—

DeeDee’s Burlesque Book Club presents Alice In Wonderland: A Burlesque Revue “We’re all mad here...” The Clocktower Clockettes are ready to bring that madness to the stage! This seductive, high-energy reimagining of Alice in Wonderland spins Lewis Carroll’s curious tale into a glittering, grown-up fever dream. Follow Alice, the White Rabbit, and a cast of deliciously twisted characters as they tease and twirl in a world where nothing is quite what it seems. It will be ”…entirely bonkers. But I will tell you a secret. All the best people are.” Learn more at https://www.clocktowercabaret.com/

—

The Colfax Carousal returns Saturday, September 19, for its second year celebrating Denver’s punk community across six independent venues on Colfax Avenue. More than 30 acts, including Jon Snodgrass, Church Fire, MF Ruckus, Rubber Goddess, Night Fishing, The Frickashinas, White Rose Motor Oil, and many more will take the stage at Tight End, Lion’s Lair, Squire Lounge, DNVR Bar, Good Bones, and Illegal Pete’s. After years of BRT construction impacts along Colfax, the Carousal is rooted in a simple punk principle: show up for your people and support the places that give the community a home. One hundred percent of show proceeds support participating artists and businesses. Learn more at colfaxcarousal.org.

—

The Denver Zine Library is excited to announce Denver Zine Fest 2026! Since 2007, Denver Zine Fest has been a vibrant platform for Colorado zine creators to collaborate, share their work, and build community. This year’s event will feature over 90 independent creators from Denver, across Colorado, and beyond. Join us for a day filled with zine-y goodness and some fantastic collaborations with Colorado’s finest creatives! Mark your calendar for September 13th, from 11am-5pm, and head to the Denver Public Library, Central Library for this free event.

—

This Week’s Song: “elliot” by Dead Boyfriend

The couple with the dog had to be tourists, I thought–both dressed like pro shop mannequins. Oakley sunglasses, collared shirts, and tanned show muscles. Frigidly attractive, forty-five-ish. Legal eagles at play. They looked extremely out of place there on the Skylark patio, packed that day with attendees of the DIY underground music festival, the now legendary Blucifer’s First Rodeo.

The air was rank with beer, sweat, and sunscreen. The temperature had risen to 101 degrees, breaking a record from 1963, but the heat only seemed to embolden the crowds. At every spot Anthony and I visited there was a mob of scenesters, bright-eyed with the promise of a virgin festival, untouched by the customary greed. Later that night, organizer Mike Young would take the stage of HQ and scream into the microphone, “Money will not save you from death! Money will not save this evil American empire from death!” to the roar of an audience who proceeded to mosh in a sauna of B.O. and black shirts for over an hour to the passionate rock of Horsebitch.

After the show, Anthony and I, joined by writer Lindsay Temple, fresh off her first crowdsurf, would watch as a man removed his shirt and wrung out a solid stream of sweat onto the Broadway sidewalk, while onlookers who hadn’t been part of the bacchanalia inside HQ gaped in wonder.

All of this to say that the festival probably wasn’t the best place for an ankle-high critter covered in hair and endowed with an elevated sense of hearing and smell. As Anthony and I chatted a few tables away, there was a sudden clatter of patio chairs while the angry little dog attacked the woman passing by.

The woman staggered and caught herself. Everyone turned and looked.

“Your dog just bit me!” she said, more shocked than angry.

One of the dog’s owners, the woman, hesitated for a moment and then softly patted the dog’s head while whispering a reprimand.

Then there was silence. The dogbitten woman lifted her dress, examining her wound but also showing the couple that she wasn’t kidding. It was a real bite.

I, along with everyone else on the patio, I imagine, undertook an examination of the two parties. The statuesque couple and their little dog vs. the larger woman in her plain black dress. “There will be no justice here,” I muttered.

Sure enough, the couple felt no need to address the woman. Beyond the brief acknowledgment of their dog’s misbehavior, their expression remained stony, and, again, they were looking away, trying to wait out the moment, allowing a strange tableau to settle on the patio as everyone gawked. The woman with the dogbite kept her injured leg held out, waiting for a better response. She waited, and waited.

I narrated the scene to Anthony as he sat with his back politely turned to the stalemate. My cynicism was at full froth.

