Music

Boulder Gets a New Elixir

The Purple Martini’s owner opens a club in the People’s Republic.

By Jon Solomon 

Since Boulder is a college town, you'd think there would be more places to dance as well as drink, says Will Coleman. And with his latest venture, the two-level Elixir lounge at 1915 South Broadway, Coleman's given the town just that. "Downstairs is really the hottest dance environment in Boulder," he says of Elixir's basement level. "I looked at the Boulder community, and there were really only a couple of places where there was dancing."

After scooping up the prime location that formerly housed the Soma Lounge, Coleman installed a granite bar and granite tabletops, upholstered paneled walls with sconces and, around the basement dance floor, ten high-back VIP booths, each with its own 32-inch flat-screen TV. In addition to showing videos of action in the club, Coleman plans to equip the booths with Xboxes and Sony PlayStations. The second level of the club, which is actually at street level, is a bit more chilled out. Coleman says that this space, which holds sixty to eighty people, is an ideal spot for businesses to hold corporate happy hours, especially Sundays through Wednesdays.

Coleman knows his happy hours: He's the co-owner of three Purple Martinis — one in downtown Denver (1201 16th Street), one in the Denver Tech Center, (8000 East Belleview Avenue, Greenwood Village), and a third in Boulder (1710 29th Street). While Elixir was modeled after this trio of successful venues, Coleman says he didn't want to make the new club another Purple Martini, especially since it's only three miles from its Boulder sibling. And he's cut that distance, too, by purchasing a shuttle bus. Starting next month, the free shuttle will run from the 29th Street location to the Hill and then to Elixir, Thursdays through Saturdays from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Club scout: There's a different kind of dancing at the Nitro Club, an all-nude strip joint behind Boulder's Pearl Street Mall, at 1124 Lawry Lane. After it opened a few months ago ("Bolder Boulder," January 31), the city slapped twenty code violations on the club, which it handled last month. But now Boulder wants a review of how the club is zoned. Since the city has no specific use category for sexually oriented businesses, city staffers have determined that Nitro's is a use most similar to that of a theater — and theaters require a use-review approval. Nitro owner Michael Cobb is appealing that decision and will go up against Boulder's Board of Zoning Adjustment at a March 19 meeting.

Meanwhile, back in Denver, Wilde Dancebar and Lounge, an upscale gay bar, could open by St. Patrick's Day in the longtime home of Pierre's Supper Club (2157 Downing Street) — if fire inspectors give the okay. Wilde will be a lounge most nights, with DJs spinning on weekends and possibly Wednesdays. Owner John Costelloe says he decided to turn the spot into a gay bar partly because so many houses being renovated in the neighborhood are gay-owned. And since last October, he's been giving the seven-room, 6,500-square-foot club a long-overdue renovation, adding an Oscar Wilde theme complete with Wilde quotes painted on the walls. Since Pierre's specialty was fried catfish, one of the more difficult tasks was cleaning up years of grease in the kitchen, Costelloe says. The cleaned-up kitchen will be used for making appetizers — some of which will be Irish fare, since Costelloe and most of his business partners are from Ireland. Incidentally, some of those partners also own the Celtic Tavern (1801 Blake Street) and are in the process of opening a second Celtic Tavern at 2620 West Belleview Avenue in Littleton.

The Jet Hotel (1612 Wazee Street) just started a world-music night every Thursday with DJs Walt White and Foxx, percussionist Tian Chi Chi and saxophonist Ray Gordon. And these guys will do a similar, live house-music night at Matthew Bandy's Know Wednesdays at Parallel 17 (1600 17th Avenue). Former Chicagoan DJ Takakao will introduce Wednesday-night Planet Orgies on March 5 at Old Curtis Street Bar (2100 Curtis Street), where he'll drop everything from rap, soul, funk and dub to obscure punk, garage, lounge and exotica. Then on Monday, March 10, Old Curtis kicks off the first Candlelit Blue Monday, where every week, DJ Maia will spin death rock, post-punk, Brit pop, industrial, space rock and more. The Walnut Room (3131 Walnut Street) has been bringing in DJs on Wednesdays, with PBRs for 50 cents and $2 wells after 9 p.m.; March 4 marks the start of a month of Flip for Your Food Tuesdays, when, from 4 to 6 p.m., you get your food order free if you call the flip correctly. And Eric Bernal, Theo Smith (aka DJ Hottness) and Miss Audry just set up a residency at Sugar House (1395 West Alameda Avenue), where they'll lay down the house grooves every other Friday.

Finally, the Soiled Dove Underground (7401 East First Avenue) has introduced a deal allowing folks to choose their seat locations when they buy tickets so they don't have to rush to find the best seat possible. The club has also installed a new system that lets you flip a musical-note-shaped light at your table to get your server's attention. I'll drink to that!