El Chapultepec is a great little no-cover jazz venue in Denver’s Lo-Do neighborhood, where many of the city’s best jazz musicians like Ellyn Rucker, often play. It is deservedly profiled in the June 2006 issue of Denver’s glossy 5280 magazine (“Remebering the Pec” not available on-line). However it includes an odd little celebrity story, referred to as the “Legend of Bono.” Mike Kessler writes:
As the story goes, the U2 frontman and a pal attempted to bring two underage girls into the club, sometime during the ‘Pec’s glory years, before Bono took on Africa’s problems. The girls couldn’t provide ID, which prompted Bono and his buddy to cop an attitude and play the rock star-card. Finally, owner Jerry Krantz was summoned to the door. Says KUVO’s Lando: “Jerry told Bono and his friend, ‘You and your pal can come in. But the girls, well, sorry—but U2s will have to go.’”
Bono’s self-righteousness is getting tired, and so is the media’s fawning coverage of him. Next time he lectures American policy makers, remember this episode. If the legend is true, while not Jerry Lee Lewis territory, bringing under-age girls to a bar shows questionable judgment. Could the media temper the absolute moral authority they have tried to invest in him? Let’s hold off on the Sainthood, he’s still just a rock-singer who was evidently capable of stupid rock-star stuff. His choosing the ‘Pec as his after-hours hang did show good taste though.
