4 MARCH 5-11, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 12 MAKING A MARK Mo’Print 2026 fl oods Colorado with print shows. Here’s where to start looking. BY TONI TRESCA 6 TAKE A WHIFF Lawsuit claims that odors are killing business at the Lowry Town Center. BY BENNITO L KELTY 17 THE FACES OF FOOD JUSTICE These activists are working to fi ll Denver’s food deserts. BY CHRISTEN B. ALDRIDGE 21 CULTURE ROCK From Rome to Berlin to Boulder, Iago Haussman has seen the light. BY JUSTIN CRIADO 12 Culture 17 Cafe 21 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 22 28 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 28 HIGH NOTES ............................................. XX VOLUME 49 NUMBER 27 MARCH 5-11, 2026 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun News Editor Thomas Mitchell Food and Drink Editor Molly Martin Music Editor Emily Ferguson Culture Editor Kristen Fiore Social Media Editor Katrina Leibee Staff Writers Bennito L. Kelty, Hannah Metzger Senior Contributors Brendan Joel Kelley, Alan Prendergast, Michael Roberts Contributors Gil Asakawa, Teague Bohlen, Hyde Chrastina, Jacqueline Collins, Justin Criado, Audrey Ferrer, John Flathman, Susan Froyd, Jason Heller, Nick Hutchinson, Danielle Krolewicz, Karl Christian Krumpholz, Kristen Kuchar, Skyler McKinley, Abi- gail Nueve, Ryan Pachmayer, Kristin Pazulski, Adam Perry, Evan Semón, Amber Taufen, Toni Tresca, Kastle Waserman, Helen Xu Music Listings Matthew Jones Cover Designer Monika Swiderski P R O D U C T I O N Production Manager Michael Wilson Assistant Production Manager Erin Kirk Graphic Designers Kami Miller, Tori O’Connor C R E A T I V E S E R V I C E S Senior Graphic Designer Allie Seidel A D V E R T I S I N G Senior Multimedia Account Executives Amy Camera, Aaron Lembke Multimedia Account Executives Remy Diamond, Nate Easley, Trey Konsella, Kirby Quick, Allison Wissink Operations Manager Carver Hodgkiss Digital Sales Coordinator Anne-Grace Hartman Director of Digital Sales Alan Heath Advertising Director Teri Driskell C I R C U L A T I O N Circulation Manager Ty Koepke B U S I N E S S Director of Business and Operations Russell Breiter Financial Accountant Robert Scribner AR Coordinator Stacy Phillips IT Systems Manager Kris Robinson Receptionist Cindy Perez Associate Publisher Tracy Kontrelos Publisher Scott Tobias V O I C E M E D I A G R O U P Editorial Director Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek Editorial Operations Director Bridget Thomason Director of Membership and Community Development Jennifer Robinson Digital Operations & Audience Strategist Allison Stephenson Audience Strategist Lauren Antonoff Hart Corporate Controller Beth Cook Legal Counsel Steve Suskin Chief Financial Offi cer Jeff Mars Chief Executive Offi cer Scott Tobias V M G N A T I O N A L National Advertising: 1-888-278-9866, www.voicemediagroup.com Senior Vice President of Sales Operations Joe Larkin D I S T R I B U T I O N Westword is available free of charge. 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Peri- odicals postage paid in Denver. Domestic subscriptions may be purchased for $100/year or $50/six months. Postmaster: Send address changes to Westword, P.O. Box 5970, Denver CO 80217. Mailing address: P.O. Box 5970, Denver, CO 80217 Street address: 1278 Lincoln Street, Denver, CO 80203 For general information, call: 303-296-7744 For Editorial, email: [email protected] ON THE COVER ILLUSTRATION BY MONIKA SWIDERSKI ICYMI YOU CAN COMMENT ON ANY STORY AT WESTWORD.COM; SEND LETTERS TO [email protected] Don’t miss a word! The stories in this print edition are just a fraction of the pieces we publish every week on westword.com. For a cheat sheet on all that content, subscribe to our daily newsletter at westword.com/profi le. You can also follow @denverwestword on Facebook, X, Threads, Bluesky, Instagram and TikTok. And it’s all free! PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MONIKA SWIDERSK Every week, Westword publishes dozens of stories on westword.com that aren’t included in the print edition. Here’s a sampling: P U B L I C N O T I C E The City of