Arts & Entertainment >>

• BEST TICKET WINDOW
  Red Rocks Drive-Thru Box Office Red Rocks Park Rd., Entrance 2
  Kudos to the City and County of Denver for finally adding a drive-thru box office for Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Patrons no longer have to park and then hike up the hill; they can just zip up and be on their way. And considering how much walking is already required at the park, this is a... More >>
• BEST PRE-RED ROCKS STOP
  The Blue Cow
  When concert season opens at Red Rocks, the crowds run rampant throughout the tiny burb of Morrison. It's enough to make anyone long for a stiff drink and a classic Americana meal, which is exactly what the Blue Cow provides. Whether you prefer a Bloody Mary, a margarita or a mimosa, the staff... More >>
• BEST NEW PUBLIC ART
  "I See What You Mean" Colorado Convention Center
  The title of Lawrence Argent's sculpture isn't very catchy, and most people will draw a blank when hearing "I See What You Mean," but if we say "The Big Blue Bear" at the Colorado Convention Center, you see what we mean. The piece was an instant hit with the public, and it has become a... More >>
• BEST NEW ART IN THE 'BURBS
  Carol and Don Dickinson Sculpture Garden Foothills Art Center 809 15th St., Golden
  In 2003, Carol Dickinson was facing retirement from directing the Foothills Art Center in Golden, and she decided she wanted to leave a lasting monument. A take-charge sort of gal, Dickinson went to the Foothills board and suggested having Texas artist Jesus Moroles create a sculpture garden in... More >>
• BEST ART ON A PAWNSHOP
  "Aurora Eterna: A Public Spectacle" Pasternack's Pawn Shop
  Aurora's partly seedy, partly rebirthed main drag gets extra marks for effort in 2005. Last fall, Longmont artist Mario Miguel Echevarria put up his "Aurora Eterna: A Public Spectacle" mural atop Pasternack's Pawn Shop, shedding brilliant neon lights on a series of stylized symbols of Aurora... More >>
• BEST FREAK
  Bitter Biker
  The 16th Street Mall is perfect for people-watching and eavesdropping. All manner of freaks can be found on the mall -- from the suited to the suit-less -- but the most amusing to watch is the Bitter Biker. The anonymous cyclist rides up and down the mall yelling, "You are all sinners!" and... More >>
• BEST FREAKFEST
  Boulder Fringe Festival
  The Boulder Fringe Festival is the spawn of a creative seed that began traveling across the ocean nearly fifty years ago. The original fest began in Edinburgh in 1947 and has since happily inspired imitators all over the world. Boulder's version, launched in 2005, was a marathon of spontaneous... More >>
• BEST FREE MULTIMEDIA EXPERIENCE
  Fresh City Life Denver Public Library
  Take the customary author readings and book signings, add popular film series such as "Dueling Divas" (a hiss-off between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis), then throw in cooking demos, knitting and journaling classes, theater, concerts, lectures and oddball do-it-yourself events, and you might... More >>
• BEST FREE ENTERTAINMENT
  Colorado Fire Tribe Confluence Park
  Sunday nights are the hottest of hot summer nights. It's the night that members of the Colorado Fire Tribe meet up at the Confluence Park boat launch to drum and dance with fire. These are spontaneous, informal gatherings -- no tickets, no reservations. People just wander up on the spectacular... More >>
• BEST ANNUAL FESTIVAL -- CITY
  National Western Stock Show www.nationalwestern.com
  Back in 1898, moovers and shakers in this cowtown decided to brighten up the January gloom with a major stock show, complete with free beer and barbecue for the locals. After 30,000 drunken Denverites rioted through the stockyards, city boosters didn't risk another stock show until 1906 -- but... More >>
• BEST ANNUAL FESTIVAL -- MOUNTAINS
  Crested Butte Wildflower Festival www.crestedbuttewildflowerfestival.com
  Crested Butte is Colorado's last rugged, old-style ski village, with a downtown full of Victorian cottages and storefronts dating back to the mining days -- and open space providing a buffer between the town and the condos of the burgeoning ski area. For a week every July, Crested Butte gets... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO TOON IN
  Walnut Room
  The Walnut Room is best known as a place to catch hip bands, listen to spoken-word artists at the monthly Cafe Nuba events and preview movies made by local filmmakers. On Sunday nights, regulars gather around the bar to catch stars of a different sort. Do the names Moe Szyslak and Abu... More >>
• BEST BEATLES BLAST (1 Comment)
  Breakfast With the Beatles The Mountain
  It seems that every rock-and-roll radio station in town has some form of Beatles tribute worked into its rotation, but the Mountain's Sunday-morning Breakfast With the Beatles stands out every week. Rather than endlessly spinning the fifty or so songs everyone knows by heart, DJ Archer digs deep... More >>
• BEST RADIO SHOW,
  CRACK OF DAWN
  Honky Tonk Heroes KGNU
  There's something about the quiet of an early Saturday morning, when the streets are empty and the sky's full of pastels, that makes you feel like the only person on earth. KGNU's Honky Tonk Heroes, three hours of Americana and country-and-Western music, intensifies the disembodied vibe of the... More >>
• BEST PERFORMANCE BY A COLORADAN IN A FILM
  Don Cheadle Crash
  Justly, East High School alum Don Cheadle has become one of Hollywood's most talented, sought-after actors. Two years ago, he gave the world a moral wake-up call with his Oscar-nominated performance in Hotel Rwanda; in 2005, he scored again by portraying a thoughtful Los Angeles homicide... More >>
• BEST LOCAL REFERENCE IN A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
  Match Point
  In Woody Allen's latest movie, Scarlett Johansson plays a sexy wannabe actress in London who initially entrances the tennis-pro protagonist (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), but eventually becomes so loathsome to him that he shotguns her to death and kills an innocent neighbor to cover his tracks. Allen... More >>
• BEST FILM FESTIVAL
  Starz Denver International Film Festival
  The 28th edition of the Starz Denver International Film Festival featured more than 200 films from two dozen countries, as well as in-person visits from such movie-world luminaries as the director, producers and writers of the surprise hit Brokeback Mountain, indie star Philip Baker Hall... More >>
• BEST MOVIE THEATER -- COMFORT
  Denver Pavilions Stadium
  Pre- or post-movie, grab a little loudmouth soup with a couple of olives in it over at Marlowe's, or a slab of lasagna at Maggiano's. The thing that still separates the fifteen-screen Denver Pavilions from all the other largely indistinguishable multiplexes from here to Castle Rock is the... More >>
• BEST MOVIE THEATER -- PROGRAMMING
  Starz FilmCenter
  The Starz FilmCenter withdrew from a deal to relocate to the Lowenstein Theater on East Colfax Avenue, so the movie house will remain in its tatty old digs in the Tivoli building, where the auditoriums are cramped and the amenities minimal. But the films are glorious, the kind of New York-,... More >>
• BEST MOVIE THEATER -- FOOD
  Mayan Theatre
  Care for a carafe with your Capote? Landmark's Mayan Theatre, on hip Broadway, not only has the best food in Denver moviedom (everything from fat bagel dogs to top-notch cookies from Alternative Baking), but as of January, it also features a full bar upstairs. That's right: You can now order an... More >>
• BEST RESURRECTION OF A COLORADO AUTHOR
  Dalton Trumbo's Eclipse
  A few years before the publication of 1939's landmark anti-war novel Johnny Got His Gun, the late author Dalton Trumbo published Eclipse, a satirical and sometimes caustic look at small-town life and politics inspired by Grand Junction, where he grew up. The book promptly went out of print, but... More >>
• BEST LOCALS-SIGHTING IN A BOOK
  Huerfano: Memoir of Life in the Counterculture
  Thirty years ago, Roberta Price found herself facing a true Western dilemma: Be inhospitable to the strangers at her door or serve them the THC-laced doughnuts cooling on the table. The Manhattan-raised Vassar girl chose wisely: She gave the cowboys each a doughnut and sent them on their way,... More >>
• BEST SIGN OF LITERARY LIFE
  Unbridled Books www.unbridledbooks.com
  Fred Ramey and Greg Michalson are proof positive that good novels don't have to come from Manhattan -- they can hail from a cowtown such as Denver, thanks to their publishing house, Unbridled Books. The independent book publisher only puts out ten books a year, which allows Ramey and Michalson... More >>
• BEST PROSE PRO
  Jake Adam York
