While Forest Room 5 (2532 15th Street) has booked its share of live music over the years, manager Jordan Hubner says the place just didn't have room to do it right. But now the back area is being overhauled to create a 120-capacity performance space, complete with stage and PA, that will debut this fall, and in the meantime, the hip Highland spot is launching is its first summer concert series on the patio this weekend.
"We've always wanted more music at the Forest Room," Hubner says, "and we've been working on this patio and making it nicer in the last couple of years. I just think it's a great thing for the neighborhood to have on a Saturday afternoon. Denver needs more outdoor events like that. You get to Austin, and there's live music outside all over the place."
Starting Saturday, May 21, with Bare Bones and Landlines, the series will feature two bands from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturdays throughout the summer. Bonnie Gregory, Mike Marchant, Beta Wave, Joshua Novak, John Common and B. Sous are just a few of the acts lined up for the coming weeks. And Memorial Day weekend, Forest Room 5 will launch its film series on the patio, with double features on Monday nights through the summer. Hubner says he's also booking acts for what he hopes will be a bi-weekly film-to-music night, when musicians will perform their scores for silent films. And while Forest Room 5 hasn't been open on Sundays, starting next month both the side room, which is sometimes used for private parties, and the patio will be pouring on Sundays.
While there will be plenty to do on Forest Room 5's patio this summer, once the back room opens in the fall, there will be plenty to do inside, as well. "We just want to get more involved with performance, art and music," Hubner explains, "and make it more of a place where local artists and musicians do their thing."
Club scout: On Monday, May 23, the Tavern Hospitality Group will open Tavern Littleton, the group's sixth Tavern, in the heart of historic downtown Littleton, at 2589 West Main Street. This latest watering hole will sport a rooftop patio with both indoor and outdoor seating, as well as amenities similar to those at other Taverns, including lounges, indoor and outdoor fireplaces and HDTVs. The Tavern Littleton will also have three happy hours: a regular happy hour Monday through Friday from 2 to 7 p.m.; a twilight hour from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday; and a late-night happy hour from 10 p.m. to close Monday through Thursday.