Yes, this is what it is, isn’t it? I thought. They made an assessment. They know the woman isn’t one of them. She’s not real. She can’t touch them. They just spilled their drink on the waiter. That’s all. Yes, this is what it is. There will be no–

“Ya’ll can’t just sit there! What the hell is wrong with you? Are ya’ll seriously not gonna do anything?” a woman cried from the table next to the couple.

The couple started. They took one look at the table filled with young women next to them and went pale.

“What are you doing?! Be a gentleman and get the lady a damn ice pack or something!” the woman said, addressing the man, whose veiny neck grew veinier.

Soon, many others on the patio, including yours truly, joined in, chiding the couple. “Yeah! Not cool, not cool!”

At last, the man stood up with a look of begrudging surrender and, if I wasn’t mistaken, a slight sporting grin as he made his way inside to fetch some ice. Perhaps the grin was to mask his embarrassment, or perhaps it was a more sociopathic nod to the cosmic chess game he’d just lost (for the moment), a kind of touché.

Meanwhile, his counterpart finally began to address the aggrieved. I couldn’t hear what she said, as the audience on the patio was murmuring now, digesting this dramatic turn. I watched the woman with the dog nod and speak with the mechanical warmth of a realtor. Negotiations were underway, and, here and there, one of the women at the adjacent table would consult the dogbitten lady–her advocates!

You never know how much you’re projecting your feelings onto a scene like this, but I did feel a kind of catharsis had alighted there at Skylark. The tension had been released, and it was revolution! Justice after all. More than that, we’d all witnessed something righteous, a heroic smackdown. Well done, ladies! It was like the universe had put them there specifically–the perfect opposition to the dog couple, their kryptonite.

However, for the rest of the day (and week really), I did feel guilty that I’d only been a witness. I kept stewing on the moment, weighing the moral equation’s variables to see if they resulted in cowardice: my distance from the incident, the time elapsed, and my responsibility to intervene. Would I have eventually come through if enough time had passed? Or would the couple have gotten away with their callous response if the ladies hadn’t been there to speak up?

Eventually, a friend told me that it was better that a woman had intervened because a man’s intervention in such a scene would have been too confrontational. I liked that excuse and will quote it here to help save face. But it bothered me that one of life’s rare moments of truth had come and gone while I sat ensconced in my cynical musings.

After the dust settled, the bitten woman–a Denverse reader, it turned out–walked over and chatted with me and Anthony. The bite mark on her leg had grown swollen and purple. She told us how the couple never really apologized until pressured by the group of ladies. She’d gotten the woman’s phone number at the behest of her spontaneous advocates. But all she’d really wanted was a genuine acknowledgment from them, a mea culpa and so forth.

I can’t remember what she said here verbatim. But it was something like, “That poor dog. It’s no wonder it was angry. It’s so hot and crowded out here. I’d be irritated too.”

By then, the couple was gone.

Till Next Time,

Yours,
Paul M. French, Editor

—

[NOTE ON MAGAZINE THEFT INCIDENT: As many of you are aware, earlier this year someone made off with roughly 4,000 copies of our spring 2026 issue in one of the most bizarre cases of grand larceny imaginable. I wanted to provide an update on the case, since a lot of people have been asking.

The storage facility’s management responded and told me that there was no footage of the crime or of any suspicious activity related to the area, which is absurd since there’s no way to haul 4,000 magazines without being caught on camera at some point in the process, if you have any coverage at all. They also had the fob entry data of who’d entered the storage area, which you think would make this an infinitely solvable case. However, they wouldn’t share this or any of the footage they possessed with the detective assigned to the case.

When I talked to the detective about this, he said that if they didn’t want to share the footage or the fob data, there wasn’t much he could do, which is sort of baffling, since I thought the police had some, you know, authority when it comes to investigating crimes, especially when there’s over $5k worth of inventory gone. I pressed the facility about this, but they simply stressed again that there was no footage and that they wouldn’t be sharing anything with the police.

It became clear to me that I would have to make this a part-time job if I wanted to get any kind of justice—pestering the police and the storage facility. By that point, we were well into developing our summer issue. Articles needed assigning and editing, the flatplan needed organizing, artwork needed vetting, ads needed to be sold, etc. So I decided to give up and put my effort back into the magazine. Naturally, I still hold out hope that something will turn up and the culprits will be caught—if, for nothing else, to satisfy curiosity. But that’s where things stand as of right now. I don’t want to stew on the negative though, since so many things are going right for Denverse right now. Thank you for your readership and support! I’ll let you know if anything new comes up.].

