Report filed 8/6/99 Monkey Biz #4

Thursday, 8/5/99, 1:07 pm

Some nights are stranger than others. Case in point: last night's gig at the "Double Diamond" in Aspen. Can you say, "dirty dancing?" Hard to say what the deal was, but whatever the story behind the story, there sure was a helluva lot of nasty wigglin' goin' on.

One blond in a short skirt and perky bobby socks was doing the bad-booty-rub-a-dub with just about every guy on the dance floor. I'm talkin' porn star facials and that-girl-ain't-got-no-backbone hip grinding so hot it's a wonder that her butt thong didn't spontaneously combust. Jeepers....

But blondie wasn't the only one. Seemed like a damn nympho convention in the club last night. From the 6-foot-plus amazon woman that was fulfilling some short guy's wildest fantasy to trailer park queen tag team of wanton floozies and the three frat rock horn dogs, there was alot of happy-go-humping swinging and swapping going on.

There were a few normal people in the club though, in fact it was a pretty good crowd for a Wednesday night. Guy Wells, a fellow graduate of Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch Guitar Camp and his girlfriend Deb came out for the show. They also brought some of their friends and were observed dancing and smiling throughout the night. Some of the kind folks from KSPN-97.7 FM helped support the show with radio airplay off "Pathways," and were also in the house.

Musically it was a terrific show. Alley was in fine form all night, not only is she singing exceptionally well these days, her stage presence is absolutely captivating. Rather than take a break, the monkeys blew straight through a two-hour plus marathon set and everybody was -on- from the start.

After the house lights came up and the bar was cleared, the band headed over to "African Odyssey," a very interesting shop of artifacts, fine furniture and indigenous art from Africa. We hung out with Jason Leach, the store's owner, and the band had a great time checking out all the carvings, fine art, and other trippy exotica from another world.

As the late night morphed into early morning, the line between reality and myth blurred... a collective journey behind the mask and deep into the dank green jungle of the wise monkey mind and spirit...

Friday, 8/6/99, 1:45 pm

The road racin' Stewart boys loosen up before the show

Last night's show at "Fly Me To the Moon," in Telluride was the final Colorado date of this tour. Tonight the monkey barrel rolls into Flagstaff for a show at "Monsoon's," and then we finish off in Tempe at the "Green Room," on Saturday.

The Moon has always been a warm and fuzzy venue for the band. Lots of old friends in that town. And after last night, plenty of new ones as well. The Telluride Jazz Festival is running this weekend and there were a bunch of folks in town for the festivities.

We left Telluride a little after the noon hour. Today's drive is a long one. We stopped for some food and gas a little while ago and we've still got another four hours in front of us.

The guys are deep into their favorite "in the van," pastimes. Reed, Seany and James are playing a word game called "Ghost."

AG is reading the paper and Scotty's got his nose in some novel. Ed is all the way in the back playing a Nintendo Gameboy and plotting how he is going to get his hands on the "Inspector Gadget" head and other body parts he needs to complete the you-build-it toy from McDonalds. Ah, the excitement of life on the road.