Tracks nightclub celebrates 35 years

Tracks, one of Denver’s original GLBT nightclubs at 3500 Walnut St., celebrated 35 years in business Saturday with a public party.

Andrew Feinstein, who bought into the business five years ago with co-founder Martin Chernoff, is a second-generation owner after Feinstein’s father was Chernoff’s original business partner in 1980.

I recently asked Feinstein to reflect on the club’s challenges and success over the 35 years

“Most nightclubs don’t last 35 weeks, never mind 35 years,” Feinstein said. “It means that we’ve been very fortunate to have a loyal and dedicated customer base that has stood by us all these years and embraced the many changes we’ve undergone along the way.”

Tracks originally opened to serve as an after-hours club across the street from The Fox Hole, which Chernoff had been running since the mid-1970s. Eventually Tracks opened during regular nighttime hours from 9 p.m. to close. In 1984, the partners opened another Tracks in Washington, D.C., and in 1987 expanded the concept to New York City and Tampa, Fla.

After Tracks Denver closed in the late 1990s, Chernoff relocated the club to 35th and Walnut – a neighborhood at the time referred to as “Upper Larimer”, and reopened in 2002. Several years later, “Upper Larimer” morphed into “RiNo” (River North) and Tracks added the EXDO Event Center adjacent to the nightclub.

In such a transitional neighborhood, Feinstein has seen so many changes – good and bad.

“We certainly cannot compete with the nostalgia that comes with the ‘old Tracks’, but the new Tracks is fully equipped with preeminent sound, light and video technology, including the largest indoor LED wall in Denver and the ability to produce 3D projection mapping in-house, which we unveiled at Halloween two years ago,” Feinstein said. “We also recognize that the modern day Tracks customer has a lot more choices (both at home and out and about) than they did in the 1980s, so we have to continue to develop new promotions that give our customers a reason to get off the couch and party with us. An example of this is our monthly ROLL roller disco promotion, during which we convert Tracks and EXDO into a retro roller disco and karaoke lounge every third Friday of the month. Another example is our monthly Drag Nation show which has become the country’s largest drag production outside of Las Vegas.”

As to the future of the venues?

“We’re always looking for ways to innovate, both with our technology and our promotions,” Feinstein said. “But having just remodeled the venue this past spring with our new LED wall, sound and light packages we’re pretty happy with what we have to offer our customers right now.”

EXDO is known for throwing some major parties in town, but perhaps the most spectacular was during the 2008Democratic National Convention.

“(The coolest party) has to be the One Campaign party during the 2008 Democratic National Convention during which both Jamie Foxx and Kanye West performed live in EXDO,” Feinstein said. “The following night we hosted the Google/Vanity Fair party during the DNC and the room was packed with Hollywood celebrities. And quite recently, we had ‘NSYNC’s Lance Bass show up to honor Tracks co-founder Chernoff after he received an Ally Award from One Colorado for his lifetime’s worth of contribution to the GLBT community.”

To keep up with Tracks and EXDO, go to www.facebook.com/events/1659148880988556/ or www.tracksdenver.com.