Are you a subscriber? Join our local independent community. Get free entry to exclusive events all year long, including our release parties, complete with live music, giveaways, and more. You’ll also get Denverse delivered straight to your door. Sign up today!

You can RSVP by clicking here or the picture below. This is a free event for everyone! But stay tuned for our next subscriber-exclusive event. Thanks so much for being part of Denverse!

—

DeeDee’s Burlesque Book Club presents Alice In Wonderland: A Burlesque Revue “We’re all mad here...” The Clocktower Clockettes are ready to bring that madness to the stage! This seductive, high-energy reimagining of Alice in Wonderland spins Lewis Carroll’s curious tale into a glittering, grown-up fever dream. Follow Alice, the White Rabbit, and a cast of deliciously twisted characters as they tease and twirl in a world where nothing is quite what it seems. It will be ”…entirely bonkers. But I will tell you a secret. All the best people are.” Learn more at https://www.clocktowercabaret.com/

—

The Colfax Carousal returns Saturday, September 19, for its second year celebrating Denver’s punk community across six independent venues on Colfax Avenue. More than 30 acts, including Jon Snodgrass, Church Fire, MF Ruckus, Rubber Goddess, Night Fishing, The Frickashinas, White Rose Motor Oil, and many more will take the stage at Tight End, Lion’s Lair, Squire Lounge, DNVR Bar, Good Bones, and Illegal Pete’s. After years of BRT construction impacts along Colfax, the Carousal is rooted in a simple punk principle: show up for your people and support the places that give the community a home. One hundred percent of show proceeds support participating artists and businesses. Learn more at colfaxcarousal.org.

—

The Denver Zine Library is excited to announce Denver Zine Fest 2026! Since 2007, Denver Zine Fest has been a vibrant platform for Colorado zine creators to collaborate, share their work, and build community. This year’s event will feature over 90 independent creators from Denver, across Colorado, and beyond. Join us for a day filled with zine-y goodness and some fantastic collaborations with Colorado’s finest creatives! Mark your calendar for September 13th, from 11am-5pm, and head to the Denver Public Library, Central Library for this free event.

—

This Week’s Song: “Blankets of Starlight” (feat. Carolyn Hunter) by Mark Crawford and Andrew Frank

His favorite story about his dad, an old hippie, was that he had attended Woodstock but had to leave a day early because he needed to be back in …

Read more

We’re so excited for this Thursday’s karaoke contest! Some real talent has signed up, and we can’t wait to see who comes out on top! And we’re going all out, of course! In fact, we’ve recruited professional local musicians to judge the performances!

Amanda Hawkins
Ezey Da General
Genevieve Peek

Click here or the link below to RSVP with a +1.

Read more

The winner will receive a $100 cash prize, a LUDICROUS trophy, and, of course, full publicity here on our social media when we announce the results! Who is the best karaoke singer in Denver? Do you think you’ve got the stuff?

It’s free to attend, but if you want to sign up to compete (and you’re not a subscriber), just Venmo the $5 fee to @denversemagazine

If you’re a subscriber, your compete fee is waived! But you still need to sign up. Check your inbox for our last email invite, but we’ll also send another one to our paid subscribers soon.

See you there!

—

DeeDee's Burlesque Book Club presents Alice In Wonderland: A Burlesque Revue “We’re all mad here...” The Clocktower Clockettes are ready to bring that madness to the stage! This seductive, high-energy reimagining of Alice in Wonderland spins Lewis Carroll’s curious tale into a glittering, grown-up fever dream. Follow Alice, the White Rabbit, and a cast of deliciously twisted characters as they tease and twirl in a world where nothing is quite what it seems. It will be ”…entirely bonkers. But I will tell you a secret. All the best people are.” Learn more at https://www.clocktowercabaret.com/

—

The Colfax Carousal returns Saturday, September 19, for its second year celebrating Denver’s punk community across six independent venues on Colfax Avenue. More than 30 acts, including Jon Snodgrass, Church Fire, MF Ruckus, Rubber Goddess, Night Fishing, The Frickashinas, White Rose Motor Oil, and many more will take the stage at Tight End, Lion’s Lair, Squire Lounge, DNVR Bar, Good Bones, and Illegal Pete’s. After years of BRT construction impacts along Colfax, the Carousal is rooted in a simple punk principle: show up for your people and support the places that give the community a home. One hundred percent of show proceeds support participating artists and businesses. Learn more at colfaxcarousal.org.

