Sur Ellz Needed Surgery, but He Played UMS Instead

Sur Ellz: “A week before the show, I decided to celebrate by going roller skating, which is something I loved to do. Well, I was skating away when I was accidentally tripped by another skater. My ankle snapped. I didn’t realize that it was broken until a couple days before my show. I was going to need immediate surgery. If I did that, I knew I would have to sit out the entire UMS weekend, where I had three shows that I had spent months working toward. FML.

“I decided not to get the surgery and just duked it out with the gods in a soft-cast wrap and a pair of crutches. I performed from a stool. While I didn’t have the functionality, I danced my ass off with Curtis and Trond at every show, just from a stool. We modified the choreo a little bit, and it all worked out nicely. I hopped around South Broadway for three days, filled with the spirit of UMS and determination to succeed. I gained a lot of respect, too. It was rad.

“I ended up having to get nine screws, a plate and a rod in my ankle. It took months to recover, but I played every show until it healed. I am now a bionic man!”

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.