4 AUGUST 7-13, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 7 BREAKING FREE After a few years in solitary confi nement, Colorado’s prison arts programs are again helping inmates unlock their creativity. BY TEAGUE BOHLEN 12 AI LOVER BOY “I really wanted to see just how close we are to C-3PO,” says Aurora’s Travis Butterworth. BY BRENDAN JOEL KELLEY 15 THAI’D UP As Colfax construction continues to cut into business, Tommy’s Thai wonders just how how it can survive. BY GIL ASAKAWA 19 WAKE UP! Cheap Perfume is pummeling the Trump administration on its upcoming album. BY ZACHARY VISCONTI 12 Culture 15 Cafe 19 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 20 25 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 25 ASK A STONER ......................................... 25 VOLUME 48 NUMBER 50 AUGUST 7-13, 2025 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun News Editor Thomas Mitchell Food and Drink Editor Molly Martin Interim Food and Drink Editor Gil Asakawa Music Editor Emily Ferguson Culture Editor Kristen Fiore Social Media Editor Katrina Leibee Staff Writers Catie Cheshire, Brendan Joel Kelley, Bennito L. Kelty, Hannah Metzger Senior Contributors Alan Prendergast, Michael Roberts Contributors 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, Abigail Nueve, Ryan Pachmayer, Kristin Pazulski, Adam Perry, Evan Semón, Amber Taufen, Toni Tresca, Kastle Waserman, Helen Xu Music Listings Matthew Jones Editorial Intern Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez 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, Martin Ellison, 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 Audience Strategist Allison Stephenson Audience Development Director Dallon Adams 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 “TRANSCENDENCE” BY SEAN MARSHALL LETTERS T O T H E E D I T O R 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, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. And it’s all free! PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MONIKA SWIDERSKI “TIME FOR COLORADO TO GIVE ITSELF A REAL BIRTHDAY GIFT,” PATRICIA CALHOUN, JULY .. G A G G I F T Normally, no one likes getting a book for a birthday. But Patricia Calhoun’s idea is a solid one. Colorado is losing its culture and history. We need a way to preserve it...beyond Westword. (Although you’ve been doing a pretty good job.) Sal Hernandez Denver I love the idea for a Colorado Sesqui- centennial reading list! What a great way to bring people together, both natives and newcomers, over stories about Colorado. Your list hit so many categories, from cities to the plains, it will take a year to read them all, and be just in time for the August 1, 2026, celebrations. Every bookstore in the state should carve out a Colorado section now, and I’m not talking tourist stuff. Thanks for a great idea! Barbara Macfarlane Denver Some feedback on your question: How should Colorado observe its 150th anni- versary? We have just gone through the tumult related to the Governor’s proposal of build- ing a physical bridge to the Capital, which drew opposition about its cost, its location and its priority at a time when the state government’s funding is being stretched in many directions. Regardless of that result, the 250th anniversary of the founding of the USA and the 150th anniversary of Colorado statehood are now about a year away. These are important anniversaries that deserve some recognition, retrospection and com- memoration. To my way of thinking, there are two classes of things that can be expected in the coming “civic season” next year. The fi rst are events that aim to portray our history through extraordinary experiences that people will remember after 2026, which might be parades, fairs, art exhibits, history reenactors and performances — things that bring communities together in celebration across neighborhood boundaries. The other deals with the creation of mon- uments which might be history plaques, history walks, statues, time capsules and perhaps even tree planting: sites that will continue to convey a reminder of 2026 long after the jubilee year has passed. The ill-fated Capitol bridge idea belonged to that class, and it seems like even the idea of monu- ments on any location or at any cost is being denigrated. One would hope that History Colorado’s plan to add 150 markers to the Colorado Register of Historic properties doesn’t suffer blowback in this environment. The Colorado anthology is a great idea, and not one I had thought about before read- ing your article. Interesting that the editor of an online newspaper at a time when “print is dead” would advocate publishing a book. But I think it belongs to the class of monu- ments, capturing topics that were important to people who lived here at specifi c points in time and how they talked about their struggles and aspirations — frozen in time so in the future people can look back on them. Dave Feineman Denver “JOIN THE CLUB,” THOMAS MITCHELL, JULY 17 W E E D I T A N D W E E P I’m an artist, longtime reader of Westword, lived in Denver since 1999, traveled through this town long before. Growing up in WYO, Denver was the cultural hub. My fi rst concert was Bad Religion and Clutch at the Gothic pre-remodel. Westword was always cool to pick up and get a gritty, real-world journal. Enough of my credentials. My question is: Do I have to move now because THC gives me great anxiety? Should I just not pick this up anymore? Do I even need to ask? “Letters FROM (not to) the Editors” in the July 17 is- sue just fell fl at with me. This is a Trumpian “We are great! Get some weed, the greatest weed!” Made me sad. Oh, and let’s complain about the 16th Street Mall some more. Oh, well. Ski season is coming up! Arlo Panter Denver
