4 SEPTEMBER 18-24, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 15 THE CRAFT May Be Fern is brewing sonic sorcery with Three of Swords. BY EMILY FERGUSON 6 THE NUMBERS GAME The Denver mayor’s layoff report did not include 71 positions frozen or cut from the city’s independent agencies and departments. BY HANNAH METZGER 8 THE VETERAN AND HIS VENOMS Zach Phillips’ healing journey has led him from cannabis to ayahuasca to snake venoms. BY BRENDAN JOEL KELLEY 10 CREATIVE OUTLET Access Gallery is celebrating twenty years in Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe. BY KRISTEN FIORE 13 GREAT EXPECTATIONS The ten most anticipated restaurant openings this fall. BY MOLLY MARTIN 10 Culture 13 Cafe 15 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 20 23 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 23 HIGH NOTES ............................................. XX VOLUME 49 NUMBER 3 SEPTEMBER 18-24, 2025 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 Brendan Joel Kelley, Bennito L. 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KELTY, SEPTEMBER 11 S T E A M H E A T I just fi nished reading “Losing Steam,” and a major reason is missing from the reasons for lower and lower turnouts at protests: People are worried about being seized/disappeared by ICE. Activists and community members could be targeted for their engagement, and could turn the authorities’ gaze toward their friends and family. For example, now that the Supreme Court has ruled that one’s appearance is enough to gain scrutiny from Immigration Enforcement, and birthright citizenship and naturalization are being challenged, and citizens are being taken into custody without cause... attendance at the Chicano Moratorium may have been lower than we Chicanos would like. The theories that people are simply “fo- cused on their personal lives...” or “issues... haven’t directly touched enough Colora- dans” are ignorant and likely come from a perspective centering on middle-class white protesters. Thanks for the article! E. Baca Denver Westword, you missed the thousands who were protesting at other locations all over the metro area. We were in Lakewood, Golden, Arvada, Westminster, Thornton, Aurora, Centennial, Englewood, Littleton, Lone Tree, etc., and across the state. Broaden your view. Carrie MaKenna Lakewood Westword, you forgot to mention that no one cares about any of the protests. Remind them of all the billionaires that supported Kamala Harris. Be somewhat unbiased. Briggs Brady Castle Rock First off, Patricia Calhoun, my hat’s off to you for helping to establish a small business that has been around since the late ‘70s or early ‘80s. It’s not an easy thing to do. I read Westword pretty regularly. It seems to be drifting at sea with no real purpose. On the one hand, you constantly report on all the restaurants closing in Denver without really delving into why. Nobody really wants to call out Denver City Council and the mayor for backing the high wage rates that were arbitrarily imposed. You know the industry. Labor is the largest percentage of revenue, followed by food and rent. Just to pay these three big ticket items forces the cost of the product to go up. Millionaires don’t blink at paying $25 for a hamburger, but regular folks simply can’t afford it. They just stay home. Suburbia is thriving. Why? Low crime, not as high wages, somewhat more reasonable prices. Plus, cities are competing to keep the visitors who used to visit downtown. One major city down south is currently design- ing a convention center to compete directly with the downtown convention center. RV, boat, car, home and garden, etc., are much better suited for down that way. One city up north is drawing up plans to create a bar scene similar to Austin. Yet, Westword continues to glorify protest movements. That’s fi ne — it’s part of your cul- ture. Front-page news: “Thugs with bats will march thru Denver, past all the struggling restaurants.” Suburban Moms use Westword to help fi gure out what weekends/months to avoid going into Denver. Why you need a suburbia consultant: I would venture to guess that there is not one person on the staff of Westword who could relate to what it takes to raise a family in the metro area today. There has to be a draw to get in the car, load up the kids and head down there. Only to be subjected to crime, protesters and a dying culture — at least, that is how it is portrayed in your paper. No thanks, we will stay home. But maybe the mayor knows this and doesn’t really need that demographic or its sales tax revenue. You can’t keep glorifying and waving the banner for protesters/homeless folks and then lament restaurant closings, because Westword is part of the problem. Westword glorifi es every aspect of why families should avoid Denver. Name withheld
