While I was in high school I discovered nightclubs. The first club I started going to was called Ground Zero in Boulder, CO. I was about 16 when I went the first time. I remember going with a kid I met who went to a different high school. I can’t even recall how we met but he knew a really cool place to go and I decided to go with him. At the time I was going to church dances but they were kinda getting old. I was looking for some excitement. I made arrangements to stay over night at his house on a Friday. I went over to his place around 7pm. We played video games until about 9pm. Then we got ready and drove the hour drive to Boulder. We drove my Dad’s white Cadillac and blasted the stereo the whole time. We ended up parking on some side street off the main street with shops and stuff.
At this time it was about 11pm and there were a few college kids out and about. I followed him over to an entrance, the entrance to the club lead down stairs into a basement. One the floor by the front door was a black and white checker design. We showed the bouncer at the door our ID and paid the $5 cover charge. The club was 16 and up. Most of the people there were high school or freshmen in college. As we walked in the club was totally dark, there were some strobe lights and neon on the walls. They had a video screen on the wall playing music videos. The music was blaring, it was so loud you could feel the bass over your whole body. It was mesmerizing. I just stood there with my friend and took everything in. Then we started to walk around the club and he introduced me to a few people he knew. It was so cool, no one cared what you looked like or anything. The club it’s self was goth/industrial/new wave. It was music I had never really heard before and it was like a whole new world was opened before me. Just blew me away at the people of this strange subculture that I just got throw into.
That night I just danced all night. I ordered some caffeine drink from the bar called a “cherry double thermostat bomb.” I danced with all these people to this strange music. It was so awesome. The place was packed late into the night and then the early morning. By around 3am the crowd started to get smaller. We were there all night. I remember walking out of the club at 5:30am, dripping with sweat in the cold morning air. My head and ears were ringing. I was so tired and all I wanted was more. We walked back to the car and I drove us back to my fiends place. I crashed on his couch for a couple of hours and then went home on Sat morning around 11am. It was unbelievable.
I think that Sat night there was a church dance. I went to the church dance, but it just did not seem the same. It was nothing compared to my experience at the club. I saw my fiends at the dance and I tried to get into the whole thing, but it was numbing. At that point I just realized that there was a whole new world to explorer and my old world would be left behind.
Sometimes I missing those days of going to the nightclub in Boulder. Since then they have shut the club down and I have moved on. I still listen to the music that reminds me of a different time. It’s always fun to know that I started going to nightclubs when I was 16 and this single event opened up a whole world to me that I had no idea existed before.
The following is a video of some music they used to play at Ground Zero.
But we found another theater and there was hardly anyone there. Weird! John got some of his favorite new movie snack, nachos. Kevin and Adam pigged out on popcorn and soda. Kevin enjoyed most of the show, but Adam got kind of bored so he did a somersault down the stairs. I had to hurry and carry him out! The boys and I really enjoyed the music, but John slept through a lot of the movie so I’m not sure what he thought of it.