4 NOVEMBER 2-8, 2023 westword.com WESTWORD | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | W ® 7 COMING TO AMERICA Welcome to Aurora, the “World in a City.” BY BENNITO L. KELTY 14 WELCOME, COMRADES The Anti-Capitalist Variety Show educates and inspires at Mutiny Information Cafe. BY JOHN FLATHMAN 17 FIELD TRIP Two educators tackled one big assignment: our 100 favorite bars list. BY MOLLY MARTIN 19 LET’S BOOGIE Mark Henrichs of Boogie Lights is bringing back disco. BY EMILY FERGUSON 14 Culture 17 Cafe 19 Music CONCERTS/CLUBS ................................... 22 28 Marijuana TOKE OF THE TOWN ................................ 28 ASK A STONER ......................................... 30 STRAIN GANG .......................................... 32 VOLUME 47 NUMBER 10 NOVEMBER 2-8, 2023 E D I T O R I A L Editor Patricia Calhoun Editorial Operations Manager Jane R. Le News Editor Chris Perez Culture Editor Emily Ferguson Food and Drink Editor Molly Martin Cannabis Editor Thomas Mitchell Social Media Editor Katrina Leibee Staff Writers Catie Cheshire, Bennito L. 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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 retail or classifi ed advertising, call: 303-296-7744 For general information, call: 303-296-7744 For Editorial, email: [email protected] “MURDER, HE WROTE,” EMILY FERGUSON, OCTOBER 26 H O M E O F T H E B R A V E Emily Ferguson wrote a good piece regard- ing Lord Maris the Great and some of his history. As someone who knows him both in character and as a human for over twenty years, I’m in a position to share something that deserves attention. When he fi rst started out, he dealt with homophobia both online and in person to a level I couldn’t imagine. I booked him for an event at the old Pinke’s in Westminster (don’t look it up, it closed), and I got a lot of fl ak from the staff, but the own- ers were thrilled — because Maris brought a crowd that made money that night, with us booking him for a few more dates until the club format changed. I’ve told Maris that he’s one of the bravest people I’ve ever gotten to know. He’s down- played that, claiming he just wants to rock and roll while having a good time. He’s done more than that for people like me who realize that he and I are a lot alike, and we should not care about one’s sexual orientation. If people learned more about Maris’s story as well as read Rob Halford’s autobiography, Confess, I fi rmly feel that homophobia in the rock/ metal community could be extinct, which I would welcome. And for anyone who doesn’t like Maris, to them I say: Turn the page or change the web page. No one is forcing you to hear or see him. Ty McIntosh-Campbell Los Angeles “HANKY PANKY,” PHIL NASH, OCTOBER 19 C L O S I N G T I M E Thank you so much for the fascinating his- tory of the Triangle. Now I understand the important role it played in Denver history, and why the bar closing is a real loss. Stacy Perkins Denver Sirs (or whatever): The whole gay thing is about played out, don’t you think? Sean McManus Denver “MAKING BOOK,” TEAGUE BOHLEN, OCTOBER 26 T H E N E X T C H A P T E R These are some very bad takes. Should Tattered Cover offer to pick people up and drive them to the store themselves while they’re at it? Better inventory, respect for employee feedback, avoiding irresponsible growth — all good things and certainly contributors to their current situation. But magazines? Who reads physical magazines in the year 2023? And you want them to have magazines and cozy nooks where you can read them and then not buy them? Pardon? How about they pull some money out of the register and give it to you, too? Also, walk ten paces to the cafes in every store where there is seating. They have a local author section, they have bargain books (maybe just not the exact titles you would like to see), and they also have used sections, where I fi nd gems for a steal every time I shop there. This author is lazy, cheap, perhaps hasn’t stepped foot in Tattered Cover in a while — or all of the above. All of those changes are not going to alter the fact that as a collective, people are opting for the convenience and lower ticket price of Amazon. If you have disposable income, spend it wisely. That’s how you save a local icon. Whitney Bradford Englewood Tattered Cover expanded way too fast the last few years at the expense of its fl agship locations. The fact that publishers wouldn’t ship to Tattered Cover because of money owed them shows how poorly the stores were being run. Have a clearance sale and start over from scratch. The owners who revamped the brand a few years ago are to blame for Tattered Cover’s demise. Un- happy employees, no books on shelves, no magazines: It has gotten as bad as it could possibly get. I do wish the best for the future of Tat- tered Cover. I’m just angry over the way it has been run for the last few years. Steven Duchovnay Centennial ON THE COVER PHOTOGRAPH OF CLEMENTINE GASIMBA AND HER SON, VICTORY, BY EVAN SEMÓN 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 EVAN SEMÓN
