Just as the sun was coming up Thursday morning, the roof of the Golden West Saloon in Downtown Albuquerque burst into flames. By the time the flames were put out, the Golden West was a burned out hole. The Launchpad, which is on one side of the saloon, had part of its wall knocked down to accommodate firefighters. It was also drenched in water. The El Rey Theater, adjacent to the Golden West, was also waterlogged and singed in the fire.

Over the last fifteen or so years, these three spaces were havens for rock music in Albuquerque. The Launchpad is closed indefinitely (upcoming shows are being moved or cancelled) as they assess damage and rebuild. The Golden West is a charred hole, while the El Rey escaped bad structural damage. It all started with improperly stored linseed oil soaked rags.

The owner of the Golden West and El Rey is asking for community support to rebuild (meaning, I think, she didn't have fire insurance on the building). The Launchpad, whose alarm system alerted people to the fire next door, will be fixed up. Time lines are unknown.

The Golden West wasn't the first downtown bar I saw live music at. That would be the long defunct Beyond Ordinary, which began the Albuquerque downtown renaissance about 20 years ago. But I soon found the Golden West was where the rockers were.

The first show at the Golden West I remember distinctly was in the spring of 1994. Rocket From The Crypt (from San Diego) was playing, and I'd been spinning their Circa: Now! CD incessantly. The local opening band was called Flake, and to my ears, they reminded me of a less caustic Nirvana. A Pogues-like band called the Downs Family played next. They had a bold redheaded girl playing fiddle, a crazy man on the accordion (signature move: throwing the accordion up high in the air and then catching it--the Golden West had a high ceiling) and played, y'know, Irish punk music. I still have their sticker from the show. And one of their "roadies" gave me a free beer (bonus!).

Rocket From The Crypt was amazing, and I would see them play at the Golden West and later the Launchpad at least five times. They tended to come through town at least once a year.

For the first couple of years I went to rock shows, they had Watney's Cream Stout on tap and you could buy pitchers. This went away before the rock scene moved next door. Watney's stopped exporting to the U.S. and eventually the pitchers disappeared, too.

Ten years later, my band (Old Beans) was playing the second of two shows in a week at the Golden West. These would be the only times we played the space. That night two other local bands were playing: the Giranimals and the Bellmont. The drummer of the Giranimals is the brother of Marty Crandall (multi-instrumentalist in the Shins, most of whom were also in Flake), and he was there to cheer them on.

After the show (where the three bands played for about 20 people, which caused the promoter to send nasty e-mails my way), Marty and I reminisced briefly about the Golden West and what it was in the mid-90s: the center of the Albuquerque rock scene. He told me that RFTC show was Flake's first bar gig, and he'd had to get a fake ID to play. I guess I'm kinda old since I was 22 at the time.

I saw tons of shows at the Golden West in the few years before the scene moved next door to Time Out (later the Launchpad). The real reason I booked the two shows for Old Beans that August was history. My local rock education practically began in the Golden West, and I wanted to be able to say my band played there. We'd played the El Rey the winter before (for about the same amount of people--which seems like no one is there in a place that seats in the hundreds) because the Golden West was double booked that night.

Now the Golden West is no more. Even if it's rebuilt, it won't be the same. The ceiling was painted gold (natch), floors were run down and creaky wood, and the lights were dim. The outside awning (also destroyed in the fire) looked a bit like the one at CBGB's, except it was red and gold.

The last show I saw at the El Rey (and spent time in the Golden West, which was being used as the 21+ entry point and overflow for drinkers) was the Shins last April. It was packed. Two local bands, the Giranimals and the Lowlights, opened the night. And I think that was a nice glorious end in my mind to the two spaces.

I can't even list all the bands I saw at the Golden West. Tons. A lot of local bands utilized that stage to build their fan base or get gigs downtown when they couldn't get into other bars. And I've heard a few people say in the last few days that the fire is devastating to the Albuquerque music scene. I hope this is an overstatement.

Certainly the next few months will be challenging. That side of downtown will be dark and empty for a while as rebuilding happens. But musicians and bands and their supporters are tenacious. And we will rise again. Maybe the blaze will light an inspirational fire to pick up the pieces and make the Albuquerque music scene even more glorious in the future.

After months of having his drums in storage, Matt Worley is once again banging it out in an as-yet-unnamed local rock band.