Before the Roller Coaster, a Merry-Go-Round

In the days before the official start of the Democratic convention, the stars and headliners had yet to show, and Denver still belonged to the staffers, the reporters, the hangers-on, all trying to assess their prospects for the coming week. It felt a little like a wedding weekend, times about a hundred -- the gantlet of parties and receptions, the old friends to catch up with -- and a lot like a fraternity rush: Is this the cool place to be? Or am I missing something cooler?

Playing into that dynamic: The "You Can't Get Into This Party" party, hosted Saturday night by a group of liquor lobbyists on the downtown rooftop of Tamayo, a stylish nuevo-Mexican restaurant. Margaritas, Coronas, bite-size no-fork appetizers in accordance with ethics regs prohibiting full dinners. The talk: Who would be able to get into Sunday night's Dave Matthews Band concert at Red Rocks, following the Virginia reception at the same location for running-mate runner-up Tim Kaine? Is that rumor about a surprise Springsteen concert for real? Oh, and the Biden news, everyone claiming they predicted him four months ago. One political operative tried to bag out early, to the horror of consultant/PR dude Marc Adelman: "We're living the dream!" he cried.

Earlier, it was a "welcome party" for several thousand reporters, delegates and volunteers. The site, a place called Elitch Gardens, turned out to be an amusement park -- but with nothing but grownups lining up for the roller coasters and toting giant teddy-bear prizes. Sort of like "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" or some other dystopian world-without-children. Weird.

The Kanye Question

Kanye Watch! One of the hottest tickets this week is Wednesday night's concert party thrown by the ONE Campaign and the Recording Industry Association of America (so complicatedly exclusive that guests had to show up a week early, in person, to pick up door passes). Why? Because the headliner is narcissist genius rapper Kanye West, which ratchets up the suspense:

· What if he doesn't show? West cemented a prima donna rep at Tennessee's Bonnaroo music festival in June when he insisted his evening show be moved to 2:45 a.m. -- to showcase his elaborate glow-in-the-dark performance -- and then didn't take the stage until almost 4:30 a.m., when few fans were left, or very happy about it.

· What if he does? Remember " George Bush doesn't care about black people"? Kanye + politics + a live mike = something to talk about for days.

Flashback

What did Chuck Hagel know, and when did he know it? Way back in October -- when Joe Biden was still running for president -- the Nebraska Republican senator burst into a Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting on Halloween wearing a custom-made Biden mask and campaign T-shirt. Much hilarity ensued. Hagel gave his pal a photo inscribed, "Joe, I always make you look good"; Biden proclaimed, "Hagel for vice president!"

Hey, Isn't That . . . ?

· Daryl Hannah showing up early in Denver to check out the booths at the Green Frontier Fest (zero-energy homes of tomorrow, raw-food ravioli, organic cotton sheets, pizzas cooked by the sun). First Hollywood sighting of the week! While most stars stick to their side of the velvet rope at invite-only parties, Hannah roamed among the regular folk after giving a speech. White flowy top, black pants, bare feet! Doesn't plan to attend the DNC itself. "I'm doing issue events," she told us.

This Just In . . .

· The happiest guy in the book business is Random House executive Tom Perry, who watched Joe Biden's memoir go from bargain table to bestseller list in 24 hours. Published in summer 2007, "Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics" jumped to the top of Barnes & Noble.com's and Amazon's lists and was sold out by yesterday afternoon, reports AP. "We'll be reprinting," said Perry, who added that the paperback will come out within the week.

Quote of the Day

"You give your e-mail address, you fill out a page about yourself. And then you can have friends in cyberspace . . . So you can have these groups that organize kids, there's messaging that goes on these Web sites where they're told to be at a certain place, come to this meeting, participate in this way."

-- Luke Russert, in his debut yesterday as NBC's pundit for youth issues, patiently telling Chris Matthews (who demanded that Russert "explain to people over 35 right now") yesterday how that newfangled Facebook thing works.