EP 103: Art, Music, and Immersive Guest Experiences with Sky Madden of Fiddler's Green Amphitheater

Positioning review: No significant adjustments needed. This episode is a conversational interview with Sky Madden about venue design, art experiences, and event planning inspiration. All Handbid references are naturally experiential. Content is observational and anecdotal throughout, with no prescriptive product claims or outcome guarantees.

Jeff: Welcome to Elevate Your Event, your favorite podcast for transforming fundraising events. Join us weekly for expert tips and creative ideas to make your next event a standout success. Welcome to Elevate Your Event, the podcast that helps you rethink what's possible in fundraising. This week, we're talking art, music, and immersive guest experiences with Sky Madden of Fiddler's Green Amphitheater. From flower-filled living murals to fire pits and champagne dresses, it's proof that the right venue can do more than host your event -- it can elevate it. Let's dive in.

Jeff: Okay, welcome back to the Elevate Your Event podcast. We try to come up with all the various ways you can make that next fundraising event a year's better. Jeff Porter, CEO of Handbid, and we've got some special guests here today. Before we announce and introduce our celebrity guests, why don't I let you introduce yourself, Elise?

Elise: Elise Druckenmiller, Director of Sales.

Jeff: We're going to give Elise another chance. The last podcast she attended, she was a little rough, but we've been practicing off camera, working on all of Elise's skills.

Elise: Jeff, I'm just here to keep you in line.

Jeff: Yes, yes, apparently so. All right, enough of that. We have Sky Madden -- the famous Sky Madden, the one that is the owner and extraordinaire of the Fiddler's Green Amphitheater and also the Museum of Outdoor Arts. Why don't you introduce yourself? We love the fact that you're here. But at the same time, give us a little bit of history of what Fiddler's Green is, where it came from, and then what the museum's all about.

Sky: So I'm Sky Madden. My family and current family created Fiddler's Green Amphitheater in 1982 as an earth sculpture. It was eventually donated as a piece of art to the Museum of Outdoor Arts in 1988-89. At that point, my mom, Cynthia, turned it into a rock venue, which is what we see today. So we're in our 36th season of rock and roll. 17,000 people.

Jeff: Yeah, it's cool.

Sky: It is awesome.

Jeff: It's more than cool. Come on.

Sky: It's very cool.

Jeff: It is so cool. Handbid actually has a box there, and we enjoy it for sure.

Sky: Yes. I've seen most recently we saw Rick Springfield, all 76 years of him with his shirt coming off at the end.

Jeff: That is true. But really most recently we saw Live and Collective Soul.

Sky: Live and Collective Soul, that was good.

Jeff: And I'm actually more of a country guy these days. That keeps me married. But going back to my 90s rock, that was kind of fun. We have a cool venue built for basically rock and roll, country music, classical music. It's a true amphitheater. It really is. It's a lot of fun. And actually, one of the best shows I've seen there most recently was the Denver Symphony. It was fantastic.

Elise: Oh, and John Williams.

Jeff: Yeah. Nice. My wife was like, I'm not really sure I'm going to like this. I'm like, you're going to know every song. And then the funny thing is she's like, as much as I hate Star Wars, I knew all the Star Wars songs. So it's very cool. So Fiddler's becomes a major concert venue. And you've had some pretty impressive concerts there over the 30-plus years, right? That's what I would call an event.

Sky: Yeah, it's a big event. 17,000 people show up.

Jeff: Sure. I think there's probably a lot of our listeners are hoping that 17 people show up. You've got 17,000.

Elise: It's still amazing, though, that I still get to today that I've never been there. I've always wanted to check it out.

Jeff: Once you get a feel for it, you realize that it is truly a cool place to go. It's unlike Red Rocks or the rest of the facilities in town. It's close. It's easy to get to. It's fun. Sound is amazing. Well, let's talk about those, because this all comes back to the guest experience part, right? And it's interesting when I talk to people about the options in Denver on where you can go see concerts. Clearly, where the artist is, that's where the people go. Obviously, Red Rocks is iconic and famous and everything else, but I'm going to tell you -- I find it, after I've been there multiple times, not to be the best guest experience. We're not obviously here to bash your competition, but let's talk about the big differences because you mentioned one of them being convenience.

