Standing Room Only: A Guide to Denver Concert Venues

Indie rock is what they do best at this small club. Always something new and worth checking out. I saw a band called Aqueduct here a few months back and I was instantly a fan. Fair priced drinks too.

This is a really great sounding room that books mostly Alt-country, Rockabilly, and the sort of music that attracts Bettie Page looking girls with lots of tattoos. I love it. The crowd is more drunk and fighty than at most other venues, but hey, it’s all part of the rock n’ roll experience. Right?

Hard rock, punk, metal, country. It can all be found at 3 Kings, along with burleque shows and girls tending bar in their underpants. This is a fun club with great sound and the barstaff keeps the booze flowing.

The first (and often last) stop of a million local bands, Herman’s keeps the music playing year after year. The drinks are cheap and the place usually has a festive, if a little too hippy, feel about it.

Once a run-down movie house, then a run-down concert hall, and now, after a big renovation in 2006, a great place to catch a show. The best seats in the house are on the arms of the balcony that extend almost far enough to overhang the stage.

Beautiful art-deco theatre with state-of-the-art sound. A great place to see a show and not a bad seat in the house. Two bars dispense drinks with lightning speed. Consistantly voted Denver’s best venue.

A good sized venue with a nice stage and a big bar. Lots of hippy jam bands have always come through here but lately they have broadened their repetoire to include rock, hip-hop and metal bands.

A beautiful and historic Denver Theatre with truly great sound and lights. Assigned seating makes it a little difficult to dance or get to the bar without saying “excuse me” a thousand times, but if you are going to sit and listen to your favorite artist, you’ll hardly notice.

The Fillmore was once a large skating rink and, unfortunately still sounds a bit like one. But it is a beautiful room and they book more world-class talent to play there than nearly any other venue in town.

Even a terrible band looks and sounds great at Red Rocks. Believe me I know, I saw “Frankie goes to Hollywood” here in 1985 and they were awesome, even though they sucked. On a warm Colorado night there is no better place to be than seeing a show on the Rocks.

Sure, it’s nice to be outside, drinking beer and listening to a band rock out. But for some reason I have never had anything but a lousy time at Fiddlers Green. Maybe it’s just me. From the parking to the seating to the crowd, it has always just seemed like an ordeal.

The concerts under the tent at Universal Lending Pavilion are a lot of fun. More often that not they book acts that my parents would enjoy more than me, but hey, parents need fun too.

The summer concert series at the Botanic Gardens is great. The shows are done in-the-round and, for an outdoor gig, the sound is always top-notch. And it is a lovely place to watch a show as the sun sets on a summer evening.