  If there's anyone who should be frontin' for Denver, it's someone who titles a book of poetry about civil-rights martyrs Murder Ballads. A person who understands that Denver readers want beautifully crafted prose, depth of storytelling and consciousness-raising ideas wrapped in one catchy... More >>
• BEST FREE SERVICE ON SANTA FE DRIVE
  First Fridays shuttle
  Parking along Santa Fe Drive on a Friday night ain't what it used to be, particularly on First Fridays. Visitors could easily spend so much time hunting down a prime parking space that they'd miss out on all the wine and cheese. In December, the Artdistrict on Santa Fe rectified the situation,... More >>
• BEST NEW ARTS ADVOCATE
  Ginger White
  Eco-devo and the arts usually go together like drinking and driving. So many artists thought it was just crazy talk last year when the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs announced it was creating a position that would help artists -- not just big-box retailers -- access economic opportunity.... More >>
• BEST FRIENDS OF CONTEMPORARY ART
  Kent and Vicki Logan
  Starving artists hate that rich people run the show simply by throwing their money around, but thank goodness Kent and Vicki Logan spread the wealth. The couple is giving the Denver Art Museum a $10 million endowment for the modern and contemporary department, more than 300 artworks from their... More >>
• BEST FRIENDS OF COLORADO PHOTOGRAPHY (2 Comments)
  Lisbeth Neergaard Kohloff and Skip Kohloff
  Lisbeth Neergaard Kohloff and her husband, Skip Kohloff, retired from the board of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center last year, giving up their posts as the tag team that ran the place. The Kohloffs got involved with CPAC back in the '80s and have been the backbone of the institution. Over... More >>
• BEST MUSEUM EXHIBIT
  2005 BIENNIAL BLOW OUT Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver
  The scope of the Museum of Contemporary Art's third biennial, 2005 BIENNIAL BLOW OUT, was expanded to include artists from beyond Colorado's borders. Denver dominated the show anyway, with six of celebrity juror Kenny Schachter's ten final selections living in town. This show is one of the most... More >>
• BEST OUT-OF-TOWN MUSEUM EXHIBIT
  Chihuly Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
  Last spring and summer, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center was dominated by Chihuly, an over-the-top extravaganza that highlighted the career of Dale Chihuly. The survey began with some of the glass master's oldest pieces, from the 1970s, and ended with several hot-from-the-furnaces items.... More >>
• BEST ACCIDENTAL MODERN ART SHOW
  Amish Quilts Denver Art Museum
  Amish women from the turn of the last century didn't intend for their quilts to be works of modern art, but that's exactly what happened, as evidenced by last year's Amish Quilts exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. The quilts look much like the minimalist paintings done much later, but the Amish... More >>
• BEST GALLERY SHOW -- SOLO
  Full + Gallery
  Denver painter Bruce Price created a batch of fabulous pieces for FULL: New Paintings by Bruce Price, his solo at + Gallery last fall. Though the work was clearly a continuation of past efforts, the paintings were also completely new-looking. Even though Price is a protege of the great Clark... More >>
• BEST NEW ART BY AN OLD-TIMER
  Jules Olitski Sandy Carson Gallery
  Big-name modernist Jules Olitski got famous in the '60s with color-field paintings. A refinement of abstract expressionism and the softer side of minimalism, color-field pieces are covered in big, unbroken swaths of color. Though many painters still do this kind of thing, Olitski left the style... More >>
• BEST NEW ART BY A NEWCOMER
  Steven Read the color channel Capsule
  For the color channel, Steven Read lined up old television sets at even intervals on the floor of Capsule gallery. High up on the walls, Read mounted tabletop antennae, which gathered UHF waves and transmitted them to the television sets. Read wrote a software program to comprehend the signals... More >>
• BEST UNKNOWN PAINTER
  Ryan Anderson
  The fifth-anniversary show at Space Gallery was aptly titled Untold Riches, considering the marvelous paintings contributed by the inexplicably unknown artist Ryan Anderson. Anderson originally trained as a ceramics artist and was serious enough to snag a stint at Montana's prestigious Archie... More >>
• BEST RUNNING START TO A SUCCESSFUL ART CAREER
  Jenny Morgan
  Though not long out of art school, Jenny Morgan already has distinctions piling up. In the past year, the twenty-something painter has had two solos: First Person at + and Mine Not Yours at Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis. In addition, the Fine Arts Museum of Key West acquired one of her... More >>
• BEST POSTHUMOUS 100TH BIRTHDAY SHOW
  The Centennial of William Sanderson Kirkland Museum
  When Hugh Grant, director of the Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, realized that William Sanderson's 100th birthday was going to come and go without an exhibit, he stepped in and presented a retrospective of the artist. It was the first-ever temporary show in the Kirkland's history, and... More >>
• BEST RETROSPECTIVE
  Shooting Star Vida Ellison Gallery
  The subject of Shooting Star at the Vida Ellison Gallery in the Denver Central Library was painter Frank Mechau, who was born in Colorado in 1904. He left for Paris in the 1920s, and when he returned in the 1930s, modernism was among the many souvenirs he brought back with him. Shooting Star --... More >>
• BEST HISTORIC WESTERN SHOW
  Colorado and the West David Cook Fine Art
  LoDo's David Cook Fine Art has cornered the market on Western landscapes, whether done in the impressionist style of the early twentieth century or the early-modernist style of the mid-century. Both types were displayed last summer in Colorado and the West, a show that included more than 100... More >>
• BEST SET OF CONTEMPORARY WESTERN SHOWS
  Don Stinson, Kevin O'Connell and David Sharpe, with Eric Paddock and Chuck Forsman Robischon Gallery
  Typically when a gallery presents different shows at the same time, there's nothing that connects them. That's not the case with Don Stinson, Kevin O'Connell and David Sharpe, a trio of exhibits at Robischon Gallery that are supplemented with pieces by Eric Paddock and Chuck Forsman. Each artist... More >>
• BEST SHOW ABOUT ANDY WARHOL
  Andy Warhol's Dream America Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
  Andy Warhol is still a household name in art and pop culture because he changed the way people thought about many things, from Campbell's Soup to Mao. His power to turn heads and change minds was shown off in the blockbuster Andy Warhol's Dream America at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.... More >>
• BEST SHOW PARODYING ANDY WARHOL (1 Comment)
  The Next Big Thing Rhinoceropolis
  Rhinoceropolis is a funky little art spot with an outre attitude, as much a crash pad and party house as an art gallery. Last summer it hosted an intriguing solo titled The Next Big Thing that was dedicated to the work of emerging artist Justin Simoni. The show included prints, documented... More >>
• BEST SHOW TO FAST-FORWARD FROM THE '60S
  Maynard Tischler Victoria H. Myhren Gallery
  Maynard Tischler is a local legend in ceramics. He's taught at the University of Denver for more than forty years and is well known for his pop-art ceramic sculptures, including a dead-on depiction of a box of books from nearly a half-century ago. That piece directly anticipated some of his... More >>
• BEST SHOW TO FAST-FORWARD FROM THE '70S
  Dale Chisman Rule Gallery
  The Dale Chisman solo at Rule Gallery was partly devoted to Chisman's work from the 1970s in New York, and partly given over to recent paintings done here in his Denver studio. It's striking how consistent his aesthetic has been. Both types featured simple palettes of strong colors and had all... More >>
• BEST LOW-TECH INSTALLATION SHOW
  Step Right Up! Studio Aiello
  Longtime alternative-scene habitue David Seiler went off to the Bemis Art Center to work, and the results of his efforts were put on display at Studio Aiello last fall. Step Right Up! was one of the last outings at the now-closed exhibition venue, and it was a fitting sendoff. Seiler installed a... More >>
• BEST HIGH-TECH INSTALLATION SHOW
  Nowhere Artyard Contemporary Sculpture
  David Zimmer was one of the hot art kids in Denver ten years ago, but he moved away, and it was out of sight, out of mind. Nowhere, at Artyard, was his first solo in town in nine years, and it reminded everyone why he'd earned the early local fame. The genuine standouts were his newer pieces:... More >>
• BEST ARTIST IN AN EXPERIMENTAL PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW
