2 westword.com WESTWORD APRIL 20-26, 2023 | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 9 MAKE ROOM FOR MUSHROOMS A decade after Colorado legalized cannabis and started the green rush, here comes the boom in psychedelics. BY THOMAS MITCHELL 16 BELOW THE SURFACE Pipelines is a new art installation made for the Cities Summit of the Americas. BY EMILY FERGUSON 19 HIGH PRAISE The Stoned Appetit podcast hosts share their current favorite Mile High munchies. BY MOLLY MARTIN 23 HARDCORE FLASHBACK A new compilation looks back at the early alternative-music scene in Colorado Springs. BY JUSTIN CRIADO 4 News 16 Culture 19 Cafe 23 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 26 34 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR: 4/20 .................. 34 TOKE OF THE TOWN ................................ 38 ASK A STONER ......................................... 40 STRAIN GANG .......................................... 42 VOLUME 46 NUMBER 34 APRIL 20-26, 2023 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun Editorial Operations Manager Jane R. Le News Editor Chris Perez Culture Editor Emily Ferguson Food and Drink Editor Molly Martin Cannabis Editor Thomas Mitchell Social Media Editor Katrina Leibee Staff Writers Catie Cheshire, Bennito Kelty, Benjamin Neufeld 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, Conor McCormick-Cavanagh, Cleo Mirza, Abigail Nueve, Ryan Pachmayer, Michael Paglia, Kristin Pazulski, Adam Perry, Ashlee Redger, Evan Semón, Amber Taufen, Toni Tresca, Kastle Waserman, Juliet Wittman Editorial Interns Julianna O’Clair, Sandra Vo 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, William Savoie, Allison Wissink Marketing and Promotions Manager Heyward Manning Event Marketing Manager Britton Sacharski House Account Manager Anna Hortik Operations Manager Maddie Miller Digital Coordinator Carver Hodgkiss 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 IT Systems Manager Kris Robinson 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] “COURTING DISASTER,” PATRICIA CALHOUN, APRIL 13 C O U R T O F P U B L I C O P I N I O N Great piece by Patricia Calhoun on Dominion Voting Systems and its lawsuit against Fox. The company deserves all $1.6 billion...and more. Shayna Martin Denver Patricia Calhoun had better hope that someone with Dominion’s power and con- nections never comes after Westword for all the lies it has told over the years. Including the ones in this piece. George Masterson Denver “SOMETHING WILD, ALAN PRENDERGAST,” APRIL 13 W I L D K I N G D O M Thank you for the excellent feature on Pat Craig of The Wild Animal Sanctuary. I visited two years ago, and since then have received the Sanctuary’s quarterly newsletter. Now, I’ve edited nonprofi t newsletters and written lots of leadership missives — but Pat’s regular letter (really, an essay) is way beyond the bounds of these standard letters: It’s always an epic, discursive, idiosyncratic but always deeply moral and compelling argument, and it suggests a truly one-of-a-kind person be- hind this one-of-a-kind organization. I was half afraid to read the Westword story, fearing it would puncture my impres- sion of him, but I’m glad to see the profi le do justice to him and his work. Jeremy Simon Lafayette “BEST GREEN CHILE,” THE BEST OF DENVER 2023, APRIL 7 H O T S P O T Efrain’s does have the best chile: no fl our, real chiles, big chunks of pork. Renea Wrenn Louisville It is hot, but it is the best. Tony Lopez Thornton The best for many years. Peter Brandauer Longmont There is not a green chile that is the best. Every reader/you/me have our favorite... whatever we like the best is the Best for us. Every restaurant thinks theirs is the Best, or they’d change it. And how the F does Efrain’s from Boulder win the Best of Denver? Daniel McKelvey Denver Editor’s note: Since we introduced the Best of Denver in 1984, we’ve considered it a cel- ebration of metro Denver and have included winners throughout our circulation area, from Boulder to Parker. Wouldn’t you head south of the Denver border to try our Best Vegan Restaurant, Englewood’s Fellow Traveler? Or drive across Sheridan Boulevard to visit our Best Blues Club, the Rusty Bucket in Lakewood? And then there’s Casa Bonita, that Lakewood landmark just honored with our Best Wishes for a Smooth Opening award... “CANNABIS CALENDAR: 4/20 EDITION,” APRIL 13 W E E D I T A N D W E E P Remember when we had weed events you could smoke at? That was fun. Max Urquhart Denver Maybe just print Westword on rolling papers. Sean McManus Denver ON THE COVER ART BY GETTY IMAGES 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] The Rest of the Best We delivered the Best of Denver 2023 on April 6; it’s full of hundreds of reasons why we’re high on the Mile High. One downer: Every year, winners report getting calls from people trying to sell them Best of Denver banners and plaques; these solicitations are not connected to Westword, and we do not endorse them. In fact, they make us quite cranky, because just as the awards are given with no strings attached, we produce free certifi cates for the winners, whether Readers’ Choice, editorial picks or both (it happens!). For more information on those, contact [email protected]. Did you miss the issue? By now, it’s almost impossible to fi nd a print copy of the Best of Denver 2023, but you can arrange to purchase one from the offi ce by calling 303-296-7744. Or to see this year’s winners, simply go to westword.com/best-of. Meanwhile, we’re already hard at work collecting ideas for the Best of Denver 2024. Have something you’d like to nominate for our fortieth-anniversary issue? Send your suggestion to bestof@ westword.com. ILLUSTRATION BY JAY VOLLMAR
