Occupying the remodeled space formerly known as Sanctuary is the officially unnamed club every glow-stick waver in Denver is calling “Butterfly” because of the chrysalis symbols on the club’s fliers and the giant butterflies suspended above the dance floor. Whatever its appellation, we just applaud the club’s unusual reliance on…
The past year saw several venues abandon original heavy metal, forcing bands and fans to run for the hills — or the suburbs. Fortunately, Bottoms Up was waiting in Aurora. With a new name, new owners and a newly renovated interior, the bar formerly known as Heimmie’s Pub quickly established…
Heavy-metal fans, leather up and break out the earplugs. House of Rock’s black-clad lineup of head-banging hard rock and metal proves that angry music never dies — it just fades from radio airplay. House of Rock operates from a nondescript warehouse building in Northglenn and features original local and regional…
All the cowboys in cowtown know that for the best country music, you’ve gotta go where the rose is grizzly. Even the Country Music Association named the Grizzly Rose one of the top clubs in the country. The huge complex offers free dance lessons on Wednesdays, weekly performances from local…
What more could a world-weary, bop-starved jazzaholic ask for? At Dazzle, a cozy and stylish boîte in Capitol Hill, the management provides a broad array of fresh talent — local and national — every week, along with a superb sound system, beautifully made cocktails and excellent saloon food, including a…
Dulcinea, what did we do before you were born? Stellar live jazz, blues and funk blare — or sometimes ooze — from this Colfax lair six nights a week. A laid-back, hip Capitol Hill crowd helps give Dulcinea’s the pervasive feeling of comfort; there’s no pretension, just casual cool among…
It’s not the most high-profile club in Denver, nor the biggest. Still, when local bands snag that first weekend slot at Herman’s, they know they’ve reached a benchmark in their careers. One of the few clubs outside LoDo to offer — and need — valet parking, the Hideaway has helped…
Many of the lofts in the Ballpark neighborhood sit empty, casting a ghost-town pall over the area during daylight hours. Still, upper Larimer Street got a considerable jolt of life late last year when the Larimer Lounge opened as a music venue with a formidable calendar. After taking over the…
The Lion’s Lair might be just a cub in Denver’s club kingdom when it comes to size. But in terms of character, it’s elephantine. Whether the live music is punk, alt-country or straight-up rock, expect the experience to be intimate. On packed nights, patrons are often within spitting distance of…
There probably are people who miss the Bluebird Theater’s days as a porn theater, but we doubt many of them are music lovers. Unlike skin flicks — which arguably should be viewed in the privacy of your home, trailer or motel room — the live-music experience is genuinely enhanced by…
The Boulder Theater is not the kind of place you go to get loaded on cheap beer and talk through a performance. Audiences in the palatial, deco-style hall come to actually listen to music, and for good reason: The Theater’s schedule is so eclectic and well-rounded, there really is something…
Perched high in the Gothic Theatre’s cavernous rafters, the bar at the back of the balcony is the optimal place to quaff a drink at a show. Its lofty location allows for a near-bird’s-eye view of the stage as well as the theater’s lively art-deco interior. The atmosphere is cozy…
It’s a tent! It’s a theater! It’s a fully modular, collapsible, portable music venue, planted smack dab in the middle of the Pepsi Center parking lot during warmer months. Replicating a seasonal venue that’s been successful in Boston, CityLights was unfolded last spring as a joint partnership between two powerful…
Carioca Cafe, also known affectionately as “BAR,” after its generic neon sign, squats on the desolate corner of 21st and Champa. The astoundingly cheap drinks and great Tuesday-night DJs Chuck and Brian attract a strange mix of clientele: scooter folk, indie rockers, Joe Hundredaires and, of course, your typical crusty,…
Every Thursday night at Streets of London Pub, DJs Rob Hostetter and Dan Shattuck spin the sweet, deep sounds of ’60s soul music. Shattuck focuses on the Jamaican strains of rocksteady and ska, but Hostetter specializes in northern soul — the stomping, exuberant, dance-inducing style of American R&B originally championed…
Saddle, stumble or slump on up to the piano in the corner at Charlie Brown’s. Even if you’ve overindulged in the bar’s strong cocktails — that’s what people do at Charlie Brown’s, after all — Pauly Lopez’s playing will only sweeten the buzz. A veritable ivory-tinkling encyclopedia of Tin Pan…
When The Simpsons come on at William’s Tavern, all activity stops. The eclectic jukebox (it’s got everything from The Cramps to Hank Williams to Motown) clicks off and patrons hunkered at the bar and sitting in the church pews pay their respects in the House of Simpson. Regulars know to…
People can get their groove — and their buzz — on at Nederland’s Acoustic Cafe. This funky coffee shop, founded by state representative Tom Plant, attracts both yuppie skiers and hippie townies. The diverse clientele comes not only for the beans, but also for the beats. Most Friday and Saturday…
Yuppies go to the Red Room to feel edgy and urban, not to mention partake in a kick-ass selection of microbrews. Hipsters go to the Red Room for the amazing appetizers and $1.75 cans of Old Milwaukee…and, of course, to make fun of the yuppies. The rest of us go…
The see-and-be-seen bar that is the Funky Buddha has an equally fancy-pants upstairs lounge that keeps its cocktail-toting patrons nice and toasty, even in the heart of a snowstorm. In the summer, the plastic eaves roll down, and the place transforms into Denver’s most beatific rooftop patio — and we’re…
As Boulder’s goody-two-shoes influence spreads insidiously across the Front Range, more and more smokers are forced to find public spaces that still allow the open practice of their vice. At Charlie Brown’s, smoking is not only allowed, it’s practically encouraged. Four people settling down to dine will be provided with…
For a bathroom to be considered “the best,” it must reek more of personality than of your drinking buddy’s puke. The men’s restroom at Sancho’s may not be the cleanest in Denver, but like the tie-dyed audience at a Phish show, hygiene is not central to its appeal. With elaborately…
