When half-brothers Patrick Wilson and Nicholas Blake were looking for a concept for their new club, Rock Star Lounge (940 Lincoln Street), they found inspiration in Nickelback's "Rockstar" video. "It appeals to every single person," Blake explains. "You've got construction workers, valets, policemen, supermodels and Playboy bunnies. And everybody just wants to be a rock star. Ultimately, that's the goal when people go out at night. They're trying to escape the reality of the 9 to 5, or the wife they don't like, or the husband they don't like, or whatever their problems are. For four hours, they just want to be a rock star; they just want to party. So we're going to try to provide that for them."
They're turning the building that previously housed DC10, Zen Ultra Lounge and Chique into what Blake calls "white-trash beautiful." Think zebra prints, gold records, guitars, and waitresses sporting Daisy dukes, tank tops, boots and cowboy hats who will be trained in how to work the stripper poles that are also being installed in the club.
The partners, who between them have 33 years in the hospitality and entertainment industries, thought about the country stars they've worked with as they considered furnishings for their club, which include a $15,000 custom velvet couch with a stripper pole attached and a $20,000 chair made of antlers. "What if you took Billy Bob from the Appalachian Mountains and you gave him $20 million?" Blake asks. "What's he going to do with it? Well, a year later I'm going to find him in a $10 million house with a twenty-foot boat in the yard and eighteen different pickups."
While the brothers admit the white-trash theme is a bit tongue-in-cheek, they're serious about the music they plan to bring to Rock Star, whether local or national rock or country acts. They're trying to provide an alternative to other country venues, Wilson says, adding that the club is aimed at people "who like country music but don't like Hee Haw. They don't want peanuts on the floor. They don't want to wear chaps and a cowboy hat. They want to go out in the city to a chic, hip environment and be able to enjoy the music that they like."
On the nights when there isn't live music, DJs will integrate dance music with country and rock — since the term "rock star" transcends genres, Wilson says. After all, as Nickelback observed, "We all just wanna be big rock stars."
Club scout: Since Brewski's closed a few years ago, its former home at 1451 Cortez Street (near Highway 36 and Pecos Street) became a third HiccUps location, and now the biker-friendly country bar Bucking Harley's. But Brewski's isn't gone for good: The concept is being resurrected in the former Los Pinos Mexican restaurant space at 2100 East 104th Avenue in Thornton.
On Thursday, November 11, 16mix, inside the Sheraton at 1550 Court Place, will host a fundraiser for Susan G. Komen Passionately Pink for the Cure, an endeavor that helps fund critical breast-cancer research as well as local education, screening and treatment programs. The happy-hour event, which runs from 4 to 8 p.m., will feature celebrity bartenders, drink specials, live music from We Were Cosmonauts and a silent auction.