Sky: To me, it isn't convenient for most people. It's not accessible. I mean, it's up a hill. You got to park far away. I mean, it's climbing up and down really steep stairs and stuff like that. I think all of that plays into what you're describing, which is can I get in and out and can I actually enjoy myself in the venue? You can with us.

Jeff: Yeah. Fiddler's is --

Sky: Don't have to climb stairs. They actually walk downhill most of the time. But the sound is where it's at for us. We take a lot of pride in having the sound quality that we can produce for all our bands, all our acts, and people that come to enjoy it.

Jeff: So let's talk about that, because how much of sound is brought in by the band itself versus what the venue provides?

Sky: Venue provides pretty much the delays, which is what you see permanently. It's fixed sound. And then that just adds on to what the tour brings, which is what you hear coming off the stage, which is what's unique about us. We provide sound all the way to the back of the facility.

Jeff: Yeah. And trust me, I know there's a difference there because I had to go to my nephew's graduation at Red Rocks and we were up there. Nice and windy. A little windy, but you just can't hear up there. Especially for people just speaking versus the actual music sound, it was hard to hear.

Sky: For sure. I think another cool thing that we add as an amenity is Marjorie Park, which is this unique sculpture park that's attached to the amphitheater that gives us this little hangout or cool vibrant walk into the facility kind of feel and chill. It's a new addition that we added.

Jeff: Well, what was it before? Because let's talk about where this came from.

Sky: The park was a pond originally. Yeah, it was a detention pond. And then we turned it into what is now Marjorie Park, which is a sculpture park without the pond. I mean, maybe if there's a torrential downpour, it might have a little bit of a temporary pond.

Jeff: Sure. But it's all kind of contained, right?

Sky: Yes.

Jeff: And just full disclosure, Marjorie Park is where we now, for my charity, host our events. And it's an absolutely gorgeous place.

Elise: Yeah, it's beautiful.

Jeff: And I think what it speaks to, what I think is very different for Fiddler's than all the other venues around, is you've kind of created this art experience there that's beyond the art as music, right? So you have art as music, and that's what's going on inside of the amphitheater. But all around it is additional art. I mean, this is --

Sky: Well, even inside the amphitheater.

Jeff: Well, yeah. So let's kind of go through what you guys have done. What is the Museum of Outdoor Arts? And what are some of the things that you've actually brought into the amphitheater? I don't think people always at a glance notice until they actually walk around, right?

Sky: Well, my grandfather and my mother are both the founders of the Museum of Outdoor Arts -- John W. Madden and Cynthia Madden-Leitner. And part of their slogan was making art a part of everyday life. My granddad being a developer, he wanted to contribute art and culture to all his buildings, all his commercial developments, so that people could enjoy it that couldn't always see it on a day-to-day -- go to a gallery, go to a museum, go to some play, whatever it was. He wanted that to be part of everybody's life every day, just to bring some type of quality that not everybody got to experience.

Jeff: And being in the Tech Center, just being part of the commercial development, people are just getting out of the woodwork -- let's go check this out, let's go see what's going on. And he put that in every one of his settings. And what you'll find around Greenwood Village, Colorado, is you're going to find sculptures in front of all these office buildings, and they're gorgeous. But even within the venue itself, you talked about Marjorie Park, and inside of Marjorie Park, it's a sculpture park. There are a ton of sculptures in there and other types of really cool pieces of art that come in from MOA's projects or design and build contests and that kind of stuff. But what's also in the amphitheater -- because I will tell you, when I have friends come to Fiddler's, they don't always notice. And then I take them up the hill and I show them what's around. So why don't you explain to our listeners what else is in this amphitheater?

Sky: We have a panoramic living mural. You could call it a living wall. We call it a panoramic living mural. It's 37,000 flowers that are planted in each different section of the amphitheater -- Northwest, Southwest, Southeast. I may get that confused. But when you're in the amphitheater, you'll see the flowers and they're all in some alignment that is some type of panoramic mural. But it's outlining a mountain scenery or some geodesic shapes or whatever it is. It's kind of unique. Not anyone's got this, but it's cool.

Jeff: It is beyond unique. So we call it the living wall because it looks like a wall.

Sky: Yes. I take a lot of pride because it's one of my big projects that I took over in 2016 and made it to what it is now. And we bring on a crew of young kids and young adults and some older adults. And it's a fun project. At the end of the year, they get to look back and go, wow, I did that.

