Saturday, August 28, 2010

D Note Chronicles #60

D Note Chronicles #60

Brother Matthew and I were in the D Note basement recently and he began to tell some of the kitchen staff about an incident he had while sandblasting the paint off the walls eight years ago when we were building out the D Note. After he told the story I secretly turned the voice recorder on the smart phone and began to record. The following is a transcription of what happened next.

Adam: "So that was the was the worst it got while you were sandblasting?"

Matthew: "Whatever! That was a nightmare! I still have nightmares about it. The worst it got?! It was 14 days of sandblasting. It was the summer time and we had to wear extra clothing. We opened up the doors and people were complaining because there was a big flume of lead paint coming out the door. Oh God that was evil. The worst it got?!"

Adam: "So tell me again what happened?"

Matthew: "Remember the hood we wore? Remember the glasses, you put the lens in and out? You pull it out and put a new heavy glass lens in? I was like this (tilts head to side) and the glass started coming out of the hood, without me doing it, I'm holding the thing. I'm looking at it and thinking 'Oh that's not good.' All the sudden the sand started hitting my eyes and oh that's not good. I don't know what I did, but it was pelting my eyes and you know how when you have dry mouth and they throw sand in your dry mouth? Like oohg ick ick ick. So my eyes are dusted and I can't do anything and, like, I'm on the scaffolding with the stupid hose in my hand. Okay here it goes, I'm dropping it! You were supposed to be right there helping, I don't know where you went, and I'm yelling 'Adam, where are you!' So I drop the hose. Okay, where's the side of the scaffolding I need to come down on? AH THOONK! Uh, I'm down. Okay I'm gonna go toward the sound. Okay, I hope I don't put my finger in the wrong area here! Okay, it's off. I make it outside. THUNK! Oh, there's a wall. Oh there's a box or something. I'm finally outside. What do I do now? My eyes are gone. I took off the hat and I was sweating."

Adam: "Did you think your eyes were screwed up?"

Matthew: "Yeah, I thought I lost my eyes. When you are sandblasting and you are seeing sand take paint of bricks? Yeah, your eyes don't really stand a chance against sandblast. So I thought my eyes were completely gone. Who knows, there's probably pelts from it still in there, but anyway. So then I took off the gloves to try get the sand out, but my hands were full of dust. How am I going to get my eyes clean with my dusty hands? So I finally found my water bottle and poured it in my eyes, glug glug glug. That whole thing was evil. Sandblasting in general was evil, 14 days of it. We rented this sandblaster for a week and we kept paying over-night fees because we thought we'd be done the next day. Then after buying 10,000 lbs of sand we had to re-use 200 lbs of it and so it is extra super fine in the air. We had Regina at the Picking Parlour next door hopping mad at us. All the neighbors were mad at us because we were dusting the whole neighborhood. And then there was the fact that it was lead paint, which is still probably in our lungs. We had lead paint that covered up soot from when this place was a blacksmith and then whatever 4 cylinder engine model Ts were in here when it was a Ford dealership. So right after the gray paint, which would be lead, then there would be like an octopus-in-the-ocean blackness that would hit us. You remember that?"

Adam: "Yeah. So then when you threw the sandblaster hose down it just went onto the floor?"

Matthew: "So it was doing like the snake thing until it got stuck in the scaffolding, because it hit me once or twice when I was blind. I'm trying to get to the sound. I know it's over there so I'm going to shut it off. Okay, it's off. I still can't see. I'm going to make it to the door. Oh that sucked."

Adam: "But, because the sand blew a hole in the carpet, that's how we knew we had a wood floor?"

Matthew: "No, the carpet was always missing. It was just glue. But the sand actually blew through the glue. But yeah, it was such thick glue that we would have never seen the blond hundred year old red oak underneath."

Adam: "So that was the silver lining to your ordeal since the wood floor lead to us having a salsa night. The D Note probably wouldn't have survived without salsa during the early years. The wood floor has been the biggest attraction for the salsa night."

Matthew: "Yeah, and also the biggest distraction on the salsa night when the old wood has popped through leaving holes. I mean give and take. Yeah, but we wouldn't have had the salsa night, that's true. But Oh God that sandblasting was evil."

Thursday, August 26, 2010

August 26, 2010

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D foggers

A weather change is in the air. We sadly wave goodbye to outgoing summer and happily wave hello to incoming fall.

