Venue of the Month-3 Kings Tavern

Jenn Cohen | February 1, 2012 | 0 Comments

by Ryan Edwards

“The Three Stooges” was taken, so we went with three kings,” said Jeff Campbell, co-owner of the 3 Kings Tavern.

Located on 60 S. Broadway, not far from downtown, and across the street from the Hi-Dive, 3 Kings has been owned and operated by Martin Killorin, Jim Norris, and Jeff Campbell, for the last six years. Known in the past as the Cherry Pit, the venue supports local and nationwide acts, and has attracted Denver locals who have an itch to listen to live music at a solid smaller venue.

Local bands such as Speed Wolf, Get Some, Minor Note Orchestra, and the Morning Clouds just to name a few. On this night, I had the pleasure of listening to Red Stinger and Bold Type.

After about an hour-long set, the energetic crew took their antics back stage. I sat down with Timmy “Flips,” front man of the local punk band, Red Stinger, who have played dozens of venues in Colorado, and asked him some questions about the venue.

I asked him to rank the audience, the drink specials, the staff, and the overall venue, from a band’s perspective. “There is no better place to play,” said Flips, referring to the support from the audience. He said the staff, owners and drink specials at 3 Kings are amazing. The bands were given cases of beer backstage, and always get treated well. “If you play here, they’ll take care of you,” Flips said. Overall, Flips gave the 3 Kings a10 out of 10.

Bold Type are locals who have been playing together for 10 years. Their name originates from a song they wrote about sticking up for the middleman, and relating to someone who doesn’t have a voice. “We are more of a smaller-venue band,” says front man, Mike Waterhouse. “You kinda lose yourself sometimes at larger venues.”

Waterhouse mentioned that the audience always gets into the shows at 3 Kings, and he gave them a nine. He gave the staff a nine, saying that “they’re tolerable of the bands playing here, because of how many things they’ve broken while playing.” He gave the drink specials a ten, and pointed to an empty metal bucket—empty only because they drank it all. He gave them a ten overall, stating, “This is one of my favorite places to play.”

Check back next month, as another venue is reviewed from a band’s perspective! We want to make sure our local bands are taken care of when they share their music with us.

www.3kingstavern.com