Go for the Gold Label

They know the secrets of the ice machine, how to anticipate a run on shot glasses, and which tap is a piece of shit: barbacks. The only thing they can’t do is serve a drink. Customers love them -- at least someone behind the bar is working as fast as they can. At the Barback Olympics, they finally get much-deserved applause, though it’ll be cut heavily with laughter, since events like the Ice Bucket Race involve running through tires. Awards are given for restocking beers, changing kegs, and some sort of bottle relay, but bragging rights are the true prize: competing barbacks come from 20 local establishments (last year’s competitors ranged from Zeitgeist and Butter to Annie's Social Club and the Homestead), and their bartenders will be watching.

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Wed., Sept. 23, 8:30 p.m., 2009