For roughly 25 years, the afterparty had an address. When the Outlaw Saloon closed its doors, it left more than a vacancy in Cheyenne’s nightlife calendar. It left a ritual without a home.
Cheyenne Frontier Days is the kind of event that doesn’t need a subtitle. This event draws hundreds of thousands of visitors every July, filling the grandstands at Frontier Park and spilling out into the city in ways that feel less like tourism and more like homecoming. The CFD shows draw some of the biggest names in country music to one of the biggest stages in the West. But for locals and repeat pilgrims alike, the part that really sticks has always been what comes after.
That part used to belong to the Outlaw.
The Outlaw Saloon wasn’t just a bar during CFD week. It was infrastructure. A place where the night had somewhere to go after the park gates closed, where the crowd could stay in the feeling a little longer. For two and a half decades, that tradition held. Then it didn’t. And when word spread that the Outlaw was closing for good, the question hanging over Cheyenne’s CFD faithful wasn’t just where do we go now – it was whether anyone could really fill that space.
The Lincoln thinks it can. And based on how they got here, the confidence isn’t unfounded.
When Ely Corliss called Renee Jelinek about taking on the official CFD afterparty, the answer came fast. Jelinek, founder and talent buyer of The Lincoln, didn’t need long to think it over.
“It was a no-brainer, we jumped on it,” Jelinek said.
The Lincoln has spent its existence building a reputation as a room that takes the show seriously – serious sound, serious lineups, a space with genuine personality rather than interchangeable bar aesthetic. Bringing that approach to Cheyenne’s biggest week felt like a natural move, not a stretch.
What they’ve called After Hours runs nightly during CFD week, and the lineup reflects a philosophy that’s less “throw something at the wall” and more “give people a reason to come back the next night too.” Blackhawk – one of country’s most enduring acts from the ‘90s boom – anchors the traditional end of the spectrum. Ryan Charles brings a hip-hop-infused country energy that reads completely differently. Willow Avalon rounds things out on the more ethereal end. Same genre umbrella, three distinct sets worth of feeling.
“It’s all country, but it’s not all the same,” Jelinek said. The variety is intentional. CFD week draws a wide audience, and After Hours is designed to serve the whole range rather than just the faithful subset that already knows every word to every song.
The Outlaw’s legacy is something Jelinek speaks about with clear respect, but she’s not trying to replicate it.
The spaces are different. The Outlaw had an outdoor, festival-adjacent energy which meant when the weather cooperated, it was electric, and when it didn’t, it was a problem. The Lincoln is a different proposition entirely: a controlled indoor environment where the sound system is the star.
“This will definitely be different than the Outlaw – it’s a very different space,” Jelinek said. “I think our space will be more about the actual show. But the good thing is we won’t get rained out.”
That’s not a small thing in Wyoming in July. Anyone who’s been caught in an afternoon thunderstorm during CFD week knows exactly what that protection is worth.
What The Lincoln is carrying forward isn’t the Outlaw’s aesthetic – it’s the function. An afterparty that works. A place where the night has momentum and somewhere to spend it. A venue that understands the crowd isn’t looking to wind down after the CFD show; they’re looking to keep going.
Price is part of the pitch, and Jelinek isn’t shy about it.
CFD week can be expensive. Tickets to the main stage shows run high, accommodations are at a premium and the general cost of being in Cheyenne during the rodeo adds up fast. After Hours is positioned as the affordable option – low ticket prices, live music, no compromise on quality. Jelinek expects a split crowd: people who catch the CFD shows and come to The Lincoln after, and people who skip the park entirely and just come to them.
“We have a great lineup with a much better ticket price,” Jelinek said. It’s a democratic approach, and it matters for a community event that at its core belongs to the people who live there year-round.
That community angle is something Jelinek is thinking about beyond just their four walls. “We hope that we can be an anchor for other downtown businesses – we’d love to see all of the downtown bars packed,” Jelinek said.
The goal isn’t to consolidate CFD nightlife under one roof; it’s to energize the whole block.
The Lincoln already has western DNA built into its identity.
The vintage cowgirl pinup aesthetic – the Lincoln ladies – fits CFD week without forcing it. The room isn’t scrambling to feel appropriate for the occasion. It already does.
For Jelinek the measure of a successful first run is survival, stated with the kind of self-aware humor that comes from someone who has actually worked a full week of nights before.
“We just hope to survive working that many nights in a row,” Jelinek laughs.
But beneath that is a longer-term vision: learn from year one, grow in year two, eventually expand beyond pure country into other genres as the event finds its footing.
“We plan to include more genres in the future, but I’m sure we’ll learn a lot this year so we can do it even better next year,” Jelinek said.
Her practical advice for first-timers is the kind of thing that sounds obvious until you’re standing at the door regretting it: bring your ID, leave the pocketknife and the oversized bag in the car.
“We hate turning people away at the door,” Jelinek said. “We want everyone to have a great time.”
That’s the whole pitch, really. The Outlaw is gone. The tradition it carried for 25 years is still very much alive – it just found a new address.
After the dust settles on Frontier Park every night July 17-25, the party moves downtown. The Lincoln’s got the door open.
The Lincoln’s CFD After Hours shows run nightly during Cheyenne Frontier Days. Tickets and lineup details at thelincolncheyenne.com/after-hours.
