Best Snacks at a Venue 2017 | The Buffalo Rose | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Snacks at a Venue

The Buffalo Rose

Chris Cone
The Buffalo Rose's exterior after its 2018 remodel.

The Buffalo Rose, situated in the pretty town of Golden, is an oddball place. Hair-metal bands like Ratt and Faster Pussycat usually end up playing there when passing through metro Denver, so it's a bit of a time warp. It also has perfect bar snacks to nosh on while watching the aforementioned spandex-clad bands. What goes best with L.A. sleaze band Jetboy? How about some fried cheese curds? Jersey hard rockers Danger Danger should be paired with a pile of chicken strips, while an L.A. Guns show calls for the El Cubano sandwich.

Best Venue for Live Music and Brunch

Ophelia's Electric Soapbox

There are three things we look for in a weekend brunch: good food, good booze and good music. Ophelia's Electric Soapbox excels at all three. Listen to a selection of Denver's best rock and alt-country bands while noshing on traditional breakfast fare with innovative twists. The sound system is top-notch, a projector amplifies what's happening on stage on a screen, and the venue's decor is captivating. All this plus bottomless mimosas.

Best Jukebox

Lakeview Lounge

Scott Lentz

We hope the Lakeview Lounge sticks around forever, but development going hog-wild along the popular lakefront stretch of Sheridan Boulevard makes us more than a little nervous. Before this spectacular — and spectacularly grungy — dive bar falls victim to yet another chain restaurant, we'll spend our mornings there (the bar opens every day at 7 a.m.), toasting the finer things in life and enjoying tunes from the bar's free jukebox, which churns out classics from Patsy Cline, Benny Goodman, George Strait and more.

Readers' Choice: Bar Car

Best Revived Jukebox

Cruise Room

The Cruise Room

Not much in the Oxford Hotel's resident bar has changed since it opened the day after Prohibition ended — except for the jukebox, which was out of commission for years. It came back to life recently after a thirty-year lease on the bar (and the adjacent, now-defunct McCormick & Schmick's) ran out and hotel owner Sage Hospitality's restaurant group finally assumed control of the Cruise Room. Sage acted fast, recruiting longtime jukebox repairman Jim Francis to tune the beauty back to life. Now she spits out 45s from Nat King Cole, Glenn Miller and Frank Sinatra, among other classic artists.

Best Electronic-Music Festival

Cloak & Dagger

Brennen Bryarly has built a bit of an electronic-dance music empire over the past several years. Bryarly releases house music as Option4 and has organized shows locally and nationally that offer an array of dance-oriented artists. And every year since 2014, he's put his wide net of contacts and great musical taste to use at Cloak & Dagger. The now-established EDM festival at City Hall and Vinyl brings together commercial and underground acts, and Bryarly invites both local and national performers. Nowhere in Denver is the EDM scene more diverse, or more alive, than at this festival.

cndmusicfest.com

Best Punk Festival

Don't Panic! Fest

Damian Burford had been organizing and booking shows for years in both Colorado Springs and Denver. He used to work with the Triple Nickel Tavern, a famed punk-rock venue in the Springs, which gave him the opportunity to learn about all aspects of the music industry, from booking to organizing a show with integrity. When he moved to Denver, Burford remained connected to the music world through his Mostly Harmless podcast. He even booked shows occasionally, though not in any official capacity. A chance conversation with a friend at The Fest, a punk-music festival in Florida, inspired Burford to try his hand at organizing a festival of his own. Working with Vincent Fasano of 3 Kings Tavern, Burford was able to pull off Don't Panic!, a bona fide, small-scale yet well-attended festival at various South Broadway venues, headlined by Off With Their Heads and Chicago punk legends Pegboy. The festival will return to Denver next year.

dontpanicfest.com

Best Small Music Festival

Rocky Mountain Low

Heavy Dose Records head Brian Castillo and Reed Bruemmer of the band Poison Rites came up in Denver's underground music scene, regularly catching shows at local dive bars and DIY venues. Eventually they joined forces to re-create that small-venue neighborhood vibe at a musical festival they'd both want to attend. Scheduled in the summer across four days at venues between Larimer Lounge and Meadowlark Bar, Rocky Mountain Low brings together legendary punk bands like DRI with exciting underground bands including Protomartyr, Echo Beds and Hide.

facebook.com/rockymountainlow

Best Ambitious Mini-Music Festival

Faceman

Steve "Faceman" Schnepel always puts on ambitious concerts. Even his bar shows involve some kind of elaborate costuming or set design — like when he turned the stage at Lost Lake Lounge into a giant shark's mouth a few years back. Last November, Schnepel helped organize Faceman's 100 Year Storm, which took inspiration from epic storms that dump tons of snow on a city. The festival presented live performances by a hundred bands at a single venue (the Oriental) over the course of two days. Somehow, the logistical nightmare all worked, and Schnepel is expected to put on the crazed event again this year.

facemanmusic.com

Best Music Festival Within a Music Festival

Mile High Parley

Mutiny Information Cafe has always been a home for misfits and rebels, so it makes sense that it would host the annual Mile High Parley anti-music-festival festival. Located smack-dab in the middle of a certain other, larger, more well-known music gathering that takes place on South Broadway each summer, the Parley takes an accessible, all-ages, punk approach. Hosting local acts on stages indoors and out all weekend long, this counter-fest highlights the underground music scene and all its weirdos and freaks.

facebook.com/milehighparleydenver

Best Music Festival Outside Denver

Jazz on 2nd Avenue

The tiny, picturesque city of Niwot, situated near Longmont and Erie in Boulder County, is as well known for Chief Niwot's Curse as for anything else: Legend has it that the chief puts a curse on any resident of the city who tries to relocate. Fortunately, those who stick around out of fear have a great little jazz festival to keep them occupied. Jazz on 2nd Avenue takes over the main strip in town, and last year's lineup included Liquid Soul and Jeff Coffin of the Dave Matthews Band. Sure, some local and school bands play, too, but the musical quality on display is still exemplary. Taking place in September, when the weather is nice but not stifling, Jazz on 2nd Ave is Niwot's crazy little secret.

jazzon2ndave.com

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