On the Ides of March forty years ago, Marilyn Megenity opened the forerunner to the Mercury Cafe in Indian Hills. In the fifteen years after that, her cafe/cultural gathering place changed names a couple of times and addresses many more. Since 1990, it’s been at home at 2199 California Street, where Megenity…
Denver’s cityscape is always changing, but lately this boomtown has been exploding. Fortunately, this city is home to many devoted souls working to preserve images of what the Mile High City — and other places around the state — once looked like. While The Denver Eye took the prize as…
Denver caters to karaoke aficionados, with evenings that offer everything from punk-rock backup bands to songbooks filled with Selena songs. We crowned 100% de Agave as the Best Spanish-Language Karaoke in our Best of Denver 2015, but it’s not the only place where you can throw back a tequila shot and belt…
As one of the largest user-generated information sites on the Internet, Wikipedia is a powerful machine. The information shared on Wikipedia can be added and edited by anyone, yet just a fraction of its contributors are women. This Saturday, as part of its Feminism & Co. series, the Museum of…
#28: Daisy McConnell Curator, administrator and artist Daisy McConnell helps to keep Colorado Springs up-to-date — and sometimes even ahead of the pack — on the arts front, as director of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Galleries of Contemporary Art, otherwise known as GOCA 1421, the campus gallery,…
If I had to crown a single film King of the 1980s, I’d pick John Carpenter’s They Live. Not only did the 1988 film come out at the height of its referential decade, it also managed to synthesize the most prevalent themes of ‘80s pop culture into a perfect whole,…
When he was a freshman at the University of Illinois, game developer Zhenghua Yang got sick. The eighteen-year-old’s symptoms started small: a purplish rash on his elbow, a blemish on his face that kept oozing blood — then a nosebleed that gushed for fourteen hours straight. After a test at…
Around this time last year, some residents of the Whittier neighborhood started receiving copies of an anonymous racist letter. Though it contained only two simple lines, expressing who wasn’t “welcome” in one of Denver’s oldest ’hoods, the community united to fight back against the hateful message. This determination — along…
The word “weird” doesn’t really mean much anymore. It’s been diluted by overuse and too many applications — a food can taste “weird”; a person can act “weird”; even a place can make you feel “weird.” But when I think about the kind of art I like and the moments…
#29: Phil Solomon In the realm of experimental film, Phil Solomon is a name to remember: His work has been oft-awarded, screened internationally and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Biennial in New York. For nearly 25 years, he’s been sharing his pioneering techniques and inspiring…
Denver artist Alan Topp first encountered the idea of a zine swap via tumblr, where he connected with a group of zinesters based in the United Kingdom. The zinesters were to submit several of their own publications in exchange for zines published by other artists. Attracted to the community building…
This week we again spotted entrepreneur Davon Williams, wearing Louis Vuitton at 14th and Larimer streets. This time Williams had a Vuitton messenger bag instead of a backpack; he shared what he had in that bag, as well as his insights on his new graphic tee line, Worthless: Priceless Clothing,…
Some movies leave an indelible impression the very first time you see them. For me, one of those movies is Highlander (showing tonight as the debut offering from Fantastique, a new fantasy film series at Alamo Drafthouse). Something — hell, everything — about this eon-spanning, sword-fighting tale of immortals captured…
April is packed with fashion events to keep you looking and feeling as vibrant and bright as spring. Featuring everything from sales to fashion shows, Colorado’s fashion scene is blossoming. Here are the ten best events, in chronological order. 10) Shop Zoe Life April Fool’s Day Sale April 1-3 Online…
This past weekend, I traveled to Boise, Idaho to perform at Treefort Music Fest, a four-day event that takes over downtown Boise featuring live music, art, food, film, theater and interactive activities. I was part of the activities portion, DJing a live amateur dance battle hosted by my roommate Piper’s…
Goggles and rayguns and fancy hats, oh my: A reimagined Victorian age came alive over the weekend at AnimalyCon 2015, Colorado’s premier steampunk gathering for cosplay, mustache-grooming contests, author talks and the study of all things “more science than fiction.” Go back to the future with these photos by Danielle…
When we spotted visual merchandiser Liz Hastings, we had to learn more about her unique street style. “I also make jewelry and thrift and up-cycle clothing and sell it on Etsy,” she says. “I make flower crowns and paint skulls as well.” Nonstop Feeling by Turnstile is her album of the…
The big nerd news of the week, in case you just crawled out of a cave, is the imminent return of The X-Files. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions here, but I did make a case for its return just a little more than six months ago, and here we…
It’s 2015 and it seems we should be long past having an opinion on selfies — taking pictures of ourselves has existed as long as the technology has been available. Really, this is nothing new. But because our behavior has been under the microscope of the Internet via social networks…
Even among the most diehard zombie fans — and I unquestionably count myself among that number — the recent bonanza of zombie everything has led to something like zombie fatigue. What was the last great zombie movie you saw? Mine was The Battery, and that came out in 2012. Similarly,…
#30: Chris Bagley Filmmaker/videographer Chris Bagley studies the fringe artists of Denver and beyond, embedding himself in DIY culture concerns to create documentary portraits of musicians as well as music videos, including Wesley Willis’s Joyrides, a 2008 doc about the late savant musician that he co-directed with Westword MasterMind Kim…
After hosting the Handmade Homemade Market (HaHo), a venture that has helped launch dozens of small craft businesses, Stephen Toma and Dani Lanworthy are taking their concept to the next level with a shared workspace. But they need a Kickstarter campaign to reach its goal in order to take that step, and…
