Best Place to Watch The Simpsons
The Sink
1165 13th St., Boulder
Tired of sitting at home on your butt every Thursday night watching The Simpsons? Then why not sit on your butt and watch The Simpsons at the Sink instead? The beer, Bart burgers (complete with a Butterfinger on the side), and social interaction (only during commercials, of course) are enough to keep even the most chronic potato entertained for a half hour. Throw in a raffle and a stereophonic sound system, and you've got the makings of a perfect evening for you and your loved one. But don't forget to pay your bill on the way out.
Best Comedy Club
Comedy Works
Larimer Square
The Comedy Works is no joke--just Denver's top place for laughs. The club brings the best local and national stand-up and improvisational talent to its stage six nights a week, and its location in trendy Larimer Square makes for easy pre- or post-set partying. In addition, the full-service bar and weekly nonsmoking showtimes are sure to please a broad spectrum of comedy fans.
Best-Dressed Band
16 Horsepower
These hillbilly punksters play some of the classiest, barn-burnin' ditties around--and they know how to dress the part, too. Instead of the played-out "I've been to Seattle and think it's the bitchin'-est place on earth" flannel shirts and combat boots still donned by many locals, Horsepower prefers the Merle Haggard approach to apparel: secondhand suit jackets, dusty cowboy boots and basic, Roy Rogers-style shirts with pearlescent snaps. True, the trio may not get a call from Cindy Crawford's House of Style anytime soon. But who really cares? The boys are here to play music, not get on the cover of Vogue magazine.
Best Rock Club
Lion's Lair
2022 E. Colfax Ave.
It's not much to look at from the outside--or from the inside, for that matter. So it's a good thing the Lair has atmosphere to spare, terrific decor (the Elvis memorabilia is especially apt) and a willingness to engage groups that need to be heard to be believed. Although the stage is small and the sound quality isn't what you'd call pristine, the Lion's Lair has played host to more exciting underground shows than pretty much anywhere else in Denver over the past year.
Readers' choice: Aqua Lounge
Best Rap Artists No One Knows Are From Denver
Tag Team
Yes, it's true: Steve Gibson and Cecil Glenn of Tag Team, the rap duo whose "Whoomp! (There It Is)" has been on the Billboard Hot 100 longer than any single in the chart's history, were born and raised in Denver. The pair, who perfected their rap at Manual High School (their 1984 alma mater), moved to Atlanta shortly before "Whoomp!" put them on the music-business map, but they promise to use their success to help other Denver artists get a chance to be heard. If they follow through, Denver rappers may finally come out of the shadows.
Best Heavy-Metal Club
Alibi's
4480 Leetsdale Dr.
Sure, the dance floor is tiny, the plumbing problematic, the architecture mock-Nazi ski chalet, but Alibi's has survived two years at a Glendale location that housed a string of failed bars. Its modus operandi: offering local hard rock every night of the week without frills or horn-blowing promotion. And having evolved beyond a purely headbanging clientele, Alibi's also books bands punky and funky, its stage open to all acts with a tough edge.
Readers' choice: Bangles
Best Proof That Ownership Changes Need Not Be Fatal
Seven South
7 S. Broadway
When Jimmy Spinelli and the folks who'd been responsible for turning tiny Seven South into one of Denver's best ways to hear new and original music packed up shop, you had to figure the bar would cease to be important to the local music community. Wrong. New owner Nancy Kennedy has maintained Seven South's cool image and cool booking policy. The club continues to present both fine local bands and touring independent combos that wouldn't come this way if it weren't for Seven South. Don't go changing.
Best Candidate for Resurrection
Boulder Theater
2032 14th St., Boulder
When the Boulder Theater went dark last year, a tradition of great shows in a great space seemed to be on the verge of extinction. Since then, promoters have put on the occasional event at the Theater--E-Town, the fine National Public Radio show, has used it regularly. But those of us who love this vintage room would like nothing more than for an entrepreneur to keep the Boulder Theater going on a full-time basis. If you open it, we will come.
