Luke Powell | The Metropolitan

Dave Marion, left, and Zac Joe don't play. They take games and bartending seriously.

The Metropolitan spoke with the manager of Lodo bar 1up, David Marion, vocalist for Fear Before and bartender Zac Joe who is the guitarist of local band Vimana, about the “grown-up” arcade, complete with beer, vintage arcade games and giant Jenga.

WR: What do you like about working in an arcade bar?

DM: The games attract people that haven’t played them yet and the ones that have wanted to play them for years but haven’t been able to. The clientele is more eclectic than almost any bar that you can imagine, just because of the nostalgia that brings people in — it’s all walks of life. I think that is what makes it so much fun for bands and stuff.

WR:  What makes 1up special or different from other arcade or pinball bars?

DM: I think it’s totally the owner of the bar, Jourdan Adler. It’s his passion; he’s working everyday to make it a better place. It’s family run and the heart is in it. There are new additions every time. We want it to be a place that people don’t get tired of coming to.

ZJ: Jourdan had a very strict, very imaginative vision and he stuck to it and it’s worked. [He went] to great lengths to make sure that they are the original cabinets, that the original cabinets work, that he has someone on hand at all times that is a professional that fixes them.

DM: [It’s] a community. If you come in here and you don’t know how to play a game, there’s going to be somebody here to teach you a pointer or two. Some pinball regulars that come in will see me play and give me a little bit of a hint on something.

WR: Do you think 1up fits well with venues in LoDo, like The Marquis Theater and Summit Music Hall?

DM: It’s great. People can go to a show and pop in to play some games. The bands that play there want something else to do before they hit the road again. You can sit in a million back rooms, and granted the Summit is really nice, but —

ZJ: For example, Ryan Adams was in here. He tweeted that he was going to be here and there were people [waiting] three hours before he showed up.

WR: How many games do you guys usually have out on the floor?

DM: We have 45 on the floor, 12 pins and three Skee balls. We want to fill the place as much as we can, and we have — but we also have probably the same amount hiding in garages.

WR: I hear you guys have a free Skee ball tournament.

DM: We’ve been doing free Skee ball night on Tuesday evenings, we have sign-ups at 7:30 p.m. and we roll at about 8 p.m. My wife Rochelle and I head that up, it’s fun.

ZJ: Especially once a month on K2uesday.

DM: K2 Snowboards comes in with a bunch of free swag, snowboards, skateboards, jackets, and there are three separate tournaments, one for video games, one for pinball and one for Skee ball and prizes.

WR:  Who are some of the more notable gamers you have had in 1up?

DM: We brought Steve Wiebe in and he got the kill screen on Donkey Kong. He did a lesson earlier in the day where he answered everybody’s questions and told people some pointers. He was so nice and humble and just wanted to share his experience with the game. We’ve also had Dwyane Richard in. He was 1985’s gamer-of-the-year and he came down from Canada.

ZJ: The last person I remember coming here was Gary Stern. He walked in and it was like a fucking rock star was here. I was surprised — and I suck at pinball.

DM: It’s fun because we have so many friends playing at The Marquis, Summit [Music Hall], friends that aren’t [usually] in town or you don’t get to see very often, you can be like, “come see me at work,” and they do. We’ve had Ryan Adams, members of Gwar, Every Time I Die, Saves The Day.

WR: When is the worldwide “Kong Off” tournament?

DM: In November we are going to be holding the “Kong Off.” We’re going to have the top eight to 10 players in the world coming to play Donkey Kong. So we’re going to have a full on thing with Wiebe, along with [player] Billy Mitchell.

Tags: arcade, bar, Beer, gamers, LoDo, top

People: Dave Marion, Dwayne Richard, Gary Stern, Ryan Adams, Steve Wiebe, Zac Joe