If you live in Boulder, you’ve heard of The Fox Theatre. It’s not just a music venue; it’s a reflection of Boulder’s culture. The Fox has been culturally influential in Boulder since its start in 1926, but its significant influence on music culture really began in 1992 with its demolition and subsequent remodel.
To understand how important The Fox is to Boulder’s scene and the development of major artists, you have to understand that when The Fox reopened in 1992, it heralded a time when Boulder was the place to be.
Denver was a bigger city, sure, but everything cool was happening in Boulder. In the late 90s and early 2000s, The Fox and the Boulder Theater were the place to be for deadheads, preppies and punks.
When I talked to Joe Golazewski, the current talent buyer of The Fox, he gave me insight into who’s coming to shows today. Some of the older subcultures still come through, but they’re far outnumbered by CU students.
As someone who looks for the best bands to write about, I wanted to know what made a band good enough for a show. He didn’t give me the magical answer I was looking for, but said that it was really hard to tell. He told me to look at how much attention, artistry, and effort they put into their “craft.” Golazewski supports his community’s music scene, saying, “We do local shows regularly,” referring to booking local bands.
Perhaps one of the most local of bands that have played the Fox is Okiloveyou. These guys blend emo/shoegaze and punky stuff for a DIY punk show audience. They draw inspiration from bands like Sunny Day Real Estate, American Football, and Built to Spill.
The show was mostly set up by the band Germ Theory. They and Okiloveyou both came up together, playing backyard shows and small house parties. Okiloveyou’s second show ever was in a backyard with Germ theory, and although they barely knew each other at the time, it was the beginning of a powerful narrative.
After spending four years chasing their dream of playing The Fox, Germ Theory invited them to open for them at The Fox along with On Dissembled. The animalistic drummer for Okiloveyou, Carter Crossdale, excitedly described the plot of what could honestly be a movie. And for Okiloveyou, I’m sure it was surreal to the point that it felt like one.
The green room before the show felt like the locker rooms before the Super Bowl. There was an unfamiliar air of nervousness for the band. Compounded by the fact that one of Carter’s biggest inspirations, the drummer for American Football, was watching the show. Everything was culminating right now. Okiloveyou was shoegazing on-stage with two hardcore punks.
Okiloveyou was playing a genre the crowd hadn’t necessarily come to see, but with their first song, “Grass is Greener,” they quickly subverted the crowd’s expectations by proving that they could shoegaze at their Doc Martins while making you mosh. When the second half of the song hit with its heavier parts, it was their deus ex machina. The crowd went wild.
“To be able to play there and to have seen such a big inspiration in the crowd. Someone who did so much for us is able to see the product and feels like all our hard work paid off. It felt like we won, it was great,” was how Carter described the feeling to me.
Local institutions like the Fox and School of Rock provide the scaffolding for people like Carter to climb the ladder.
The Fox show remains their biggest to date and most profitable. Afterwards, the drummer of American Football sent them a text with high praise. As cliché as it is, Carter’s story is proof that dreams can come true with real dedication, even super aspirational ones like music.