Best New Old Venue
Ogden Theatre
935 E. Colfax Ave.
The Ogden has had many incarnations during the twentieth century: vaudeville house, nightclub, movie theater. Still, its latest is among its best. Promoter Doug Kauffman revived this aging beauty, and since last fall has kept it filled with national and local acts covering a wide range of styles and approaches. The rush of activity hasn't yet revived the East Colfax area near the Ogden--parking nearby remains an often frightening adventure--but it has given a gorgeous structure another lease on life.
Best Booking
Cricket on the Hill
1209 E. 13th Ave.
The Cricket has been a swell spot for live music for ages, but it hasn't always been a swell spot for hip music. That's changed: The venue now brings in the newest, most interesting bands in town--so many of them, in fact, that it can lay claim to hosting more local shows than any other club in the city. Right now, the Cricket is king of the hill.
Best Improvement in Booking Policy
Fox Theatre and Cafe
1135 13th St., Boulder
When it first opened, the Fox had a remarkable sound system, a nice feel and a penchant for booking only those groups that worshipped the Grateful Dead--which is fine if you're a Deadhead, but extremely limiting. Over the past year, though, the Fox has broadened its scope; the lineup is often among the most varied in town. The theater now hosts shows by a wide variety of groups, including rock, alternative, folk, blues, country, jazz and everything in between. The Deadheads are still being satisfied, but now the rest of us are, too.
Best Hole-in-the-Wall Club
Club 156
University Memorial Center, CU-Boulder campus
In the UMC, down the stairs, past the pinball machines and video games, to the right--there you will find the inconspicuous black door that leads to Club 156 (simply named by its room number). This hole-in-the-wall club is open to the all-ages public, usually with discounts for students, and on weekends hosts local musicians of any style (Rorschach Test with Venus Walk is a memorable example) or spoken-word artists. Run by dedicated CU students, 156 has a true alternative/college feel with a refreshing lack of corporate attitude. Just solid music--once you find it.
Best Black Light Club
Modeans
1410 Market St.
At the visually stimulating Modeans, the black walls are covered with shapes and specks of every color in the Day-Glo rainbow. Strategically placed black lights cast an eerie accent on these fragments--and on anyone wearing white or flashing a smile. Videos are projected onto exposed brick walls throughout the maze of a dance floor. And with DJs spinning alternative music of this decade and the last, the crowd that tends to show up also makes for quite a sight.
Best Hip-Hop Club
Club AD
2101 Champa St.
Funk, acid jazz, hip hop--the newest kid on the scene has got 'em all. Club AD is the joint to jump, shake and groove each weekend with Denver's most rhythmically adventurous disc spinners. The door people and bartenders are exceptionally friendly, too, so we hope this joint decides to kick it with us for a long while.
Best All-Ages Club
Ground Zero
1360 College Ave., Boulder
Ground Zero--the Z spot--has a decent-sized dance floor, several pool tables and lots of areas for sitting around looking cool. The club sells novelty drinks and pseudo-Prozacs at the Nootrophia Bar, where the underage clientele can also buy nonalcoholic beverages that allegedly increase stamina, euphoria and the profits made at the end of the night. Thursday through Saturday nights clubgoers dance to popular alternative sounds; Sunday is Retro Night, with a hefty dose of disco fever. The week then starts out with Black Monday for the gothic crowd--those cute little folks in black who get happy with death rock. Who says there's nothing for kids to do anymore?
Readers' choice: Saturdays at Rock Island
Best All-Ages Open Stage
Wednesdays at the Mercury Cafe
2199 California St.
Probably Denver's only all-ages open stage, the Mercury Cafe is the spot to see and be seen for musicians and fans too young to get in anywhere else. Sponsored by the Merc, Rupp's Drums, Rockley Music and the Rocky Mountain Music Association, the weekly four-group extravaganza has shown that promising baby bands--such as Love Buzz, Humble Groove and Kigaso--can teach Mile High old-timers a trick or two.
