Monday, April 29, 2013

Colfax History: Swedborg's Grocery

Photo courtesy Aurora History Museum
This is the interior of Swedborg’s Grocery, a long-time Aurora business located near the corner of Colfax Avenue and Dayton Street. Arvid and Margie Swedborg opened the store in the 1920s and operated it until the late 1950s. Advertisements listed the grocery as “the biggest little food store in town” and promoted the quality food, attention to detail, and free delivery. Local residents also remember Swedborg’s as a popular gathering place for friends. Downtown Aurora featured a number of grocery stores and markets – do you remember Swedborg’s, Piggly Wiggly, or any of the other stores on Colfax?

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Greatest Moments in Rock History

If you only watch one rock video this year, make it this one! Ryan Chrys & The Rough Cuts live from the Musicians in Action stage in the Smiley's Laundromat parking lot as part of the Root 40 Music Festival on Colfax!!

Saturday, April 27, 2013

West Rail Opening Festivities

WCBID has recruited the Justice League of Street Food, street performers and B-Cycle for West Line Opening Festivities on Saturday April 27th.  Encompassing two sites, the Perry Street station and the block at the corner of Colfax and Raleigh, the event also features live music, from Spanish guitar to a civil war brass band at one end, and adult drinks, a DJ and kids’ activities at the other.  Ride the rails and you might even find a whimsically costumed party troupe to lead you to Raleigh (and back).  Indeed, The Party Doesn’t Stop @ Perry!     B-cycle and a musical line up kick off the day at 10am at the Perry Street station (see below).  That will continue past 4pm when a civil war brass band takes the stage. After 2pm, march, ride or shuttle on up to Colfax & Raleigh for the first Justice League of Street Food event of the season.  The Colfax location will feature a host of food trucks and adult beverages (including Avery food and beer matching and local spirits tasting) and entertainment.  It will go until 8pm (see below and Eater Denver).
 

Friday, April 26, 2013

Colfax History: Angels of East High


Denver History Minute #52: Angels of East from Havey Productions on Vimeo.

The Angels of East High tradition continues in a literal sense this afternoon...as part of the Root 40 Music Festival, join the Musicians In Action canned food collection for the homeless outreach! Outdoor stage live music at East High School from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Come join the fun and bring a can of food!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Ian Cooke, Esme Patterson & Joshua Novak at Root 40

Root 40 Music Festival and L2 Arts & Culture present
Ian Cooke, Esme Patterson, & Joshua Novak
Saturday, April 27 @ 8:00pm - Buy Tickets – $10

Ian Cooke

Cooke will be playing with his full band! Denver’s He released his second album, Fortitude, in January 2012, with the help of The Greater Than Collective. Produced by Ian O’Dougherty and mixed by Bob Ferbrache (Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, Wovenhand), Fortitude showcases the wide array of musical proficiency that Cooke possesses as he switches from playful to dark and sincere at the flick of a cello bow. Splicing in elements of indie, classical, progressive rock, and more, the album builds on the foundation laid down by his previous album, The Fall I Fell, and expands it with stronger writing and loftier concepts.

Cooke’s talent coupled with his diligent work ethic has earned him several accolades, including features in SPIN, a Daytrotter session, a #1 ranking in the 2009 Denver Post Music Poll and “Best Singer Songwriter,” “Best album,” and “Best Avant-Garde” nods by Westword. Cooke was featured alongside Billy Bragg, M. Ward, Owen Pallet, and more on a Joanna Newsom tribute.

He has toured in the US and Australia playing with The Dresden Dolls, Crooked Fingers, Built to Spill, The Decemberists, The Flaming Lips (Monolith Festival), Blonde Redhead, Devotchka, Rasputina, Wovenhand, Pedro the Lion and many more.


