The ten best shows in Denver this weekend

FIVE IRON FRENZY @ OGDEN THEATRE | SAT, 8/17/13 Five Iron Frenzy began life in 1995 as the side project of a long-forgotten thrash-metal-and-industrial band called Exhumator. Ahead of the ska revival of the mid-’90s, Exhumator’s members wanted to play music that was inherently fun, positive and uplifting. Two years…

Patzcuaro’s gets a facelift to match its changing neighborhood

Yes, the front of Patzcuaro’s is boarded-up, but the 35-year-old institution in Highland is still open. This stretch of West 32nd Avenue is changing, and changing fast, and the old-time Mexican restaurant has been making some upgrades. See also: – Does Patzcuaro’s make Denver’s best white trash margarita? – Patzcuaro’s…

The six must-see acts at Arise Music Festival

The Arise Music Festival kicks off today at Sunrise Ranch in Loveland and runs through Sunday. Take one look at the schedule, and you’ll quickly see there are an overwhelming number of acts on the bill. We narrowed it down to the half-dozen acts you must see. Keep reading to…

Common Grounds is uncommonly popular, with good reason

Java junkies, rejoice! Rather than pay a hefty rent increase, Common Grounds left its original home on West 32nd Avenue at the end of April, with hopes of reopening a version of the two-decade-old coffeeshop in Common Grounds’s roasting facility at 2139 West 44th Avenue a month later. The project…

Photos: What was on the menu at the Denver County Fair

Fair food — fried, salty, sugary — took center stage at the Denver County Fair over the weekend, whether attendees were biting into big corn dogs or showing off their potentially prize-winning pies. The fair fare was the perfect complement to the quirky event, and Westword’s Brandon Marshall was at…

Photos: Cute animals and pretty zombies at the Denver County Fair

The third annual Denver County Fair took over the National Western Complex this past weekend. The urban-alternative celebration once again combined the traditional and the quirky, offering everything from drag shows to a geek pavilion, zombie pageants and some very cute animals. Westword’s Brandon Marshall was there, and brought back…

Common Grounds now pouring in Sunnyside

From the moment that Mary and Lisa Rogers opened Common Grounds in 1992, the coffeehouse at 3484 West 32nd Avenue was a neighborhood gathering place — even if the Highland neighborhood was far from the hot spot it is today. Today the area is so hot, in fact, that the…

Johnny’s Diner turns off the grill in Aurora

You’ll have to get your bacon and eggs elsewhere this morning: Johnny’s Diner has closed in Aurora. During a recent Aurora Fire Department inspection, the owner of the decades-old joint was told he needed to replace the fire suppression hood over the grill — a $3,000 repair. That was enough,…

The best concerts to see in Denver this week

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE @ RED ROCKS | THURS, 8/15/13 A six-year hiatus hasn’t made Queens of the Stone Age forget its roots. The earnest full-length album …Like Clockwork, released earlier this year, is a long-awaited return to the spotlight, and it proves that the band hasn’t lost its…

The ten best concerts in Denver this weekend

YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND @ RED ROCKS | SAT, 8/10/13 If any band typifies the Colorado approach to contemporary bluegrass, it’s Yonder Mountain String Band. The quartet built up its chops playing in venues in Boulder, Nederland and beyond in the late 1990s, and its fusion of traditional instrumentation and…

The Source now targeting a late-August opening

The debut of The Source at 3350 Brighton Boulevard was touted as one of the big events of the summer by Visit Denver — and it looks like the European-style artisan food market/retail complex will just squeak in under the wire. The new opening date for the Zeppelin Development project…