Denver after Dark! Entertainment and Live Performances

Denver might not be New York but it still does have pretty decent nightlife for a former Rocky Mountain mining town. Back in the good old days of the wild, Wild West, legend has it that the first building ever built by the town fathers was a drinking establishment. The town has not been able to shake its wild past even now if you go by the high brewery count per capita. Denver is famous for its specialized microbrews and authentic breweries with local, western flavor – and saloons still have their place, though, they go by more sophisticated names like Martini Ranch or something like that.

The city continues to thrive with a nice collection of over 2000 restaurants that offer all kinds of exotic and gourmet cuisines to after dark entertainment ranging from upscale wine and martini bars, to hot salsa clubs, to intimate and cozy pubs to neighborhood bars and rooftop patios to exotic dance clubs. That’s not all; Denver has around 30 theatres, over 100 cinemas and dozens of concert halls, nightclubs, discos and bars.

The hub of Denver’s performing arts scene is its 4-square block Denver Performing Arts Complex, housing nine theatres, a concert hall and a symphony hall. Its home to Colorado Symphony, Colorado Ballet, Opera Colorado and the Denver Center for the performing arts (a parent organization for resident and touring theatre companies). Westword, a weekly newspaper out every Wednesday, distributed for free offers the best listings, focusing on the arts, entertainment (and local politics).

You have a range of nightlife options varying from dancing the night away to catching a great live show to just chilling out with friends at some sports bar to kicking back with some suds to just taking in the hot new movie at the box office to listening to some great live music to God knows what – Denver has it all.

Clubs & Music Scene

Many of the historic 19th century buildings with high-ceilinged rooms and wide and airy feel have been converted into hip and trendy, relaxed and pleasant barrooms and brew pubs in downtown Denver – these historic old bricked buildings perfectly represent the city’s laidback attitude when it comes to fun – for example, Wynkoop Brewing Company Denver or The Church. Clubs range from country-and-western to sports, comedy and jazz. Larimer Square and LoDo mark the spot for some of the best nightlife in town.

Glendale (topless bars and gentlemen’s clubs), Broadway and West Colfax Ave (Heritage Square Music Hall) stock some of the other more popular nightlife options. In the South of Colfax Nightlife District you'll pay one admission price for several hot nightclub venues, each with more than enough drinks, dancing and DJs, all within walking distance of each other.

Performance Arts

Culture has been a big part of Denver history. The same legend has it the city’s fathers built a theatre for performing arts first (that used to put up sold out performances of Shakespeare’s Macbeth) before they ever built a school or a hospital. Did you know the Denver Performing Arts Complex is nation’s biggest performing arts centers (containing ten halls and 10,800 seats), making it second only to New York’s Lincoln Center in seating and the largest in the world under one roof? Covering four city blocks, it includes the new Opera House, the 2,600-seat Boettcher Concert Hall, (nation’s first symphony hall in the round), the 2,800-seat Temple Buell Theatre and The Auditorium Theatre, with $62 million restoration.

All in all, Denver has some 30 theatres, including the historic circa 1929 Paramount Theatre for music, comedy, dance, films, over 100 cinemas and dozens of concert halls.

Ballet and Modern Dance

The Colorado Ballet Company has put up such inspired performances like The Nutcracker, The Beauty and the Beast, Don Quixote, All Pointes West and 3Motions in their current season.  The company under the direction of Artistic Direct Gil Boggs includes 30 professional dancers with diverse backgrounds hailing from all over the world. The company also runs an academy for young dancers.

Each season, they perform a varied program of classical to contemporary ballet in Denver and also tour all over the Front Range. The company presents five productions during its fall through spring season at various downtown theatres. Their office is located on the Lincoln Street. 

A highly renowned and critically acclaimed multicultural modern-dance troupe and school, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance group performs a varied selection of programs each year at several Denver locations and also tours around the world.

Classical Music and Opera

For classical music, there’s Colorado Symphony Orchestra which holds over 100 performances a year and classical, pop and family concerts at select locations including the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. For Opera, there’s Opera Colorado- their typical performances include three operas, four performances each, three evening performances and one matinee each week from February to May, at the new Ellie Caulkins Opera House located at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.

Theatre and Comedy

Theatre has the strongest tradition in Denver. As you know, performance arts in Denver started from theatrical performances. There are loads of theatrical companies performing in Denver. Some come under the umbrella of Denver Center Theatre Company. It’s the largest professional resident theatre company in the Rockies with 40 artists on its payroll. Other notable companies include Buntport Theater, Comedy Works, Denver Civic Theatre, El Centro Su Teatro, and Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret.

Musical Concerts

There are many venues in town where you can catch live music, ranging from country western to Jazz; however, there are large scale concert halls and auditoriums too where you can catch the more popular performances of visiting celebrities and musicians. For example, Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities, Coors Amphitheatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, Fillmore Auditorium, Paramount Theatre and Red Rocks Amphitheatre. Red Rocks is Denver’s best venue for outdoor summer concerts. It’s located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains; 400 foot high red sandstone rocks flank the 9,000-seat amphitheatre.

Cinema and Movie Theatres

Denver has over 100 cinema venues in town. You can watch the latest box office hits near your neighborhood. Denver also hosts an annual film festival called Starz film festival.

Special Events and live performances

Denver has 365 days of events – this includes some annual events like National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, Martin Luther King Parade and March, Colorado Garden and Home Show, Jazzfest Denver, Rocky Mountain Horse Expo, St. Patrick’s Day Parade and much more.