Best Open Stage
Sundays at Cricket on the Hill
1209 E. 13th Ave.
The Sunday-night acts at Cricket on the Hill vary from Nashville-based guitarist Kenny Vaughan to demented local scenesters Tiger Beat. Notes longtime emcee Baggs Patrick, "It's a very open stage." It's also the best amateur night in town, thanks to guest appearances from groups that include top Denver draws Truth of the Matter and the Jinns. Even on Sundays, the down-and-dirty club combines equal parts leather and liquor with enough volume to be heard half a block away.
Best Listening Room
Swallow Hill Music Association
1905 S. Pearl St.
No shot-and-a-beer crowd, audiences at Swallow Hill Music Association's gigs are generally so polite and attentive that performers have been known to find playing there almost unnerving. But they seem to love every minute of it, as do the nonsmoking, nondrinking folk fans who hang on their every word.
Best C&W Club
The Grizzly Rose
5450 N. Valley Hwy.
The mammoth Grizzly Rose was named the best venue in the entire country this year by the Country Music Association, and the prize was well deserved. In addition to a giant dance floor, neat eats, intriguing shops and a booking policy that consistently brings to town the biggest stars in country music, the Rose features Western atmosphere aplenty. When modern cowpokes want to strut, this is where they go.
Readers' choice: The Grizzly Rose
Best Blues Club
Ziggie's Saloon
4923 W. 38th Ave.
There are more clubs in Denver to see the blues than there have been in years, but most of them don't have a very bluesy feel; they're too tidy, too neat. Ziggie's, by contrast, is as down-home as a field hand's lament. A neighborhood joint that welcomes visitors with open arms, the club features the best local and touring bluesmen, as well as performances by the kind of rockabilly cats who'll make you wish you'd worn your blue suede shoes.
Readers' choice: Ziggie's
Best Jazz Club
El Chapultepec
1962 Market St.
In a town where jazz clubs come and go faster than an improvised solo, the Pec has been a mainstay of live music for more than fifteen years. It's the club where Chet Baker played his last Denver performance; where Javon Jackson worked it on out before he became famous; where visiting jazz dignitaries from Art Blakey to Wynton Marsalis always pop in after their uptown gigs. And it's the club that year after year offers the best people-watching on the local scene. We can't figure out what it is about El Chapultepec that attracts the most, uh, colorful characters to watch, eavesdrop on or engage in conversation. They certainly are an extroverted, jovial bunch of pool-playing, green-chile-eating, toe-tapping jazz fans. Enough said. Go solve the mystery yourself.
Readers' choice: El Chapultepec
Best News for Denver's Jazz and Blues Scene
Bluebird Theatre
3315 E. Colfax Ave.
Vartan Jazz Club
231 Milwaukee St.
You can all stop moaning in your beers about the mass demise of jazz clubs in the Denver area; not one but two venues are scheduled to open this year. Much like the Ogden Theatre several miles west, the soon-to-be-reopened Bluebird sat vacant for years before being refurbished. The result is a large venue dedicated to giving jazz and blues fans the same opportunity to see their favorite artists that rock aficionados take for granted. Vartan Jazz Club is the brainchild of Russian music entrepreneur Vartan Tonoian, who formerly opened private jazz clubs in such far-flung locations as Rio, Moscow and New York. His new club, opening in the space once occupied by the Bay Wolf, will not only showcase class acts like Eddie Gomez, Toshiko Akiyoshi and Mark Soskin at night but will also sell jazz-related T-shirts and other paraphernalia by day.
Best Meat Market
1082 Broadway
1082 Broadway
Formerly a hard-rock hangout, 1082 got a Nineties makeover that gave it all the amenities serious club-hoppers need: a huge, accessible dance floor, a thumpin' sound system, disco lighting and cage dancers! With femmes' nights and daily specials attracting Denver's beautiful people, you're sure to meet the object of your desire. If not, admission to 1082 also gets you into the Lost Planet in Cherry Creek and the Dead Beat Club in Glendale.
