Mile High Jam - New Year's in Durango with WMO

report filed 1/8/01 - 9:09 am, pst - Had a blast on New Years! Successfully navigated the country's highways and byways, not to mention the mountain roads of New Mexico, making the trek west from good old Brooklyn, New York, to the rocky mountain ski town of Durango, Colorado. Nice drive. Aside from some nasty snow and frozen rain traveling through Maryland and the St. Louis area, it was pretty much smooth sailing most of the way.

Got to Durango midday on New Year's eve and had plenty of time to walk around town and get some food before kicking back to relax, watch football and enjoy the complimentary cocktails provided by the Best Western's freshly scrubbed and oh-so-perky staff. Nothing gets a party rollin' like the sparkling effervescence that bubbles giddily from a plastic cup of free white zinfandel...

Hadn't seen my favorite monkeys since April, and was really primed to ring in the new year with a night of dance floor mania. As it turned out, a few hundred other people also had the same idea. Over the years, WMO has built a strong following throughout Colorado, and the San Juan Room in Durango has always been one of the hottest stops on their many tours through the rocky mountains. This New Years Eve was no disappointment. Great energy in the room, and San Diego's six headed rhythm monster was in rare form.

I'm going to reflect on the events of New Year's Eve with WMO for my January, Points On a Line column for Jambands.com. That'll be posted exclusively at Jambands.com on the 15th. 'Til then here's some images from a rockin' good time with WMO:

Made it back to Ocean Beach a few days ago after a quick stop in Vegas, and am now in process of getting the Anytime/Anywhere Studio back into production. Looks like Winstons, one of our favorite jambars here in OB is still going strong and that bodes well for a steady supply of live music to cover here at the website, as well as for other publications.

Speaking of which, the new issue of Relix should be out soon - look for a feature on Ratdog, including extensive quotes from Bob Weir, Rob Wassermann, and Mark Karan. Also managed to pound out a review of WMO's new live CD, They Live, before hitting the road.

Lots of great live music on tap over the next few weeks. Wanna keep up on what's going down? Check back in a week or two, when our adventure in music journalism continues...