Esme Patterson
Esme Patterson will be playing with her full band as well! The folk and roll songstress has just finished her first solo album of original songs November 20th via Greater Than Collective. Described by Patterson in an interview as “raw,” All Princes is greatly influenced by Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks and Feists’s Metals. American Songwriter called it “a warm, organic-sounding album that splits the difference between indie pop, folk-rock and coffeehouse jazz” in their full album premiere. Her appearances include playing with various groups on “All Things Considered”, “The Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Tonight Show.” Providing collaborations on the album are Nathaniel Rateliff, Roger Green (formerly of the Czars), Ben Desoto (Czars, Nathaniel Rateliff, Bare Bones), Genevieve Patterson and Sarah Anderson (Paper Bird), Carrie Beeder, Eric Moon, Mike Fitzmorris, Will Duncan, and many more.




Joshua Novak
Acclaimed Denver musician Joshua Novak burst onto the music scene in early 2000 young, carefree and seemingly touched with effortless pop magic. Since then, he has become a celebrated fixture of the scene. Recently, he placed in the top 20 out of 560 bands in the Denver Post’s Best of the Underground and received his sixth Westword Showcase nomination. Joshua is one of fifteen winners in the ModMusic Records Indie Band Search in New York, and has played Red Rocks Amphitheater as part of the epic Monolith Festival, which included acts like TV on the Radio, Vampire Weekend, The Kills, Justice and others.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Marriage Proposal at The Color Purple?


At the curtain call for The Color Purple at the Aurora Fox Theatre on Colfax Avenue recently, an amazing thing happened!!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Scum and Villany

BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THIS STOLEN PAINTING DENVER! This was taken from the Goosetown Tavern on Colfax recently. If you know who took it, have them return it before Joey Coloroso gets his hands on them!


In Joey's own words: "I just got a frantic call from Kim letting me know that this painting was STOLEN FROM THE GOOSETOWN recently. It's one of my best paintings I've ever done and Kim was kind enough to display it at your local watering hole. If you see this piece or know who took it, tell em to bring it back and they won't press charges. If I found out who stole it, I'm killing a mother fucker, then pressing charges. PLEASE SHARE so we can get this thing back. This is the second piece of mine stolen from a bar. Thieving bastards!!! Anonymous tips to gimmebackmypainting@gmail.com"

Aladdin Theatre Demolition 1984


The Aladdin was a historic theater on East Colfax in Denver built in 1926, and torn down in 1984. This is a series of news reports from the 9News archives showing tensions between neighborhood activists, developers and the city council.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Scene on Colfax: Root 40 Expo

The Root 40 Expo, held yesterday at the Fillmore Auditorium, was the kick-off event for the Root 40 music festival taking place all week on Colfax Avenue. Vendors, bands, and various music industry professionals were on hand to display their wares and answer questions related to the music business and beyond.

Marc Olsen - Musicians in Action
Dana Jessup - Joya Solutions
L2 Event Center
Singer/Songwriter Lara Ruggles
D-Stylz
CCM Studios
NetQast.com
Tyyren
the RUCKUS
David Ketelaar - Viktorian Guitars
Bill Martin - Shadow Sportswear
 Sarah Edgell - Edgellworks
Life On Capitol Hill
Simplemen
Indigenous Robot
Drop Switch
Six O'Clock
Karin Schultze - Raccoon Faces
Orphans
Mindbringer
Dendrites
Erika Percell - CODA, Inc.
Shirley - Denver Turnverein
Gomorrah
The Brixton Guns
Annette Cannon and ColfaxAvenue.com's Jonny Barber
The Blackout Beat

Sunday, April 21, 2013

The Root 40 Expo is Today!


Upper Colfax Root 40 MusicFest

THE ROOT 40 EXPO - April 21, 2013

Fillmore Auditorium

Kick – off to the Root 40 MusicFest –

Seven Days of Music and the Business of Making Music
Part music industry trade show, part Colorado music scene, the Upper Colfax ROOT 40 Music Fest Expo is positioned to be among the best regional events for the music industry. Hosted at The Fillmore Auditorium, the Expo will be the hub for music industry professionals, vendors and musicians looking to review products and services. Both regional and locally owned music-related businesses will showcase their products. There will be listening sessions (bring your music sample), keynote speakers and performances. You won’t want to miss out on this event!

