North Denver's live music history, and today
Written by Cara Tuesday, 12 May 2009 02:45
The North West Denver area has made quite the transformation physically in the last thirty years, but the residents' passion for live music has always remained strong. Denver itself has been a city of tunes since its birth from behind bar doors and venues of international acclaim alike. General William Larimer Jr. plotted the square mile now known as Lower Downtown with cottonwood trunks in 1858, spurred by the glisten of gold in the rivers and hills. The adjacent neighborhood of Auraria acted as a rival to the LoDo community and the two were constantly competing and at odds (FindAGrave.Com). The two neighborhoods were known for fueling this fire with drinking, pranking and of course competition including in music and merrymaking. Now LoDo is home to expensive lofts, nightclubs, high priced restaurants and office space while the neighborhood of Auraria was plowed in the name of higher education. So fellas, who really won anyway?
Denver, 1898 Wikipedia
Music was as inherent and necessary to this city as booze or the Denver omlette, and the opening of the Apollo Theatre in 1859, followed by the Denver and Broadway Theatres thereafter earned Denver international acclaim. In the meantime copycat theaters and venues opened and many quickly closed by the dozens, attempting to capitalize on the music scene (Henry Miles, "Where Music Dwells: Denver's Earliest Concert Spaces." Colorado Heritage 2002). Some of these artifacts remain today in North Denver and beyond, and accompanied by new the development in the last 150 years, the music still plays here.
The lower Highlands, just West of I-25, has seen the greatest amount of development and change amongst the other regions of the area, but like them, an exponential amount of this development has occurred within the last 15-20 years. These days development seems unceasing as lofts rise from scraped properties and empty lots in the area, even in a struggling economy. Along with this surge comes new business, entertainment and opportunity to hear a new (or old) beat. The lower Highlands in particular may seem to have a pretentious vibe, but one might be surprised at what's playing behind closed doors.
Restaurant/bars, such as Lola and Forest Room 5, may be unlikely venues if stopping in for a drink, but experience has deemed them viable, nonetheless. Victim to stereotypes, first these places were avoided by the less than yuppie crowd, until they proved to be host to more than high prices and happy hour to professionals. Local metal band, Meniscus has rocked Lola and Forest Room 5 has been home to countless arts and culture events from film to publications, music and more.
The somewhat strenuous hike up the hill shows less new development, though awkward lofts still poke between the mostly 1900-1940's built houses, while the houses of music begin to embody more history and longevity than the aforementioned. The streets are dotted with evidence of the past, like the vacant Federal theater, and Frank Sinatra types still sing in some of the Italian joints off 38th. Further up the hill rests the Highlands, given its name due to the hill at the insection of 32nd Avenue and Tennyson Street, the highest point in the city of Denver. Just east of this point is Meade Street Station, good eats and drinks and live music every night, as described by the monthly calendar they print and distribute (closed Sundays). And directly North of the high point resides The Oriental Theater, a staple and metamorphosed theater and venue for the last 82 years. It begun as one of the first motion picture theaters and since it has housed not only film, but musical, political, arts and cultural events and more in its history (theorientaltheater.com).
Waymarking.Com Oriental Theater, 1929
And further West yet, just before Wheat Ridge on 38th Avenue, the ever buzzing blues and more club, Ziggie's. Ziggie's is a great, withstanding local venue and their website attests that the bar was a music venue long before they obtained their liquor license in 1964. Their commitment to live music has been enduring in always keeping it aLIVE.
Time and circumstance have changed this historic area of Denver throughout the years, but it seems the toes here and in Denver as a whole have always and will always be tapping. Stay tuned for more on the live music history of this great city.