—

The Denver Zine Library is excited to announce Denver Zine Fest 2026! Since 2007, Denver Zine Fest has been a vibrant platform for Colorado zine creators to collaborate, share their work, and build community. This year’s event will feature over 90 independent creators from Denver, across Colorado, and beyond. Join us for a day filled with zine-y goodness and some fantastic collaborations with Colorado’s finest creatives! Mark your calendar for September 13th, from 11am-5pm, and head to the Denver Public Library, Central Library for this free event.

—

This Week’s Song: “Mark It With an X” by Wild Love Tigress

—

DeeDee's Burlesque Book Club presents Alice In Wonderland: A Burlesque Revue “We’re all mad here...” The Clocktower Clockettes are ready to bring that madness to the stage! This seductive, high-energy reimagining of Alice in Wonderland spins Lewis Carroll’s curious tale into a glittering, grown-up fever dream. Follow Alice, the White Rabbit, and a cast of deliciously twisted characters as they tease and twirl in a world where nothing is quite what it seems. It will be ”…entirely bonkers. But I will tell you a secret. All the best people are.” Learn more at https://www.clocktowercabaret.com/

—

The Trailhead Comedy Festival is Colorado’s autumn celebration of laughter and community. As the landscape ignites in fall color, we gather in intimate venues to discover comedy’s brightest explorers and share the warmth of a collective, side-splitting journey. More than a festival, it’s a welcoming trailhead—where world-class talent meets our local spirit, and every laugh feels like coming home.​ From Oct. 8-10. Visit https://www.trailheadcomedyfest.com/ to learn more and get tickets.

—

Locally owned and operated in Denver since 1983, Denver Screen Print & Embroidery uses earth-friendly, water-based inks to provide custom tee shirts, hats and more for Colorado businesses and organizations. You can learn more about their services and fabrics at https://www.dspe.us/

—

Red Rocks Spirits is one of our favorite local brands for a reason. They’re the makers of the smoothest spirits: Red Rocks Vodka, the official vodka of the DU Pios, and Red Rocks Cut Cask Whiskey. Red Rocks Spirits are versatile enough to drink in your favorite cocktail, or on the rocks, and perfect for all occasions! Learn more at https://www.redrocksspirits.com/

—

This Week’s Featured Song: “Maggie Jane” by May Be Fern

I was a touch disappointed to find him on social media after just a little sleuthing. I wanted a chase of some sort: a clandestine run-in where I had a clever quip locked an…

Read more

On August 20 at 8pm, we will be hosting the first ever Denver’s Best Karaoke Singer Contest at Mozart’s Denver.

The winner will receive a $100 cash prize, a LUDICROUS trophy, and, of course, full publicity here on our social media when we announce the results! Who is the best karaoke singer in Denver? Do you think you’ve got the stuff?

It’s…

Read more

Second, we have an exciting event to announce. On Aug. 20, we will be holding a contest for the Best Karaoke Singer in Denver at Mozart’s at 8pm. Attendance will be FREE for EVERYONE for this one, but we’ll also be waiving entry fees if you’re a paid subscriber and want to show off those pipes. There will be a $100 prize and a ludicrous trophy for the winner! Yes, ludicrous!!! We’ll be sending RSVPs to paid subscribers first just in case this thing fills up quickly. If you’re not a paid subscriber, you can join us by clicking here. Support local!]

Dumber Days: Wrestling With the Modern Drag of Mental Oblivion

My natural drift has always been toward stupidity. One of the reasons I write, in fact, is to flog myself toward a sharper appreciation of the world. A few weeks ago, I was at Cherry Creek Mall, imagining that I could stop myself from becoming a complete idiot by buying a flip phone. I’d just spritzed my neck with some free samples of $200 cologne, the contents of which an elderly clerk had taken great pains to detail, limning hints of this and that, really putting effort into the sale–old school human customer service, certainly not circa 2026. So I did my best to deceive her. Yes, I’d be back around in no time. I just wanted to shop a bit. It’s a wonderful cologne. As they say in the sales world, Buyers are liars.

Really, I was in a rush after a full day of magazine work, and my feigned interest in the cologne was a ruse to mask my BO before a social engagement. I could have gone home, but I’d convinced myself that buying a flip phone was an essential errand. You see, lately, I’d been experiencing some problems with my brain.

