For 25 years, the summer answer to "where's the music in Baker" was easy. It was on Broadway, during the Underground Music Showcase, when stages crowded the blocks south of Ellsworth. In 2026 the festival left. One of the bars that filled the gap closed last week. So who carries those first blocks of South Broadway into winter?
The answer is a short list of addresses. Each one depends on a single operator or owner, not a festival weekend. Without UMS, the corridor's character comes down to whichever doors open on a cold Tuesday in November.
Twenty-Five Years, Then RiNo
In February, Westword reported that UMS would move to RiNo, leaving "the area along Broadway it had staked out 25 years earlier." The 2026 edition ran July 24 through 26 at venues around RiNo, under festival director Keanan Stoner, the former CEO of Two Parts.
RiNo came with a backer. The RiNo Business Improvement District, which is funded by commercial property assessments, was expected to serve as presenting sponsor for at least three years at $250,000 a year. Terry Madeksza, the BID's executive director, told Westword that the partnership was about "actively stewarding" the district's creative ecosystem, with "hundreds of shows activating venues, businesses and public spaces across the district."
Stoner's goodbye was warm. "We're so thankful for all the amazing years on South Broadway, and are excited to bring the magic of UMS to RiNo and build this next era of the festival," he said in the announcement Westword quoted.
For Baker, what stayed behind are the rooms that book bands the other 362 days of the year.
The Same Weekend, Played in Smaller Rooms
Broadway didn't sit out July. Local musicians created a DIY festival called Blucifer's First Rodeo and scheduled it for July 23 through 26, overlapping the UMS weekend in RiNo. Westword described it as bringing "the DIY spirit back to South Broadway (once the stomping grounds for UMS)."
The lineup shows who holds the corridor. The schedule put bands on Broadway July 24 and 25 at five rooms:
- Bar 404
- hi-dive
- HQ
- The L
- Skylark Lounge
Pop-ups were planned at Awakening Boutique, FM, Music City Hot Chicken, Pie Hole, The Ten Penny Store and Wax Trax Broadway Bazaar. A second wave added names like Illegal Pete's, Li'l Devils Lounge, Goldmine Vintage, Voodoo Doughnut and Vaultaire.
The festival built its Broadway weekend on those existing rooms and storefronts. That's why the next three months of change on these blocks matter more than any summer lineup.
The First Blocks, Address by Address
| Address | Business | Where it stands in fall 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Broadway | Go Fish Sushi | Closed in late May for building repairs, reopened by August |
| 2 S. Broadway | Former Mutiny Information Cafe building | Sold in May for $1.5 million, under renovation, no tenant named in May reporting |
| 38 S. Broadway | Vaultaire, beneath La Forêt | Opened March 12 as a listening bar |
| 46 Broadway | The L | Closed the week of October 22 |
| South Broadway | hi-dive | Named Westword's Best Divey Venue for 2026, booking shows into December |
Read down the table and the block looks balanced. One room closed, one corner is waiting, and three are open. The rest of this post goes through each one.
The L Ran Five Years on a Lease Signed in 2019
The L's history explains why its closing hits harder than the timeline suggests. Westword's October 24 roundup traced it back to a former pet food store at 46 Broadway. Founders Adam Hodak and Alex Lerman signed the lease in September 2019. After liquor license hearings were postponed during lockdown, they couldn't open until January 2021. Hodak had helped drive the old Green Russell on Larimer Square and launched the beverage program at Denver Milk Market, so the bar arrived with real credentials.
That's about sixteen months of rent and paperwork before the first drink, and then nearly six years of service. On Thursday, October 22, Hodak posted on Instagram, as Westword reported: "Wish I had better news. Last Night for the L. I thank everyone who made it their home and everyone who enjoyed it. I tried. I just couldn't keep it going."
Three months earlier, The L was one of five Broadway rooms on the Blucifer schedule. Now 46 Broadway is the newest open question at the top of the corridor. The October roundup named no next tenant for the space.
