Scenes From the Inaugural Larimer Block Party

Walking into the Larimer Block Party felt a little bit like walking into an unusual combination of an elementary school field day and an urban beach party without the sand and without the ocean. Maybe it was the warm weather of early Fall. Maybe it was because a lot of...

By Tom Murphy

September 28, 2015

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Walking into the Larimer Block Party felt a bit like walking into an unusual combination of an elementary-school field day and an urban beach party. Maybe it was the warm weather of early fall, or he fact that the closed-off stretch of Larimer Street had people sitting down along the sidewalk casually taking in the Main Stage musical acts or socializing with friends old and new.

Whatever was on anyone's mind at this event, not far from where the Great American Beer Festival was in full swing, it seemed remarkably easy to navigate through the various venues to catch music or to get a drink, and the mellow staff everywhere helped keep what could have been a complete mess from actually becoming such.

It probably wasn't meant as any kind of symbol, but one of the most emblematic moments of the day happened during Del the Funky Homosapien's set, when someone off stage blew up a giant beach ball emblazoned with the words “The GREEN Solution” (a marijuana dispensary, incidentally) and threw or kicked it off the stage into the crowd, where other beach balls were making the rounds. There is no beach to speak of in Denver, but it was a signal of a last hurrah of summer before the trees all turn and all the nights become cold. What follows are some scenes from the event.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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