So word has it, it’s National Margarita Day TODAY! Not that we need a day to enjoy a margarita, but what are you doing to celebrate NMD? Have you had a Chauncey? It’s our house margarita with a shot of Absolut Mango shot on top. Why’s it called a Chauncey? Well, because it’s strong and smooth! Come down to Pete’s and try one.
Brendan Kelly is as close to punk-rock royalty as you can get. From his days in early Asian Man bands like Slapstick and The Broadways, to his groundbreaking work in The Lawrence Arms, to his appearance on the freaking Daily Show, Kelly has established himself as an authoritative voice for his generation as well as being one hell of a musician.
With the Lawrence Arms on hiatus, Kelly devoted his down time to writing and recording his first solo record, I’d Rather Die Than Live Forever. Brendan will be taking the stage on this night, armed with only an acoustic guitar, to play several cuts off the newest effort as well as, hopefully, some crowd favorites from Larry Arms and his previous bands.
Making this show even more spectacular is the addition of Suburban Home Recording artists Alone at 3am, Arliss Nancy and Lizzie Huffman.
This is sure to be one of the rowdiest shows we have ever had at Pete’s and we hope you join us for this special event.
More information can be found on the event page and, as always, this show is FREE!
Poker and rock and roll have been a marriage made in heaven ever since Kenny “The Gambler” Rogers, informed us that there were times when one should hold em, but other times, when one should consider folding.
We here at Illegal Pete’s are aiming to continue this classic coupling this Wednesday as we, along with our friends at The Hi-Dive, are hosting a poker night to help us raise funds for our 2nd Annual Starving Artists Party at SXSW in Austin, TX on March 16th and 17th.
Some of your favorite Denver musicians will be present at this event, both as dealers and players, and we urge you to try your hand against them and obnoxiously rub it in their faces when you win.
We are asking for a $20 suggested donation for buy-in which will help us raise funds for the party as well as give you a chance to win prizes from The Fancy Tiger, Illegal Pete’s, Suburban Home Records, The Greater Than Collective, Sputnik, Twist & Shout and more!
More information about this event can be found on the event page or by emailing us.
Feeling lucky, punx?!
Justin Cornwell and Michael Parris bring you “Every Other Monday Jammer” you guessed it, Every other Monday. Tonight is that Monday so if you are looking for a cool place to have a drink on a Monday night, you should come and visit Illegal Pete’s Downtown. Great tunes are played by DJ Parris (Mike Parris). Drinks are poured by J-Bone (justin Cornwell) Good times are had by those that show up!
Drink specials. Food till midnight. Come on down!
Since this falls on every other Monday, make sure you mark down March 5th, March 19th, April 2nd and so on. We hope to see you there. RSVP via Facebook.
The weather is getting warmer and that means you should be getting outside and catching a show at one of Colorado’s fine venues. We hope you include Pete’s in your weekend festivities and urge you to check out one of the following shows.
2/17/12 Laura Gibson w/ Breathe Owl Breathe and the Maykit at the Hi-Dive
2/18/12 Drunken Arrows and Lawsuit Models at Illegal Pete’s Downtown (FREE, Starts at 9pm) Facebook Event
2/18/12 Esther Sparks And Nicole Boisvert (of the Hits) at Illegal Pete’s Boulder Pearl (FREE, Starts at 9pm)
2/18/12 Bad Weather California CD Release Party w/ Night of Joy, Sauna and Stand Up from the Fine Gentleman’s Club at the Hi-Dive
2/19/12 Serious Moonlight at Denver Beer Co (FREE, goes from 2pm to 6pm)
2/19/12 English Dogs w/ The Casualties, Toxic Holocaust and Havok at the Summit Music Hall
For tickets to any of these Illegal Pete’s sponsored events, email us
Back when we launched the “Starving Artists Program” it was band’s like The Swellers that we really had in mind.
The Swellers, from Flint, Michigan, are one of the, if not THE hardest working band in music today. They are constantly in motion, touring the US, Europe and, most recently Austrailia, with reckless abandon.
Th Swellers have been friends of ours for a long time and we’d like to think it’s because they genuinely like us and not just because we give them free food every time they come into town.