On occasion when it’s not horrifying, recognizing you’re just a teaspoon of data in an ocean of human experience can be comforting. In this case, a lot of other people had been arriving at the same realization I had: namely, “I’m getting dumber.” I don’t know if that’s comforting or not. I’ll have to think about it.

I’d seen the headlines about falling IQs for years, but the conversation had been going mainstream. Maybe it had gone beyond the scores, and people were noticing real changes in how their mind was functioning, like I had.

I’d spoken with a local neurologist about this recently. Not by appointment. I was working on an article about so-called “digital dementia,” the pop-sci label being used to both explain our shared cognitive decline and assign the blame for it. I can’t quote the doctor here, as she wasn’t going on record for the Denverse newsletter, but apparently there’s quite a bit of alarm in her field about the long-term effects of social media, AI, and screen time on the brain. To summarize, many neurologists are worried that we’re going to see a massive spike in dementia rates in the next 20-30 years.

I don’t want to get in the weeds here, but one of the simple dynamics behind our tech’s effects on the brain has been called “cognitive offloading,” where the work you traditionally do with your brain is sloughed off to an outside tool, causing the neurons associated with that task to die off. Use it or lose it, essentially. Can’t remember the name of the poet who wrote the inscription on the Statue of Liberty? Maybe in the past you would’ve strained to remember long enough that your brain would’ve revived and strengthened those connections (if you’ve ever had an actor’s name spring back into your head hours after you strained to remember it, you know how this goes). But now we reach for our phones before the strain begins, and, in so doing, little by little, we kill off a bit of the brain.

There are other factors at play too, of course. Sustained concentration on a single task rewards the brain, whereas getting pinged constantly from various diversions doesn’t. As I’m writing this, for instance, it’s very easy for me to distract myself with my phone or a tab on my computer, especially if I suddenly find myself at a loss for words.

And, of course, upon encountering writer’s block, plenty of people now resort to getting “help.” I’m writing this on Google Docs right now, and they’ve put a little AI magic star icon on the page itself (not in the corner, not in the toolbar at the top, but at the bottom of the very page you’re writing on). I can’t imagine the willpower kids have to exert to avoid these temptations, now that they’ve turned essential brainwork into an extracurricular. But I digress.

It was after my conversation with the doctor that I suddenly became even more neurotic about my own mental health and problems with tech. As I’ve said, intelligence has always been something I’ve had to work at. I don’t think I’m a good writer so much as I’m a good revisionist of my stupidity. Maybe all roads lead to Rome, but whatever. I can say that I’ve noticed some negative changes in the way my mind works over the years. Some of this is due to starting the business. When you change your directives and habits, you change your brain. The brain I’m working with now is the Denverse Magazine model brain, which has its advantages. One of the main tradeoffs though is an addiction to my phone–ironic for a print magazine publisher, I know. But I can’t go ten minutes without checking my email to see if some new subscribers have rolled in, or if we have a great new lead on a story, or if we have an interested advertiser, or, naturally, if there’s some crisis that needs to be addressed. Then, once my email has me, I’m interfacing with the genius machine and its cocktail of stressors and sedatives designed to hold my attention captive, all while doping my brain chemistry and snoozing precious gray matter.

Awareness helps… I guess. The data is coming in, and, even though the use of these devices is practically mandated by employers, our social lives, etc., at least we know they’re destroying our brains?

Yes, I’ve been scrambling to find a way out of the trap.

Desperate but fragrant, I went to the Verizon store in the mall next to the Macy’s and got the attention of one of the sales associates. I think I was a bit manic. I can get that way when I’m starting out on some grand resolution that inevitably crashes on the rocks. I was wall-eyed, excited to finally commit to a flip phone again, the way I had been the last time I failed at this quest. I rabidly explained my mission, limning the ins and outs of my plans for change, my mental revolution! The sales associate just stared at me like I was a moron.

Yours,

Paul M. French, editor

Subscribe to get Denverse delivered to your door, along with all of our other member perks! Support authentic analog media!

—

The Trailhead Comedy Festival is Colorado’s autumn celebration of laughter and community. As the landscape ignites in fall color, we gather in intimate venues to discover comedy’s brightest explorers and share the warmth of a collective, side-splitting journey. More than a festival, it’s a welcoming trailhead—where world-class talent meets our local spirit, and every laugh feels like coming home.​ From Oct. 8-10. Visit https://www.trailheadcomedyfest.com/ to learn more and get tickets.