Aurora has agreed to hold in- person Aurora City Council meetings with one-hour public comment periods for three years as part of a settlement with activists who have been demanding more action in response to the death of an unarmed Black man in 2024. MiDian Shofner (who used her maiden name, Holmes), an activist with the Epitome of Black Excellence and Partnership, sued the City of Aurora last June after the council voted to stop allowing public comment at meetings. She and dozens of other residents had been protesting for more than a year during council meetings over the death of Kylin Lewis, an unarmed Black man who was shot by SWAT offi cers without being served a warrant. The protests brought some meet- ings to a halt and left some councilmembers frustrated and angry at the time. Lewis was fatally shot by Aurora Police Offi cer Michael Dieck during a SWAT op- eration conducted alongside members of the Denver Police Department. Lewis was a suspect in a recent shooting, and offi cers were serving an arrest warrant. He was shot while reaching for his phone and shouting, “I don’t have nothing,” body camera footage showed. “This settlement sends a clear message that communities cannot be silenced for demand- ing accountability,” Shofner told Westword Monday. “Justice for Kilyn is still a journey, but safeguarding the public’s right to speak openly about that injustice moves us closer to the truth his family and this city deserve.” For more from Bennito L. Kelty, go to westword.com. T A K E P R I D E Last year, Westword offered a list of alter- native Pride Month events to the tradi- tional Denver Pride festival for those feeling burned out by police presence, problematic corporate sponsors and a disorganized water situation in the heat of June. It inspired a va- riety of responses, including a column by The Center on Colfax’s new CEO, Kim Salvaggio. “Change is part of who we all are,” Salvag- gio wrote. “We are on this road to change together.” And Colorado’s LGBTQ+ commu- nity will reach a destination this June with a thoughtfully reorganized Denver Pride that includes a new location, logo and a month of events to activate the city. The festival that is attended by around 550,000 people annually has historically taken place at Civic Center Park, but this year, that will not be possible because of park construction. On Monday, the Center announced that this year’s festival will take place along 16th Street, from Arapahoe to Broadway. For- merly known as the 16th Street Mall, the area relaunched last year after its own glow-up. Although Denver Pride Fest typically lasts an entire weekend, this year it will only be one day: Sunday, June 28. However, new events will pop up around the city during the month of June, including doggy drag show Mutt Strutt on June 6, a Pride hike on June 14, a cookout on June 19, an opening party on June 26, a brunch after the Pride 5K on June 27, and a music festival on June 27. Kristen Fiore has more details on westword.com. M U S I C T O O U R E A R S As the symbol of a new Denver music festival, the Cash Register building just didn’t seem right. Enter Blucifer, and now the horse is out of the barn. On March 6, Blucifer’s First Rodeo will host Blucifer’s First Lineup Drop at the Skylark, where the crew behind the new local music celebration on Broadway will announce the fi rst thirty bands booked, start selling all-access tickets and, yes, share its date for this summer. The initial Blucifer’s announcement came just two weeks after news dropped that the Underground Music Showcase would be resurrected in RiNo next July; that fest got its start on this stretch of Broadway more than 25 years ago. And an initial post about Blucifer’s included dates that would overlap with UMS…but while that site has been scrubbed and those dates remain unoffi cial for now, we have our suspicions. In the meantime, six days after the Bluci- fer’s First Rodeo lineup reveal, a half-dozen artists behind the event met at ground zero on Broadway to talk with Westword editor Patricia Calhoun about taking the reins, and bringing a music fest back to Broadway.
