Eight Concert Venues Your Grandparents Would Enjoy

Live music is for everyone, but most venues – dark, beer-drenched, packed – are suited to a younger audience. 

Unless your grandparents are punk-rockers, it's good to know which venues Colorado offers for the more seasoned fans among us. Here are the best venues that both you and your grandparents will enjoy. 

1. Soiled Dove Underground
7401 East First Avenue
The Soiled Dove is an intimate concert venue in the Lowry neighborhood of Denver. The venue offers rock, pop, jazz, funk and singer-songwriter shows. Appetizers and cocktails are available to enjoy from your seat or table, and with the Dove's tiered seating levels, your grandparents won’t have a difficult time seeing the stage.

2. Little Bear Saloon
28075 Highway 74, Evergreen
The historic Little Bear offers live entertainment Tuesdays through Sundays. The venue includes a restaurant and hosts country, rock, singer-songwriter and bluegrass bands – sometime free for patrons. The saloon atmosphere will make your grandparents feel nostalgic for the films of their generation, but a night of bluegrass, beers and burgers is perfect for any modern Denverite. 

3. Boulder Theater
2032 14th Street
The state is home to many concert venues, but some aren't accessible for people who use walkers and canes. That is why the Boulder Theater is ideal for all members of the family during a night out. It's in downtown Boulder, close to trendy restaurants, and parking is easy. A-list artists frequently stop at the theater, and the lineups offer enough variety to appeal to all ages.

4. Paramount Theatre
1621 Glenarm Place
The Paramount Theatre is in downtown Denver and frequently hosts acts from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, as well as comedians, pop and rock bands and indie and classical artists. A free space in the parking garage is included in the ticket price, and the venue is close to light rail and a bus route.

5. Chautauqua Auditorium
900 Baseline Road, Boulder
Chautauqua is a unique park and Historic Landmark that includes several spaces in which bands can perform. Bluegrass and country shows are popular, but Chautauqua also routinely hosts theatrical shows, dance performances and world-music and indie artists. Food is available in the dining hall before a show, and families can picnic, hike the Flatirons and explore the historical buildings on site.

6. Grizzly Rose
5450 North Valley Highway
The Grizzly Rose is Colorado’s home for country music and regularly hosts local and national bands. The weekly line-dancing classes are popular for dates and are perfect for those fun-loving, cowboy-boot-wearing grandparents of yours. While they’re line dancing, you can ride the mechanical bull or peruse the extensive beer and barbecue menu.

7. Swallow Hill
71 East Yale Avenue
Having served as a music school and a concert space since the ’70s, Swallow Hill spotlights a lot of "community" concerts that won't make your ears bleed. Bluegrass and folk bands and singer-songwriters are regulars at the venue's Daniels Hall, Tuft Theatre or Quinlan Cafe. Swallow Hill also produces festivals in the summer,  including series at the Denver Botanic Gardens and the Arvada Center.  

8. eTown Hall
1535 Spruce Street, Boulder
Since 1991, this nonprofit has been dedicated to independent music and environmental and social-justice issues. Today, eTown's shows are live-taped in front of an audience in eTown Hall, a renovated old church that opened in 2012. Bands from around the world and from a variety of genres visit the venue and recording studio. Most recorded shows are done by 9 p.m., so it’s perfect for grandparents. It's also conveniently located in downtown Boulder.