—

Locally owned and operated in Denver since 1983, Denver Screen Print & Embroidery uses earth-friendly, water-based inks to provide custom tee shirts, hats and more for Colorado businesses and organizations. You can learn more about their services and fabrics at https://www.dspe.us/

—

Red Rocks Spirits is one of our favorite local brands for a reason. They’re the makers of the smoothest spirits: Red Rocks Vodka, the official vodka of the DU Pios, and Red Rocks Cut Cask Whiskey. Red Rocks Spirits are versatile enough to drink in your favorite cocktail, or on the rocks, and perfect for all occasions! Learn more at https://www.redrocksspirits.com/

—

This Week’s Song: “Stop Stop Monopolies” by Sam Driborr

I choke on the sticky wet air inside HQ before I’ve even entered the building. The venue is vibrating in anticipation as the members of Horse Bitch finish setting up for their performance at Blucifer’s First Rodeo. I linger in the back with Paul and Anthony of Denverse Magazine and consider backing out, not sure if I’m in the mood to wear the sweat and spilled beers of the massive crowd. That is, until the music begins and the room explodes into wild ecstasy, and I remember I’d promised myself that if the opportunity arose, I’d have my first crowdsurfing experience at this brand-new festival, created by artists, for everyone. The craze of the moment overtakes me, and I shove my way forward into the eye of the storm, rubbing slick shoulders with a bunch of strangers who, at least for the duration of the show, become my closest friends. Sometimes, when the pit calls, you must answer.

Blucifer’s First Rodeo is the latest effort from a collective of humble and hardworking musicians, pioneered by lead organizers Gillian Pasley and Mike Young, who sought to create an honest experience for the bands, venues, purveyors, and patrons of Denver’s independent music scene. When the Underground Music Showcase announced its relocation to the RiNo neighborhood, the Bluce team planted itself on South Broadway (and beyond!), dividing the talent of 260 artists across five DIY spaces, 17 Broadway bars, and 20 Baker-neighborhood homes.

I asked Denverse if I could have first dibs on festival coverage back in April. I kept up with new announcements and did my best to make it to a couple pre-fest activations at HQ and Wax Trax, and two days before Blucifer’s First Rodeo kicked off on July 23rd, I messaged their Instagram and asked if more help was needed with setup, to which Mike swiftly responded, “YES! Can you be at Blossom House on Thursday at 4pm?” And soon I was assisting a group of organizers by decorating the space with artificial flowers, juggling blue balloons like soccer balls until I popped two by mistake.

As the festival approached, I spent lots of time organizing how I would conserve my energy to maximize my reportage, but Blucifer had other plans for me. Walking out of Squirm Gallery around 9:00pm later that Thursday with the intention of getting to bed early, I get a text from my friend who I thought wasn’t attending the fest.

"Are you at Seventh Circle right now?”

“I’m not…” I reply. “Are you…????”

"My friend is playing here, I had no idea until he texted me last minute… you should come!”

I take a deep breath and make a choice. In the spirit of grassroots labors of love, this weekend has to be about letting go and saying yes.

And so I embark on my mission toward total immersion, accruing 60,000 steps in four nights, completely in service to catching a vibe. As it rains on my way to see Nina de Freitas at Bar 404, the thunderclaps boom so loud they take my breath away. I boogie alone to Savage Blush, Ritmo Cascabel, In Plain Air, Insipidus. I dap up BRŪHA’s frontman Fabian Guerrero and trade affirmations at Dogtags; I have many shots of tequila; I get caught up in a crowd chattering about maybe having seen former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell wearing a green sports coat. (When I accompany my friends in Witches & Science into the lounge downstairs at La Foret, we walk past Mr. Bell, and I quietly tell him his fit is fire, to which he looks straight ahead and says “Thanks.” Score!)

---

“These guys fuck!” Blucifer artist Inaiah Lujan says to me between grind-punk GUNK! songs at D3 “2”, the band’s vocalist Willie Cyr bouncing between snarling the lyrics to “Femicide” and batting their long lashes at the audience. Inaiah and I slip into a salsa two-step during one of the five-piece’s groovy interludes. I just met him for the first time back at Seventh Circle, and for the remainder of the weekend he is my checkpoint friend.

