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Street concert returns on World Cup weekend

Janet Urquhart

Aspen’s first big outdoor concert of the winter will take place Dec. 10, but the band that takes the stage has yet to be announced.The Aspen Skiing Co. on Wednesday won a thumbs-up for the event from the city’s Special Events Committee. The concert, on a Saturday, will close the streets at Hunter and Hyman, much as last November’s performance by Big Head Todd and the Monsters. “The acts that we’re looking at this year are like Big Head Todd – perhaps not quite as popular,” said David Laughren, working as concert manager for the Skico. “We’ve got two acts on the line – one in the classic [rock] vein, one more current.”The acts that we’re looking at, we don’t anticipate any crowd-surfing unless it’s geriatric crowd-surfing,” he told the committee.The band should be finalized soon, he said. The concert, coinciding with World Cup racing in Aspen, will be followed by fireworks on Aspen Mountain.Last year’s street concert took place on Thanksgiving weekend, when the ski season opened with World Cup racing. Roughly 4,500 people turned out for Big Head Todd, according to Skico estimates.Since World Cup is in December this year, the Skico will resurrect its “Thanksjibbing” event for this year’s opening weekend, with a rail competition and a concert on the upper gondola plaza on Nov. 26. The company anticipates a crowd of perhaps 1,500 spectators for the activities.The Skico is also again planning two nights of concerts at Wagner Park during the Winter X Games and a downtown “core party” concert in March.Janet Urquhart’s e-mail address is janet@aspentimes.com