I love this town. I really do.

Ok I just have to say this... I just got home from going out. I probably had the weirdest and most interesting night but so much fun.

My friend's band was playing at the venerable Lion's Lair tonite and I was a little reluctant to go, I was tired. This week kicked my ass I was just really busy and was happy to come home after dinner.

We went to the NY Deli News. It was so delicious. It was just what I needed. I don't know if it was the spicy bbq sauce or the caffiene in the diet coke, but something motivated me a little bit.

I had the bbq brisket sandwich, of course, I will have that or two other items from them menu but it just was what I wanted tonite and I have to say it was delicious and I have enough for two more sandwiches with the left overs. Our waitress was super sassy and it was great, she knew just what we wanted, how we wanted out to go boxes... it was terrific. As we are leaving my Mom sees a friend of hers but wants to tell me a funny story about a copier so we stand outside and wait while she kibbitzes. When I get home from dinner, I am usually home and that is that. But I thought... Zoe... you need to go out, you don't and who knows you may have fun.

So.

Before I go to the show, I decide, I am going to drive around downtown a little bit, just see what is going on. My favorite building (I used to work in here) was lit up (its out of focus, I was driving and there was serious traffic behind me).

This building used to be the Electric Company's building way way back in the day. I worked there as a PR assistant for the Denver Symphony. I have great memories there.

I get to the Lion's Lair and don't really expect much. My night became big fun and I am pleasently surprised. I have to admit it. I was wrong. I had a really amusing time. The whole night was just a hoot.

Jugger-Nut opened with Stun Gun and I have to say... I was completely entertained and scared shitless, he seriously ran around the bar with stun guns. Controlled chaos and it was brilliant. He was really great. We bought tshirts from him and I got a cd. I am completely going to treasure it, I may not listen to it, but so fun. I will wear that shirt with some serious pride. Not just because Colfax is such a hoot, and an amazing street, but because of all that happened tonite, at the Lair, which is a building next to some of the property on Colfax that my great grandfather's family used to own (most of the other family owned buildings are still up, but the Theater...The Aladdin gone) but tore down in the cloak of the middle of the night just before the City Council was going to deem it a historical site to put up a Walgreens. True story.



My friend's band plays, they are great. I am bummed they didn't play "you suck" but I didn't request anything so I can't bitch. It was really fun. Memories of the good old days when every weekend they would play somewhere. I did get video of GOP which I might try and learn how to upload to the You Tubes. The sound is crappy but its on my digital camera so what can I really expect. But seriously... when was that even on the radar? So many shows there that I would have loved to have gotten video of but digitalness wasn't an option. I mean a surprise Jane's Addiction show, Imperial Teen, the guy from Cake, what else did F and I see? Oh lots of shows. Lots of great acts in that teeny tiny little bar.

This is not at all the best picture I have ever taken of the band be sure of that, but I had a beer and the lighting wasn't good and I had to use a flash. Note the Velvet Elvis painting on the left side of Mike Machine Gun Elkerton. That painting has been up on the wall of the bar for probably 40 years, the entire wall is covered with band stickers and to this day no one has put a sticker on crying Elvis. I wanted to get a picture of it, but there was all sorts of equipment in front of that area and wasn't about to be "that girl" crawling all over it to get some picture. But you can see it, sorta.

I go outside because you can't smoke inside in bars in Denver anymore and get flipped over onto the sidewalk by this guy Chicago (that is his street name). He was completely joking around, I thought it was hilarious, I mean it really kind of was, he just came around behind me and said I am going to flip you, I didn't think he was serious but totally did. It happened really quickly and it was kinda shocking for a minute but so funny. He apologized. I mean he really apologized. Alot.

I went back inside for a second to give Perry back his lighter and when I came out Chicago grabbed my hand. The front door guy looked at me like don't worry, I thought, ok I will roll with this, there are about 20 guys out in front of the building and cops, firemen and an ambulance across the street at the old IHop, so this can't be really horrendously scary, and he was apologetic.


So he wrote it on my hand.

Tremendous. Seriously. Outstanding.

He was really sorry.

He was really drunk.

He was completely harmless and
He had a rabbit jaw on his necklace.



This gal was knitting socks during the show. Isn't it so funny that now it is punk rock enough to break out the knitting in the middle of the Lion's Lair during a punk rock show and go at it. And these were not conventional knitting needles either. They were like teeny tiny toothpicks. She was really good. She said she teaches but seriously, I think I will go to Fancy Tiger and take a crochet class or something because that was intimidating as hell.

Toothpicks (or something darn near close) who knits with toothpicks? Incredible. In a dim bar, at a punk rock show, sitting on a stool?

I am bummed though that the Lair took out all there booth seating. That was part of the charm that they still had banquettes. Its been a long time since I was there so they may have been gone a long time, but that was a bummer to walk in and not see them in there anymore.
Just a little aside.

Then this girl started making balloon animals. What? Ok I have to tell you, the night couldn't have gotten any better.
I am not at all sure if she was charging for them, or just making them because it was Friday night at the Lion's Lair, but holy all that was amusing.

I watched a little bit of the last band and had to call it an evening. It was really too much for me.

I got a little mack action from P, which was fine. Can't complain about that. Always a weird and odd little moment.

Got to see and catch up with D D the Magic Pan Man, he really hasn't changed that much, still the same guy I always remembered him as being. I might be able to line him up politically which is great. He is thinking about lobbying. Oy. I wanted to tell him to run away, but I know some lobbyists. I should have had him talk to P, whose brother is VERY well connected but if D doesn't already know that, he probably should look into going back into finance.

As I was leaving Jugger-Nut's brother pulled me back onto the sidewalk. He just wanted me to be safe and saw that a bus was coming. How about that? Nice. Weird, since the bus was waiting at a stop light on Race, but nice none the less. It is always a treat to have someone looking out for my best interests.

So its almost 2:15, I have to clean up my kitchen because tomorrow I think Dad is coming over to hang my new chandelier, or that is the intention. But I am not at all motivated to clean my table. tomorrow morning its going to have to be.

I should have stopped to get something to eat, because I could go for a little something. I mean really Petes's literally was 10 steps away. What was I thinking? Damnit. That would have been the total capper.

So a completely amusing evening. Full of all the best characters in the world on the best street in Denver.