A formerly bricked-up storefront along Larimer Street will soon be opening as the River North Art District’s latest bar and music venue.
Two Moons Music Hall, which is scheduled to open in early March, is a 4,000-square-foot concept from Pearl Street Hospitality — the group behind Denver’s Hudson Hill, Lady Jane and The Wild.
“It used to be a warehouse, and it’s one of the last (spaces) on a block with other hospitality that hasn’t been filled,” said Jake Soffes, Pearl Street’s founder and managing partner.
The space at 2944 Larimer Street is right in the middle of the block, off the corner from Block Distilling and next to the former Modern Nomad store. It bills its fare as “live music and cocktails until the sun sets,” with coffee and light bites also available.
The “open door entertainment” format encourages pedestrians to pop in, whether there’s a cover ($10 on average, but only a few nights per week) or not. Soffes promised six nights per week of live performances, viewable for the ground floor or the open second level.
The space, which has been designed to hold up to 200, first came to Soffes’ attention when landlord Stuart Zall was shopping it around in October 2022, having cold-called Soffes with a pitch. Soffes was in Zall’s office the very next day “getting the deal done,” he said.
The renderings — light and airy, with high ceilings, lots of light, and plants — take cues from Pearl Street’s other bars but go harder on the southwestern motif and easier on the deep, earth- and forest-toned color palette. Two Moons’ gently angular design brief is meant to complement the tidy stage, which will host a variety of genre-specific nights with both up-and-coming and established Denver artists, Soffes said.
“We’re really trying to pay respect to local Denver music venues and our favorite music venues in the U.S., but just condensing it into our space,” he said. “This is our fourth project in seven years … and our goal is to bring local artists in 5 to 6 days a week. We’ve had the same team together for all of our projects to date, so we’ve got our workflow down pretty well.”
Competition for booking live music is stiff in the district, with dedicated music venues such as Larimer Lounge rubbing up against bars with storied live music programs, such as the Meadowlark, and rotating entertainment music and comedy at craft breweries, distilleries and wineries.
Soffes said Two Moons Music Hall will fill a hole for local artists looking for regular gigs in a “curated” atmosphere with, for example, jazz every Tuesday, indie singer-songwriters every Wednesday, and honky-tonk every Thursday.
“We want to be a regular place for these artists to play once or twice a month, and to be able to have consistent work and cultivate followings,” Soffes said.
The bar will also offer up to 8 different mocktails for non-alcohol drinkers, he said.