In Da Club

In Denver, the term "lounge" is often thrown around like a drunken cheerleader at a CU kegger, and it usually refers to a few uncomfortable stools, a mainstream DJ and a high-dollar door cover. Well, not anymore. Can you keep a secret? At 1403 Larimer Street, underneath an unmarked door, stands a doorman and a small crowd who have gathered to submerge into Hush. Down the battleship-gray stairway is a very dark, tiny (and often humid) "atmospherics parlor," where the Beautiful People go to meet Average Joe, with all metrosexual types present and accounted for. By 10:30 p.m., this tiny cover-free hovel can be at capacity, but it has enough fluffy, cushy furniture to comfortably sink into. In fact, there are almost too many chaises stacked within its walls, forcing clubbers to trip and tumble their way through the dark. Except for a few piles of flaming candles and a couple of out-of-place roaming video screens, the main light source seems to be the blinding beacon of white fluorescent light coming from the unisex bathroom. But there's something sweetly intimate about the room, and it may just be the magic spinning on Friday and Saturday nights from DJ Matthew Craig's fingertips. Playing a yummy mix of '80s and '90s tunes, including Bowie, Eurythmics and B-sides from Lenny Kravitz, Craig illuminates Hush into a place where stumbling over a stranger suddenly transforms into flirtatious fun. Remember: Mum's the word.