  Bonny Lhotka Illusions Walker Fine Art
  The two-story space at Walker Fine Art was the perfect setting for Bonny Lhotka's digital photo enlargements, which were part of a group effort titled Illusions. Lhotka, who has a substantial exhibition record, is an experimental photo artist who uses novel techniques, such as lenticular... More >>
• BEST PHOTO HISTORY SHOW
  Early Colorado Contemporary Photography Gallery Sink
  Most of the photographers in Early Colorado Contemporary Photography at Gallery Sink were fairly obscure -- but they shouldn't be. This show provided a good start at turning that around. Jim Milmoe, whose career in the area dates back fifty years, organized the show, and he included some of his... More >>
• BEST DRAWING SHOW
  Testify Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities
  Pastels seem like an unlikely material for an artist seeking photographic realism, but that's exactly what Riva Sweetrocket uses. Her drawing style is neo-pop, and she gives more than a little tip of the hat to the great artists of the '60s in her work. The large-format drawings displayed in her... More >>
• BEST COMPUTER-AIDED ART SHOW
  Original + Digital Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis
  In the mid-twentieth century, a loose-knit group of New Mexico artists embraced the international transcendentalist movement and began putting spiritual references into their paintings. They depicted the sights of the Land of Enchantment with geometric and organic shapes and bright colors.... More >>
• BEST CERAMICS SHOW
  microCOSMIC Spark Gallery
  Good evidence that Spark Galley is a center for ceramics was the microCOSMIC exhibit, a handsome solo devoted to the nature-based abstractions of Katie Martineau-Caron. Seeds, pods, plants and even viruses inspire her sculptures' shapes, and she tries to emulate the colors and textures of the... More >>
• BEST GALLERY SHOW -- GROUP
  Summer Group Exhibition Rule Gallery
  Summer Group Exhibition was clearly thrown together at the last minute, but gallery director Robin Rule is such a pro that it was still excellent. Just by pulling stuff from storage, she was able to present a variety pack that rivaled the MCA's biennial. Summer Group Exhibition brought together... More >>
• BEST SCULPTURE SHOW
  Andy Miller: New Work + Gallery
  Andy Miller specializes in ambitious installations, but for his show at + Gallery, he opted for geometric wall-hung sculptures. Braille adorned each of the new pieces, and the simple shapes Miller used were meant to be icons expressing the sentiments of the Braille statements, which he... More >>
• BEST SCULPTURE DUET
  Bryan Andrews and Joe Riche Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities
  Bryan Andrews and Joe Riche share studio space and both sculpt, but that's where the comparison ends. Andrews carves wood; Riche welds metal. Nonetheless, their work looks great together in their paired solos at the Arvada Center. Andrews's show, Auditioning Gods, continues his "fetem" series of... More >>
• BEST COMPANION SHOWS
  Tracy Felix and Sushe Felix William Havu Gallery
  Husband-and-wife painters Tracy and Sushe Felix have been exhibiting their work in tandem for years, so it was really interesting that the William Havu Gallery scheduled them in separate, back-to-back presentations. They were both influenced by the art history of Colorado and New Mexico, but... More >>
• BEST DUELING SHOWS (1 Comment)
  Leaving Aztlan and Never Leaving Aztlan
  Politically aware realist painting has been the mainstay of Chicano art for decades. In recent years, however, more and more Mexican-American artists have branched out into what's known as "post-Chicano" art. This switch was the topic of last spring's Leaving Aztlan at Metro State's Center for... More >>
• BEST ANTI-WAR SHOW
  Iswaswillbe Singer Gallery
  There were no overt references to the war in Iraq in Iswaswillbe, but there were plenty of things that referred to war in general. The title painting, in particular, was tough to look at: A robust SS officer in full Nazi regalia drapes his arm around a skeleton wearing a prayer shawl. The Singer... More >>
• BEST ARTIST AT PISSING OFF THE RIGHT WING
  Tsehai Johnson
  The Independence Institute's Jon Caldara isn't in favor of public support for art, believing that it should be left to the private sector. So when he was tipped off that Tsehai Johnson, who had received a grant from the Colorado Council on the Arts, had earlier used dildos as an inspiration for... More >>
• BEST REASON TO GO OUT
  Theatre Night Out www.coloradotheatreguild.org
  Ten bucks per person to see live theater? That's downright insanity. But the Colorado Theatre Guild made it so by launching Theatre Night Out in 2005. For just $80, subscribers get to see eight different shows at eight different theaters, everything from next month's musical Chess at Next Stage... More >>
• BEST REASON TO GO OUT ON TUESDAY NIGHTS
  Self-Made Mario's Double Daughter's Salotto
  Tuesday nights are tough. It's hard to justify hitting the town when there's still three days left of the work week. Still, sometimes a little tippling is in order. Self-Made is right there for you. The weekly salon, hosted by artist Katie Taft, brings in other local artists to talk about... More >>
• BEST BOREDOM BUSTER
  Denver Center Theatre Academy Theatre Daze
  School vacations sound good on paper, but when the break actually arrives, children and parents are suddenly faced with a lot of hours to fill. Theatre Daze provides a great stopgap for vacationing kids ages three to twelve. The program offers fully planned and expertly taught daylong activities... More >>
• BEST THEATER PRODUCTION
  El Conquistador Lucidity Suitcase
  Thaddeus Phillips has a knack for simultaneously thinking large and small: huge themes, ingenious low-tech devices for carrying them out. He can create a desert from a sand-filled suitcase, an army out of toy soldiers. In The Earth's Sharp Edge, he brought Palestinian guerrilla Leila Khaled back... More >>
• BEST THEATER SEASON
  Denver Center Theatre Company
  This was a bridge year for the Denver Center Theatre Company. Former artistic director Donovan Marley went out in style with the beautiful sepia visuals of Fire on the Mountain, a compilation of music, photographs and accounts of the lives of miners that became more and more tragically relevant... More >>
• BEST SEASON FOR AN ACTRESS
  Erica Sarzin Borrillo
  It's a telling comment on the shortage of roles for women that almost no local actress has worked in more than one or two productions this year, but Erica Sarzin-Borrillo made her two appearances -- in Poignant Irritations at the Mizel Center and A Delicate Balance at Germinal Stage Denver --... More >>
• BEST SEASON FOR AN ACTOR
  Ed Baierlein
  Sometimes Ed Baierlein makes it look almost too easy. Along with his wife, Sallie Diamond, he is the soul and driving force behind Germinal Stage Denver, the city's oldest serious theater company, directing plays he selects and starring in many of them. Baierlein's performing style is so low-key... More >>
• BEST SEASON FOR A DIRECTOR
  Israel Hicks
  Two of the season's most memorable productions were the work of Israel Hicks. The Madwoman, an update of Giraudoux's Madwoman of Chaillot, focuses on the grandly near-destitute Countess Aurelia, who saves New York from greedy contractors. Hicks's production was brilliantly cast: Kathleen M.... More >>
• BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA
  Chris Reid Bug Curious Theatre Company
  Bug was a study of psychosis -- an involving thriller without a lot of psychological complexity. The protagonist, Peter, moved in with a drug- and booze-addled woman and infected her with his phobia about bugs. Pretty soon the cheap motel room was filled with bug repellants and he was mutilating... More >>
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA
  Charles Weldon Gem of the Ocean Denver Center Theatre Company
  What is there to say about Charles Weldon, other than that he's brilliant? In Gem of the Ocean, he played Solly Two-Kings, a man of great depth and courage, an escaped slave who risked his life and his freedom working on the underground railroad. Two-Kings could transmute dog shit into something... More >>
• BEST COMEDY (1 Comment)
  Heartbreak House Germinal Stage Denver
  Though not a perfect play, George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House is a brilliant and thought-provoking one. The study of English upper-class culture in decline revealed itself as sexy as well as funny under the guiding hand of Ed Baierlein. The main characters -- Captain Shotover, a retired... More >>
• BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
  Jamie Horton A Flea in Her Ear Denver Center Theatre Company
