But now, let's sit back and prepare for the truthful side of the story of the night Blackhawk came to the Grizzly Rose in Denver in March 2003.
It was three weeks before my 21st birthday, so I reluctently donned the huge blue X's on my hands to show that I could not be served alcohol. (No worries, Angie blinked enough of it for all of us by the end of the night--oh sorry, we'll get to that.) We got to the Rose in time for the opening band and worked our way forward as people moved around or left for the bar. In doing so, we found our place next to two couples who had obviously started drinking long before we got there. As we giggled and danced to the music, Amy, meeger as she is, turned to me and said sweetly, "She's pushing me" (speaking of the drunkard to her right who attempted to save the spot of her bar-bound boyfriend in a standing room only section of the club.) Without hesitation I replied to Amy, "push her back!" A few moments later, Amy turned again, "She's pushing me!" Me: "So push her back!" When it happened again, I switched places with Amy knowing that Shovey McPusherson wasn't going to let up and Amy wasn't going to do any more than report Shovey's inconsiderate actions to us.
With my hip popped in place and my knee locked, Shovey pushed again. Only THIS time the recipient of her rude nudging hadn't budged. She noticed. I passively said, "excuse me." ...which only made her push again--harder. I again spoke up, "excuse me!" She whipped around with an elbow nearly in my face and balked that I would not move when she tried to move me! Just then, her boyfriend came back with drinks in hand for her (just what we all needed), and after he passed them off, he joined in the bullying. I turned to him (much taller than myself) after he pulled my hair. I repeat, he pulled my hair. While I addressed him with a look of horror, he dumbly spoke, "wasn't me!" Oh, uh huh, sure. Time out--where are my sisters during all of this? Amy is still swaying to the music with her curls matching her rhythm and her hands folded nicely in front of her. Angie? Well she's trying to talk sense into an otherwise senseless drunkard who wants us to move away.
I defended myself to the tall boyfriend about whether or not I should even be there (as he referenced the X's on my hands) as he argued that they had gotten there hours before we showed up and that we pushed our way to the front. Whatever, that's how it works at the Rose, and any other place I've been to with general admission standing room only. As I turned back around to the confrontation taking place behind me between Drunky and Angie, I heard Angie's infinite wisdom: (brace yourselves, it is NOT what she claimed in her post to have said...) "I think you've had too much to drink." Whelp! That did it! Drunky must have agreed, because both drinks in hand were promptly thrown in Angie's face. In my mind, I saw myself diving in slow motion "No-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o" to save her face and eyes from the burning liquor, but it all happened so quickly! And yes, Angie's reaction was priceless: a shrill "AAAH!!!" as she threw her hands to her eyes and whisked the concoction from her contacts. I sprung into action to grab the bouncer--two of them actually--for some assistance in crowd control.
The first bouncer promptly took Angie away to the bathroom to clean her eyes, hair, and spotted shirt. And yes, she does admit to acting blind as she felt and patted her way to the bathroom. Some sympathy points won, I'm sure. While she was gone, a group of onlookers on the other side of us jumped in at our rescue to the fact that we were bullied and did nothing wrong. The second bouncer then watched Amy and I like a hawk while the drunk couple was fended off by their friends. While we waited for Angie to return, it was I that caught the pick from the band. I felt bad for her alcoholic bath (not guilty! SHE pointed out the blood-alcohol level of her attacker!!) so I graciously gave her the pick upon her return. At that point, the bouncer moved the three of us to the VIP section where we stood closer to the stage and band and right next to the DJs of the local country radio station.
From our viewpoint (and this is the point in the story that differs from Angie's... I can only imagine that the alcohol had somehow seeped in and altered her memory) we could see the entire crowd, including the drunk attacker. Amy offered, "I wonder if she can see us," to which I spouted, "I hope she can see us!!" And Angie reasoned, "I don't think she needs to see us, just watch the rest of the concert." Thank you, Oh Peacekeeper, can you even see through the red drink and stickiness of your eyelashes?? Haha!
We stayed around for a little bit after the concert and danced a few line dances. Then, on the way home, Angie proudly donned her prized (and gifted) pick on her forehead, stuck there compliments of a mixed drink by way of a confrontational drunkard. What a prize!
Let's review the "facts":
1. Abby elbowed her and aggressively --FALSE
2. I (Angie) stepped between Abby and drunk girl and nobly said, "Alright, everyone just calm down..." --FALSE. The fateful words were: "I believe you've had too much to drink" [insert throwing of alcohol HERE]
3. The most dramatic move in the history of Olson girls Girls' Nights --TRUE. And yes, request a reinactment next time you see Angie... or Amy... or me.
4. I (Angie) may have claimed to be blind at that point. --TRUE.
5. From VIP, Abby waved and gloated about our new and awesome position --FALSE (wave)
5b. Amy shied away and pretended it wasn't happening. --STILL TRUE
5c. I (Angie) played peacemaker and tried to downplay the place of privilege we now held. --TRUE. However, had Angie not been there, the drinks would not have been thrown and it would have been an otherwise boring and uneventful night.
6. I (Angie) caught a guitar pick. Yes, (she) did. --FALSE (ABBY did and graciously GAVE the pick Angie.) Drunk girl did not. --TRUE
And yes, last Friday night Blackhawk was back at the Grizzly Rose... while the three of us behaved ourselves, there was a fight that broke out right NEXT to us. They seriously outdid us though: there was hair pulling, punches thrown, cursing, etc. All we had were a couple of saucy drinks thrown in Angie's face! Even still, I guess it's not a good enough story without Angie's embellishments. ;) Good thing I'm here to speak the truth.
And, we had way more fun this time around:
She's playing along with the band, if you can't tell (she's on keyboard):
Silly girls!! Were they laughing at Angie's performance? At the really old guitar player who always looks confused? Or at the guys around us that reminded us of people we knew? Hey! ...Is that Jack???
AMY caught the pick this time, it was all her. First we gave a guy next to us a guilt trip for ripping the first one out of her hand, but she got her own after that. Way to go, Ame!
That's right, he's posing for me... jealous?
Thanks Blackhawk! We'll see you next time you're in Denver... maybe next time let US wear the Blackhawk shirts though. We know who you are...