Best Club DJ
Paul Italiano
There are DJs who can match a beat, and there are DJs who play the coolest new music right alongside obscure retro gems. Only Paul Italiano does both. When he mans the booth at Rock Island every Friday night, this shoe-store-manager-by-day works the crowd into an aerobic frenzy. Occasionally tag-teaming with techno-head jocks, he always comes out of a set with exactly what the dancers need to hear--think spasmatic Nitzer Ebb and the most danceable cuts from Stereo MC's. The only drawback is that there's no time at all to rest, mingle, get a drink or powder your nose, since he never plays a bad song.
Readers' choice: Emad at Klub Kaos
Best Radio DJ
Brett Saunders
KTCL-FM 93.3
At first Saunders seems a little too slick for KTCL, a station that at its best exhibits more rough edges than most commercial outlets. Fortunately, he undercuts his smooth delivery with self-deprecating humor and a quick wit unbesmirched by a fascination with scatology. Funny without being stupid, Saunders--who boasts that he "was into Wang Chung before anyone"--is a welcome addition to the Denver radio scene.
Best Public Radio DJ
Chas Gale
KUVO-FM 89.3
Chas is the little boy let loose in a candy store, or so it would seem--but that's why his short morning stints on KUVO are so much fun. From 9 a.m. until "noon o'clock," he stretches the blues/Latin/jazz format of the station to the limit, playing what he's supposed to but definitely in his own way. Add a gentle, unpretentious funny bone (he's the only person we know on public radio who gives an unbridled war whoop when the goal is reached during pledge drives) and an apparent love for all kinds of music, and you've got something special to look forward to every day.
Best Requests
Livin', Lovin' and Leavin' Songs
KYGO-FM 98.5
Every weeknight at 7, the urban country giant turns into a small-town radio station, taking phone-in requests from listeners and then playing the caller-DJ patter on the air in the style of the Top 40 stations of old. Lovebirds of all ages call to confide their matters of the heart to DJ John Morrissey, who's only too happy to listen sympathetically and then spin the country crooner of choice. A predictable proceeding? Not on your life, pardner; in these enlightened days out on the range, Morrissey even takes "same-sex requests" from gay honky-tonkers.
Best Reborn Music Series
KTCL's MusicLink
Mercury Cafe
2199 California St.
The MusicLink series originally got its start at Okoboji's; when that restaurant went south, so did the venture. But not for long--soon after its demise, KTCL and the music program, which airs weekly on KUBD-TV/Channel 59 (and is co-sponsored by Westword), came to an agreement with the Mercury Cafe. The new series has been as successful as the old, giving Denverites a chance to see free acoustic shows by national artists such as Kristen Hersh and Squeeze, and giving local bands an opportunity to hawk their wares on radio and television. A classic win-win situation.
Best Audio BabysitterKKYD-AM 1340 KKYD (formerly KDEN-AM) sports a format dubbed "Kid Radio" and is dominated by so-called children's music transmitted by a Minneapolis-based satellite service. The resulting mix of instructive ditties and upbeat chatter may drive many parents out of their minds, but it's oddly attractive to children under the age of seven. Tune your kids in and they'll be entertained all the way home.
Best Place to Be Young and Urban
Big Fridays at Rock Island
1614 15th St.
Friday nights at Rock Island have become a weekend staple for downtown dwellers originally drawn in by the prospect of free beer and cheap liquor. There's usually a crowd of hundreds vying for admission to this LoDo establishment, and the crowd isn't the only thing that's big. Everything's on the large side here, including a roster of three DJs, the warehouse-sized rooms in which the whole shebang is hosted, and three gargantuan video screens that give Information Age dancers the unique thrill of shagging in front of a TV bigger than they are. Big fun.