“We hadn’t actually applied for Blucifer. One of the organizers saw us perform at 7C and asked if we wanted to play,” says Willie during a phone call two days after their Bluce set. As they began load-out, I asked to see a setlist. I took my pick from four handwritten ones, the only variation between them being drawings of different-sized-and-shaped boobs.

GUNK! is a hardcore punk ensemble of scary-sweet femme rockers, half of the members Chicano and/or black. In the spirit of Blucifer, GUNK! believes in the power of paying it forward, knowing that amid all the logistics of playing or organizing a live show, there’s someone in the audience who needs it.

“Sometimes I don’t realize what impact I’m making until a queer, black, femme, or whatever person tells me. It reminds me, ‘Hey, I’m really doing it.’ And when they see me doing it, it reminds them that they can do it, too. It’s shit like that that makes me wanna cry!” says Birdy.

For house-show host Jim Abraham, whose home saw performances by Big Dopes, BRUHA, and the Mañanas, infusing the residential areas around him with the cultural creativity that seemed to have been lost is an opportunity he wears with pride.

“Baker has historically been a place of culture. It was a gay neighborhood, it was a Latino neighborhood, and we’ve admittedly lost some of that edge through gentrification. So I was really excited to help bring some of it back,” says Abraham.

--

It’s the spirit of service to something greater than yourself, the current of history-making through bad weather, damaged gear, clogged venue toilets with ancient plumbing, and delayed start times that make community-driven events like Blucifer’s First Rodeo so awe-inspiring. The core of any strong culture is a deep sense of allegiance and care for one another, an enthusiastic mix of faith and trust. Maybe that’s why I saw so many folks smiling with every muscle in their face; maybe that’s why that final joyous show at TrashHawk Tavern felt like a family reunion, and why I didn’t need to remember anyone’s name, knowing that the next time I ran into them outside of Hi-Dive or Imported Mechanics, we’d embrace like we really meant it.

Belle Mason, who performed at the Baker neighborhood shows on Sunday, believes that art and creation are acts of humility, saying, “I really feel that we have a social responsibility to share in order to keep creating a world that is grounded in love.”

—

Back at Horse Bitch that Saturday night, I tell several audience members that I have never crowd surfed before, and in an instant, they all shift their attention to making it happen, giving me instructions, turning to their friends, and shouting into their ears and pointing up toward the ceiling. I step on the edge of the stage and lean back. I keep my orange-rimmed sunglasses on to try and conceal my nerves, but still I’m grinning ear to ear. I float across the gentle hands below me reaching out for someone to hold, eager to take care, and while holding myself in a hug, I say a silent prayer of gratitude. I won’t know it till later, but several people capture photos and videos of this moment, my first, among many firsts that inaugural Bluce weekend. This, I think, is what heaven feels like.

Venus Cruz & Super Distant Boyfriend at Two Moons Music Hall

For this set, Venus Cruz wore a wig that was like a cross between Dolly Parton and one of the Golden Girls, along with sunglasses and an outfit made for a jazz lounge singer from the 1950s. With a talented jazz and R&B band on stage, Cruz delivered a set of music that felt like improv from beginning to end with masterful flow of words, including some musical and cultural allusions to Prince’s “Darling Nikki” and a rhyme with Christopher Walken, all part of a spontaneous narrative about themes of identity and challenges with relationships. Cruz has long been one of the great talents of local music in the realm of jazz, R&B, neo-soul, and hip-hop and her commanding, versatile, and creative performance was a standout of the festival.

Pleasure Prince at Ratio

The seemingly effortless flow of rhythm and tone with rich, saturated synth sounds that Pleasure Prince always seems to bring to the show is striking. Even in this room with its sonic challenges, the duo’s music felt like an escape from the heat and ambient chaos of the world and an invite into a more friendly, playful, and understanding space for around half an hour. From this performance you could tell the songs had built into them some flexibility so that it could be spontaneous on the spot without losing a step in the performance of the music.

Covenhoven at Two Moons Music Hall

Joel Van Horne had some ace guests for this showing of his warm, poetic Americana, including Carl Sorensen on drums, and it looked like Ben Pisano of Corsicana on keys. With this project Van Horne brings a grace and sense of gentleness and intimacy with the songwriting that transcends perceived genre. Getting to see this as one of the likely last times we’ll get to see live music in Two Moons enhanced the impact of the music, like being in some 1960s TV show set in a jazz lounge.