Jeff: And how long does it take to plant 37,000 flowers?

Sky: Two weeks.

Jeff: Two weeks. That's a lot of planting.

Sky: It's quicker than you think. But it's kind of draw by number, but plug by number. Plant A goes in hole A. Come on. Exactly. So we just had one of our planters showed up to the event last night, which was Sister Sadie in the park. His name is Larry. And he said, hey, Sky, can I take my wife and go check out the flowers? I said, yeah -- wow, you haven't seen it yet? No, I haven't been to a show yet. So he took his wife in and was just blown away.

Jeff: Oh, so he hasn't seen the final product?

Sky: Not the final product. He came back and said, wow, Sky, you were totally right. I could not believe how cool that is.

Jeff: It is very cool. It's very cool. And I probably want to be the guy that owns the nursery contract for that every year.

Sky: They do. They love us. We're looking for a new design. So we're 2026. We're going to change the design. So it'll look a little different in 2026. I'm excited.

Jeff: And so is that a contest you guys typically do, or --?

Sky: No, we don't do call of entry for it. We typically put it out to one of our landscape architects, and they put it out into their little group, and everyone comes up with the best idea, and they pick which one, and we decide on that, and then we go for it.

Jeff: Awesome. That's cool. So what else is around the venue? There's other little hidden gems.

Sky: We're from murals. Our murals are cool. I think our recent mural has now been enlightened with what we call digital mapping. So we have a projector now that's shining on our fox mural, which you can see from our north entrance. So that's our newest projection mural.

Jeff: When you say mural, I think what the listeners aren't going to really see is how massive this thing is.

Sky: Massive.

Jeff: I watched the artists do it on a cherry picker with a bunch of spray paint cans. And it's unbelievable. It really is. And then you showed me the other night -- hey, we've lit it up now. It looks fantastic.

Sky: AJ Davis, he's very talented. And it's interactive, right? There was one on the app where you could do that, but now they've got it lit.

Jeff: We don't have it fully set for interaction, but it will be. So right now it's just on a typical phase, making it look all cool.

Elise: Did you guys see it last night?

Jeff: I did.

Elise: No. She wasn't paying attention.

Jeff: But this is the thing I think a lot of people miss. I mean, you walk up the ramp into Fiddler's and you're staring at this fox. And I don't think people always necessarily appreciate what is in front of them and the masterpiece and work of art that it is. And then you say, okay, well, what else? You walk around the back of this venue. What else do you guys have back there?

Sky: I think making art part of everyday life, even at our shows, just having people come and see something different every time. And I get it from you guys coming, and I get it from my friends coming, and they always say, wow, there's a new piece of art in here. It makes me wonder how many other people walk into the venue and go, wow, there's something new. And it's fun to hear those stories. And now we're getting some good publicity from just having this little park that's pronouncing these new little sculptures.

Jeff: But other than that, on top of that, we have this great mural walkthrough on the east walkway. And yeah, it's cool. It's just cool.

Sky: It is amazing.

Jeff: But it's fun. But if you tie that back together, you were talking about creating an overall experience. And one of the things we talked a little bit about -- accessibility and convenience -- and obviously it really is. But outside of that, it also creates this immersive experience where you go to Ball Arena or you go to some of these other places, it's just a building for a concert. There's no other things to see there. I mean, I suppose at Ball, you could probably try to sneak into the Nuggets locker room or something, but they'll probably arrest you for it.

Sky: 1982, the amphitheater was built as an art piece. It was built as a sculpture. And I think we carried that through when we did the remodel and the transition in 1988-89 to this rock venue that you see. But we still wanted to keep this art feel, this culture feel. Not just these rounded walls, oval walls, but I think it shows. Actually, I know it shows.

Jeff: And the reason I'm bringing this up is because, as event planners or charities that are running events, I'm typically picking a venue for a variety of reasons. Maybe it's location. Probably primarily it's cost and can it fit my people. But you're not doing it in a sense of what kind of experience can it create? Because if you did that, we'd probably be in way fewer hotel ballrooms.

Sky: Right. Exactly.

