Chris Tafoya: “We played Burt’s Tiki Lounge in Salt Lake City, which was a tiny place. There were well over a hundred people there by the time we took the stage. Manny had to set up his drums outside and carry them in right before we played. We pulled the crowd in quick, and mayhem ensued. A mosh pit broke out, and I felt like the walls were going to fall down at any second. It started during our second song and didn’t end until our last note. What an awesome way to go out and finish our tour. First and foremost, we made it through, broken, bruised and limping; we made it without missing a show, without killing each other and without regret. Well, up to that point, anyway.
“We drank Burt’s dry. They ran out of every kind of alcohol. The bartenders were grabbing whatever they had. Even before Guttermouth hit the stage, it was just Jäger and wine. Afterward, it was just wine and beer. The bartender offered us some white wine that they’d found in the back. Matt from Guttermouth and I took a swig. Jeff took a whole glass down the hatch. That wine tasted like piss, but it was cold — kind of vermouthy. Mike took a swig: “It’s piss!” Mark’s piss, we think. Apparently, he couldn’t make it to the toilet and had just pissed in a bottle upstairs. Somehow the bartenders mistook it for a bottle of wine and chilled it. I’m not making this up — it happened. He didn’t mean for it to, and now we have a weird unintentional water-game bond together.”
Boldtype drummer Manuel Lopez passed away recently. The band is putting on an all-ages benefit for Lopez’s daughters on Friday, February 1, at the Marquis Theatre, with The Gamits, Reno Divorce and No Bueno!
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.