Andrew Koch: “The Lion’s Lair has been the center of our universe from the very beginning. We’d been wandering around Capitol Hill sipping whiskey and had the idea to pop in and make some noise. They had guitars and drums for us, so we went nuts and kept coming back for more. On one of those open-stage nights, we managed to drive every single person out of the bar. I can’t emphasize this enough: EVERY SINGLE PERSON LEFT — even the bartender. We went right on playing, and kicked ass — and eventually the bartender returned.
“The best times at the Lair, though, are when Denise, Sid Pink and I can lure Alex, the barman, and Paul, the host, to come up on stage with us and jam out. On those nights, no one can get a drink at the bar until Alex is done ripping free-form guitar solos to our punk-rock freak-out glam rhapsody. Those are the nights our love for the Lion’s Lair grows ever deeper. Viva Alex! Viva Paul! Viva Firstimers! Viva Lion’s Lair!”
Firstimers’ debut album, Anvils of Love, is available for streaming on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora and elsewhere, and CDs are now on sale at Twist & Shout, Wax Trax and Mutiny.
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.