The Expo takes places Sunday April 21 from 11 am to 4 pm at the Fillmore Auditorium located on the corner of Colfax Avenue and Clarkson Street.

Admission to the Root 40 EXPO for guests is free! Upon arriving at The Fillmore Auditorium, guests will be greeted by live music outdoors as well as on the main stage which will set the tone for an afternoon of industry interaction and introductions. Refreshments will be available for sale as guests also visit with Root 40 organizers to register for speaker sessions throughout the upcoming week.

Root 40 supports their media sponsors at the EXPO with 2 drives:

9Cares Colorado Shares & Colorado Musicians in Action feed the homeless – 9CARES accepts all non-perishable food and KBCO Earth Day Drive collects used cellphones and gently used instruments.



FOR MORE INFORMATION, GO TO ROOT40.COM

Vintage Theatre Continues Its Classic Movie Series

"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine."

Denver’s Vintage Theatre Productions continues its classic movie series with Casablanca!
Screenings will run the third Sunday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St. in Aurora 80010. A suggested donation for the evening is $8 adult and $5 for 18 and under. Call 303-856-7830 or online at www.vintagetheatre.com

Sunday, April 21 @ 6:30 p.m.
Casablanca
 Directed by Michael Curtiz 
Screenplay by Julius J. Epstein, Howard Koch, Philip G. Epstein
Based on the unpublished stage play Everybody Comes to Rick's by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison.
1 hr. 45 min.

Set during World War II, it focuses on an American expatriate torn between love and virtue. He must choose between his love for a woman and helping her Czech Resistance leader husband escape the Vichy-controlled Moroccan city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Nazis.

Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama that starred Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid and featured Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Dooley Wilson.

Casablanca premiered on November 26, 1942 in New York City. The film was a solid if unspectacular success in its initial run, rushed into release to take advantage of the publicity from the Allied invasion of North Africa a few weeks earlier. Despite a changing assortment of screenwriters, and Bogart attempting his first romantic leading role, Casablanca won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Its lead character, memorable lines, and pervasive theme song, As Time Goes By, have all become iconic; and the film consistently ranks near the top of lists of the greatest films of all time.

Vintage Theatre Productions classic movie series
Casablanca
Sunday, April 21 @ 6:30 pm
$8 adult and $5 for 18 and under
303-856-7830 or online at www.vintagetheatre.com
Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St. Aurora 80010.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Record Store Day at Twist & Shout



Twist and Shout is extremely honored to announce an in-store performance with Steve Earle on Saturday, April 20th at 6pm in celebration of Record Store Day. Steve Earle will be releasing a new album The Low Highway out April 16th. The Low Highway will be available on CD, Deluxe CD and 180 gram vinyl LP. Customers that purchase The Low Highway from Twist and Shout get a wristband guaranteeing entry into the autograph line, and will be entered to win a very limited vinyl test pressing AND a chance to win a signed Steve Earle guitar that we will be giving away on Record Store Day. Our contest for the guitar will end at 4/19 at 10pm. We will announce the winner after his set on Record Store Day (the winner does not need to be present to win). Pre-sales start 4/5 for fans that want to get a jumpstart on this great give-away. Please join us for what will be a very special performance at Twist and Shout.