Jeff: Unless it's like a really neat hotel. But we go to hotel ballrooms because we just need a place to put people into seats. But you could step back from that and say -- we used to run our event at Infinity Park. And Infinity Park is a very unique venue in Denver. It's connected to the rugby field. Inside, it's an oval, which is not typical, but they have live video that encircles the entire top of it. So you can create these really cool experiences. And that was why we picked it. And so when we moved from there and we came to Marjorie Park, it was for the same thing -- we want to create a really unique experience. This is a Kentucky Derby fundraiser.

Sky: You guys have totally created this amazing experience. I mean, just the whole betting, the LED walls, the band that plays, everything on top of it. You guys have done a great job.

Jeff: Well, and some other charities are replicating that, which is awesome.

Sky: But the park is really the spot. The park is special. I don't think you could do that event anywhere else. It won't be as good. Fire pits. Fire pit tables. You've got a variety of things that we've continued to improve and add to the whole experience. But you still have that nice ambiance and vibe, which is kind of what I'm getting at.

Jeff: So for people that are thinking, where can I host my event? I understand budget's going to play a role in that. But think about what kind of really cool guest experience can I have? We've been to some events where we've been like, this is a really cool place.

Elise: Yeah.

Jeff: Right? And that's kind of what we're getting at.

Sky: One Goats, our next event is September 6th?

Elise: 6th.

Sky: And Mike Pappy, he thinks nothing more than the space. And I'm so happy that it's going to work out and be great. And you know what? We got Mike Pappy out of a hotel ballroom.

Jeff: Did you?

Sky: Yes, we did. And you can do that a few times, and there's nothing wrong with the hotel he was at. It's a great hotel. The problem is that it's the same old --

Jeff: Stuffy gala. Rubber chicken, raspberry vinaigrette. People have heard me talk on this podcast about the raspberry vinaigrette and the little butter balls.

Sky: We need to bring more Irish brands.

Elise: Yes!

Jeff: But that's the point -- look around and think to yourself, where can I do something that nobody thought, wow, this is not where I would normally host an event?

Elise: Well, I think that's the mentality that people have to change. I think it's just so standard to have an event in a hotel ballroom that you don't realize that there's these other spaces. You don't think of that as an opportunity. So we were really fortunate to be around -- I mean, that's the thing I've noticed. Weddings get more creative. It's true. When it's outdoors. I agree. And I think events can get more creative.

Jeff: And it's so funny. People are like, why would you ever do your event outside in the first week in May?

Sky: You guys came to me and said, we're going to put fire pits. I went, what? Adirondack chairs, fire pits.

Jeff: So just full disclosure -- we came to you and said, we're going to do an event here. And you're like, you're going to do what?

Sky: Well, okay, I think we could do that.

Jeff: We should tell this story. This story is actually kind of fun because this is how events get planned, right? They get planned at a bar on a Thursday night. And we're hanging out and Sky's like, I'm turning this retention pond we have into a park. And then he takes us over there and we see it -- at 10 o'clock at night. I was like, this is really cool. Can I have my event? Hey, when's your event?

Jeff: And I said, May 1st. I think this is like February. And you're like --

Sky: Well, we're not going to be open until July.

Jeff: No, he said, sure.

Sky: Oh, yeah. I think you put the sod in on the Wednesday before the Saturday of our event.

Jeff: Yeah. We put it in February. So anyway, it was great. And we showed up and then you're like, okay, so what are you going to do? I'm like, I already know exactly what I want because I've been to enough of these events. And I learned from one particular event -- there was a guy that ran it and he could turn any venue or space or area into something really special. And so the first year we went out there, this is in Orlando, they put up this tent. So you've seen tents before, right? You've put up big tents. Okay. This tent takes a month to put up, and it's over a million dollars. And it has a full concert venue in the back, and I would say at least 2,000 people fit in this tent.

Sky: Oh, yeah, easily.

Jeff: So that's year one. And it was so funny because they had a really big lineup of country music stars that were going to perform, and apparently one of them was Cole Swindell. And apparently he told everybody, I'm not performing in a tent.

Sky: With 2,000 people?

Jeff: He didn't know. He's thinking, I'm way too important for a tent. So then he showed up and he sees this tent and he was like, oh, I didn't know that you meant that kind of tent.

Sky: Oh, this isn't like a pop-up tent, like a camping pop-up tent?

