The 102-year-old Federal Theatre will celebrate its grand reopening with two free, all-ages shows Sept. 19-20 at 3850 Federal Blvd.

“We want people to be able to come out and just check out the venue, enjoy some music and maybe grab a beer,” said Scott Happel, one of the Fed’s three owners.

Thursday’s lineup features two local bands with deep cultural connections to the northwest Denver neighborhood: iZCALLi, a genre-bending Latin rock band, and Los Mocochetes, a Mexican funk collective that last month ranked No. 3 in a Denver Gazette survey of Colorado bands most deserving of more mainstream recognition.

Los Mocochetes is all about starting a revolution – that you can dance to. For a decade, they have used their musical platform to call attention to injustices through songs that are both transparently political and deeply personal.

The following night (Sept. 20), the Federal will feature Cobranoid, The Pitch Invasion, Clusterfux and Vitrify.

Admission for both shows is free, but space is limited, so concertgoers are asked to reserve their tickets at thefederaltheatre.com. Seating caps out at 600 standing or “300ish” on nights when seats are down.

Other concerts and events already scheduled for the Federal Theatre:

• Sept. 25 “Mile High Ska” (featuring The Swashbuckling Doctors with LMS, All Waffle Trick and Tara 2-Tone) (also free)
• Sept. 26: “Mortified Live!” (based on the hit Amazon Prime series, adults share their most hilariously angsty teenage journals with strangers)
• Oct. 2: “Ballyhoo!”
• Oct. 3: Tributes to Genesis, Steve Miller and Dave Matthews (featuring Sons of Genesis, Swingtown and Crash!)
• Oct. 4: Dan Savage’s “HUMP!” Season 2 (described as “the world’s best indie erotic film fest”)
• Oct. 18: Guttermouth, with Good Family and Trauma Czars
• Oct. 24: Galactic Empire (a Star Wars band)
• Oct. 25: R&B Jam Fest, Volume 20 (featuring Kaash Paige, Nobu Woods, Povi Keenan Trevon, Keenan Trevon and Triple AAA)
• Oct. 31: The Reverend Horton Heat (with Graveyard Choir)

Meanwhile, restoration of the storied space continues, both inside and out. “We are paying homage to the history as much as we can while making it functional as a live entertainment venue,” Happel told the Denver Gazette’s Tom Hallauer.

The signature marquee took on dramatic swaths of red and yellow this week. The work is being done by Morry’s Neon, a local company that has been in Denver since the 1940s.

“They had a lot of photos and information on what the marquee looked like when it was installed to this level in the late ‘50s and early ’60s,” Happel said. The inside, however, has proven to be a much bigger restoration challenge.

“There just aren’t any photos (to go off)”, Happel said. “We have searched high and wide, and we have really not found anything that tells us what it looked like back then.”

Next up for Morry’s Neon will be the restoration of the sign outside the shuttered El Chapultepec.