The Fire Department Showed Up at an Emerald Siam Practice

Kurt Ottaway: “We were practicing twice a week for as long as we could stand the volume. One night, we came up with the brilliant idea of running a full light rig, projector and oversized fog machine that could easily fill up a large theater. We fired up the amps, lit the incense and knocked off the lights. Projections went full-spin mode, and then we hit the fogger. This was the first time for a full light show in our new warehouse room, and we were still working out the bugs. We got through song one and were feeling atmospheric bliss.

“Stopping momentarily to adjust, we suddenly noticed a flashing red light on the ceiling. Before anyone could speak, the alarm system started a light-and-sound show of its own. Because it was tripped by a smoke detector, it took a few minutes to turn off. Silence…and then back to practice. We were about two minutes into the second song when the windows bloomed with flashing blue and red lights and sirens completely engulfed our sound. Then came a harsh rapping at our chamber door. Try explaining to ten fully geared-up firemen with axes that you were just playing around with your fog machine…”

Find out more about Emerald Siam at emeraldsiam.bandcamp.com.

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.