This Sunday, the dudes roll into the Marquis Theatre and will be joined by local bad-asses Allout Helter and No Bueno.
All three bands, while each covering their own corner of the pop-punk universe, will all bring energy, excitement and, hopefully, empty stomachs…our downtown location is only a few blocks away – coincidence? We think not!
In our continuing quest to become the most musician friendly restaurant on the planet, Illegal Pete’s is launching our Pint Glass Program. The program aims to help more local bands where as the previously pioneered “Starving Artist Program” exclusively helped touring acts. Illegal Pete’s hopes to raise money for hard working local bands by selling a series of custom pint glasses with the band’s logo on them.
The first band the restaurant will work with is Denver’s The Photo Atlas.
200 pint glasses will be produced, one side featuring the Illegal Pete’s logo and the other featuring The Photo Atlas. The pints will go on sale at all Illegal Pete’s locations for $10 and will include a delicious Colorado crafted beer which the restaurants will switch to exclusively starting March 1st. Every penny raised will go to the band to help them with the recording costs of their upcoming album. The Photo Atlas will be performing at 2 of the Illegal Pete’s locations in conjunction with this program, Thursday, March 1st at the Boulder Hill location, and Saturday, March 3rd at the Downtown Denver location. Local rockers, In the Whale, will support both shows. Please come to one or both shows and support one of Denver’s hardest working bands. These shows will also kick off a string of dates that will take the band to this year’s South by Southwest and back.
“Through this kick ass collaboration The Photo Atlas and Illegal Pete’s will soon be serving up hungry ears and fresh tasty tunes,” bassist Bill Threlkeld said of the program.
“We believe in our local music scene so much; it just makes sense to think of creative ways to help local acts fund their recordings and/or tours” – Virgil Dickerson, Marketing Master/All Round Good Dude at Illegal Pete’s
“I used to get geeked collecting all of the Star Wars, etc. fast food glass series as a child so naturally, as an adult, I am more than excited to start collecting our series of beer glasses featuring a series of our favorite local bands, with the added bonus of helping these bands get their music out to their fans.” – Pete Turner, owner of Illegal Pete’s
Illegal Pete’s hopes to continue the Pint Program into the future, working with as many local bands as possible. Interested parties should contact Virgil@illegalpetes.com for further information.
Listen to the Photo Atlas’ last release, “To Silently Provoke The Ghost”, via Spotify.
Cover charge? We don’t need no stinking cover charge!
The best thing about going to shows at Illegal Pete’s, other than the awesome bands we feature, is that the are always free and you will never have to pay a cover charge. This frees you up to spend your hard earned money on important things — like burritos and beer.
This Saturday, we bring you another free show at our downtown location featuring Lawsuit Models and Drunken Arrows.
The members of Lawsuit Models have become staples of our locations, frequenting the stores as both performers and patrons. For Drunken Arrows, this will serve as their momentous first show and we hope all of you can come down and witness their inception.
This show will start at 9pm and, like we said, is fucking free!
Illegal Pete’s will be presenting the upcoming show with Trampled by Turtles at The Ogden Theatre on Friday, May 18th. Please mark this date on your calendar and check out the latest single from the band, “Alone”. We love these guys. Tickets can be purchased here.
Seeing as today is Valentine’s Day it seemed only fitting that our album of the week is a record that discusses every aspect of love – both bad and good. The Game of Monogamy mainly tackles the bad, but has a few heart-warming moments.
Tim Kasher has always been known as an honest songwriter. In Cursive and especially The Good Life, Kasher told tales of drunken adventures and the lessons learned after each one with very little hyperbole – he told them just as they happened.
On his latest solo effort, Kasher pulls no punches explaining to the woman he has been with for years that not only does he question their relationship, but he questions the concept of them in general. What makes this cringe worthy, is that this is not addressed to a fictitious woman, but to a girl he was currently living and sharing dogs with.
Kasher tells her that the relationship has gotten “cold” and that “used to believe in love, but also (foolishly) believed in God.
Kasher could be chastised for a the amount of audacity it takes to think the things he says and for the self-absorption needed to write such a record, but regardless, The Game of Monogamy is a brilliantly personal record about a side of love the Valentine cards at Hallmark are too afraid to touch.
