4 OCTOBER 24-30, 2024 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 17 BEYOND THE BEAT Itchy-O brings the witching hour to Denver with the tenth annual Hallowmass. BY EMILY FERGUSON 6 LIGHT RAIL, HARD JOB RTD is struggling to get riders back on board, but history shows that’s always been a bumpy ride. BY CATIE CHESHIRE 12 SHINE ON The Stanley Hotel celebrates the fi ftieth anniversary of Stephen King’s visit with the Shining Ball. BY JUSTIN CRIADO 14 GROWING UP The plant genius behind Esoterra Culinary Garden is making local restaurants more delicious year-round. BY M.G. MARINI 12 Culture 14 Cafe 17 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 20 28 Marijuana CANNABIS CALENDAR ............................ 28 ASK A STONER ......................................... 30 VOLUME 48 NUMBER 9 OCTOBER 24-30, 2024 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun Editorial Operations Manager Jane R. Le News Editor Thomas Mitchell Culture Editor Emily Ferguson Food and Drink Editor Molly Martin Social Media Editor Katrina Leibee Staff Writers Catie Cheshire, Bennito L. Kelty, Hannah Metzger Senior Contributors Alan Prendergast, Michael Roberts Contributors Teague Bohlen, Hyde Chrastina, Jacqueline Collins, Justin Criado, John Flathman, Susan Froyd, 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 Chloe Ragsdale 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, Danelle Trujillo Multimedia Account Executives Remy Diamond, William Savoie, Allison Wissink Event Marketing Manager Jenae Bone Operations Manager Carver Hodgkiss Digital Sales Coordinator Anne-Grace Hartman Digital and Advertising Sales Manager Taylor Wheeler 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 Business Manager Sarah Dunahay 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 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 2022 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 retail or classifi ed advertising, call: 303-296-7744 For general information, call: 303-296-7744 For Editorial, email: [email protected] ON THE COVER PHOTOGRAPH OF ITCHY-O BY CHRISTIAN HUNDLEY 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! PHOTOGRAPH BY PHILIP POSTON “CIVIC DUTY,” CATIE CHESHIRE, OCTOBER 17 N O W A L K I N T H E P A R K There’s a variety of reasons the current am- phitheater is oriented the way it is. Flipping it in the name of “intimacy” is a refl ection of egomaniac decision-making and a lack of understanding of people and places. Modern design isn’t better because it’s newer. How embarrassing for Denver. Wheezy Ramirez Denver Wow! This just sounds insane! Turn the stage around 180 degrees and the audience will sit where, on 13th Avenue? Over the course of a 25-year career as an audio engineer, I did so many events in the park and Greek Amphitheater: fourteen years of Theater in the Park, eight of the fi rst nine Taste of Colorado festivals, six years of PrideFest, countless rallies and political gatherings. This breaks my heart. While I am at it, the city and Civic Center Conservancy missed the chance to celebrate the 100th birthday of the park. It was in 1912 that the park was born, when the city received a check for $2,708,614.38 from the sale of bonds. This allowed the city to buy the land from the people who were living there. During the winter of 1912-1913, the land was cleared; that marks the actual birth of the park. It was born when Denver citizens sacrifi ced a neighborhood to build a cultural gathering place. So the second hundred years began more than a decade ago. I am glad I will not be around to see this happen. Larry Patchett Julesburg None of this will be effective in bringing people there unless Denver addresses the homeless and crime problems in adjacent neighborhoods. Walt Sobchack Thornton Are they going to add luxury boxes? Dave Nellis Denver Maybe they should fi nish the 16th Street Mall before embarking on another project. Amy Kauffman Denver Very curious to see how this project turns out. I walk my dog here daily; I think it’s awesome the way it is. I hope Civic Center Park ends up being even greater. That said, I have lived here for sixteen years and I have seen how “well-meaning” local “projects” turn out. A few years ago, millions of dollars were committed to transforming East Col- fax. How did that turn out? I will call that a “California-style failure.” It was supposed to revitalize Colfax Avenue. You be the judge! Jesper Johansen Denver People thought the 16th Street Mall was unnecessary, but it turned out to be Denver’s biggest tourist attraction. The area behind the amphitheater is essentially wasted currently. Nothing happens there. I can see this offering much more opportunity for activating the park. Ryk McDorman Denver “Reorienting” an existing structure sounds like a colossal waste of time and money. I’m getting tired of all these changes that are mak- ing the Denver I grew up with unrecognizable and making it worse, not better. On top of this, they’re trying to redevelop the area around Ball Arena, which sounds great — except where are all these people they want to come to town going to park now? Denver is a commuter city, no matter how bad the leadership wants everyone to ride their bike there or use the crummy RTD-run sad excuse for public transit. Neil Bergin Westminster Amazing! Should be great for tourism. Arvin Martinez Denver Renovating Civic Center isn’t going to help bring people downtown. Robert Field Denver