BIO: A protege of legendary songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, Earle quickly became a master storyteller in his own right, with his songs being recorded by Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Travis Tritt, The Pretenders, Joan Baez and countless others. 1986 saw the release of his debut record, Guitar Town, which shot to number one on the country charts and immediately established the term "New Country." What followed was an extremely exciting and varied array of releases including the biting hard rock of Copperhead Road (1988), the minimalist beauty of Train A Comin' (1995), the politically charged masterpiece, Jerusalem (2002) and the Grammy Award Winning albums The Revolution Starts Now (2004), Washington Square Serenade (2007) and Townes (2009). I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive (2011) is Steve Earle's 14th Studio Album and shares the same name with his 2011 debut novel. Of the novel, Patti Smith stated, "Steve Earle brings to his prose the same authenticity, poetic spirit and cinematic energy he projects in his music. I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive is like a dream you can't shake, offering beauty and remorse, redemption in spades." 

Twist & Shout will also have all kinds of other collector's edition and limited release albums for sale, but might we also recommend picking up a copy of the ColfaxAvenue.com Compilation CD! (The proceeds from the sales go to benefit homeless families along the Colfax Avenue Corridor)

 

Largest 4/20 Rally in the World


April 20th: Free Denver 4/20 Rally Schedule


Saturday April 20th 2013 Schedule

9:00-10:00am         (Dj Arkitech)

10:00-12:30pm        P-Nuckle

12:30pm-1:00pm    Hemp Fashion Show by Judi Dentici & Rodney Cook

1:00pm-1:10pm       Chain Cloud & Duel Desperados   Performance

1:10pm-2:10pm       Benediction: Native American Blessing- Antionette Red Women Cheyenne, THC Minister Reverend James N Marks II: Hawaii

2:10pm-2:20pm      High Features(5min) Lanezz(5min)(Performance)

2:20pm-2:35pm      Invocation (Stacey Theis: Arizona, Ty Link: Capitol Hill, Denver GBLT)

2:35pm-2:50pm      Lyrical Lords, Play It Thru (Performance)

2:50pm-3:00pm     Wedding: Taylor & Harold

3:00pm-3:20pm     Platform to the key-note address John Pylka Chief Organizer to the 44th Annual 
National Smoke in Org, Dr. Robert Mealemede Prof. of Biology & H-Wood, Lil Flip, Sean Mc Allister, Lenny the Poet aka Rock the Mic

3:20pm-4:20pm     Key Note Address Given By Miguel Lopez, Larissa Bolivar Colorados first dispensary now from Virginia, Rico Colibri (C.A.R.E), Rob Corry and Chloe Villano

4:20pm-5:05pm     Jahni Denver  Barrington Levi & Hypnautic  Dj Arkitech 20 min 4:35-5:05pm

5:05pm-5:15pm      Thank you, Acknowledgments, and Dedications a Tribute to the Reggae Community

5:15pm-5:25pm      TME, Green House(5 minute sets) Performance

5:25pm-5:40pm    Closing Speech Tim Tipton of Lafayette, Tiny Martinez: North Denver Regis University Neighborhood

5:40pm-6:00pm    P-Nuckle


Amendment 64 Celebration with The Motet


Friday, April 19, 2013

Police Precinct Board Game

 

Police Precinct is a cooperative/semi-cooperative game where players are tasked with solving the mysterious murder of the district attorney while simultaneously working the streets - arresting criminals and helping citizens to keep the city from falling into chaos. Players take on the role of police officers with different areas of expertise. The players work together to solve the mystery by collecting evidence and eventually arresting the suspect (with a possible chase involved). Complicating matters is that the city is alive. Other crime is happening and must be dealt with as well - various emergencies such as car accidents robberies and assaults suddenly occur and calls for police attention while street crime in the rough neighborhoods continue to slowly grow if not dealt with as well. Also there may or may not be a corrupt officer that is being paid off by the murderer to suppress evidence the same evidence everyone else is trying to uncover.

Denver  based Common Man Games likes to involve the community in their projects, this is why they have gone out of their way to honor all of these people, places, and things. In the game Police Precinct, all (yes ALL) of the streets and buildings on the board are named after real people, or real things, except one, which is the "Morgue". The Morgue is just the morgue. It doesn't need a fancy name.

