At Arlo White’s First Concert, His Band Forgot the First Song

“It was at Hubba’s Pub in Aurora. The show was so overbooked that the venue actually scheduled us to start about fifteen minutes before doors opened. When I asked the promoter about this, he simply replied, ‘It’s gonna be great! It’s gonna be great!’

“Aside from very few people being there, the bass player also forgot his strap and had to awkwardly hold his instrument. In addition, I was having problems with the rest of the band over the clothes I wanted all of us to wear for the gig.

“‘Good evening, everybody! We are Deadbubbles, and this is our new single, “Payout,”‘ I boisterously cried into the mic, an intro directly ripped off from the band Twisted Sister. Nothing happened, and there was utter silence from the rest of the band. Several seconds later, the drummer asked, ‘How does this first song go?’ Good times!”

In addition to being in the bands Sparkle Jetts and the Buckingham Squares, Arlo White hosts the “live freakout mix” show Hypnotic Turtle every Thursday at 9 p.m. on Radio 1190.

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.