina Leibee, Cleo Mirza, Abigail Nueve, Ryan Pachmayer, Michael Paglia, Kristin Pazulski, Adam Perry, Ashlee Redger, Evan Semón, Amber Taufen, Toni Tresca, Kastle Waserman, Juliet Wittman Music Listings Chris Speed A R T Art Director Jay Vollmar P R O D U C T I O N Production Manager Michael Wilson Assistant Production Manager Erin Kirk Graphic Designers Chris Arneson, Tori Bohling C R E A T I V E S E R V I C E S Senior Graphic Designer Allie Seidel A D V E R T I S I N G Account Manager Natalie Proctor Senior Multimedia Account Executives Amy Camera, Aaron Lembke, Danelle Trujillo Multimedia Account Executives Trayl Chaffee, Quincy Lynch, Katelyn Meeker, Ari Rothschild, William Savoie, Allison Wissink Operations Administrative Coordinator Heyward Manning Event Marketing Manager Britton Sacharski House Account Manager Anna Hortik Operations Manager Maddie Miller Digital and Advertising Sales Manager Taylor Wheeler Advertising Director Teri Driskell C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Ty Koepke B U S I N E S S Business Manager Sarah Dunahay Financial Accountant Robert Scribner AR Coordinator Stacy Phillips Receptionist Cindy Perez Associate Publisher Tracy Kontrelos Publisher Scott Tobias V O I C E M E D I A G R O U P Executive Editor Christine Brennan Executive Associate Editor Andy Van De Voorde Editorial Director Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek Corporate Controller Beth Cook Legal Counsel Steve Suskin Chief Financial Offi cer Jeff Mars Chief Executive Offi cer Scott Tobias V M G N A T I O N A L National Advertising: 1-888-278-9866, www.voicemediagroup.com Senior Vice President of Sales Operations Joe Larkin D I S T R I B U T I O N Westword is available free of charge. 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Periodicals postage paid in Denver. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $50 yearly. Postmaster: Send address changes to Westword, P.O. Box 5970, Denver CO 80217. Mailing address: P.O. Box 5970, Denver, CO 80217 Street address: 1278 Lincoln Street, Denver, CO 80203 For retail or classifi ed advertising, call: 303-296-7744 For general information, call: 303-296-7744 For Editorial, email: [email protected] “A SNITCH IN TIME,” CONOR MCCORMICK-CAVANAGH, FEBRUARY 9 W H Y S P Y ? I was horrifi ed by what I read in “A Snitch in Time.” Doesn’t the FBI have any real criminals to spy on? Ceil Fowler Denver I read this story the other day and have been thinking about it since. Why would the FBI spend so much time and money to convince one hothead to do something they can arrest him for — especially when there were plenty of people breaking laws (mostly minor)? But the worst ones were the cops, who were violating citizens’ constitutional rights, which is well documented by all the payouts the city has made to their victims during those protests. My feeling is that violating essential rights, which are the foundation of our de- mocracy, is a far worse crime. Exactly what was the FBI trying to prove? Someone, some- where, somehow needs to reset the priorities of law enforcement everywhere. Melody Hodges Denver “WHAT’S COOKING,” HELEN XU, FEBRUARY 9 F A I R A N D F O U L The Fair Workweek bill literally strips away all the fl exibility that hourly people demand to have in this industry. A completely out-of-touch and extreme attempt by politicians, who clearly don’t understand how restaurants operate and how this would negatively affect employees. Teddy Lamontagne Breckenridge “I fi elded eight to ten calls this week from some of the most prominent restaurateurs in our city, who are asking if I will take over their restaurants because they can’t afford to do business in Denver anymore. Some want to move out of state. Some are just distraught, some are in tears. Some are just pissed.” What a bunch of over-dramatic bullshit. If a business can’t exist without making last-minute scheduling changes, it should close. We don’t need a hundred just-okay restaurants. Joe Flynn Denver “OUT WITH THE OLD,” RYAN PACHMAYER, FEBRUARY 9 B E E R T O D A Y , G O N E T O M O R R O W Rest in peace, Fat Tire. One of the fi rst beers I loved. Too bad New Belgium sold out and turned to crap. I’m not coming back, either. New Belgium is dead. Neil Bergin Westminster I had the new Fat Tire. Terrible. Matt Miner Los Angeles Remember how well this worked for Coke? Changing the recipe of your fl agship rarely ends well. Graeme Smith Highlands Ranch They didn’t need to change the recipe; they should have just changed the name to Fat Tire IPA, since 90 percent of the people who buy beer these days will only purchase things that say “IPA” on the can. Sellouts. Fuck them and the bike they rode in on. Joe Velasco Denver What will the millennials and the yuppies drink? Oh, yeah, all that seltzer crap. Stephanie Backhaus Denver People who claim to have never enjoyed Fat Tire should not be trusted. They probably think Colorado green chile is great, too. Chris Allen Denver ON THE COVER GETT Y IMAGES/WESTWORD PHOTO ILLUSTRATION LETTERS T O T H E E D I T O R YOU CAN COMMENT ON ANY STORY AT WESTWORD.COM; SEND LETTERS TO [email protected] Don’t miss a word! The stories in this print edition are just a fraction of the pieces we publish every week on westword.com. For a cheat sheet on all that content, subscribe to our daily newsletter at westword.com/ profi le?newsletter=12003988. 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