APPALOOSA GRILL - a.k.a. THE HORSE

ESTABLISHED 2001 OWNER OPERATED

Excerpt from The Rocky Mountain News -- by:  Dave Flomberg  --> Originally published 11/30/07
It's easy to root for the little guy. The lunch-pail guy. The one who laces up his boots and heads into work every day and drives an American car and eats apple pie. When that guy wins, we all feel a sense of triumph - especially when he carves his niche the old-fashioned way, by working and saving and eventually having enough to, say, buy one of the mayor's bars and dedicate it to maintaining the same quality of food and drink, but make it more their own by adding a nightly roster of live music and still packin' in the crowd.

That's pretty much the story of the Appaloosa Grill, once a feather in Hickenlooper's cap, now a 16th Street Mall Asian-meets-American eatery cum hoppin'-nightspot-focused-on-live-music. The scene here is unique in that it's not a LoDo dance club, throbbing with Red Bull-and-vodka-infused anxiety and on the verge of boiling over the closer it gets to 2 a.m. It's also not a typical Denver rock club, stacking four to six bands a night, each lucky to get enough to cover their first round while trying to squeeze as many of their "best" tunes into 50 minutes while "gaining exposure" and "building their fan base." The bands performing at Appaloosa are working musicians, guys and gals who've paid their dues and can play a three- or four- hour set - reading the crowd, knowing when to break out a cover, where to squeeze in that edgy new original, when to kick it up a notch and when to slow it down. Bands like Go Go Lab and Big Wheel and Cocktail Revolution. And, of course, Oakhurst - the band that also happens to own the bar.

The stage is small. There isn't a sound system - if you're playing there, you're schlepping in and out your own board and speakers. It doesn't take a lot to fill the space, although it does take a little more than it used to, since Appaloosa finished its expansion and it looks like they've pretty much doubled the size of the joint. On the other hand, the stage is right by the door, which gives people walking by on the 16th Street Mall a chance to listen in before they decide to come in for a spell. First they have to face the zealous door guy, who takes his job very seriously and also solicits donations for the band. Which is awesome, because, while Appaloosa pays better than any of the rock clubs, your drummer's not gonna make rent off of it (and all drummers struggle making rent, right?).