Lion's Lair

History

The room at 2022 East Colfax was the Skol Inn in 1939 and the Aladdin Tavern, with organ music, from 1940 to 1955. Jerry Friedland bought it by 1956, switched to jazz, and named it the Playboy Lounge; in 1963 Hugh Hefner paid him $5,000 to change the name, and it became the Playroom. Friedland sold it in 1967 to Jim Lyons, who ran it as the Aladdin Lounge, then Lyons Lair, and finally Lion's Lair in 1974. By the 1990s it was a harbor for Denver punk, alt-rock, indie, and gothic country.