I was doing things at the Wooden Nickel and got word from a friend of mine that he was checking out a property that got it’s liquor license near I-70 and Chambers. I just happened to be at the right place, right time with the right people. That’s how the Blitz Room was born.

I can't remember where we met Bill Terrell, but he must have been familiar enough with us by 1998 to ask if we'd want to play at a new venue in Denver that he was running. This was The Blitz Room. I don't know the business relationship he had with the owner of the motel it was located in, but it appeared that Bill managed it, was the promoter, or both. Either way, we were grateful, and completely psyched that Denver would finally have a venue that catered to metal in a completely welcoming way. The place wasn't nice, but it was totally functional. We didn't need much. We just wanted a place to rage and hopefully have an audience. Aside from the relationships we had made with bands and fans in the Springs, and to a lesser extent Fort Collins, it was probably the Blitz Room that put us on the map in Denver. We became friends with so many other bands and there developed this really cool respect between most of the musicians. We were always fans of metal first. We all had something different to say, but the heaviest hitters really did their specific style well. We played nine shows at The Blitz Room. The first was March 13th, 1998 and the last was May 1st, 1999. I don't remember why the venue shut down, but suddenly there were multiple opportunities opening up for us in Denver and Drudgery was no longer an unknown quantity. Without The Blitz Room, it would have been a much more difficult path.

Some think I was an original member of Rogue, but I actually wasn’t. I was in Hallucinasia and Bill saw me at the studio and said “Join my band, we have t-shirts and stickers!”. Hallucinasia weren’t too intrested in playing out so Bill coaxed me. My first show with Rogue at the Blitz Room was actually Rogue’s third. What I remember most was after shows, we’d go to a room at the hotel and the party continued. And Mudvayne played there once as well.

Our first time there, we were waiting an hour or so to see when we could get our gear setup on the stage, and this guy named Bill was all pissed off over things that didn't involve us. We decided, let's play "Sunday" and go from there. Right after we did that, Bill said he loved us, introduced himself and we never had a problem with him since

Keith Spargo and I joined forces for his cover band Paragon, but he had a vision for an original band that was originally titled "Senator" or "Czar" so we decided to check out the original circuit to see what's what. Gil Martin told us about The Blitz Room that was located on the way east side of town, but that didn't stop us. The room was HUGE. The stage was large, the lights were good and at the back of the room were some pool tables with posters of Asian female models on the walls. I was a pretty high energy guy who didn't realize that scared a few people on occassion, so when I went to the bar to get a few beers, the asian guy who I learned later was the owner named Bruce looked at me very mortified.

I went to the Blitz Room with Ty once to check out a band called Fragile X. It was cool to see a place that had original music on the weekends but since it was at a hotel, no one could tell it was a rock/metal club on the outside. There was a nicely dressed couple who walked into the room, and Bill Terrell being Bill- greeted them with "We have a 5 dollar cover for each person tonight". This couple asked him if they played live music and Bill's like "Uh, guys isn't this obvious?". They completely sticked out like a sore thumb, there were alot of long haired tattooed people in the crowd and I think that couple was expecting Yacht Rock or something.

I was brand new to the Colorado metal scene. Catalina Soltero asked me if I wanted to see some bands at The Blitz Room. She picked me up, we saw some bands and I met some people. Specifically, I can’t remember but it was in 1998.

Speaking of 1998, John Bollack joined Rogue that year.

Early on, this was one of the first places to have strictly original music on the weekends, that was the plus. However, this modified Hotel connected conference room was not sonically adaptable for loud music, the high ceilings reverberated, and heavier more aggressive bands echoed throughout. I often wondered what overnight hotel guests thought. Was the hotel even operational? Kudos, to Bill Terrell, for launching this though, it eventually led to his more successful club, Whiskey Bills

Our band Throat Culture were lucky enough to get a practice space at the DAV directly across from Rogues practice space. That’s where we met the infamous, Bill Terrell. With only a couple of venues to play original metal, it was incredible that Bill started The Blitz Room. I have so many great memories there. We played many shows with only a few people in attendance. I also met so many great bands there as well. I believe I also met my favorite chum, Jimzilla at one of the Blitz Room shows.

The Blitz Room, Bill Terrell he worked his tail off on that place to network and bring a lot of people together to make that thing happen, and it happened. It was a cool hole in the wall out in the middle of nowhere hotel, just an unassuming place, if you were driving by on the highway you wouldn’t think that there is a happening music scene going on in that hotel off of highway, but wow holy cow!! bill good on that one. Bill brought us in. We played a few shows  it was golden!!

Ah, The Blitz Room had 60’s style red leather and velvet curtains that reeked of LA noire, which I loved

I heard about Moore through Euphony Music News, they had a gig at the BR, so I decided to check them out. Jim had two guys in the band named Dan, so he called the keyboardist Dan Dearing "Laptop". After their set, I approached Dan saying "Nice set Laptop". He replied nicely "I'd appreciate it if you called me Danny". Then he turned to Jim "GODDAMIT JIM, STOP CALLING ME LAPTOP!"

I will echo what many have said about how important The Blitz Room was to the early 00's metal scene. While there were a couple other places a heavy band could get booked, what set it apart was that it was solely metal and harder rock. Made it feel like our own. When my band was still very fledgling, I went with Ty McIntosh to go check it out. Set up in the ballroom of a motel (which I can't remember if it was still an active motel or not?) the Blitz Room was spartan in atmosphere, but had an ample P.A. and stage. It's utilitarian vibe was pretty metal in retrospect. And my first impressions of a few bands still are very clear in my head. The first band I enjoyed was Throat Culture. They oozed energy on stage. A couple of the members went on to become great friends to this day, but who stole the show that night was Tim Carter on guitar. His rig was modest, a small combo amp. But he might as well have been playing through AC/DC's backline. He was all over the stage, falling to floor while playing. It was amazing. Chris was howling for all he was worth, and Rod was firmly behind his black drum kit. This...was a venue and vibe I was immediately digging. Regional Conflict, Nate Salas's first band were another that stuck out. Four long hair heshers just grinding that place to dust. I was instantly impressed and looked up to them. They had a Germanic thrash vibe to me, and just mowed the place down. Lastly I have to bring up Drudgery, who quite frankly terrified me in the best way. They were next-level to me; an incredibly powerful three piece playing complex, syncopated thrash. Nick Seelinger gritted his teeth behind the kit the entire night as he splintered drum sticks. Jeff Anderson's face rarely emerged from his blond mop, and Murray Neill topped them all with his muscular presence, railing bass and commanding vocals. This was a band much heavier than we were, but something I quietly aspired to be. Of course...who we all owe our debts too was Bill Terrell, who gave every band a chance there. I think Silencer played it maybe three times. What we might not have had draw-wise back then (it was our fledgling first lineup) was made up for by knowing every fan in there was a metal fan. There were no after work, drunk regulars to win over; if you schlepped it out on I-70 to the Blitz Room, it was to get your headbang on. I might dare it to say this was the single most important metal venue Denver has ever known.