Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/310878
C onsidered the modern-day founder of Aspen, industrialist and philanthropist Walter Paepcke helped establish the Aspen Idea, an integration of mind, body, and spirit. Taking its cue from this heady platform, the Aspen Institute hosted the first Aspen Ideas Festival (AIF) in 2005. Cerebral and celebra- tory, the event lassoes top global leaders from business, media, science, the arts, government, and academia for dialogue on critical issues. In 2005 then-Senator Barack Obama had an AIF talk with Aspen Institute CEO Walter Isaacson. "We've been fortunate that our work at the Aspen Institute—particularly through putting on a decade's worth of the Aspen Ideas Festival— allows us to play host to so many remarkable people, many of whom are making a difference in their communities and in our larger world," says Isaacson. Since 2005, the festival has grown from 122 speakers to a staggering 400 this year and has been expanded from six to seven and now 10 days. In celebration of its 10-year anni- versary, AIF 2014's theme is "Imagining 2024," with speakers including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair; Penny Pritzker, Secretary of Commerce; and Virginia M. Rometty, IBM CEO and president, among others. Aspen Ideas Festival 2014, June 24 – July 3; aspenideas.org O ne pursuit town won't eschew (other than skiing) is live music. In September 2003, the future of Aspen's music scene spiraled after the iconic Double Diamond nightclub went black, ending an era of live music in the storied Galena Street building. Enter Michael Goldberg. A Miami transplant, Goldberg opened Belly Up Aspen during the X Games, staging Danger Kitty, Z-Trip, the Roots, and G. Love & Special Sauce throughout the weekend. The club has since hosted 300 shows annually, starring everyone from Jimmy Buffett and B.B. King to Jack White and Deadmau5. A 6,000 -square-foot club that holds 450 guests, the venue has solidified its reputation as one of the country's rare intimate spots for big acts. ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons recalled a New Year's Eve show for a 2012 Aspen Peak article, stating, "One private jet ride later—the last to get clearance to land in the midst of an oncoming blizzard—and we're plugging in to loudly ring in the New One. With the room full of raucous revelers ready to rock, the night was pure year'¤s-end mayhem. The party's always on at Belly Up." This summer lineup includes national draws such as a two-night stand by Gregg Allman ( June 24–25) and Thievery Corporation ( June 14). Belly Up Aspen, 450 S. Galena St.; bellyupaspen.com Grace Potter performs at Belly Up. The Aspen Institute presented a conversation with then-Senator Barack Obama in 2005. Brain GAIN THE INAUGURAL ASPEN IDEAS FESTIVAL, JULY 5–10, 2005 Music in the MOUNTAINS BELLY UP ASPEN OPENS, JANUARY 27, 2005 150 ASPENPEAK-MAGAZINE.COM 148-155_AP_F_Anniversary_V2_SUM_FALL_14.indd 150 5/6/14 4:42 PM