Jeff: Yeah, exactly. So then the following year, the tent gets turned sideways so they can make it bigger. And then they had a sunken floor with the concert venue. And we've seen Counting Crows there, Lee Brice. We've seen everybody. It's been great.

Sky: Toby Keith.

Jeff: Toby Keith. Well, not yet. So then they decide because it's COVID, they can't do it in a tent. So guess where the tent was? It was on the driving range. So they go back to this same guy and they said, we're going to give you a driving range. You got to turn this into an amazing event. This guy's a magician though.

Sky: He is.

Jeff: Yeah. And he did it. We show up and you walk in -- it wasn't really a tent, but you do walk underneath this tent area where they have a check-in for the auction, and Handbid's there. And then they have some bars and stuff. You walk through that. It's all open -- there's no sides on it. I think that was probably the Florida rule or something -- no sides on the tent. You walk down into the driving range. They've put grandstands along the sides that are all private suites just like you see at a PGA golf tournament. And the whole middle are fire pit tables with Adirondack chairs.

Sky: That's where it came from.

Jeff: That is where it came from. And I was like, this is brilliant.

Sky: Cool.

Jeff: This is really, really brilliant. I love it. And he created just the most amazing space. And at the very end, massive outdoor stage, runway. It was just really, really cool.

Jeff: And so you pick up this stuff. But a lot of the stuff that we saw there that he did, you would love. And I think it would be stuff that down the road we would incorporate into our event. And I'm sure there's a lot of people thinking, why would you spend the money? There is a guy, and at the beginning of the week, there's this massive mural -- it's blank white paper. And he just starts drawing with a pencil on it. And he's got a mural he's making all week long. There's a little piece of it done. And by the end, he paints it. And it's unbelievable.

Jeff: And the mural was -- so every night is a lineup of artists, two or three of them. So there's three nights of it. The mural is these artists. And so by the end of each night, those two performers are painted.

Sky: Is this something you're bringing on for this year?

Jeff: No. But just -- explain what happened. This event was in January. We came back to you in February and said, this is what we're doing. You need to finish the park.

Jeff: Let me explain to you what he does, which I think is fascinating, because every year they kind of built up, right? So now they've decided, well, this is way better than the tent. The tent takes a month to put up. These grandstands don't. And the fire pits, we can just drop those in anytime we want. So they stayed outside. I mean, it's Florida in January -- it's not miserable. It gets cold.

Jeff: So that's kind of that direction. But then we go there one day and during the day, they're getting ready for the concerts at night. So there's prepping and setting up. And what they are doing is he's hanging these chandeliers -- they got cherry pickers out and there's a set of these moss-hanging trees. And he's hanging the chandeliers. Like, what are they doing?

Jeff: Well, that night, there's this grandiose entrance for people that come off these shuttles. And he's got chandeliers hanging. They've got all of these different ornamental things that are happening. And I was like, this guy knows how to do it. He is creating an amazing entrance experience. These people are amazed. They're walking in. They're handing out champagne. Or they've got somebody that's like a performer doing something maybe acrobatic -- they had someone in a ring doing flips. It was just really cool. As you walk in, you just get that experience.

Jeff: I mean, another time he came in and they literally had these LED walls -- you remember driving into DIA now?

Sky: Yeah.

Jeff: They had that kind of stuff going on. And just really cool.

Sky: No, this is walking up to the venue.

Jeff: Oh, to the venue. Yeah. I mean, you could do this -- when we were talking Tinseltown, we were thinking the same thing, right? People walking in. Experience. Before you get there.

Sky: Imagine you walk into our derby event and we have, instead of yard signs of all of our sponsors, what if we had an LED wall where we're really starting to promote them? And then you can do stuff where -- let me show you some kids that have Prader-Willi syndrome, and maybe introduce those on some LED. You could do some really cool stuff.

Jeff: And that's the kind of stuff that they would do in this venue. They had an entire area for cigar smokers, and he made it look like a cigar bar -- a really cool leather seat type of experience in this tent. Anyway, so that's the kind of stuff that people would say, why would you do that? It's not going to directly impact fundraising revenue. It impacts the guest experience.

Sky: Yeah, sure. People love guest experience. And they'll pay for it.

