Breeality Bites

What I Learned Selling Merch at a Big Head Todd and the Monsters Show

By Bree Davies
Jan 6, 2017

I showed up to sell merch at a Big Head Todd and the Monsters show and left inspired about local music.
Denver: Quit Kicking Your Artists Out

By Bree Davies
Dec 26, 2016

In order for artists to live in Denver, we need the city to be affordable, and we need to be able to create, practice, perform and gather in our spaces without fear of raids.
Ghost Ship Tragedy Makes Supporting DIY Spaces Especially Important

By Bree Davies
Dec 9, 2016

The fire in Oakland not only took 36 lives, it ripped open and exposed our global DIY community, a network of people who exist everywhere but operate mostly under the radar.
Make This Holiday Great for Everyone: Don't Force Anyone (or Yourself) to Drink

By Bree Davies
Nov 23, 2016

I was recently having brunch with my family. It was a normal meal, like thousands of meals I'd had in public before. The server came to the table to take our drink order, and the exchange with this man in an apron went something like this: Server: And what can I...
Fifteen Things You Can Do to Help Humanity After the Election

By Bree Davies
Nov 18, 2016

Maybe you're feeling a little paralyzed by the results of this election — I hear you. I am, too. I'm here to tell you that you are not alone, you are needed in the world, and you are important. And the good news is, you're time, energy, talent (and money, if you have the means) are sorely needed
Five Great Cultural Organizations That Benefit From the SCFD

By Bree Davies
Nov 3, 2016

The Scientific and Cultural Facilities District has been part of my life for almost all of it. I was born in Colorado in 1980; voters in the six-country metro area approved the SCFD tax — one penny on every ten dollars — in 1988. Denver is a better city for...
Diversify Your Concert Lineups and Watch Your Audience Grow

By Bree Davies
Sep 29, 2016

She was brought into the venue on the shoulders of two hunky, shirtless gentlemen. I watched her, then I looked up at the crowd up top watching her — as a venue, Ophelia's Electric Soapbox is set up to let dining patrons in the halo of booths above observe the...
Denver Drivers: Stop Road-Raging and Think About Other People for Once

By Bree Davies
Sep 21, 2016

It startled the shit out of me. During rush hour last week, when I saw a reasonable gap between moving cars, I came from Jewell Avenue, crossed southbound traffic and turned into the northbound lane of Logan Street. The gentleman in the Ford Explorer behind me decided that I wasn't allowed to make...
There Are No More "First-Ever" Art or Music Festivals in Denver

By Bree Davies
Sep 7, 2016

The area once known as "that place outside downtown, close to the Coliseum and the Pepsi plant" was christened River North and reconstituted as the River North (RiNo) Art District more than a decade ago — long before real estate began its steady scorch up Brighton Boulevard and the rebranding...
Dear Denverite: Be a Responsible Human and Pick Up Your Dog's Poop

By Bree Davies
Aug 31, 2016

I spend a lot of time watching dogs poop. I am the human to a wonderful, almost ten-pound Papillon freak show named Frankie who I often walk at night, so I'm extra-vigilant about where he poops — sometimes even using my phone flashlight to find said doo-doo in the grass so...
Do-It-Yourself Shows Vs. "Legit" Venues: It's More About the People Than the Place

By Bree Davies
Aug 24, 2016

I give bars a lot of shit for existing. I don't particularly like going to shows at bars, I don't like playing bars and most of all, I don't like that people under the age of 21 can't go to shows in bars. What is the point of having live...
Rock and Roll Is a (Radical) Girls' Club

By Bree Davies
Aug 4, 2016

Though South Broadway was teeming with hundreds of fest-goers last Friday evening — it was day two of the sweet-sixteen edition of the Underground Music Showcase — it was still easy to spot my friends in Tacocat. Like shiny pastel buoys bobbing among a sea of beards and black clothes,...
How Local Art and Artists Made Me Think Differently about the 16th Street Mall

By Bree Davies
Jul 26, 2016

As a person born and raised in Denver who is very vocal about her love for (and criticisms of) the Mile High City, I often get asked to recommend things to do and places to see when people are visiting Denver. I'm no tourist information center, but do I spend...
Dear Straight Allies: Stop Talking and Start Listening — and Then Take Action

By Bree Davies
Jun 15, 2016

Many of you know my dear friend Piper Rose. She's an active leader in the LGBTQ community here in Denver and far beyond, a larger-than-life, unconditionally loving person who works every day to create safer spaces for her fellow humans. A few months ago, she told me she was planning...
What I Learned About Denver While Visiting New Orleans

By Bree Davies
May 25, 2016

Whenever I travel to a different city, I can't seem to get Denver out of my mind. It's like clockwork: Since I began documenting the changes to my hometown over the last half-decade, I have become obsessed with how other cities operate and treat their citizens. Last week I visited...
Denver Had a Thriving Rave Culture in the '90s, and It Was All Its Own

By Bree Davies
May 10, 2016

I may not remember much of my first rave, but I do know it was complicated to get there. In Denver in 1995, getting to a rave was much more complicated than going to a concert, something I had mastered by the age of fifteen. Concerts were easy to find and...
Dear Prince: Thank You For Making Art Worth Writing About

By Bree Davies
May 2, 2016

It's hard to remember how I felt about death before the Internet. Well, maybe how I — we, collectively — processed death prior to social media. Social media gives us a space to prove our love; it is a place to instantly create memorials and collages for those we have...
The Beauty of Making an Old Building New Again — as Seen at Snarf's

By Bree Davies
Apr 21, 2016

"An ornate and decorated building on the outside says the people who walk by matter, that the public space matters, right?" That's what history professor Bryant Simon said during "Going for Broke: Atlantic City Falls On Hard Times," a conversation broadcast on Fresh Air a few months ago. Though the piece revolved...
When to Just Say No to RiNo, and Other Inaccurate Denver Neighborhood Names

By Bree Davies
Apr 13, 2016

Over breakfast the other morning, my friend Keith Garcia and I were discussing the recent announcement that The Wrangler, a popular Denver gay bar, would be moving to 3090 Downing Street. The conversation was less about the real estate transaction and more about the language used to define Denver's neighborhoods;...
Denver Needs More All-Ages Concerts

By Bree Davies
Apr 7, 2016

It was an incredible all-ages scene: Teens, middle-schoolers, even babies being held by excited parents were lined up outside Seattle venue Chop Suey last week by 4:30 p.m. for the Tacocat album release party. Tacocat decided to put on two shows that day: a 21 and up concert in the...

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