Best Place to Be Young, Urban and Gay
Club 69 at the Aqua Lounge
1669 Clarkson St.
It's hard to say which thrill is greater: dancing at the biggest weekly gay gathering in the state or descending on a nominally straight establishment and scaring away the after-work sports-bar crowd that is Aqua Lounge's usual clientele. In any case, this Thursday-night party has all the elements of groovy nightclubbing--an energetic throng of Club 69 devotees, a visually arresting environment (look for the five-foot stainless-steel seahorse), stimulating music and free beer. The transformation really begins at 10 p.m., but if you're feeling frisky, come earlier to sample the happy-hour buffet and mingle with the breeders.
Best Neighborhood Gay Bar
The Compound
145 Broadway
Really now--who wants to have somewhere to go where everybody knows your name? The Compound is the only neighborhood gay bar in town interesting enough to attract perfect strangers. The loyal clientele gives the place its intimate appeal--happy banter and old chestnuts are served up regularly from the bar. Tuesday night's Sweatbox and Wednesday night's Fresh and Fruity are especially fun--DJs spin super new house, funk, techno and acid jazz, and the crowd is particularly noisy and giddy, exhibiting all the defiance of being out and crazy on a school night.
Best Gay Bar for Porn-Star Wannabes
Colorado Triangle Lounge
2036 Broadway
The best part of going out on the town is getting dressed for it. For most of us this means fussing with the hair and accessories, but for the lucky few it means dressing up every part of the body. The Triangle is the gay bar that caters to Denver's best-dressed members, from the fluffiest to the stuffiest. Always well-hung-around on the weekends, the stiffest competition here happens at Monday night's weekly underwear party.
Best Drag Show
Lipstick at the Metro Express Club
314 E. 13th Ave.
Any man can wear a dress, high heels and big hair and emote along with Whitney Houston. But true camp requires the kind of talent you'll find in Lipstick, the absolutely fabulous retinue of dynamic Denver dragster Kinsey Rapport. Lipstick's Sunday night review at the Metro Express is a variety show of lip-synched comedy routines, timeless classics and high concept. The troupe is truly rude and respectably good at what they do. You'll laugh till you pee in your pantyhose.
Best Gay Bar for Beginning Drag Queens
The Outlet
623 15th St.
A woman will tell you--learning how to find the right figure-flattering outfit and proper accessories and mastering the tricky art of applying makeup can take years. Practice makes perfect, and the Outlet happily serves all budding dragsters in spite of their fashion sense. The clientele is keen and quick with hair and costume suggestions, and the downtown location makes it anonymous enough for suburban office commuters looking for some big-city fun.
Best Concert of the Year
George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars
December 11, 1993
Ogden Theatre
All those critics who have called concerts "religious experiences" should have reserved the phrase for George Clinton's Denver performance. Clad in a child's bedsheet, Clinton led a collection of bizarre collaborators (one wearing a diaper, another--a male--splendiferous in an off-the-shoulder wedding gown) through a four-hour journey into the heart of funk. The sold-out crowd at the Ogden was left thoroughly exhausted by this endlessly danceable, indescribably groovy, intellectually orgasmic musical onslaught, and so were the performers. But it was a good tired.
Readers' choice: Pink Floyd
Best New Year's Eve Show
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Ogden Theatre
There has to be poetic justice in a New Year's Eve concert featuring a bluegrass/jazz fusion band whose drummer carries his traps in his arms and calls himself Future Man. And this evening with banjoist Fleck and his cohorts--the talented Wooten brothers--was not only poetic but visionary. Fleck was at once the traditionally pluckin' boy-next-door and the man who took the banjo on a cosmic flight; Future Man astounded the audience with his mighty SynthAxe Drumitar; and Victor Lemonte simply kicked booty on bass. Best of all, no major debauchery took place on the floor--just a friendly "Auld Lang Syne" at midnight, a little more music and then it was time to toddle off into 1994.
end of part 1
