The Pizza Hangover

[Nightlife Gone Wrong] I've got the most appalling hangover this morning. This I blame not on my own stupidity for imbibing ridiculous amounts of sudsy liquor last night with a good friend but rather on the bizarre establishment that is Monk's under the Walker Center on 2nd South between Main and State.

Bizarre because for a start although it says it opens at 6 p.m. if you turn up at an hour later you might be lucky enough that someone's opened the door. The real problem though is if you want to eat. Ask at 7 p.m. for food--and their menu stretches to pizza--and the young lady behind the bar in between drags on her butt says you can eat at 9 p.m., when the short order guy gets in.

So you place your order at 9 p.m., having lost several times at pool and consumed several pitchers of Heineken. The pizza however doesn't arrive until 10:30 p.m. By which time you're hammered enough to have given up all thoughts of complaining and just gratefully sink into the gooey pepperoni pizza as if it were your last meal before the dawn firing squad.

Moral of the tale: Eat first before you drink at Monk's, I guess, or don't drink at all. (Stephen Dark)

Gimme a Break!

[Nightlife] I received a lot of grief this week for failing to attend a couple of apparently mind-blowing concerts. All this hassling has got me thinking: How many shows should a music critic attend in order to maintain "street cred."

When I first turned my love of music into a part-time then full-time career, I went to as many shows as I could track down. In San Diego, I lived at Canes. In Los Angeles, the Whisky and The Roxy. In SLC, I endured freezing temperatures at Kilby Court and stayed up all night to see the very last encore of whatever band turned me on. Then I got a little older. I discovered cable and Ace of Cakes. I moved in with my boyfriend and started saying things like "After IKEA, let's hit up Smith's" and "Let's just stay in."

Which leads us to the present. I still love live music. For many local bands, it's the best, if not only, way to experience them (like Subrosa tonight at Burt's). On any given weekend, you can find me at Urban, Burt's, Bar Deluxe, Monk's, etc., checking out great SLC acts. As for touring groups, I'm just a bit more selective about who I'll shell out dough for (yes, I usually have to pay for shows too). If only cake-master Geof Manthorn would come to town. The best of both worlds!



How many concerts do you see in a typical month?


(Jamie Gadette)