Odds & Ends

 Glove to get drunk: Four years ago, the Dallas Observer took a feature-length look at the trials and tribulations that befell Rubber Gloves before it finally opened in October 2000. A series of disagreements with city officials, building inspectors and zoning boards threatened to keep the Denton music club from ever seeing an official, city-approved debut, and the whole mess started when current owner Josh Baish sought a mere liquor license for the building he'd been leasing as a rehearsal space.

Fast forward to 2005, though, and something that seemed unthinkable during the years of applications and license troubles has finally come true--Rubber Gloves received its hard liquor license last week. Though the club has legally been allowed to serve beer and wine since its 2000 opening, this news comes at a high point for the club. After all, recent stage and bar expansion has made it easier to rock out and grab a beer, and the club's booking has caught up to Denton powerhouse Hailey's in the past year with touring acts such as MC Chris, The Dirty Projectors and Bobby Bare Jr. alongside consistent local draws such as [DARYL], Fishboy and the pAper chAse. Even better, the addition of liquor won't affect the club's all-ages policy (just don't wipe those X's off your hands, kids).

Baish says hard liquor will go on sale sometime between two weeks and two months from now. In addition, progress still hasn't been made on opening the venue's outdoor area (which was used for late '90s gigs before the venue sought official licenses) for the sake of larger-draw shows. "At some point, God willing, I would love to open that outdoor stage again," Baish says, though as long as Denton continues to demand the extra bathrooms, fire hydrants and other amenities that they are asking Baish to pay for, which he estimates would cost "around $100,000," the outdoor stage will remain closed. In the meantime, while we wait just a little longer for our vodka-soda order, we raise our big-ass, 32-ounce plastic cups of Miller High Life to the Gloves.