Best place to see music on a Sunday night if you don't mind the smell of urine

Lions Lair

By Alicia Schuster

Senior Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Updated: Wednesday, May 5, 2010 16:05

There isn't a lion in the Lions Lair bar on Colfax Avenue-only the growling speakers booming out some sort of noise onto the street each Sunday night.

The speakers were most likely blown long ago, so the sound engineer cranks it way too high, but this is still great for enjoying local thrash, punk, or hardcore bands. Bands play as long as the band members want to play, so be ready for an hour-long set of drunken kids with guitars. Lions Lair will book just about anyone willing to get up on what could be the smallest stage on Colfax, so the bar is an easy first gig.

The Lions Lair is a cramped bar that smells like urine and feels morbid with several animal skulls, inkblots, and Bible pages glued to the walls for decoration. The disturbing feelings fade with the indulgence of several dirt-cheap drinks and the loud booming voice of the current local band playing each Sunday. But stay out of the grimy one-stall bathrooms; they're a frightful experience for either sex.    

Cheap drinks, loud cheap entertainment, and a good way to make a Sunday night not suck so hard. That is, if you don't mind the putrid smell that fills the place.