FLOMBERG: The local music will never stop

By Dave Flomberg, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 3, 2008 at 3 p.m.

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When I read about the closing of the Cricket on the Hill (1209 E. 13th Ave.), I'm sure I reacted as most local music fans did when they heard: by quickly downing all the Pabst Blue Ribbon in sight and spinning all the Slim Cessna, Denver Joe and King Rat tracks I could dig up, until I finally passed out in a drunken, sobbing mess.

OK, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but the sentiment was totally there. The passing of the Cricket on the Hill into darkness is the extinguishing of one of Denver's brightest local music flames - it was a place where every band could get a gig, regardless of how awful it might be, even if it meant playing a set sandwiched between five other truly terrible acts.

On the plus side, as I realized while helping judge the People's Fair entrants for a few hours Saturday afternoon, local music in Denver will continue to march on, unfettered by the Cricket's passing. Denver will continue to churn out as many terrible acts as any like-size city. Better still, good bands are more plentiful than ever, and the ratio continues to show promise.

Bender's is a great spot for such an event. With two stages, it allowed for a steady succession of bands to be seen without long lag times between acts. An additional boon is the fact that beer is cheap - $2 for a domestic bottle.

Between the cheap suds, the quick jaunts from one room to the other and the constant churn of activity, the process was exhausting, and my notes were exceptionally chicken-scratchy. Still, having written about bars in this space for almost six years, I've gotten pretty good at deciphering my own hobbled scribbles:

* "Welcome to every band from Madison, Wis." Judge Roughneck/Cocktail Revolution drummer Zach Pietlock said this as we stood listening to Wasabi, a blues-rock outfit fronted by blind keyboardist Brian Collins. I'm not sure what Zach meant - he did live in Madison for a while - so I'm assuming he meant there are a lot of blues-rock outfits out there with catchy songwriting, strong musicianship and good hooks.

* "Mormons gone bad." The frenetic garage trio I'm a Boy was dressed in white oxfords and ties and totally ripped up the stage like practiced rock stars. One more song and, I'm convinced, guitarist Jimmy Nasi was going to smash an amp.

* "Sounds like that Weezer song Say It Ain't So." I couldn't make out the lyrics, but for some reason, the chord progression on one of singer-songwriter Audrey Vanessa's tunes (each band was allotted two songs) reminded me a lot of the Weezer tune. And who doesn't love Weezer?

* "Awesome. Best act today. Only act to do an actual transition. They should totally wear their hats forward, though." Aside from the hat thing (anyone over the age of 12 who isn't playing catcher for a Major League Baseball team should wear his baseball cap brim-to-the-front), Apex Vibe was the show-stealer. With a polished, big, dub-meets-hip-hop sound, great hooks and huge stage presence, the band was also the only act I saw that had a smooth segue from one tune to another. Professionals.

* "Dude, settle down." This was inspired by an uncomfortable display of stage-fathering by the parent of a teenage female singer (who was flanked by an entire dance group) singing to canned backup tracks a la today's teen pop fad. He got mad when they wouldn't let the group perform another song, and he stomped from the back of the room and across the stage to argue with the stage manager. The opposite of professional. At least the kid had pipes, though.

* "This band is terrible. Bring back the Miller Lite girls." No need to embarrass the band in print by naming it, but one female- fronted blues-rock band was really sloppy, the vocals were off- pitch and they almost completely fell apart in the middle of the one tune I listened to before leaving the room. How about practicing before the audition, folks?

Bender's Tavern

314 E. 13th Ave

303-861-7070

* Capitol Hill United Neighborhoods People's Fair: Civic Center, June 7-8

* For upcoming shows at Bender's, check out benderstavern.com.

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