Triflava came to Denver in the last weekend of August in 2007. They liked it so much they decided to come back a year later — and were lucky enough to come back in a week where not only the Democratic National Convention was in session, but the Afterfive jazz and blues festival as well.

The trio (minus one member) played in the center of the street on the 16th street mall near Glenarm, with hundreds of people walking on both sides every hour and Free Mall Ride buses driving back and forth along the street.

The band’s "host, manager, spoken word comedian" Droopy the Broke Baller (who also calls himself "the black Weird Al Yankovic") said this is one of their few trips otuside the East Coast.

We do a lot of east coast, because we live in DC and a lot of us have full-time jobs so we can’t tour as much as we want to. We’ve done Atlanta, do a lot of Philly a lot of Baltimore, a lot of New York, a lot of east coast stuff. We want to get out more, and this is helping with connecting with that because we have folks who listen to us say they want to pay our way to California.

Triflava were not the only street vendors to be taking advantage of the busy week with many tourists and people walking around Denver.

A few feet away, one of the dozens of T-shirt vendors who have set up shop in town was doing brisk business selling Barack Obama-themed clothing.

The business, 2008 Campaign Wear, came to Denver to captalize on teh large amount of Democrats ready to support Barack Obama.

The most popular shirt was their "edgiest" shirt, one that says "Electile Dysfunction" on the shirt. "We’re selling it to 65 year old women, so its pretty much a hit with everybody," Aaron Hickman, a vendor from Colorado said. His partner, Adam Gordon, is from Los Angeles, CA.

Some shirts, like their Star Wars parody which has "May the force be with you, Obama-wan" screenprinted on the front along with an image of Obama dressed as Obi Wan Kenobi, had already sold out. "We sold about 100 of those today," Hickman said.

Droopy had seen soem signs of the tension which has been noticeable along the streets of Denver. "I saw old ladies get arrested earlier," he said. "There’s a lot going on."

But Droopy believes they are good for those who dont’ want any part of the tension. "People at night want to just kick it," he said. "They want to see something fun, something light-hearted, and that’s what we bring."

Traditional storefront businesses had also been doing brisk business.

At the Walgreens on the 16th Street Mall, a heavy presence of managers was noticeable. One manager told the Independent that managers had been brought in from all across the state to keep watch on the store during the convention. The DNC had at least paid off tor these businesses, "Sales are up about 30 percent," the manager said because of the increased amount of people in the store. But he said "theft is down" — most likely because of one manager standing along the entrance to each aisle keepign a watchful eye on the customers.

The Rite-Aid across the street was a little less busy at the time, but the cashier said the traffic had been "insane."

One Denver resident who recently moved from the Netherlands said at the hotel, her work schedule had been increased significantly. "I’ve worked 42 hours in three days," she said while sipping on her Mint Mocha Chip Frappucino. "But at least I get the overtime."