The jukebox of Lafayette

Nissi’s gets a facelift

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With a quick glance at the Nissi’s stage, one would think the pompadour wearin’, low voiced, gold jacketed, hip swingin’ singer was Elvis Presley himself. Upon closer inspection and a realization that it’s 2015, you’d notice the crooner was in fact Shelvis and her band the Roustabouts. On July 31, the Denver group took to Nissi’s to ring in frontwoman Lori Muha’s 50th birthday with a crowd of happy [Sh]Elvis fans.

And as Muha celebrates a new chapter, so does Nissi’s. After closing 20 days for remodeling, the Lafayette music hall/restaurant is back in business and better than ever. Some of the renovations include centralizing the stage, increasing the dancefloor, adding a general admission section and updating the decor for a modern vibe.

“It was starting to look like a middle-aged cruise ship. The yellows and oranges weren’t working for me anymore,” says Nissi’s owner Marc Gitlin. “Changing the look of the club was part of having that more sleek look.”

And Gitlin knows what he’s talking about. Hailing from New York City, he’s had the bar business in his blood for generations, starting with his grandma in the ’60s. He’s been running businesses his whole career starting right after college, in the late ’80s, when he became the manager of Caroline’s Comedy Club.

“The guy left and asked me to run this major club,” he says. “Those were the days. I just found this list of comics I used to book — Jon Stewart, Dennis Leary, Ray Romano, Louis C.K. I paid these guys $30 a night to do 30 minutes — these guys were struggling comics.”

He then went on to manage another bar in upstate New York for a few years before moving to Boulder County in 1995.

“A friend of mine went to law school out here,” he says. “I would say ‘One day I’m going to get out of here and go to Colorado.’ I was getting close to 30, and I wanted to get out of New York. I came out here to check it out and fell in love with it.”

After some business ventures, including opening Fanatics Sports Cafe and managing Trios Grille and Wine Bars, Gitlin was looking for a new project to start. He had been a customer at Nissi’s and then started consulting for the venue, which was hitting some hard financial times. Gitlin bought the place in 2009 and turned it into what it is now. As he renewed his lease this year, he says he took it as a chance for a muchneeded update.

“It was done 10 years ago in a shabby chic way by the previous owner. She had more of a coffee shop, intimate, up close and personal type thing, which had its time,” he says. “They started out as coffee shop kind of music, some jazz, singer/songwriter stuff. Then when I came along, I started getting into the rock and tribute bands.

“This place has always been an eclectic mix of music,” he continues. “You can’t just say I’m a rock bar, because there aren’t enough rock people. You can’t just be a jazz place, because there aren’t enough jazz people. So I find that I have to book bluegrass one night, a tribute band another night, a classic rock band another night and jazz/R&B another night. That seems to be the balance.”

When renovating, he says he went with the strengths of the location, one of which is live music. Maintaining a venue for that musical balance was a goal for Gitlin.

“The redesign was tricky,” he says. “I didn’t want it to be a rock club and paint the walls black. … When I took over I wanted to make the place more accessible.”

Now, he says, he hopes to attract bigger acts but also continue to choose a diverse lineup, especially continuing one of Nissi’s biggest attractions — cover bands. With a nod to the bands of yesteryear, Nissi’s delivers a dose of nostalgia from the good ol’ days of music, whether it’s one night with The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, the B-52s, R.E.M or others. When Shelvis hits the stage, it doesn’t matter that The King’s been dead for almost 40 years. Nissi’s dance floor fills with folks ready to dance to his greatest hits.

And as times change for the jukebox of Lafayette, there’s one song most customers agree on.

“You play ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ and everybody likes that,” he says with a laugh. “It’s probably the most requested song at Nissi’s.”