4 JULY 23-29, 2026 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 15 HOLD YOUR HORSES Blucifer’s First Rodeo has become Denver’s most- anticipated festival of the summer. BY EMILY FERGUSON 6 REVVING UP City council and police want to crack down on teen dirt bikers. BY HANNAH METZGER 8 RED SCARE James Ellroy’s latest novel names names...but not the way you might expect. BY TEAGUE BOHLEN 13 ELEVATED AT ALTITUDE Breckenridge restaurants are reaching new heights. BY ANTONY BRUNO 18 UMS HITS RINO The Underground Music Showcase preps for a new chapter in RiNo. BY SAGE KELLEY 8 Culture 13 Cafe 15 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 20 24 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 24 HIGH NOTES ............................................. XX VOLUME 49 NUMBER 47 JULY 23-29, 2026 E D I T O R I A L Senior Editor, News Thomas Mitchell Food and Drink Editor Antony Bruno Music Editor Emily Ferguson Culture Editor Kristen Fiore Social Media Editor Katrina Leibee Staff Writers Sage Kelley, Hannah Metzger Senior Contributors Brendan Joel Kelley, Alan Prendergast, Michael Roberts Contributors Gil Asakawa, Teague Bohlen, Justin Criado, Audrey Ferrer, Nick Hutchinson, Karl Christian Krumpholz, Skyler McKin- ley, Abigail Nueve, Ryan Pachmayer, Kristin Pazulski, Adam Perry, Evan Semón, Toni Tresca Music Listings Matthew Jones Cover Designer Kristin Bjornsen Editor Emeritus Patricia Calhoun P R O D U C T I O N Production Manager Michael Wilson Assistant Production Manager Erin Kirk Graphic Designers Caleigh Gearheart, 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, Rachel Gilmore, Keith Gordon, Trey Konsella, Kirby Quick, Dalton Wilson, Allison Wissink Operations Manager Carver Hodgkiss Digital Sales Coordinator Anne-Grace Hartman Director of Digital Sales Alan Heath 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 Executive Editor Chelsey Dequaine-Jerabek National Editor Sam Eifl ing 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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DESIGN BY KRISTIN BJORNSEN P A R K B U R G E R C L O S I N G H I G H L A N D L O C A T I O N A F T E R N E A R L Y 1 5 Y E A R S The Gastamo Group announced last week that it plans to close the Park Burger located at 2643 W. 32nd Ave. on Tuesday, July 28, after more than 15 years of operation. “Being part of the Highlands community has been a genuine honor,” says Gastamo Group founder and owner Philippe Failyau. “We’re deeply grateful to our team, our loyal guests, and the neighbors who made this location so special. This wasn’t an easy deci- sion, and we don’t take their support lightly.” The company said the closure is a result of the decision not to renew its lease and is not part of a broader shutdown. Park Burger’s original Platt Park and Hilltop expansion locations remain open. Failyau established Park Burger in 2009, after working stints for major Denver chefs including Kevin Taylor, Frank Bonanno and Alex Seidel. He quickly grew the business with a loyal following bolstered by early positive re- views and a nod from Bon Appetit magazine as one of the 10 best new burger spots in the coun- try. The Highland location opened shortly after, in 2011, taking over the old An’s Lemongrass Grille. The Hilltop location followed in 2014, and a fourth was added in RiNo a year later. In 2024, Failyau closed the RiNo location after its initial 10-year lease was up. The Highland spot is now the second installment to close, reducing its footprint to two, along with the Park & Co. offshoot in Uptown, which has been fl ipping burgers since 2010. Other Gastamo Group concepts include Homegrown Tap & Dough, Perdida Mexican Kitchen and Lady Nomada. — Antony Bruno I S D E N V E R B I G E N O U G H F O R T W O D O V E S ? Frank Schultz opened the original Soiled Dove in 1997 in LoDo, as a dueling-pianos spot; he turned it into a live music venue in 1999, when you could see Bruce Hornsby for $50. “Today it costs $50 to park there,” Schultz remembered last year. “It was a cool place in the wrong spot.” So in 2006, he turned that spot at 1949 Market St. into the Tavern Downtown, the signature offering of the growing Tavern Hospitality Group empire, and built an ambi- tious new venue at 7401 E. First Ave., in the up-and-coming Lowry area. The fi rst fl oor became the Lowry Tavern, with the Soiled Dove Underground hosting live music in a 300-seat space below. But problems emerged in the partnership between Schultz and his mother, and THG started closing and selling off properties, including the building housing the Tavern Downtown in 2019. The Soiled Dove Underground shuttered in May 2024, and that property was purchased last year for $3.5 mil- lion by Jackie Glenn, a bass-playing surgeon. Glenn’s goal was to bring back music, resur- recting the space below as The Dove Under- ground and opening a new restaurant, Rising Phoenix, on the fi rst fl oor. Rising Phoenix is already serving the community in soft-opening mode, serving food from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Tues- day through Sunday. After two music previews, The Dove Underground will host a grand open- ing on August 15, with Hazel Miller headlining. While the setup downstairs is largely the same, it has a brand-new sound system from Listen Up, a new lighting setup, a new bathroom off the green room, and new up- holstery. The plan is to expand to daily ser- vice once the downstairs venue opens and add breakfast buffets on the weekends, says general manager Joseph Augusto. In the meantime, the Soiled Dove is rising again in Cherry Creek. While THG sold most of its locations, Schultz hung on to Choppers, the sports bar at 80 S. Madison that he’d pur- chased in 2015. And this year, he added a sound system and made a few other changes that would allow him to turn it into an occasional music venue, Soiled Dove Live at Choppers, which debuted in May with the Railbenders. The Soiled Dove name was not included in the sale of the Lowry property, Schultz says, and even though he let the trademark lapse, he believes his longtime use prevents a second Dove from landing at Lowry. Mean- while, Glenn has registered the name feder- ally, and while Schultz is making noise about a cease-and-desist order, her crew thinks everything is aboveboard with The Dove Underground name. “We want to keep the history with the Dove name,” says Augusto, “and highlight the underground.” — Patricia Calhoun
