4 AUGUST 21-27, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 17 WEIRDO SWARM How King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard has Colorado spellbound. BY EMILY FERGUSON 6 ROCKY REFUGE How the federal government has weaponized “sanctuary” status against Denver. BY BENNITO L. KELTY 10 BLOOD UPON THE STAGE Creeplesque Burlesque Fest mixes macabre and physical theater at the Creepatorium. BY JUSTIN CRIADO 13 HOW SWEET IT IS A corn crop fi rst planted in 1978 has become a Colorado favorite. BY GIL ASAKAWA 10 Culture 13 Cafe 17 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 22 24 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 24 ASK A STONER ......................................... 24 VOLUME 48 NUMBER 52 AUGUST 21-27, 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 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. Additional copies of the current issue may be purchased for $1, payable in advance at the Westword offi ce. Westword may be distributed only by authorized Westword distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of Westword, take more than one copy of each issue. C O P Y R I G H T The entire contents of Westword are copyright 2025 by Denver Westword LLC. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means, including electronic retrieval systems, with- out the express written permission of the Publisher, Westword, P.O. Box 5970, Denver CO 80217. Back issues may be purchased for $2 each plus postage from the Westword offi ce (issues older than six weeks subject to availability). The Best of Denver 2023 is $6 plus postage. Story reprints are available for $1 plus post- age; call 303-296-7744 to place an order, or check our archives at www.westword.com. Westword (USPS478230) is published weekly by Denver Westword LLC, 1278 Lincoln Street, Denver CO 80203. 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 PHOTOGRAPH BY ROSS JONES 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! COVER DESIGN BY MONIKA SWIDERSKI “THAI-D UP,” GIL ASAKAWA, AUGUST 7 T H E T H A I T H A T B I N D S Thank you for your coverage on the Col- fax BRT. I own a building on Colfax that houses several tenants. I have gone to several of the BRT update meetings, and it is really sad how the city has mismanaged the con- struction and the support for the businesses. Having Mayor Mike do guest bartending is cute, but it is not going to save these busi- nesses, and the compensation that the city set aside is not even a drop in the bucket of the fi nancial loss these businesses are facing...and that is even if these businesses qualify. I truly hope the BRT does succeed in its goal to bring back life to Colfax. It will take a while. One of my tenants has a temporary bus stop in front of his front door, and he says the only people using the bus are the crazy, deranged druggies. Please continue to cover this, as it is very important that the leaders are aware that their actions have signifi cant impacts on the lives of all the business own- ers along Colfax. I was sad to read the article on Tommy’s Thai possibly closing. That place is an in- stitution. Chris Wiedenmayer Denver Change is hard. When Olde Town Ar- vada and Tennyson Street changed, all the old places were forced out. Now they are thriving, safer and easier to navigate. It sucks, but it happens everywhere eventually. Aaron Hoffmeyer Arvada I’m not one to complain about changes in the city. But the way this city does proj- ects with the mentality of “just grip it and rip it” is insane to me. This is killing East Colfax businesses. Furthermore, this proj- ect makes zero sense to me. This might be one of the stupidest projects I have seen in Denver. Sean McEwen Denver “WHAT THE YUK?,” MICHAEL ROBERTS, AUGUST 14 N O W A L K I N T H E P A R K Whether you’re left or right, South Park should have done something throughout the years to horribly offend you...and that’s exactly the way it should be. Chase Mills Arvada Great writeup about South Park season 27! One thing that Parker and Stone should do to further their satirical take on our cur- rent POTUS would be to start referring to him as “Tang,” after the powdered drink from the ‘60s immortalized as “what the Astronauts drink.” Why? Because it’s orange, very acidic to the taste buds, and is quite irritating to the stomach, just like Trump is. (NASA quit promoting Tang because of its high amounts of citric acid, which the astronauts complained about.) Also, since Trump got out of his military service in Vietnam by claiming he had bone spurs, then bragged that he partied and had sex with all kinds of women while others his age were drafted and fought in Vietnam, Trump is the epitome of “The Serviceman’s Nemesis.” Ask any veteran or active service- man or woman about “Jodie,” and you’ll fi nd out that description fi ts Trump to a T. Alan Nakamura Denver What’s great is the irony of being shown in a negative light and these conservatives thinking it is badge of “honor” to get abso- lutely annihilated by the show. Arj Narayan Denver Everything Donald Trump has said and done is to get you all to advertise for him. Everything from “Haitians eating the pets” to using a garbage truck as a publicity stunt. Every single news platform in Colorado has done nothing but advertise for Donald Trump. He doesn’t need to pay for advertis- ing when you’ll do it for free! Randal Friedman Denver
