X Marks the Spot

Two Sundays ago found me and my buddy JT exclaiming “to Hell with sleep!” and heading over to the 3 Kings Tavern. The occasion was the first ever Denver landing of extraterrestrial rockers Zolar X! I saw them last February in Seattle, and loved them, and there was no way I was going to miss out on the chance to see them again.

We got there a little before 9:30, and the club had posted a starting time of 10pm. “Cool,” I thought, “I’ll still be home at a decent hour.” (I believe that these are what are known as “famous last words.”) We paid our admission and settled into the sparsely populated bar to grab a few beers. Around 9:55, the band came out and did a quick sound check – I was a bit confused as they weren’t “in character,” and I mistakenly thought that they were starting their set. After a quick tune they left the stage…and we waited. Maybe the club was holding out for more people to show up, but Zolar X didn’t hit the stage until a few minutes after 11pm. We were getting tired of waiting, but all was forgiven once they started playing. As good as I thought this band was last February, this show was even better. They played quite a few older songs from the Timeless collection, but I wasn’t expecting that the set would be so heavy on new material – all of which was really good. Apparently, they have a new album recorded that will be coming out in 2007. Personally, I can’t wait! They played for a little over an hour, which passed way too quickly. Hopefully their saucer will land in Denver again when the new album comes out.

When we entered the bar, I noticed that the only person on Zolar X’s guest list was “Jello Biafra!” (Yes, the exclamation point was there.) Not that surprising, really – Timeless was released on his record label Alternative Tentacles. Plus he grew up in Boulder, so seeing him around Denver isn’t unheard of. He did a stage introduction for the band, and spent the entire show bopping around with the rest of us nutjobs. I brought my camera with me that night, something I rarely do, as I wanted to get some photos of Zolar X. I took several pictures of them performing, and then JT thought it would be fun to get our pictures taken with the band. They were very accommodating, and really fun to talk to. JT then decided we should ask Jello if we could have our pictures taken with him. Funny what a few beers can make you do… So that’s how I got the picture of me and Jello from my last post. Anyhoo, he was incredibly nice about our ridiculous request. He kind of laughed and said “make this quick guys, Thor is about to play and I’ve never seen him before.”

Oh yeah, cheesy Canadian metal legend Thor was headlining that night. We hung around for a few songs, and it was pretty hysterical. During the first song alone Thor brandished a giant hammer, a battleaxe, and two huge swords! By the third tune, he’d changed masks and helmets a few times as well. Plus, they had the fog machine working overtime. The music was awful, of course, but Thor was a hoot – he apparently doesn’t take himself all that seriously. We would’ve stayed longer, but it was 1am at this point…so much for getting home at a decent hour!