Thirteen years ago, two guys who both dug indie rock became friends.
From their friendship sprung the twice-a-year Crawls, held Downtown in the fall and the spring.
Michael Henningsen, who recently stepped down as editor of the Weekly Alibi after nine years, said he and Joe Anderson met through their girlfriends at the time. They talked music and went to shows together. In 1995, they were inspired by South by Southwest, a music festival in Austin.
"We just thought it was the greatest thing ever," Henningsen said. "We talked about creating something similar in Albuquerque but just feature local music."
They planned the event and pitched it to local bar owners. Crawlers would pay a set price for a wristband, allowing them free access into any of the bars. But issues with the budget put the project on hold.
"We ended up having to shelve the thing for a couple of years," he said.
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The two friends continued to do their own thing, Henningsen at the Alibi and Anderson as a Downtown concert promoter and music producer. Eventually the Alibi agreed to finance the project and advertise the Crawl.
"Without the massive amount of advertisement that goes into it, the Crawl would definitely not exist," Anderson said.
Originally, the two had envisioned the event to be an annual festival, but Henningsen said it was so successful, the Alibi became interested in doing it twice a year.
He said for the first Crawl, twice as many people came than he and Anderson had expected.
"At some point during the night, we both looked at each other in disbelief of the number of people that had come down to see the bands," he said.
He said the first few years, he and Anderson were so busy coordinating the event, it was hard for them to enjoy the music. When he does get a chance to watch the bands, he prefers the outdoor venues.
"It's a little more breathing room," he said. "It's nice to see local bands on giant stages with huge sound systems in an environment you don't normally get to see them in."
Henningsen said from day one, they wanted the bands to be established local musicians.
"There was a lot of emphasis for bands that had already made their names for themselves," he said.
He said their idea was to draw people from the Heights and the Valley and people who don't typically party Downtown.
"We especially drew people who were afraid of Downtown for whatever ridiculous reasons," he said. "That is basically what our success has been based on."
Anderson said the night's lineup is chosen by the venues, which expect to make more during the Crawl than they would on a normal night.
"The main thing the bands need to know is that it's not really a showcase anymore," he said. "Unfortunately, we have to contend with what these venues are doing on a normal Saturday night."
He said this gets in the way of the creative process a little bit.
The first Crawl featured 70 bands on 20 different stages all throughout the Downtown area. He said the most bands ever featured at a Crawl was 120.
Now Anderson is co-owner of the Launchpad and Sunshine Theatre and booking bands and venues is the easy part.
Henningsen said he and Anderson realize the massive crowds Downtown may be dangerous, so they raised the price of tickets in 2003.
"It's an effort to cater to the people who were actually interested in the music and not so much to the people who pay 10 bucks to walk around and cause trouble," he said.
