The Family Dog in Denver

The Family Dog was famous for bringing so many 1960s acts to Denver (many of the collectable posters from that era were for shows there) and for giving Barry Fey, Denver's most famous rock promoter, his start.

My college roommate worked at the Family Dog and I used to go there. The only two shows I can remember were the Doors and Canned Heat (the night they got busted for the Denver police).

Denver's Family Dog had roots in, like, the Summer of Love RockyMountain News, 6/8/07: "It was 40 years ago on June 7, 1967, that Fey flew to San Francisco to meet with the Family Dog folks in what would mark the genesis of The Family Dog concert venue here at 1601 W. Evans Ave.

Fey was looking for a place to feature original music when he contacted Bob Cohen with the Family Dog. Cohen liked the tape of local band Eighth Penny Matter so much that he flew from San Francisco to Denver during the Summer of Love.

'That's how the Family Dog was born,' Fey said. 'That was the most important day in Colorado music history.'

Denver's Family Dog opened with Big Brother and the Holding Company, featuring Janis Joplin. Others who graced the stage were Blue Cheer, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Grateful Dead, The Doors and Buffalo Springfield.

The club, which never made any money, in part because tickets were $3.50, eventually morphed into The Dog until it closed with the return of Joplin in June 1968. 'The week before we closed Bobby Kennedy was shot,' Fey said."