My friend Katrin immigrated here with her mom from their post-Cold War home in Russia.
Her few childhood memories aren’t pretty, but she remembers drawing in a handmade journal while looking out the second-floor window of her drab Moscow tenement. She looked longingly at the illuminated onion domes of St. Basil Cathedral, and she dreamed of another place – Denver – and another life.
The ridiculous words are spilling out of me sober as we sit at the Aztlan Theatre’s bar. The story is nonsensical and completely fabricated, but I can’t stop. I add more about how Denver was the ultimate fix in a life that was otherwise patched together, and my friends John and Selena listen intently, splitting their gaze among me, the surrounding madness and Katrin, who nods sweetly and sips her cocktail.
Katrin and I have since added to her faux life. (She really grew up happily in Colorado.) But the yarn was born that evening a few months ago on the one night a month the Aztlan’s bar (974 Santa Fe Drive, 303-573-0188) is guaranteed to be open – First Friday.
The bar, which is connected to the historic theater, opens for the rare punk, oldies or Latin music show hosted by the Aztlan. But it’s also a haven of the weird and unexpected on First Fridays, when the surrounding neighborhood draws thousands of outsiders in the name of art, wine and talk.
First Friday has grown beyond its monthly art-event status. For many scenesters, it is a social obligation not unlike Lipgloss or So What! What the neighborhood lacks is bars, places where you can sit down and catch up.
This place doesn’t look or feel like a venue bar. It’s comfortable and relaxed like an old, worn dive. And on First Friday, there’s always entertainment. The sign on the door: “Fun Live Band. Every One Welcome. Playing Your Favorite Songs. By Alex and Friends.” Our experience had two exuberant regulars dancing behind a keyboard and eager to pass the mic.
First Friday Karaoke? It could be huge! Check it out next Friday.
Staff writer Ricardo Baca can be reached at 303-820-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com.