So for example, Colfax, as we know, is a real street in a real city, and is really known for it's crime and prostitution.  Playboy Magazine once called Colfax "the longest, wickedest street in America." Seems like a good fit. Colfax is also the longest street on the Police Precinct board.

It is this aspect of Colfax that fits in well with the crime fighting that is such a big part of Police Precinct.
It is for this reason, and as a nod to Common Man Games' Denver location, that they put it on the board.

PS - many parts of Colfax are (today) very nice and much of it is improving rapidly. The "reputation" exceeds the actual in this case. It comes from the history of the area, not the current reality.

Author's Note: Karl Fenner, The Head of CMG, lives just 8 blocks from Colfax at 7th and Ogden, and his company's address is listed as...  a PO Box at 1541 Marion Street (about 2 buildings away from Colfax), and very close to where Jack Kerouac stayed (1522 Lafayette St.).

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Cost Plus World Market opens on Colfax

New Store to Open on Thursday, April 18, 2013

     Cost Plus World Market® is excited to announce the grand opening of its latest Denver-area store in Lakewood, Colorado on Thursday, April 18, 2013. Lakewood residents now have the opportunity to shop the new World Market® store at the Denver West Village Shopping Center at 14387 West Colfax Avenue. This new store location will carry a wide selection of unique and affordable merchandise from around the world for which the retailer has become known.

     To start the celebration, a ribbon cutting with city officials and members of the local chamber of commerce on Thursday, April 18 at 9:00 am officially marks the opening of the store. In addition, the first 200 customers through the doors each day from Thursday, April 18 through Sunday, April 21, 2013 will receive a free reusable World Market tote bag. In addition, the store will offer food and beverage sampling, live music and will hold daily raffle drawings with prizes that include $100 World Market gift cards and gift baskets.

     Although it’s still cool outdoors, it’s not too early to start thinking about outdoor entertaining during the warmer months. This season, World Market has launched two outdoor collections: Antigua and Aegean Shore. Inspired by these seaside locales, each collection features bright, bold hues of orange, turquoise, red, yellow and lime green that are sure to warm up any outdoor living area. Unique patterns of stripes, paisleys and florals can be found on serving platters and plates, acrylic glasses, tabletop textiles and outdoor cushions, all at affordable prices. And don’t forget that World Market also carries a wide assortment of gourmet food and beverages that are sure to impress your guests. The entire outdoor collection can be seen at worldmarket.com.
For information about World Market’s current promotions and events, follow us on www.facebook.com/worldmarket, www.twitter.com/worldmarket, and www.pinterest.com/worldmarket.

About Cost Plus World Market

Cost Plus World Market (www.worldmarket.com) operates 265 stores in 31 states under the World Market® and Cost Plus World Market® trademarks. The stores feature an ever-changing selection of casual home décor and furnishings, housewares, gifts, jewelry, decorative accessories, over 500 international wines, gourmet foods and beverages offered at affordable prices and imported from more than 50 countries. Many items are unique and exclusive to World Market and are regularly supplied by an international network of individual and regional artisans developed over the Company’s more than 50 years in the import business.

The Narrators: COLFAX AVENUE

This month's theme is Colfax Avenue. Listen to true stories about police brutality, Tom's Diner, Squire Lounge, and all the hideous beauty of America's wickedest street.

April's lineup includes:

• Alex Landau
• Andy Palmer
• Chella Negro
• Greg Baumhauer
• Josiah Hesse
• Jules Berner
• LadySpeech Sankofa
• Sid Pink

FREE. Cheap beer. True stories. 8pm at The Deer Pile located at
206 East 13th Ave. (above City O' City)
 
Andy and Robert will be slumming in Portland, so this special edition of The Narrators will be hosted by our pals from the Denver Diatribe podcast. Check out their podcast here: http://denverdiatribe.com/.

And for past stories, check out our podcast at http://thenarratorspodcast.com/