Denver's Club Rise is a Happening Haven for Revelers

By Deidra Jackson


On any given party night, Colorado's Club Rise, a booming downtown Denver mega-club set at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, must emerge to revelers like a mirage in the West. The high-energy clubbing inside the 18,000-square-foot hotspot, which boasts outdoor palm trees and one of the largest club layouts in historic LoDo (Denver's lower downtown district) with four dance floors and five separate bars, offers much more than jaw-dropping kinetic light presentation, cutting-edge DJs and massive video shows.


Wildlife Refuge

What really excites restless souls in search of spectacular nighttime stimulation are the engaging theatrics you wouldn't expect to see in a former gold mining camp: wild women spinning fiery batons and blowing flames out of their mouths, astonishing Chinese acrobats performing breathtaking feats overhead, towering 30-foot props moving amid the scene, and scantily-clad go-go dancers who rotate throughout the club, thrilling guests from their special perches on the main dance floor. But unlike the illusion of a sparkling brook in a barren desert, the extraordinary diversions that materialize at this Mile High City dance club are very real.


"We provide, probably, the best entertainment," says Club Rise Owner Michael Payne, a native of Denver. "It's better than Las Vegas."


With a $1 million investment, Payne opened the two-story club located at 1909 Blake Street in June 2003, a mere six months after he transformed a former Alice Cooperstown restaurant, a combo sports/Rock 'n' Roll bar with an open air stage/patio, into a trendy, hip spot that delivers a convincing South Miami vibe into the heart of downtown Denver via Mach M1561 2-way speakers and Bag End Quartz I subwoofers. Awesome additions are the authentic 25-foot palm trees and bamboo, shipped from Florida, that grace Club Rise's street-level, 5,000-square-foot patio. Here, Denver natives who tire of the snow, slush and cold can seek sweet refuge in the warmth of Caribbean Happy Hour, which beckons revelers with its live Latin and Reggae bands, tropical cuisine, Mojitos and other blended drinks and four-hour Friday nights of free food, live music, and $10 buckets of Corona.


"Everything's been great. We've done huge business over there," Payne says. "We've raised the bar in the Denver nightclub scene. We're serving people who are looking for a better experience for their money."


Full-Service Fun

Club Rise, where nationally acclaimed DJs pump diverse sounds on different nights, from R&B and house to Latin and Top 40 remixes, also offers visitors, who pay a $10 cover charge, a duo of entertainment sub-venues — the minimalist Shadow Lounge, a club within a club, which overlooks the main dance floor — and the patio lounge Skybar, a 5,000-square-foot, full-service party area equipped with its own amenities and entertainment.


Open from ceiling to floor, a separate split-level VIP lounge area pampers guests with no waiting, special attention and full bottle service for about $150. Popular are Fris, Hpnotiq and Grey Goose, Bacardi rum, Jägermeister and other fine well liquors. Bartenders also are kept busy pouring such sought-after beers as Coors Light, Corona and Heineken for the 21-35 aged core crowds.


Payne, a former restaurateur and telecommunications company owner who got used to traveling the distance between Miami's wicked South Beach and Las Vegas, sought to bring some sophistication to Denver and avoid what he considered to be most area club owners' mind-numbing formula for debuting nightclub entertainment: "find a warehouse, spray-paint the windows black, and install a low-quality sound system."


"But we just decided that we were going to do it right, and so far, it's been good," he says. "We were really the first club to really give people more for their cover charge. We have shows with dancers and costumes, better lighting and sound and just a better club atmosphere. We came in and spent $1 million, but you can do a lot with that, I had a great shell to work with."


Previous owners of the building, when it was the popular Rock and Pop bar Dick's Last Resort, spent $4.5 million in major renovations that installed sprinklers, elevators, and impressive light and sound fixtures, furniture and décor, Payne says.


"I just had to tweak it a little bit," he says. "The real infrastructure was there."


What's Going for Guests

Club Rise, a stone's throw from Coors Field baseball park, home of the Colorado Rockies, features its own curve balls. A copious supply of glass, chrome and white marble provides a contemporary canvas to emphasize Club Rise's stunning light shows, smoke effects and ever-changing themes, not to mention the catwalk from which fire shoots out of strategically placed fixtures.


Also complementing the nightclub's dramatic ambiance is one of the best ladies' nights around, where the fairer sex can start the weekend early by partying on Wednesdays and Thursdays, with free food, free drinks and no cover until 11 p.m., and female guests enjoy half-price cover and premium well drinks thereafter.


Most profitable for Club Rise are private parties and weekday buyouts, Payne says. "We do a lot of big events on the nights we're normally dark because of the space we have."


Club Rise has played up numerous themes such as white parties, Victorian and fetish balls, Tribal Funk bashes, and various holiday-related events.


"We haven't changed (our concept) a lot," says Payne, whose staff numbers 65.


"We do small things here and there to keep it fresh. In terms of marketing, we try to stay ahead of the competition." NCB