Jeff: I mean, I don't always necessarily think that it has to be the biggest band or the smallest band or whatever. But it needs to be entertaining. People need to see that. And there's kind of two sides to that, right? So on the Fiddler's concert venue side, I agree with you. We've seen some bands where it's like, I wasn't even sure I was going to come tonight, and they were good.

Sky: Right? I mean, I've been shocked about two bands this year.

Jeff: Mount Joy and Camp.

Elise: Don't rub it in.

Jeff: The two bands you didn't go to?

Elise: The two concerts I did not go to.

Jeff: I was thoroughly impressed with both of them. But they're not the big guys. They're still the small guys. And they're putting on a hell of a performance. And it's amazing.

Sky: But that's what you want. Sister Sadie, last night, you guys came to the show. That was fantastic. Wow. What a performance. I was blown away. And then my wife was so impressed. She's literally on Perplexity, I think, looking up this lady's history who's on stage.

Jeff: Sure.

Sky: Oh my God. She's played with Vince Gill, and she's played with Travis Tritt.

Jeff: Bob Seger.

Sky: Bob Seger. Yes. And then she introduces, I think it's her -- it's a family friend. Daughter of her friend or something.

Jeff: No, not the man. No, the lead singer. The lead singer is the national female bluegrass vocalist of the year.

Sky: What?

Jeff: Yes. Were you not paying attention at your own event, Sky?

Sky: Sky was refilling the -- restocking the bar.

Jeff: These guys always give me a bunch of heck for doing that.

Sky: For working? At your job?

Jeff: Well, one of the things I would say, as it pertains to you -- and this is always like, you're the type of person that can't sit still, right? So you don't want to sit down and enjoy the concert. You want to be looking around to see if something needs to be done. And one day, because I had to get to this spot with me -- like, I finally am now able to enjoy my own event. You have to do that one day. You're going to have to just sit down.

Sky: I'm going to do it.

Jeff: Okay. You sure?

Sky: 100%.

Jeff: I think I enjoyed Solstice. Oh, yeah. I mean, I think that used to be my biggest thing -- our big holiday party. It's still big.

Sky: And I got new plans from your staff last night about what you guys are going to change and do.

Jeff: It's cool, right?

Sky: It's pretty cool.

Jeff: Yeah. I mean, just for our listeners to understand, the Museum of Outdoor Arts hosts a holiday party. And Denver is not warm in December. So this is all in tents, but it is in the park. And it was unbelievable last time. Well, every time.

Sky: Tatum has promised -- well, I just remember last time, that was the tent again. Double tent. Yeah, double tent was last time. We're doing the same thing. The year before was my mom's house. But the year before that, the first year that you did Solstice at the park was that giant tent and the fluffy couches and the dance floor. And I think I might have danced on the bar.

Jeff: You did. We need somebody to dance on the bar. That's why you invite me. You're the smallest.

Sky: Yeah.

Jeff: But I would say, as you think about, you're creating yet again a great, interesting experience. When I walked into that event, here's this -- she obviously was a lady, but she looked like this young woman --

Sky: Oh, the champagne dress?

Jeff: Wearing this Alice in Wonderland style, tiered thing. I don't even want to call it -- it had champagne glasses all around. It's meant to look like a dress, the bottom of her dress. But it has all the racks for the champagne glasses. It's the antebellum style, big gown, poofy thing. But they're all rows of champagne glasses.

Elise: But instead of just having a wall for champagne when you just walk in and grab your champagne, you're taking it off of a woman. With a dress. Tiered champagne glasses.

Jeff: It was really cool. And then you had the floor that lit up as people danced on it.

Sky: Being part of a museum and a culturally diverse organization as we are, and getting to work with cool people and being so small too, we get to come up with creatives. And some of those creatives are some of our parties and our best parties. But this is where people learn from us. I'm saying, like, can we learn?

Jeff: So we walk in there and it's like, I can't believe what you guys did to the roof. I mean, the ceiling of this tent was lit up and it was gorgeous. And so you look at it and say, okay, that's a standard. If I'm going to go out and do an event like that, I don't want to just hang some string lights. Have you seen Sky's event?

Elise: Well, yes. I get it. That's my point. It's awesome.

Jeff: It's totally awesome. Because then you've got to one-up yourself this year. You've got to do that.

