Hot boogie…denied!

Okay, so some of you may have seen (or experienced) the snowstorm we had here in the Denver area. It wasn’t bad here in town (despite the Chicken Little like predictions of a huge blizzard), but I guess the plains really got pounded. I had been excited for over a month to catch The Dirtbombs (and the Black Lips, who are touring with them) last night at the Larimer Lounge. Understandably, I was a bit skeptical that the show would happen – the snow would have made it difficult to get into town, and nobody could blame a band for bypassing
D-town altogether in these circumstances. Around 6pm I gave the bar a call, to see if the show was still on. The incredibly rude girl on the other end barked “Yes! All of the bands are already here!” in response to my question, so I thanked her for her friendly customer service and prepared to go out later (it was still snowing last night, but just barely, and the roads were clear).

So, I get to the club around 10pm – their website showed piss-poor local act Machine Gun Blues playing at 9pm, and I wanted to be sure and see as little of them as possible. Walking up to the entrance, I couldn’t help but notice the lack of any signs of an out of town band – no vans or rental trucks with out of state plates were parked outside of the club. At the door, the schedule showed Machine Gun Blues at 11pm, with the Dirtbombs playing at 12pm. Hmmmmm…one band has been dropped, the start time has been moved back 2 hours, and the door charge had been bumped up $2 from what the website had advertised. I asked the doorman a few questions about all of the changes, and he was incredibly evasive in responding. Eventually, I got out of him “well, the two bands are touring together, so somebody should be here in time to play by midnight.” I looked into the club to see if I could see my buddy Mr. Falconyeti, and I didn’t, so I bailed. I was pissed off that I had been lied to over the phone, and that the doorman wasn’t being entirely truthful as well. I was also angry over the fact that if I had known the facts, I could have caught the Hellacopters at the Bluebird – as it was, it was too late to head over and catch their full set. I felt like I had been robbed of a night of hot boogie, and I wasn’t too happy about it.

I did get an email from my friend this morning – we must’ve just missed each other, as he also showed up around 10. Trusting sort that he is, he believed that the Dirtbombs were already “in the house,” and paid to go in. After being subjected to a horrific hour long set by Machine Gun Blues, he was eventually treated to a great set by the Dirtbombs… at 1am. I felt bad when I heard that I had missed him, as I really gave him the hard sell on the show, and unlike me he has a life! Still, he said the Dirtbombs were awesome and he was impressed. I still feel like I owe the guy a few beers!

Oh, and the picture above? That’s just how awesome I can imagine the Dirtbombs were last night…and I missed it!