  It doesn't matter how much you praise Jamie Horton, you're never being hyperbolic. He's a deeply talented actor, at home in classics and contemporary work, comedy and tragedy -- well, perhaps with a slight tilt toward comedy. In A Flea in Her Ear, Horton was in his element, playing two very... More >>
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
  IN A COMEDY
  Mark Rubald The Madwoman Denver Center Theatre Company
  Mark Rubald is always a pleasure to watch, and he gave perhaps the most delightful performance of his career as the Sewer Man who helped Countess Aurelia save New York in The Madwoman. A true gentleman, though possessed of a jaunty workingman's swagger, this Sewer Man knew all the secrets of the... More >>
• BEST REASON TO ATTEND THE COLORADO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
  Sean Tarrant Twelfth Night
  Somehow the Colorado Shakespeare Festival managed to transform this warmhearted, poetic comedy into a drearily uninspiring evening. The production had one saving grace: Sean Tarrant's Malvolio. Malvolio is a vain, mean-spirited buffoon who's convinced by a trick letter that the mistress of the... More >>
• BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA (1 Comment)
  Jackie Billotte Unmerciful Good Fortune Firehouse Theater Company
  Barely out of her teens, a former gangbanger and the product of a violent home, Fatima is in prison for poisoning several customers in the fast-food joint where she worked. She claims to be able to see the future, and she exerts a profound influence on everyone who comes in contact with her --... More >>
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
  IN A DRAMA
  Kim Staunton Gem of the Ocean Denver Center Theatre Company
  Kim Staunton was silent for long stretches of the play as she cooked, cleaned and did the laundry for the imperious, semi-mythical central character, Aunt Ester. But her silence was more eloquent than most other people's impassioned speech. You could see what Staunton's character, Mary, thought... More >>
• BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
  Kristina Denise Pitt Heartbreak House Germinal Stage Denver
  Kristina Denise Pitt comes across as a smart, self-contained little cookie -- not at all conceited, but quite aware of her own attractiveness. Her voice is clear and pleasant. She holds herself well. "Spunky" is the word she brings to mind. In short, she's the perfect choice for one of those... More >>
• BEST PORTRAYAL OF
  HUMAN NASTINESS
  The Mercy Seat Paragon Theatre Company
  The protagonist of Neil LaBute's play views the September 11 disaster as an opportunity: It means he can let his wife and children assume he died at the World Trade Center while he runs off with his equally contemptible mistress. And yet there were moments during the Paragon production when you... More >>
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
  Annette Helde The Madwoman Denver Center Theatre Company
  Sure, it was a tiny role -- the woman didn't even really have a name -- but there was no mistaking the electricity that zinged through the air when Annette Helde shot on stage in her wheelchair and cut through the other characters' confusions and rationalizations with commands barked out in a... More >>
• BEST MUSICAL
  Assassins Next Stage Theatre Company
  Assassins, with music by Stephen Sondheim, tells the story of assassins and would-be assassins of American presidents, from Booth to Oswald. With its controversial theme and difficult songs, this was an amazingly gutsy choice for a small company. Next Stage made it work with an excellent cast... More >>
• BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SHAKESPEARE PRODUCTION
  Ruth Eglsaer Measure for Measure Denver Center Theatre Company
  Isabella is a would-be nun, the sister of a young man whom Angelo, a religion-crazed deputy, condemns to death for fornication. Although she pleads for her brother's life, Isabella is in her own way as narrow and judgmental as Angelo; it is through suffering that she is eventually humanized.... More >>
• BEST PRODUCER TO LEAVE
  HER POST (1 Comment)
  Brandi Mathis
  For five years, some of the area's most interesting theater took place on a small, square stage above the galleries at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, courtesy of Brandi Mathis, artistic director for the space. There was Eric Bogosian skewering the zeitgeist, singer-actress Ethelyn... More >>
• BEST PERFORMANCE BY A TEENAGER
  Scott Ryan Kimberly Akimbo Nomad Theatre
  It takes a lot of poise and talent for a teenager to romance a middle-aged woman on stage, but that's what high school sophomore Scott Ryan was called on to do in Kimberly Akimbo. The protagonist is a teenage girl suffering from a rare disease that causes her to age at warp speed. Jeff can see... More >>
• BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
  Nick Sugar Rocky Horror Show Avenue Theater
  He was lewd. He was lurid. He was omnisexual. He was delicious. Whenever Nick Sugar steps onto a stage, he owns it, and Dr. Frank-N-Furter is a role he was born to play. What can we say, except that he strutted and preened and sang and flashed that crimson-lipped, lemon-wedge-shaped smile until... More >>
• BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
  IN A MUSICAL
  Todd Coulter Assassins Next Stage
  There were a number of fine performances in this edgy production, but the most memorable was that of Todd Coulter as the mad evangelist Charles Guiteau, who shot President James Garfield because he was angry at not being named ambassador to France. The real-life Guiteau wrote a poem before his... More >>
• BEST SCENE-STEALER
  IN A MUSICAL
  Brian Mallgrave Ruthless Nonesuch Theater Company
  Brian Mallgrave can produce a melodious soprano when he wants to, but he gave Sylvia St. Croix a strong and surprising baritone -- even though he played the role in drag. A multiple-threat performer -- Mallgrave can sing and act, be funny or serious, take on straight plays or musicals -- he was... More >>
• BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
  Gina Schuh-Turner Ruthless Nonesuch Theater Company
  Gina Schuh-Turner deployed a huge, bright voice, perfect poise and perfect timing in this extended piece of camp. In the first act, she was Judy Denmark, prissing around in a belled-out skirt and gauzy little apron as the perfect housewife and mother. In the second act, she transformed into... More >>
• BEST DRAMA,
  LARGE THEATER COMPANY
  All My Sons Denver Center Theatre Company
  Though it's not as well-known as Death of a Salesman, and though it has dated and creaky moments, All My Sons showcases Arthur Miller's genius and reveals his emotional and ethical depths. An excellent choice for the Denver Center, it raises questions that are as pertinent today as they were in... More >>
• BEST DRAMA,
  SMALL THEATER COMPANY
  Topdog/Underdog Shadow Theatre Company
  Artistic director Jeffrey Nickelson scored a coup in acquiring Pulitzer winner Suzan-Lori Parks's script for production, and he and director Hugo Sayles did the play proud. Nickelson and Damion Hoover played a pair of inner-city brothers named Lincoln and Booth. Both gamesters, they spent their... More >>
• BEST SHAKESPEARE PRODUCTION
  Measure for Measure Denver Center Theatre Company
  Kent Thompson's first Shakespeare production in Colorado was the best the state had seen in years. What worked? Almost everything: The setting in fin de siecle Vienna, the music, the costumes, the cast, which included the luminous Ruth Eglsaer as Isabella, Brent Harris as a surprisingly human... More >>
• BEST PLAY BY A LOCAL PLAYWRIGHT
  Poignant Irritations Melissa Lucero McCarl
  Commissioned to create a play about Gertrude Stein for the Mizel Center for Arts and Culture, McCarl came up with this fractured, episodic meditation on Stein's art and relationship with the faithful Alice B. Toklas. Each scene was given a semi-nonsensical title -- "Scene Sic Tea Nine:... More >>
• BEST PRODUCTION BASED ON PRINCIPLE
  Dead Man Walking Denver Victorian Playhouse
  The men on America's death rows, their lingering, useless days, the terror of the hours until countdown: Most of us rarely think about them, but like the mad aunt in the attic, they are always there, haunting the fringes of consciousness. University of Denver's Sturm College of Law, in... More >>
• BEST TIMING FOR A PRODUCTION
  Inherit the Wind Modern Muse Theatre Company
  A CBS News poll revealed last fall that 51 percent of Americans believe that God created human beings in their present form. When Inherit the Wind was written, in 1955, religious attacks on evolution seemed safely in America's past, but since then, the anti-Darwinists have regrouped full force.... More >>