Twin Shadow at Showcase Stage

Twin Shadow hadn’t been to Denver for a show in over a decade, and despite the unusual weather—somewhere between muggy and hot—and the threatening rainstorm on the edges of the city, which George Lewis Jr. remarked upon bemusedly at one point, the band put in a charismatic performance, with a set list drawing liberally from the 2010 debut album Forget (including the title track). Early in the show, we got to see the hit song “Five Seconds” as well as more recent tracks like “Alemania” and “Half Life.” But most engaging was how Lewis and the band seemed to be having fun playing music that bridges gaps between synth pop, rock, and R&B with Lewis’s soulful and uplifting vocals.

Goldie Boutilier at Showcase Stage

Goldie Boutilier seemed to only be accompanied by a guitarist, a drummer (both women), and whatever electronic backing was needed, but she put on the type of show like she’d been a rock star for years, strutting, striking poses, using a beautifully decorated umbrella to great effect. And just bringing great energy to the stage. Some of her moves made me think of Mick Jagger, while her outfit was like some kind of glam rock space alien circa David Bowie. One of the biggest surprises of the festival was to catch someone with that level of poise and confidence also projecting a welcoming attitude.

The Milk Blossoms at Larimer Lounge

Since the last UMS, The Milk Blossoms have become a trio. And from the beginning of the set it was obvious the sonics were different. It felt more like a noise rock or grunge band before the song shifted into a more melancholic and vulnerable mode, and Harmony Rose played what looked like a short electric guitar that had four strings, so more like a large electric ukulele but with a much wider tonal range, particularly when put through a brace of pedals. Later in the set there was a song almost like a punk rager, and yet if you’ve seen the band before you know Rose is capable of unleashing intense emotions in her vocals and that was there. So this next iterations of the band, obviously still under development (something more bands should try), showcased how you can seemingly completely transform your sound without giving up the emotional core and songwriting that made it noteworthy to begin with.

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Check out the Fourth Annual Indie Bash on Wednesday, June 22. Indie Bash is Colfax Avenue’s annual summer celebration of the independent businesses, artists, musicians, makers, and neighbors that make this iconic corridor unlike anywhere else. The event kicks off Indie Week with an evening filled with local food, live entertainment, art community, and celebration. Featuring live music, local food and treats, and much more. We’ll be there too! Learn more: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1992581608229?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Every year, one book unites our city around a shared read. This year, it's a story you won't forget. Celebrate the book reveal, hear from the author, and explore events happening across the city. Learn more about One Book, One Denver, happening from August 7 to September 30. Discover more at denlib.org/obod.

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Don’t miss Denver’s biggest music festival, Underground Music Showcase, happening from July 24 - 26th, 2026. It’s one of our favorite events every year, a legendary mix of A-list talent and hidden gems. We’ll see you there! Get your tickets now to see 150+ national and discovery artists in RiNo for three jam-packed days of music. Tickets on sale now at https://www.undergroundmusicshowcase.com/

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This Week’s Song: Fifteen Minutes of Fame by Tony Yo

Audra and Steve, her husband and business partner, had spent the past three mon…

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The lon…

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Check out the Fourth Annual Indie Bash on Wednesday, June 22. Indie Bash is Colfax Avenue’s annual summer celebration of the independent businesses, artists, musicians, makers, and neighbors that make this iconic corridor unlike anywhere else. The event kicks off Indie Week with an evening filled with local food, live entertainment, art community, and celebration. Featuring live music, local food and treats, and much more. We’ll be there too! Learn more: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1992581608229?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Don’t miss the opportunity to see The Stars We Do Not See: Australian Indigenous Art at The Denver Art Museum through July 26th. This exhibition is the largest display of Australian Indigenous art ever presented in North America and offers a captivating, multi-layered experience, featuring 130 works by 142 artists drawn exclusively from the National Gallery of Victoria’s world-leading collection. These works will introduce you to the art, resilience, and depth of the world’s oldest continuous living culture. Visit denverartmuseum.org to purchase tickets.

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Don’t miss Denver’s biggest music festival, Underground Music Showcase, happening from July 24 - 26th, 2026. It’s one of our favorite events every year, a legendary mix of A-list talent and hidden gems. We’ll see you there! Get your tickets now to see 150+ national and discovery artists in RiNo for three jam-packed days of music. Tickets on sale now at https://www.undergroundmusicshowcase.com/

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This Week’s Song: Last Century by El Dolor

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