This weekend starts early for some of us with the advent of Geeks Who Drink Trivia at 6:30pm tonight and then Kick Ass Karaoke at 9pm. And Every Thursday thereafter. Free. Fun.

Friday night we start with our Friday Afternoon Concert with Jeremy Dion at 5pm.

Then Friday night we have our second annual fundraiser for Colorado Trout Unlimited, an organization that helps keep the rivers in Colorado clean. From their website: "Come celebrate the end of summer this Friday night at the D Note in Old Towne Arvada with all your friends! The evening kicks off at 5pm with live music and a chance to win prizes and trips for the angler and non-angler alike. Admission is $10. All proceeds from this event benefit Colorado Trout Unlimited's river conservation programs. Big Universe will be back again with an entertaining mix of classic rock from Elvis to the Eagles, Aretha Franklin to Cyndi Lauper.

Saturday at 1pm we have Phoenix Dance's yearly Belly Dance Swap. Free performances and demos and lots of great shopping. For much more info check here.

7:30pm Saturday we have the Duke Street Kings all night. Classic rock and roll in the spirit of Mick Jagger and co.

Next Tuesday night we have Bob's Big Band in the house at 7pm for you fans of big band jazz. Free.

And then at 9pm Tuesday we have a progressive jazz rock band called Holophrase. Influences include Frank Zappa, The Faint, Bjork, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Schoenberg, Portishead, Bright Eyes, The Mars Volta, Portugal The Man, Phillip Glass. There name "Holophrase" is cool too. We looked it up. It means "A single word (such as "Thanks") that is used to express a complete, meaningful thought."

Gracias,

D Nada

Extra Credit: We ran across a poem by Elizabeth Bishop in an anthology that we wanted to share with you, as it struck us with the depth and sharpness of its language.


The Bight

[On my birthday]


At low tide like this how sheer the water is.
White, crumbling ribs of marl protrude and glare
and the boats are dry, the pilings dry as matches.
Absorbing, rather than being absorbed,
the water in the bight doesn't wet anything,
the color of the gas flame turned as low as possible.
One can smell it turning to gas; if one were Baudelaire
one could probably hear it turning to marimba music.
The little ocher dredge at work off the end of the dock
already plays the dry perfectly off-beat claves.
The birds are outsize. Pelicans crash
into this peculiar gas unnecessarily hard,
it seems to me, like pickaxes,
rarely coming up with anything to show for it,
and going off with humorous elbowings.
Black-and-white man-of-war birds soar
on impalpable drafts
and open their tails like scissors on the curves
or tense them like wishbones, till they tremble.
The frowsy sponge boats keep coming in
with the obliging air of retrievers,
bristling with jackstraw gaffs and hooks
and decorated with bobbles of sponges.
There is a fence of chicken wire along the dock
where, glinting like little plowshares,
the blue-gray shark tails are hung up to dry
for the Chinese-restaurant trade.
Some of the little white boats are still piled up
against each other, or lie on their sides, stove in,
and not yet salvaged, if they ever will be, from the last bad storm,
like torn-open, unanswered letters.
The bight is littered with old correspondences.
Click. Click. Goes the dredge,
and brings up a dripping jawful of marl.
All the untidy activity continues,
awful but cheerful.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Aug 19, 2010

D cisions,

We would always like to begin our weekly d-mail by thanking each of the 50 to 150 musicians that played the D Note week before, but we generally don't, because we don't want to overload you with a bunch of shoutouts. BUT, in this letter, at least, we want to give a general thanks to each and every musician that has graced the D Note stage. You are the reason the D note is still going strong, the proverbial wind beneath our wings. As long as you keep making the music, we'll keep flying. Thank you, thank you and thank you!

And we thank in advance the dozens of musicians coming to play for all of us this weekend. Friday night we have the beautiful chanteuse Katey Laurel opening the night with a free Friday Afternoon Concert at 5pm.

Then at 7pm Friday The Trampolines are back in the house. Rumor has it that The Trampolines have called it quits, so this may be the last time you will be able to catch a band that has been rocking the Colorado scene for nearly a fifth of a century. Will the Trampolines bounce back? Stay tuned. For this, possibly, penultimate show they are bringing with them some great bands too, Della and Seismic Event. $8 for all three bands.

