Aldo Pantoja of Don Chicharrón: “The museum had a multi-floor open lobby made of marble and glass. It was a huge space with a sharp echo, which seemed like a great place to put a temporary stage. During our sound check, a random dude who looked like he worked there came up and asked, ‘Can you play as loud as you can?’ He seemed like he wanted to check sound levels in other areas of the museum. The sound team balanced us out, and we started to play our first test-run song.
“Then the same dude, now with another authoritative type, came up asking, ‘Can you guys play softer? Like, half as loud?’ Under my breath, I said, ‘Softer? You just asked us to play as loud as we can.’ A bandmate chimed in with a loud, sarcastic ‘SURE.’ ‘Great, thanks,’ the dude responded and walked off. From behind the kit, EJ said, ‘Did he just say play softer?’ The band in chorus said, ‘Who the fuck is that dude to tell us to play softer? Doesn’t he know the kind of music we play?’
“The event started, and we decided to play as loud as we possibly could, just out of spite. It was LOUD and we got away with it, because we didn’t see those dudes again.”

Don Chicharrón will host Territorio Liberado at 3 Kings on January 10.

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