Marquis Theater

Live Nation runs it, but the room is still the room: a low, tight box on Larimer where touring punk, emo, hardcore and rap acts play the night before or after their bigger Denver date. Most shows are all-ages, which is the reason it matters to anyone under 21 in this city. The pizza counter is not a novelty; it is a working slice operation inside the venue and the reason people turn up at doors instead of after the openers. Sound is loud and close. There is no bad sightline because there is no distance.

Why go. Catch a band here a year before they are playing the Ogden.

Coors Field is two blocks away, so on Rockies home nights either arrive before first pitch or plan to circle for parking.