• BEST THEATER PERSON WE LOST
  Al Brooks The Changing Scene
  On February 7, a group of people gathered at Germinal Stage Denver to remember Al Brooks and the theater that he and his wife, Maxine Munt, had run on Champa Street for more than thirty years. The group included actors, directors, dancers, writers, visual artists and Brooks's nephew, playwright... More >>
• BEST THEATRICAL RESURRECTION
  Denver Victorian Playhouse
  The story of this theater, like much of Denver's history, was shaped by tuberculosis. At the turn of the previous century, George Swartz, a tuberculosis patient and Shakespeare aficionado, moved to the area for its dry, sunny climate and bought a house. He built a theater into his basement and... More >>
• BEST THEATER RESURRECTION -- WEST SIDE
  Oriental Theatre
  Taking over one of those old, defunct theaters and turning it into something grand is a common fantasy. It's much less common that people actually do it. Why? Because many of these places are decaying pieces of crap that are fraught with dangers economic, psychological and physical. The... More >>
• BEST THEATER RESURRECTION -- EAST SIDE
  Ogden Theatre
  It's hard to remember a time when the Ogden Theatre wasn't a showcase for local and national acts. But it was just thirteen years ago that the old auditorium was bought by Doug Kauffman of Nobody in Particular Presents and turned into a music venue. Even though he brought the space up to code,... More >>
• BEST EXAMPLE OF SPREADING THE MUSIC
  Instrumentos de la Libertad 720-225-9288
  The days when music lessons were a sign of wealth and privilege are over in Denver -- or, at least, they're on their way out, thanks to local jazz saxophonist Jason Justice. When Justice saw a need for better music education for children in poor urban communities, he formed Instrumentos de la... More >>
• BEST OPEN MIKE
  Cafe Cultura Denver Inner City Parish
  Denver's performance-poetry scene has exploded in recent years, with readings, happenings, open mikes and slams nearly every night of the week. And while the Mercury Cafe still hosts the hottest slam every Sunday, and Cafe Nuba is still so hip it keeps outgrowing its host venues, Cafe Cultura is... More >>
• BEST AFTER-HOURS OPERA
  Classic Arts Showcase Denver 8 TV 303-377-5388
  Never mind the cappuccino -- how about a cup of Puccini for a nightcap? Romanian folk dances at three in the morning? Seven nights a week, from midnight until 7 a.m., insomniacs and culture-lovers can binge on Classic Arts Showcase, an unpredictable lineup of arias, dance numbers and concert... More >>
• BEST FEMINIST BURLESQUE SHOWS
  Estrojam benefits Trilogy Wine Bar
  Okay, so Denver's not Chicago, where every year artists, musicians, educators, activists and community leaders join forces for Estrojam, a concert/workshop/panel/discussion/film festival designed to promote and benefit pro-woman, non-profit organizations that support non-violent social change.... More >>
• BEST AERIAL BURLESQUE STAR
  Brandy Dew
  How many urban areas can claim a circus burlesque artist as a local? Thanks to Brandy Dew, Denver is one of the few. The bold beauty teaches classes at Broomfield's Flashdance Studios and studies with the Boulder Academy of Circus Arts and CU-Boulder's Theater and Dance program. If you've ever... More >>
• BEST BELLY DANCERS
  Kaya and Sadie www.kayaandsadie.com
  There's no shame in following a trend if the craze in question is belly dancing. Local shimmiers Kaya and Sadie are the finest of Denver's hip-undulating sirens; both are world-class belly dancers who've showcased their skills in instructional videos, in dance workshops and at a range of events... More >>
• BEST CELTIC FIDDLE PLAYER
  Gina Lance Canned Haggis
  There's no dearth of Irish bands in this town, from the staunchly traditional to those just taking the piss. What sets Canned Haggis apart is the catgut mastery of Gina Lance. Like the middle Dixie Chick and Nickel Creek's Sarah Watson rolled into one, Lance extends her talents well beyond... More >>
• BEST ONE-MAN BAND
  Pictureplane
  A dime a dozen? Even adjusted for inflation, most solo singer-songwriters aren't worth the grain of salt you're forced to take them with. The one-man band, though, remains a rare and noble calling. Just ask Travis Egedy, who performs and releases music under the name Pictureplane. Whether he's... More >>
• BEST GUY WHO SPENDS FORTY HOURS A WEEK AT BAND PRACTICE
  Neil Keener
  Neil Keener is a busy dude. He moved here from Chicago over a year ago with his band Git Some and has since picked up permanent bass duties both in Planes Mistaken for Stars and Red Cloud West, all while beating the hell out of the drums for both Angerthrone and Country Doughnuts. Keener also... More >>
• BEST MUSICAL REFUGEE
  Henry Butler
  Jambands.com reports that at a late 2005 gig in these parts, Henry Butler told the audience, "I just moved to Boulder, and I'm freezing my ass off." The temperature in Colorado was only one of the shocks Butler has lived through during the past year. The gifted blues/funk pianist has long been... More >>
• BEST MUSIC VIDEO DIRECTOR
  Vincent Comparetto
  Transplanted Yankee Vincent Comparetto has been making a name for himself in Denver for years as a stunning visual artist and graphic designer. But after directing a low-budget video for his friends in Vaux a few years back, his music-video workload began to snowball. Since then, he's picked up... More >>
• BEST MUSICIAN TO BE STOLEN BY NASHVILLE PUSSY
  Karen Exley
  If Nashville Pussy had been content to peddle its Nugent punk to the Southern-rock scene -- or Antiseen, as it were -- only burnouts still lamenting G.G. Allin's death would take note. But the bandmembers have shaken things up recently. First they cut loose Amazon junkie Corey Parks, then... More >>
• BEST FRONTMAN
  Nick Urata DeVotchKa
  DeVotchKa deserves more awards -- and cash and Grammys and groupie-filled hot tubs -- than there are room or resources for here. It's never seemed, however, that this group's been in it strictly for the filthy lucre. After all, gypsy-tango-sousaphone rock hasn't climbed very high on the Amazon... More >>
• BEST FRONTWOMAN
  Hayley Helmericks Monofog
  There's nothing about Monofog that doesn't rule. But the first thing that strikes you -- and the last thing that lingers -- is the voice of Hayley Helmericks. Part Patti Smith, part PJ Harvey and part Hurricane Katrina, Helmericks howls like a poetic force of nature, lending an almost... More >>
• BEST SINGER-SONGWRITER
  Angie Stevens
  Go on: Just try to find a single soul who's seen Angie Stevens live and not been completely entranced. Backed by a stellar cast of musicians, Stevens engages audiences in a way that makes every performance feel intimate, like she's playing her songs just for you. The amiable chanteuse has shared... More >>
• BEST LIVE BAND
  Vaux
  To say that Vaux has a combustible live show is like saying Ashton Kutcher is sort of telegenic. With six equally virtuosic members, it's hard to decide what part of Vaux's frenzied, retina-searing sets to focus on -- the light canister wobbling back and forth on Ryder Robison's bass cabinet in... More >>
• BEST METAL BAND (1 Comment)
  Valiomierda
  Valiomierda has its priorities in order. Yes, the band delivers lyrics in Spanish and Portuguese as well as in English, but trilingualism is less important to cohorts Lance Julander, Val Landrum, Bart McCrorey and Igor Panasewicz than is rocking listeners to within an inch of their lives. Thanks... More >>
• BEST BAND NAME CHANGE
  Moccasin
  First came Nightingale. Good band. But that name? Not so much. Fortunately for the world at large -- which surely would have assumed that Nightingale was some crappy goth-metal act and avoided it forever -- the group was inspired to change its name by one of the dozens of outfits that already... More >>
• BEST BAND WITH THE WORST NAME
  Red Cloud West
  Remember back when Mile High Stadium became officially known as Invesco Field at Mile High? All but on-air commentators stubbornly refused to refer to the facility as anything other than Mile High. That same sort of logic prevails here with the act originally dubbed Red Cloud (which counts... More >>
• BEST NEW BAND (1 Comment)
  Ghost Buffalo
  With so many recent shakeups, it's surprising that Ghost Buffalo isn't a ghost of itself. But despite that fact that founding guitarist Matt Bellinger left his main band, Planes Mistaken for Stars, right around the time that Planes drummer Mike Ricketts left Ghost Buffalo, GB landed on its feet... More >>
• BEST UP-AND-COMING BAND
  (die) Pilot
  The band's members themselves might deny it with their dying breaths, but (die) Pilot's quirks are what make it so captivating. Unlike so many other bands trying to force vast Coldplay/Pink Floyd vistas through the tiny straw of indie rock, singer/guitarist Eugene Brown and crew allow just the... More >>