The Corner a Neighbor Bought
Half a block south, the most famous storefront on these blocks has an owner with deep roots in the neighborhood. In May, Denverite reported that Jeremy Spira had bought 2 South Broadway, the corner building that housed Mutiny Information Cafe. Mutiny was an underground book, record, comic and coffee shop, and it has since moved to Englewood.
Spira's history here runs through the street itself. As a kid, he ordered diner food at the now-shuttered Swift's Steakhouse at 8 South Broadway. He has played Underground Music Showcase sets with his band, and he moved to the neighborhood ten years ago. "I think the whole neighborhood's kind of felt that loss and the opportunity to purchase the building came about and on paper it looked good, so that took the chance," he told Denverite.
He paid $1.5 million for the 115-year-old building. Renovation started with a free giveaway of the thousands of books Mutiny left behind. His stated goal is a local business that can fill the gap Mutiny left. Neighbors who came for the books suggested everything from a bookstore or bodega to a music venue or restaurant. The May story named no tenant. Whatever goes into that corner will do more to set the tone at Broadway and Ellsworth than a festival that now books its stages across town.
Below La Forêt, and a Sushi Bar Back From Repairs
The two openings on these blocks this year pull in opposite directions, and both are year-round.
Vaultaire opened Thursday, March 12, beneath La Forêt's dining room at 38 South Broadway. It comes from the Guest Floor Management team behind the Tatarian and Union Lodge No. 1. In Westword's preview, the team described it as "a subterranean cocktail and HiFi-driven space blending vintage spirits, French-inspired small plates, and analog sound." At launch it was open from 6 p.m. to close Thursday through Saturday, with plans to expand hours in the following months. Executive Chef Jamie Rutherford's small plates are built for sharing alongside the cellar's spirits and wines.
That's a quieter kind of music room than a dive with a stage. It still puts records at the center of the evening, and it signed on to the Blucifer weekend too.
At the very top of the corridor, Go Fish Sushi at 1 Broadway announced a sudden temporary closure in late May because of "unforeseen structural and plumbing issues within the building." By early August, Westword reported it had reopened. This is the original Go Fish, the first restaurant from One Concept Restaurant Group. That group has since grown into Miya Moon, Mikaku Ramen & Temaki, Bronze Empire and the SYC concepts. A restaurant group with that many concepts chose to reopen its first location instead of letting the address go, and that counts in the block's favor.
On the Calendar Through December
hi-dive is the room carrying the block's live-music identity into winter. Westword named it Best Divey Venue in its Best of Denver 2026 issue. Here are the dates on the books, plus three art events a short trip north on Santa Fe Drive in the Art District:
- Friday, November 6, 4 to 10 p.m. Denver Art Society's Día de los Muertos event at 734 Santa Fe Drive, with art, live music, dance and a procession.
- November 6 through December 12. The Center for Visual Art's Winter Artist Market at 965 Santa Fe Drive, with handmade goods from more than 40 local artists. The CVA's Fall 2026 BFA Thesis Exhibition opens the same night with a free reception from 6 to 8 p.m. and runs through December 4.
- Tuesday, November 17, 7:30 p.m. The Mainliners at hi-dive.
- Wednesday, December 9, 7 p.m. Creekbed Carter Hogan and Jude Brothers at hi-dive.
A Tuesday show in mid-November is what the corridor runs on now. UMS now plays RiNo with a district sponsor behind it. A room like hi-dive has to fill the place one weeknight at a time, and the empty spaces at 2 South Broadway and 46 Broadway will be judged by the same test.
If you've been watching the Mutiny corner and The L's old space and wondering what comes next, I'd love to compare notes. I keep close track of what's changing on Baker's blocks, from storefront sales to new tenants. Elise Losasso is always happy to talk through what that movement means for the streets around it. Let's Connect.