Sky: We will. Let's one it up.

Jeff: I like some of these ideas. But yeah, that's how it works. You go around, you do these things, you come back, and it's all to me going back again to I create something that people talk about, and the money comes with it.

Sky: It does.

Jeff: And all that kind of stuff. And to your point, it doesn't have to be the headliner band. It doesn't have to be the super expensive artist. You just need somebody entertaining.

Sky: Creatives. Lots of creatives. I just think creatives. Having a good space and creating some type of immersive feeling -- I think it's important.

Jeff: It really is. It gives that fan experience. It gives people the fire pits, right? It may be 90 degrees outside, but the fire pit at night makes it look really cool and ambient, and people are attracted to it.

Sky: Yeah, they still turn them on. Still turn them on.

Jeff: And I'll tell you what, my son just got married a few weeks ago. What was, I think, most memorable about that whole wedding day was the venue. It was gorgeous. The weather helps -- there's no doubt, right? I mean, if it snows on Derby Day, the park -- we're going to have to come up with a plan. But outside of that, if you put all that aside because those are things you can't control, what you set up -- and it was interesting because every detail was debated and argued. And my daughter-in-law, she had it all down to the nitty gritty.

Jeff: And so I walk over to the wedding venue part and they were trying to hang this drape. And they're like, oh, no, no -- she wants three humps and they have to come down this far. And I was watching these people try to do it.

Elise: On her dress?

Jeff: No. They're putting this drape above this -- above the altar. It was Shane and Amy Nova. Yeah, so they're up there trying to make it even and everything else. And they have specific instructions from the bride on how this needs to look.

Sky: We're all creatives.

Jeff: That -- I was impressed. I said, that is awesome that she came to that level of detail because those are the things that matter.

Sky: It is. And those are memorable. They're with you.

Jeff: I thought so.

Sky: They put on a party with a tiered dress, champagne glasses. People remember forever. And you also remember the caviar.

Jeff: Oh. That was the other favorite part of yours.

Sky: I ended up -- you had caviar at the wedding?

Jeff: No, we had caviar at your party. At Solstice last year. To the point where I literally pulled up and ordered the caviar you served at your event, sent to my house overnight. It took a week or something because it was so good.

Elise: He sat there and did it at the buffet line. We're waiting in line. Getting his caviar and he's like, man, that's good. I'm going to order me some.

Jeff: Nothing like a caviar. This was over-the-top good. And $250 worth of caviar. No, I've never had it with oysters. That was my first time. Oysters mixed with caviar. Superb. It was really superb. But you know what it was also? I call it the poor man's appetizer you guys did. It was literally kettle chips with creme fraiche and caviar. Sturgeon caviar. It was phenomenal.

Elise: You actually served that at Christmas.

Jeff: I did. And people liked -- my family doesn't really love oysters like I do. So those didn't go. But the kettle chips with the creme fraiche and the caviar -- it was gone.

Sky: We're inspiring each other.

Jeff: Yes. Fire pits, Adirondack chairs -- it's coming around. Let's do it. We're going to have to figure out what our upgrades to the derby are going to be.

Sky: We're going to figure that one out.

Jeff: Yeah, you guys have done pretty good. I don't know. Maybe an LED wall. I have to hide a lot of stuff from my board. Or go find bigger sponsors. I've got to do one of the two.

Sky: You need more Irish brands.

Jeff: All right, this has been a great conversation. Like I said, you have an amazing venue. You guys have definitely created a unique experience in Denver, and I think it shows. It's a great place to have a concert. Sky, thank you. And if you're looking for a new venue space, if you're in the Denver area and you're looking for something where you'd like to change it up, I'm still trying to talk Sky into leaving his Solstice tent up all winter so that he can rent it out for people that want to do winter parties outside of a hotel room. But he looks at me like I'm nuts every time.

Sky: I think it's great. We should talk more about it.

Jeff: Yeah. All right. Well, this has been a fabulous conversation. I think we need to wrap this conversation up though. It's been a long one. Sky, thank you so much. And for everybody else out there, happy fundraising.

Jeff: If you enjoyed our show, please take a moment to leave us a review. You can find us on Apple, Google, and Spotify. Don't forget to subscribe for more great content. And if you're a fan of video, check us out on YouTube. Until next time, happy fundraising.