"They sent a press release to a bunch of their media contacts saying that Rock Island was closing," Clamage explains. "And so I ended up sending out a correction saying, no, we're not closing and I have no idea who this little dweebie guy is. The kid who sent that, I've never met -- don't know who he is. He's involved with the Scattered Arts Collective, but he misread the information that he had gotten and made some statements in his press release that were just not correct.
"But that happens," he adds. "I'm not going to shoot the poor kid."
Good news for the kid, but the club itself is still under fire. Located in the cha-ching part of LoDo at 1614 15th Street, the property is surrounded by pricey lofts and irate residents who accuse Rock Island of attracting an unsavory crowd -- and have since the very first lofts opened in the Edbrooke, right next to the already-hopping Island, back in the early '90s. Clamage remains undeterred by the complaints. But those whiny neighbors will still get a break when the venue shuts its doors -- temporarily! -- for a massive overhaul.
"We're going to do a complete building renovation, top to bottom," Clamage says. "We will still have a nightclub here. It will still be something different from mainstream nightclub land, and it's going to take me, I'm going to guess, pretty close to a year to do and a ridiculous amount of money."
The Scattered Arts showcase will be the last bash before the wrecking crew comes a-wrecking. It will be an eardrum-abusing affair with heavy rockers the New Rome, Bosnia and Fucking Orange, plus trippy visual artists will be on hand working their psychedelic magic. For more information, log on to www.myspace.com/scatteredartscollective.
While Clamage prepares to blow his wad, Andrew's on Lincoln (1111 Lincoln Street) is hoping to blow up. Owners Andrew Feinsod and Chris Steibler took over the former Donkey Den and its next-door cousin Grenade, then tore down the wall between the two to create Andrew's, one big-ass East Coast-style sports pub and grill. The 900-plus capacity space is a schizophrenic romp of design aimed to please everyone, boasting two stages, 34 televisions, a dining area, a martini room and, according to general manager Chris Dumphy, the best chili in Denver.
"It's a great entertainment spot," Dumphy says. "Have some really great food, play a game of pool, watch your favorite game, relax back in the martini-lounge area. So really, we're trying to make sure that there are plenty of things for people to do."
Andrew's, which held its grand-opening bash last Friday, is looking to book live music on the weekends and also plans to accommodate dance-happy clubbers with popular DJs rounding out the rest of the weekend schedule. Still, these guys aren't interested in treading on the turf of Regas Christou, whose many nightclubs -- including the Church and Vinyl -- are just a short hop away.
"I'm not really thinking of ourselves as a dance club," Dumphy contends. "I think that Regas pretty much has that nailed down, and we're not interested in being another one of those." For booking info and general information, chat up the boys at 303-861-7200.