At 11pm Friday night we have Thanks To Philo coming in to round out Friday night. $5

Saturday we have The Music Train Family Concert Series with the director of the series, Anya Thompson, playing for us this month. $7 adult/$3 kids.

At 7pm Saturday we have Rosalie, a great alternative country band out of Denver. $5.

Then at 9pm Saturday we switch gears (again) and get the stage ready for Dikki Du and the Zydeco Krewe. Dikki Du is the son of Roy Carrier, a Zydeco legend that recently passed away. We were lucky enough to hear Roy at the D Note a few times. Dikki carries his father's Zydeco spirit in his own inimitable way and we can't wait to dance to his groove again. $10. Margaritas are $4 special from 9-10pm and there will be a special spicy Beau Jocque pizza too.

Also keep in mind the mello cello Sunday brunch t 11am-1pm, especially if you have not tried the fantastic breakfast pizzas yet. And another reminder to take a healthy risk and bring yourself to Karaoke tonight and every Thursday at 9pm.

And that is the weekend wrap up.

The D Note is also nominated (again!) for Best Live Music venue for the A List. Please take a second to vote for us.


Ever,

D ella cool

Extra Credit: A gorgeous poem by Major Jackson, gleaned off Poetry Daily...


Creationism

I gave the bathtub purity and honor, and the sky
noctilucent clouds, and the kingfisher his implacable
devotees. I gave salt & pepper the table, and the fist
its wish for bloom, and the net, knotholes of emptiness.
I gave the loaf its slope of integrity, the countertop
belief in the horizon, and mud its defeated boots.
I gave morning triumphant songs which consume my pen,
and death its grief which is like a midsummer thunderclap.
But I did not give her my tomblike woe though it trembled
from my white bones and shook the walls of our home.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

8/4/10

D nation

We bring you this D Mail a day early to remind you that tonight, Wednesday, Aug 4, 2010, we are having a going away party for the original Genksters, Scott and Lisa Genke. Lisa has been a huge part of the D Note's success, whether smiling behind the bar or helping arrange parties or countless other little things. The D Note will never be quite the same without her, but her spirit will remain with us in the rafters and brick of the D. Come say help us send her and Scott off in style. The Clamdaddys will provide the perfect soundtrack.

Tomorrow night there is NO KARAOKE after trivia. This is the one night we had booked prior to starting karaoke. After this it is Karaoke every Thursday at 9. The bands are Convergence and To Set Aflame. Two good indie songwriter driven rock bands that have played the D Note once a year for 4 or 5 years. We are happy to welcome them back. $5.

Friday we have James Hurtado playing for the Friday Afternoon Concert at 5pm. Free. Then we have a night of indie rock for you carefully arranged by Matt Dougherty: 7:00p Gridley Esteemer, 8:00p Driving Karma, 9:00p Disaffected, 10:00p SPiVEY (from Lubbock, Texas). Spivey has unique and beautiful sound. A good night to rock out with your locks out. $5.

Saturday we have a special edition of the ever popular Hafla at 7pm. $8 adults/ $6 kids under 10. From Phoenix' website:

Troupe Harmony Show & Hafla at The DNote: Enjoy a show featuring teachers/students & troupes sharing the Stage! After the show - open dancing to live music by Yallah! Performers: Sharaqa Shimmers, Indigo Rain, Raqs Nova & Lunar Ladies, Christine Moore & Figure 8s, Tribal Tique Denver, Zalzali, Vamp, Cecilia, Suzara & Phoenix and Mahisha.

After the Hafla, at 10:30, we have a fantastic reggae band from Boulder called Salasee, which you gotta see to see.

Next Friday we have a killer flamenco show with Rene Heredia and his troupe. And next Saturday we have our first annual D Note Summer Jazz Fest with Ron Miles and a cast of local and brilliant jazz stars.

Thanks, as ever, for being here,

D noted

Extra Credit: Another rock and roll poet we've managed to miss in this long running gag is Jim Morrison. Morrison is thought of as very Dionysian, but his best poems manage to see both sides. Notice the turn around the phrase "break on through to the other side" takes in stanza two.


Break On Through To The Other Side

You know the day destroys the night
Night divides the day
Tried to run
Tried to hide
Break on through to the other side

We chased our pleasures here
Dug our treasures there
But can you still recall
The time we cried?
Break on through to the other side