Denver: 12 Wildcards, 1 Nugget

Can a mountain lion get the wolf?

We had 11 pre-show sign ups in Denver, then went ape shit with the wildcards. First we had three, then like five, then ten, then our skeleton crew (down to only three that night) were all "eff it. Twelve." It would have been a baker's dozen except we ran out of songs and I couldn't find that almost Alanis track we downloaded back in Detroit. So twelve it was and it was good.

Oh, and did I mention we had the Denver Nuggets' Rocky the Mountain Lion tearing shit up last night? He was good enough to make it to the second round, but bailed early with a couple of totally hot rodents from the Bluebird's basement.

One of our many wildcards.

All night long Denver was begging for some hardcore twin-on-twin action. All month long Stryker and Big Rig were making news, like this cover story for the Denver Post. And Wednesday night at the Bluebird there were twin groupies aplenty, but Stryker had already taken the Detroit regional, and his brother, Big Rig, had taken Aspen the night before. Still, the pair didn't want to disappoint their hometown fans, so they paid the fee and entered the Denver regional, planning all the while to throw the competition. And they did so in typical Big Rig/Stryker fashion. Big Rig was called out to perform, and just as he began his routine Stryker appeared on stage beside him. Knowing full well this move would disqualify them both, they did some tandem shredding before busting out some of their trademark shoulder riding. It was a treat that earned them perfect sixes, which were promptly reduced to perfect zeroes, which allowed for someone new to take the Denver regional.

Twins Big Rig (bottoms) and Stryker (tops) . . .

—And the judges that disqualified them and made me horny.

Any takers? Anyone? Anyone? Eff yeah there were. Duke Thrashington and Magic Cyclops, both finalists in Aspen, kicked some serious ass in Denver. In the end Magic Cyclops took Denver, with Duke Thrashington trailing him by just a tenth of a point.

Magic Cyclops gives it to the judges.

Thrashington myspaced one of our crew last night. Even though he's placed second more times than, uh, someone that places second a ton, he's got the perfect attitude: "twas a pleasure. the front flip to crashed farriswheel to resurrection didn't quite go as planned. but im now perfecting the move. no worries my man, twill see you in 300 some odd days." This is a fickle bid'ness, and often times second place could just as easily have placed first. Wednesday night could have gone either way, but in the end I do believe the right man won. And come August Denver will have three representatives in the city by the bay.

This morning, after Hot Lixx told him how much we were looking forward to his next performance in the short hereafter, Thrashington followed up with this classy comment: "word^. its an airguitar show and a contest, so schredding is #1 priority for the peeps who paid 15 bucks to get siked."

They say we were 59 tickets short of capacity on Wednesday, but those folks would had to have been squeezed into the handicapped bathroom or one of the empty boxes left over from all that Cuervo Black we sold.

After the show, the gentlemen of air relaxed responsibly with some of that smooth Cuervo Negro. But no one relaxed harder than Stryker.

We're playing the Avalon tonight, easily Salt Lake City's best venue. We've got SLUG Magazine on board for this one, with writer Jon Paxton and friends celebrity judging. Fill your flasks and come get jiggy with us.

Background: West Hays, Kriston Rucker, Brian Carsten. Fairground: Stryker.

Written by West Hays