“We built that entire venue to celebrate local musicians, to provide a space where locals can see their friends on stage without having to worry about paying for a ticket or buying a cover, and we’re excited now to be able to operate in that way,” says Spencer Fronk, one of Number Thirty Eight’s owners.
Soon after the indoor-outdoor venue opened at 3560 Chestnut Place in 2021, some neighbors complained that music from its stage and audio-visual system could be heard inside their homes late at night. That kicked off a case with the city to determine whether the venue should be able to keep its cabaret license.
In June of this year, the neighbors and Number Thirty Eight finally reached an agreement with the city that aims to prevent those problems while still giving the music venue the leeway it needs to be successful.
“It's unfortunate that it's taken this long, but we feel like the implementation we put in place alongside the cooperation with the Denver Department of Excise & Licenses really will allow us to continue to operate in a legal manner,” Fronk says.
According to an official decision from Excise & Licenses Executive Director Molly Duplechian, Number Thirty Eight must comply with five conditions to keep its cabaret license in good standing. For starters, it can’t remove or modify the several noise mitigation methods it has installed without officially applying for a substantial modification through the city; it must also end all outdoor acoustic entertainment and most outdoor amplified entertainment by 10 p.m., which is when the venue is required to close its garage doors, sealing off the indoor space from the outside.
In addition, it can’t prop open those exterior doors, and must make every effort to ensure that doors are only open when they’re being actively used by patrons. Finally, the license conditions specify that all forms of entertainment must comply with the noise ordinance and that Number Thirty Eight will follow the sound plan it developed while attempting to resolve the case on its license. That plan details the methods that the venue will take to operate under the law while taking nearby residents into consideration.
Even after the June ruling, Number Thirty Eight had to obtain a few additional permits and pass more inspections. But now it's ready to welcome performers back to its outdoor stage.
“We're excited,” Fronk says. “We're celebrating — and continue to celebrate respectfully with the city, with our neighbors — and we're looking forward to honoring and promoting many local musicians.”
Tom Downey, the attorney for the neighbors, is also pretty excited.
“Number Thirty Eight is a wonderful venue,” he says. “Now that the awkwardness is behind us and the parties have agreed to reasonable restrictions, I’m looking forward to going as a patron rather than as opposing counsel.”
According to Fronk, the venue has worked hard to be sure it stays in compliance with those restrictions. It’s never been issued a ticket or citation for being out of the noise ordinance, he notes, though during the licensing case, the city recorded noise from a concert that exceeded legal limits.
Fronk says it plans to continue the zero-citation track record after investing about $250,000 in its AV system and other physical improvements to dampen noise that might otherwise escape the venue.
Number Thirty Eight gained fans fast with its free outdoor performances.
Courtesy of Number Thirty Eight
The first artists scheduled to play outdoors include DJ Shares With No Floaties on September 13 and Jackson Maloney on September 14. The venue books about three months out, so artists who were previously scheduled to play inside will just shift to one of the two outdoor stages.
The venue has moved a few artists to winter dates, when they will play indoors because of the new licensing conditions. Number Thirty Eight can not have bands outdoors whose instruments can’t be wired through its internal sound system, which is designed to prevent any exceedance of Denver’s noise ordinance. So bands with their own amplifiers, drums or brass instruments must be indoors.
“We've always prided ourselves on being more of that acoustic bluegrass bar, so it really is in line with who we are as a company,” Fronk says. “We're not a space where you go to just get your ears blown off by live music. We're a place where you go with your group of six, seven or eight people, sit down at a picnic table and have a couple of beers, dogs by your feet.”
Despite moving a few artists to indoor gigs this winter, Number Thirty Eight plans to have outdoor entertainment for as much of the calendar year as possible. “In Denver we're going to get days that are in the 60s in December and we're going to get a snowstorm the next day, so we'll play it by ear,” Fronk says.
And the owners aren’t too worried about the 10 p.m. cutoff for outdoor music, either, because the space closes at 11 p.m., anyway. Number Thirty Eight was always positioned as a bar where people start their night, not where they end it, Fronk notes.
“We want this to be a celebration of the state of Colorado, and really a celebration of live outdoor music coming back to a city that prides itself on arts and entertainment,” he concludes. “We're happy to continue to be compliant with Denver’s noise ordinance through that celebration, and we believe that our very loyal patrons will recognize that and continue to come in and vibe at Number Thirty Eight.”
