Ross Hostage: “The big stage at Summit Music Hall had just opened. Soda Jerk asked us to open for Extreme Midget Wrestling. Not exactly our usual gig, but we accepted because we wanted to be one of the first locals to play that stage. We had visions of rocking out while wrestlers flew off the turnbuckles. Turns out we were the warm-up act, tasked to play to a crowd that had waited an hour and didn’t know there was still a band before wrestling started. The ring was in the middle of the dance floor, with seats on all sides. The seats closest to the stage had their backs toward us. It was a weird vibe from the start.

“About halfway through, we took a break between songs. A chant started from the crowd: ‘Midgets. Midgets. MIDGETS!’ Trying to get into the mood, I cupped my hand to my ear like Macho Man and yelled, ‘Oh, yeah! Let ’em hear ya in the back! Let’s pump ’em up!’ A few songs later, the chant started again. They were yelling for us to get off the stage. They wanted to see some damn midget wrestling! I politely informed the crowd that we had three more and that we were playing them whether they liked it or not. We went from good guys to heels pretty damn fast.”
Allout Helter plays Seventh Circle Music Collective on Thursday, March 22.

Editor's Note: The Denver Bootleg is a series chronicling the history of local music venues by longtime Denver cartoonist Karl Christian Krumpholz. Visit Krumpholz's website to see more of his work.