Denver lost some of its biggest music and culture players this year. But we stand to gain a lot in 2021.

Battered and bruised by 2020, Denver artists and cultural nonprofits look ahead to next year

By John Wenzel

The sun sets outside of El Chapultepec on Dec. 7, 2020, at 20th and Market streets in downtown Denver. El Chapultepec, the city’s iconic jazz club and bar, closed permanently this month after 87 years in business. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

At times, it seemed as if everything except streaming had been cancelled in Denver this year.

Dozens of empty theaters and clubs prompted hybrid live-and-digital experiments that ended in frustration as often as success. Decades-long cultural institutions disappeared, some from a lack of revenue, some already nearing the end of their natural lifespans and pushed over the edge by the pandemic shutdowns. Nothing rushed in to take their places.

“Historically, it’s as big as some of the major closings over the years, like (San Francisco’s) Keystone Korner or The Fillmore,” Carlos Lando, program director for jazz station KUVO 89.3-FM, said after Denver jazz club El Chapultepec closed Dec. 8. The venue, bar and former Mexican restaurant, which has stood since 1933 at the corner of 20th and Market streets, represented the city’s pre-boomtime culture to many residents.

Minus local concerts and touring acts — or the ability to serve alcohol with any consistency — independent venues mounted fundraising campaigns, last week joined by the East Colfax Avenue’s historic Lion’s Lair. Hi-Dive co-owner Curtis Wallach and partner Suzanne Magnuson left Denver to invest in Trinidad, an artsy town on the New Mexico border, as did cannabis and Sexy Pizza entrepreneur Kayvan Khalatbari and longtime members of the Denver comedy scene.

A view of the Fox West Theatre on Main Street in Trinidad on Friday, Nov. 6. The historic theater, which holds 600, is being restored to amid a new boom of cultural investment in Trinidad. (Photo by Rachel Ellis, The Denver Post)

The lack of public cultural gatherings, from Red Rocks concerts to street festivals, increased feelings of isolation. Artistic world premieres evaporated. Still hesitant, performing arts companies pushed everything into 2021, where hope glimmers hazily.

Here are just a few things Denver culture lost in 2020, along with some things to potentially look forward to next year.

Music

Lost: Venues that closed permanently include El Chapultepec, Three Kings Tavern, Live @ Jack’s and Le Cour, plus dozens more bars and restaurants that hosted live bands, DJs and karaoke nights, from Armida’s to Zephyr Lounge and Tooey’s Off Colfax.

Also lost: Every major tour and most scheduled, indoor concerts from mid-March on, whether postponed or canceled. Once unthinkable, we skipped Five Points Jazz Festival, Denver Botanic Gardens’ Summer Concert Series, Levitt Pavilion’s season, Westword Music Showcase, The Underground Music Showcase, and Denver Day of Rock, among many others.

People dance as the hip-hop trio Digable Planets performs on the main stage at The Underground Music Showcase in 2018. (Shaban Athuman, Denver Post file)

How many transcendent nights singing under the stars were lost? How many chance meetings among fans of the same band, whether at an all-ages art space or Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre? It’s incalculable.

The economic losses are not, however, totaling about 90% of the industry’s 2019 revenue, according to the National Independent Venue Association. At this point in the pandemic, the average music venue in Colorado is bleeding an average of $45,000 per month, according to Chris Zacher, executive director of Levitt Pavilion, a public-private partnership that usually presents dozens of free concerts in Denver each summer.

“All these music organizations coming together and suddenly becoming lobbyists wasn’t really in our realm of expertise,” Zacher said. “But if any music innovation has been done in Colorado, it’s on the lobbying side.”

Looking forward to: $15 billion in federal funding for music venues, movie theaters and cultural institutions, which could arrive soon depending on the fate of the Save Our Stages Act (it passed Congress, but awaits the President’s signature). Also: Late spring or summer 2021, which is the earliest outdoor shows could return, according to industry estimates — state mandates willing.

Indoor shows will take longer, likely late fall or early winter 2021, experts say. The glut of programming caused by artists playing rescheduled shows or touring after a long absence will benefit consumers, promoters believe, although that pent-up demand will also route money toward countless cash-strapped venues and artists.

Dazzle Jazz, located in downtown Denver historic Baur Building, is among at least a half-dozen beloved area music venues on the brink of closing. Federal assistance would allow many of them to make it through the first half of 2021, industry experts say. (Joe Amon, Denver Post file)

The question is whether the infrastructure that took decades to build can hold out until then. Multinational corporations with Denver offices, such as AEG Presents and Live Nation, will still be around, despite being barred from sharing in the Save Our Stages funding (Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz has already indicated he will lend his company AEG some cash, according to Billboard). In a few months, and without funding, a half-dozen more Denver indie venues including Dazzle Jazz and The Oriental Theater may not be around.

“The funding is important, and so are organizations like CIVA and NIVA,” Zacher said, referring to Colorado and national independent venue associations, respectively. “Our independent venues will need to continue collaborating so we can survive the next waves of this thing, whenever they arrive. … This isn’t about pivoting to livestreaming, it’s about trying to save our lives.”