• BEST BAND COMEBACK
  Painstake
  How short Denver's collective memory can be. A mere decade ago, Painstake was the hardcore band in town to beat. But in 1998, the group (which counts Vaux guitarist Adam Tymn as an alum) went on hiatus -- a break that everyone, the group included, eventually assumed was permanent. Earlier this... More >>
• BEST SUPERGROUP
  Quadramess
  Supergroups suck and should all die. Lucky for them, the members of Quadramess disown the "supergroup" tag, preferring the slightly more humble description "a bunch of has-beens." But really, they're being too hard on themselves. Featuring former players from Dressy Bessy, the Czars, Jux County... More >>
• BEST SIDE PROJECT
  The Wheel
  Whatever you do, don't ask the members of your favorite group why they start side projects. The answer is always the same old cliche: "We have all these songs that don't fit with our main band, blah blah blah." The Wheel, however, means it. Nathaniel Rateliff, along with his Born in the Flood... More >>
• BEST BAND TO SCALE GLACIERS TO
  Across Tundras
  What happens when you scale a glacier? Let's see: You go blind from all the unfiltered sunlight glaring off the ice. Your patience and endurance are pushed to the precipice. Your muscles quiver and your blood runs cold. And then, as hypothermia sinks into your marrow, the eternal plane of... More >>
• BEST ONLINE MUSIC STORE
  Beatport www.beatport.com
  When CEO Jonas Tempel brought Beatport into the world two years ago, no one knew how a DJ-oriented, online music vendor would fly. Over a million downloads later, it's clear that Beatport is more than a success story; it's a paradigm. And it just keeps getting better. With an ever-expanding... More >>
• BEST MUSIC ZINE -- WEB
  Japanimplosion www.japanimplosion.com
  Regardless of how much time we all spend on the Internet, e-zines are fighting an uphill battle. Music fans have been conditioned by generations of hard-copy periodicals, both local and national, and the relative ease of throwing up an online zine ensures a crowded playing field. Stephen,... More >>
• BEST MUSIC ZINE -- PRINT
  All Need Is Music
  Tom Murphy is everywhere. You can't turn around without seeing him front and center at a local rock show, absorbing sounds and impressions -- data that he relays to All Need Is Music. Founded in 2003, the thick, photocopied zine is nearly encyclopedic in scope, with comprehensive interviews of... More >>
• BEST RECORD LABEL
  Morning After www.morningafterrecords.com
  Dan Rutherford has been one frenzied individual during the past year. On the heels of his successful debut release, Hot IQs' An Argument Between the Brain and the Feet, he unleashed the Photo Atlas's No, Not Me, Never -- and proved that the excellence of his Morning After Records was no fluke.... More >>
• BEST DIY LABEL
  Still Soft Recordings www.stillsoftrecordings.com
  Sure, it could be easily argued that all local indie labels are DIY. But the ethos of do-it-yourself are more than just an economic necessity for Still Soft Recordings -- they're its entire raison d'etre. Patterned after national imprints like K and States Rights, Still Soft is the brainchild of... More >>
• BEST LABEL YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF
  Ash From Sweat Records www.metallicweb.com/ashfromsweat/home.htm
  Founded in the sweltering summer months of 2001, Ash From Sweat Records is a labor of love for brothers Dan and Dennis Phelps. The little label brought big-city DIY to Wheat Ridge, creating a post-hardcore insurrection hub in a most unlikely neighborhood. Since the first few releases were issued... More >>
• BEST LABEL YOU'VE HEARD OF BUT SHOULD HEAR AGAIN
  Not Bad Records www.notbadrecords.com
  Not Bad Records is getting old. Its logo of a fat guy chomping down on a vinyl record has been a stamp on the local scene for almost a decade. The label -- run by Chuck Coffey and Don Bersell -- has been home to some of the town's favorite (but now defunct) punk wonders like Qualm, Pinhead... More >>
• BEST RECORDING STUDIO
  Uneven Studio
  Bryan Feuchtinger...Bryan Feuchtinger. Where have you heard that name before? Most likely in the same breath as Hot IQs, the band he plucks the bass guitar in. But there's an even better chance you've run across his moniker in the liner notes of a local CD. Over the past couple of years, Uneven... More >>
• BEST SLOW-BURN ALBUM
  Worst Plan Ever Ten Cent Redemption
  Like a time-release capsule of clinical-grade dopamine, Ten Cent Redemption's Worst Plan Ever gets infinitely better with each listen. Americana with tinges of Brit-pop texture, Ten Cent's songs ache and twang with equal abandon and make you forget about the bandmembers' past affiliations -- a... More >>
• BEST HIP-HOP COMPILATION
  Low Budget Soul Various Artists
  If there's a single document that nails the most striking highlights of Denver's burgeoning hip-hop scene, this is it. Despite its title, Low Budget Soul sounds like it cost a fortune to produce. It's all the more stunning, then, to discover that it was birthed in a cramped bedroom studio in... More >>
• BEST ROCK COMPILATION
  Cuve 3 Various Artists
  At first glance, it looks like Boulder-based Adventure Records made some pretty lazy choices for its Cuvee 3 compilation: DeVotchKa, Hot IQs, the Swayback, Monofog, the Omens, Bright Channel, Matson Jones. But between all of these heavy-hitters -- none of which contributes exclusive songs -- are... More >>
• BEST SAMPLE FROM A FORMER SAMPLE
  Mr. Anonymous Mr. Anonymous
  The Samples were once among the biggest bands in these parts, yet their music's reggae accents generally had more in common with Sting than with the true giants of the genre. Not so Mr. Anonymous, in which former Sample Jeep MacNichol (always the wild card of the group) infuses his pop... More >>
• BEST HIP-HOP CD WITH A LATIN FLAVOR
  Mental Advisory The S.P.I.C.S.
  Spanish Poets Invading Colorado Streets -- the S.P.I.C.S. for short -- are neither reggaeton-inspired bandwagon-jumpers nor mere mainstream-rap imitators. Rather, Joel-C and Cryme Dawg are proud local Latinos who use the template of gangsta rap to tell their own, unique story. On Mental... More >>
• BEST POP CD WITH A LATIN FLAVOR
  Sacrificios Felisa
  Good luck pigeonholing vocalist Felisa Herrera. On Sacrificios, she sings in English and Spanish and handles pop, R&B, hip-hop and more with a relaxed confidence that's downright inspiring. The only problem? This 2005 disc was supposed to serve as the introduction to a double-CD set that has yet... More >>
• BEST NOT-QUITE-NEW-AGE CD
  Sky Bill Douglas and Ty Burhoe
  The music of pianist Bill Douglas and tabla-player Ty Burhoe is often quiet and reflective, like entries in the typically soporific new-age field. Those who listen closely, however, will discover that these tracks are more thoughtful and complex than their surfaces imply. Sky is a beautifully... More >>
• BEST ELECTRO-POP CD
  The Metapolitan Blusom
  Blusom blooms thanks to the contrasting talents of partners Mike Behrenhausen and Jaime "Jme" White. Behrenhausen is a gifted singer-songwriter with a rare ability to translate his thoughts and emotions into relatable tunes, while White is an electronics expert blessed with endless curiosity and... More >>
• BEST POP CD
  Electrified Dressy Bessy
  In the past, detractors of Dressy Bessy vocalist Tammy Ealom have complained about the thick layer of sugar she spoons onto most of her songs. Fortunately, Electrified features a modified recipe. Ditties such as the title cut and "Second Place" are still sweet, but because they're leavened with... More >>
• BEST SCREAMO CD
  Be Mine, Valentine Drop Dead, Gorgeous
  Some CD singles contain more musical data than does Be Mine, Valentine, which lasts a mere twelve minutes. Nevertheless, Drop Dead, Gorgeous makes every second count, spitting out six relentlessly energetic, emotionally intense songs whose impact is epitomized by the title "Knife Vs. Face: Round... More >>
• BEST LAPTOP CD
  Automate Everything CacheFlowe
  Computers can be terrific musical tools, but only if artists use the technology to enhance their ideas rather than as a substitute for innovation. Justin Gitlin, who goes by CacheFlowe, strikes just the right balance. On Automate Everything, he refuses to limit himself to just one or two... More >>
• BEST BLUES CD
  Mercy Dan Treanor and African Wind
  Back in 2004, veteran local bluesman Dan Treanor hooked up with R&B vocalist Frankie Lee for African Wind, a surprisingly effective hybrid of American blues and indigenous rhythms. Lee doesn't participate this time around, and his absence is felt. Nevertheless, the current lineup is strong and... More >>
