Steve Poltz's 50th Birthday/CD Release Party, Belly Up Tavern: 2/19/2010

Friends, border-lining family, of both past and present gathered at the Belly Up Tavern last Friday to celebrate the aging of Steve Poltz and the release of his newest CD, Dreamhouse. Not much tweeting going on that night since everyone was living in the moment whether that was chatting with a long time friend or watch the continuous stream of musicians taking the stage throughout the night and into the morning.

Steve wanted to celebrate with all of his friends and family in one place. He was joined on stage by Lisa Sanders, Mojo Nixon, Fred Van Vactor, Patrick Dennis and Christopher Hoffee (the Cynics), Anya Marina, Cindy Lee Berryhill, Berkley Hart, AJ Croce, Gregory Page, as well as Jeff "Stinky" Aafedt, "Dr." Robert Driscoll and John Castro with The Rugburns.

Due to a crash on the ski slopes while in Rossland, B.C. he broke his left arm, which could have put a damper on things. Steve exclaimed that no shows will be cancelled and continued his tour and the planning of his birthday bash/CD release.

Shawn Rohlf of the 7th Day Buskers generously stepped up to the plate by learning a large number of Steve Poltz and Rugburns songs... and that was not an easy feat. Steve had previously commented that the new Dreamhouse album is very guitar heavy, with more complex chord combinations and picking patterns than he has ever done before. Shawn certainly pulled it off even working collaboratively with Steve for "You Were Meant for Me." If you closed your eyes, you couldn't even tell there were two people there.

Steve Poltz and Shawn Rohlf

Before the show, there was talk of a set list. A set list?! I didn't even know that Steve knew what one of those was. Here is a tweet that came from Patrick Dennis about a week before the show:

Via @Wirepony: Poltz and a 25 song set list for his guest heavy show next week. Set list?!? Don't ever believe him. Even with his broken hand.

However, the night of the show Joe Daly tweeted the following:

Via @JoeDaly_SD: Soundchecking at the BUT! @stevepoltz in top form. Just heard "Hey, do we have a set list yet?"

I guess things don't really change. Speaking of things that don't change, Julia Sanchez Harris and I spent half the show discussing if we should sneak backstage. We never ended up doing it, mainly because we didn't want to miss any of the show. And with no set breaks, there was never a good time to leave my awesome spot in the front.

I tried to be a good blogger and take photos, but if there was a time to sit and bask in the experience, it was this night. Here are the photos that I managed to take:

Mojo Nixon and Steve Poltz

Steve Poltz and Christopher Hoffee

Steve Poltz and Gregory Page

Steve Poltz, Dennis Borlek and John Castro

Steve has touched the lives of many over the fifty years he has been on this earth. And just about every one of those people were packed into the Belly Up Tavern last Friday. Included among the crowd were "Java Joe" Flammini, Frankie Lee Drennen, Kevin Hellman, Halloran, Dennis Borlek, "Happy Ron" Hill and more.

I think Rosey from SD Dialed In stated it best with this tweet:

Via @sddialedin: There is some sort of magic knowing that every single person in this sold out crowd has a @StevePoltz story or more. That's why we love him.

This is exactly how I would like to spend my 50th birthday, when it comes along... with good friends, family and a dueling drum finale.

Via @Wirepony: A dream was realized. Stinky and I sent @stevepoltz off in a dual drumming frenzy for his birthday bash two full kits flying. Goodnight!