• BEST HIP-HOP CD
  Tha Revolushun RRAAHH Foundashun
  Typical CDs have an eighty-minute capacity, and Tha Revolushun fills nearly every second of that span with musical invention, ambition and achievement. The album's introductory track declares that "hip-hop will revert back to its original essence. Purity, rawness, originality: That will be part... More >>
• BEST RECORDING
  Self-Propelled Bright Channel
  One-upping Steve Albini ain't easy. The world-famous sound engineer has recorded everyone from the Pixies and Nirvana to his own legendary bands Big Black and Shellac. In 2004, he also recorded Bright Channel's eponymous debut at his Electrical Audio Studios in Chicago. The result, though,... More >>
• BEST CLUB DJ
  Friends in Stereo
  Much more than just DJs, Friends in Stereo takes traditional deejaying a step further by incorporating live instrumentation, real-time effects and live vocals into a style that can be described as groovy performance art. Friends Colin Chapman, Reggie Lafaye and vocalist Orange Peel Moses have... More >>
• BEST CLUB NIGHT FOR DANCING
  Vinyl Saturdays
  Vinyl remains the answer to Denver's Saturday-night blues. With three floors of music, from hip-hop to '80s retro to the best in techno and house, most anybody can find something to like in the impressive SoCo club. As a stop on nearly every major electronic act's tour, Vinyl plays host to the... More >>
• BEST CLUB NIGHT FOR HOOKING UP -- HETERO
  Lipgloss La Rumba
  Overheard recently at Lipgloss: "Hey, bro, you gotta get down here, fast! Guess who's on the dance floor right now? That hot chick!" Yes, that hot chick -- plus about 300 of her best friends -- are in attendance at La Rumba every Friday night. And the guys are just as dolled up as the gals,... More >>
• BEST CLUB NIGHT FOR HOOKING UP -- GAY
  High Energy Night JR's Bar and Grill
  Capitol Hill's beautiful boys (and a few straights) all come down to JR's on Thursdays for High Energy Night, knowing that they'll get hooked up -- even if it's only with fifty-cent Buds and half-price cocktails. Bears, femmes and twinks all happily co-habitate here, which makes for excellent... More >>
• BEST CLUB NIGHT (1 Comment)
  Lipgloss La Rumba
  In the restaurant world, you're considered a success if you still have a standing wait after being in business for a certain amount of time. That said, Lipgloss is the club equivalent of the French Laundry. Founded in 2001 by the Denver 3 (now the Denver 2 since Tim Cook has parted ways with... More >>
• BEST HIP-HOP NIGHT
  Good Fridays Rock Island 1614 15th St. 303-572-7625
  Somewhere along the line, hip-hop became all about style over substance. People forgot about music and the culture. Thankfully, conscious hip-hop has slowly forced its way to the forefront, courtesy of acts like the Roots, Common and Talib Kweli, among others -- artists you'd traditionally never... More >>
• BEST MONTHLY CLUB NIGHT
  Rockstars Are Dead! hi-dive
  To keep the momentum of monthly club night going, you have to have a strong identity, a tireless imagination and, of course, the love of the loyal. Rockstars Are Dead! is blessed with all three. But it's not by the grace of God that founder Peter Black (aka DJ Aztec of the legendary So What!)... More >>
• BEST MIDWEEK CLUB NIGHT
  Night of the Living Shred Bender's 13th Avenue Tavern
  Who is the man known as DJ Wesley Wayne? From practically out of nowhere, he's stormed Denver's indie club scene with guerrilla guest sets and oddball residencies like Sputnik's What We Do Is Secret. But none of that prepared anyone for Night of the Living Shred, a Thursday-night blowout at... More >>
• BEST NON-DANCE-CLUB NIGHT THAT YOU DANCE TO ANYWAY
  Babydoll Skylark Lounge
  Name any decade in recent memory, and it's been raped by a million retro-frenzied DJs. But James Sharp -- otherwise known as DJ Quid, host of the Skylark's Wednesday-night party, Babydoll -- has a knack for seeing culture in a non-linear fashion. Rather than stodgily rehashing pop's '50s and... More >>
• BEST KARAOKE NIGHT
  Rock Star Karaoke Bender's 13th Avenue Tavern
  There are 6,000 songs in the QuickSand Karaoke catalogue, and every single one of them leads to trouble. Nowhere is this more apparent than on Thursday nights at Bender's, when the place transforms from a cool Capitol Hill music venue into a frantic den of karaoke insanity. Show up early if you... More >>
• BEST COMEDY NIGHT
  New Talent Night Comedy Works
  Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? The Comedy Works may be celebrating its 25th birthday this year by bringing in one big name after another, but the club stays fresh by giving amateurs a chance, too. And there are no hours more amateur than Tuesday's New Talent Night, when comedy... More >>
• BEST BOUNCER (1 Comment)
  John Killup Three Dogs Tavern
  John Killup, aka Big John, is one scary motherfucker. He's big, very big, covered in tattoos and usually wearing a scowl that could freeze lava. Get a little out of control at Three Dogs Tavern, and he's going to keep law and order on your ass. But Killup has a softer side, too: The ladies' man... More >>
• BEST CONCERT
  System of a Down Ogden Theatre April 27, 2005
  There's no single formula for a memorable concert, but the odds of greatness are significantly improved when a show takes place in a modest-sized venue and features an excellent group at its creative peak. System's Ogden gig fit all of these criteria and more. The date was part of a brief tour... More >>
• BEST CONCERT -- LOCAL
  Polytoxic Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom November 23, 2005
  When Polytoxic re-created the Band's Last Waltz in its entirety on the night before Thanksgiving last year, it pulled out all the stops. An epic production that came uncannily close to replicating the real thing, Polytoxic and more than two dozen of its closest musician friends transported the... More >>
• BEST ELVIS SIGHTING (1 Comment)
  Goosetown Tavern
  The King lives...at the Goosetown Tavern. Elvis may be best known locally for putting head to pillow at the old Regency Hotel or shopping at the now-closed Kortz Jewelers on the 16th Street Mall, but it wasn't those venerable locations that his spirit chose to inhabit in perpetuity; it was along... More >>
• BEST PUNK-ROCK MOMENT
  No Plot Kill Climax Lounge January 27, 2006
  It was a seemingly normal night when all hell broke loose at the Climax Lounge. A few notes into the third or fourth song of their set, the members of No Plot Kill, a Northglenn-based hardcore trio, inexplicably stopped playing, threw down their instruments and tore off outside the building --... More >>
• BEST BAND REUNION
  Baldo Rex Lion's Lair January 27, 2006
  It must have been like that line from The Blues Brothers when the immortal Baldo Rex got back together for one night in January at the Lair: "We're putting the band back together. We're on a mission from God." And though another recent notable reunion -- of Babihed -- was inevitable, will last... More >>
• BEST LARGE VENUE
  Fox Theatre
  There's a reason the Fray chose to film parts of its first video at Boulder's Fox Theatre. Aside from being among the country's best-regarded venues, the Fox continues to offer the Front Range's pinnacle concert experience. Unrestricted sight lines and flawless sound abound, and the calendar is... More >>
• BEST SMALL VENUE
  The Walnut Room 3131 Walnut St. 303-292-1700
  Bolstered by great sight lines, a sizable elevated stage and impeccable sound, the Walnut Room has quickly become one of the finest rooms in town. An intimate performance space on the edge of the Ballpark neighborhood, the Walnut has filled the void left by the Soiled Dove (which recently... More >>
• BEST JAZZ CLUB
  Dazzle Restaurant & Lounge
  Since 1997, Donald Rossa's comfortable, forward-looking club, Dazzle, has been bringing Denverites the best local jazz talent (bassist Ken Walker, trumpeter Greg Gisbert, et al.) and a broad array of internationally recognized musicians. Last October, Rossa coaxed legendary New York pianist... More >>
• BEST ROCK CLUB
  hi-dive
  Denver's club scene gets more crowded by the month, with new venues sprouting up like spring blossoms (or weeds, depending on how you look at them). Regardless, the hi-dive towers head and shoulders over the field. Into its third year, the club's booking of local and national acts only gets... More >>
• BEST NEW CLUB
  3 Kings Tavern
  First it was Zu Denver, then 60 South, then the South Park Tavern, then the Cherry Pit. Then it was a vacant, smoldering hole. But in January this year, months after a fire demolished the insides of the Pit, the 3 Kings Tavern rose, phoenix-like, from the...well, you get the picture. What no one... More >>
• BEST CLUB COMEBACK
  The Marquis Theatre
  Soda Jerk, Denver's premier promoter of punk and hardcore, had been dwelling comfortably in Rock Island for two years. At least it seemed like a cozy fit -- until February, when Soda Jerk's Mike Barsch abruptly yanked up roots and replanted his operation in the newly refurbished Marquis Theatre.... More >>
• BEST VENUE YOU DON'T
  KNOW ABOUT
  Old Curtis Street Bar
  There's a venue in Denver to cover just about any taste, price range or neighborhood prejudice. But the stalwart Old Curtis Street Bar has its own vibe entirely. Sitting precisely between Monkey Mania and the Carioca Cafe in a little no-man's-land that yuppies rarely touch, Old Curtis is a... More >>
• BEST DRINK SPECIALS
  The Front Porch
  The Front Porch has been hyped as a neighborhood bar downtown. And it kind of is -- if your idea of a neighborhood bar is tables dressed up with odd wheatgrass displays and dressed-down LoDo glitterati packed in like sardines. Apparently in LoDo, not having a VIP room qualifies you as... More >>
• BEST WAY TO DRINK AND DRIVE WHILE INVOKING THE SPIRIT OF THE IRISH
  Potcheen Folk Band's Booze Cruise
  Last fall, the Potcheen Folk Band shelled out for a 1983 MCI Crusader 2 coach bus. Talk about a great investment -- not to mention a phenomenally brilliant marketing ploy. Several times a month, the magic bus -- outfitted with several video monitors, plentiful seating and a fully stocked cooler... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO HAVE A COCKTAIL AND A CUTICLE TREATMENT
  Manicure Mondays Club Evolution 821 22nd St. 303-296-4601
  If ever there was a needed combination, it's martinis and manicures. And at five dollars for each, it's a pairing that can't be beat. Manicure Mondays at Club Evolution are the perfect down note for a hard-partying weekend: Come in, relax with an Absolut 007 martini, get floofed and put your... More >>
• BEST LADIES' NIGHT
  Stampede Mesquite Grill and Dance Emporium
  Ladies' night at Stampede is like nothing you've ever seen -- a cross between Urban Cowboy and a crowded frat party. The massive warehouse of a bar fills a Wal-Mart-sized parking lot with thirsty, sometimes desperate women and the men who've come to claim them. Once inside, there's no limit to... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO BREAK A SWEAT ON THE DANCE FLOOR
  Martini Ranch
  Martini Ranch's entire bar is a dance floor, and after a few drinks, everyone in the place believes they possess mad dance skills. Whether it's a packed Saturday or a sparse Tuesday night, once the beat gets thumping, you start to see a shoulder drop here, a booty shake there. In no time, it's... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO SING SHOW TUNES WITH A TRIVIAL PSYCHIC
  Charlie Brown's Bar & Grille
  If you can squeeze in between the former and current thespians bellied up to the piano at Charlie Brown's Bar, lovable Paul Lopez will play nearly any song you can name, as long as it was written before 1980. But Paulie will also occasionally astound the truly lucky patron with telepathic feats... More >>
• BEST (VERY) LATE-NIGHT PEOPLE WATCHING
  Ramada Inn Downtown
  The Ramada Inn Downtown Denver is like a rock-and-roll RV park on weekend nights, when tour buses crowd the parking lot and bleary-eyed musicians trickle through the lobby at all hours. The crash pad for artists and crews in town for shows at the Fillmore, Ogden and Bluebird theaters -- as well... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO RUN INTO A HIPPIE-TURNED-YUPPIE
  The Fillmore
  It's not really the Fillmore's fault. The venue hosts a wide range of musicians and holds a couple thousand people, so it's bound to attract some contradictory characters. Being right across Clarkson from Sancho's Broken Arrow probably doesn't help. And after all, Colorado is a red state.... More >>
• BEST BAR TO ENJOY BEFORE THE SMOKING BAN
  Charlie Brown's Bar & Grille
  When Eagle County and Pueblo have passed smoking bans, you know the writing is on the wall. Whether or not the Colorado Clean Indoor Act passes the legislature and is signed by the governor is almost moot. If they don't, the Denver Regional Council of Governments will step in and... More >>
• BEST BAR TO ESCAPE THE SMOKE (1 Comment)
  Meadowlark
  Several months after opening, the Meadowlark Lounge still has that new-bar smell, thanks to its decision to 86 smoking. Everything in the underground tavern is pristine and clean, from the shiny bar to the bathrooms, a dichotomy to gritty Larimer Street just outside its heavy, wooden door. But... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO GRAFFITI THE TOILET STALL
  LoDo's Bar & Grill
  If you can maneuver the maze of striped shirts that line the bar five-deep and survive repeated offers to take Jagermeister shots with complete strangers, you will have the opportunity to immortalize yourself in the TP-littered graffiti gallery that is LoDo's bathroom. Better than freshly laid... More >>
• BEST NIGHTCLUB
  BATHROOM ATTENDANT
  Brooks Miller
  During Friday night's Lipgloss festivities, the men's room at La Rumba is backed up worse than DIA on Thanksgiving weekend. Luckily, controlling all that human traffic is one Brooks Miller, wise-ass, punk-rock bathroom attendant. With a barely perceptible smirk that nonetheless screams, "Dude,... More >>
• BEST BARTENDER (1 Comment)
  Terry Sullivan Duffy's Shamrock 1635 Court Pl. 303-534-4935
  A weekday fixture on the seven-to-five shift, 52-year-old Terry Sullivan has been tending the 72 feet of mahogany at Duffy's Shamrock for more than 23 years, dispensing a quip as he whips up an Irish coffee, exchanging notes on the latest Broncos win (he's held north end-zone season tickets... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO FIND
  HOT DOORMEN
  Grenade
  If Grenade were to put a help-wanted ad in the newspaper for a doorman to join his coalition of hotties, it would read: "Looking for an Adonis, six-foot-plus, with chiseled features, washboard abs and an affinity for tight jeans and fitted T-shirts." And we thought the bouncer mold was... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO ROLE-PLAY BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
  Charlie's
  For the past 25 years, Charlie's is where all the real gay cowboys (and ranch hands, sheepherders and rodeo riders) have met, two-stepped and tried to quit each other. But it's hard to quit watching them twirling each other gracefully across the floor every night in their ten-gallon hats, boots... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO GENDER-ROLE-PLAY BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2 Comments)
  C's Bar
  Jack and Ennis? What about Jacqui and Eunice? They're here, they're queer, and if you think gay cowboys can rope 'em and ride 'em, try gay cowgirls. It's hard to say who dances purtier, cowboys or cowgirls, but at C's, ya don't hafta dance with the one what brung ya. In fact, you don't have to... More >>
• BEST PLACE TO GET YOUR WEEKLY FILL OF CAFFEINE
  AND DYKE DRAMA
  tHERe Coffee Bar and Lounge
  Lesbian-couple owners and operators Jody Bouffard and Kathleen McDowell launched tHERe last summer in the old Oh My Goddess! Space on Colfax. In addition to serving LaVazza coffee and Tazo and loose teas from Wild Oats, the barista babes' cozy Capitol Hill cafe hosts weekly "stitch & bitch"... More >>
• BEST WEBSITE FOR THE LOCAL COFFEEHOUSE LOVER
  www.milehighbuzz.com
  In the land of Starbucks, seeking out the small independent coffee shops can feel like an archaeological mission. Thank God for blogs like milehighbuzz.com, started by a self-described "coffee shop junkie" with the initials DCB, to provide locations and info about some of his favorite hangouts.... More >>
• BEST NEW HANGOUT FOR CHAIN-SMOKING HIGH-SCHOOLERS (1 Comment)
  Leela European Cafe
  One patron can sip espresso and study for a trig midterm on a couch in the back while another talks loudly, sipping a glass of vino at the bar in the front, and never the two shall meet. That's because Leela European Cafe -- open 24 hours a day -- is as panoptic as the European continent itself,... More >>
• BEST T&A WITH YOUR COFFEE
  Tom's Diner
  There isn't a big market for cheese fries and softcore porn, but Tom's Diner has it cornered. A nightly 3 a.m. destination for hopped-up club-goers and insomniacs, the friendly restaurant is outfitted with a number of Touch Maxx games, heaven-sent by the touch-screen mini-arcade bar gods. The... More >>
• BEST COFFEEHOUSE
  St. Mark's Coffeehouse
  That St. Mark's Coffeehouse is a great place to stop for a cup of joe should not come as a surprise to anyone. This offshoot of the original LoDo spot has drawn the hiptelligentsia since first opening its enormous sliding garage door in 1997. They come for the coffee, bagels, panini and sweets,... More >>