Wow! Talk about an informal hiatus! It has been about five weeks since I last wrote about "music" in the last edition of this blog. I am so glad that I finally have the opportunity to sit in front of the computer and blog.
You all have given me some fabulous topics to discuss and the one that came in tonight was per request back in December from my client Heather. She asked me to discuss night life in Pueblo, Colorado.
A lot of you locals reading this may be rolling your eyes because you're thinking that there is absolutely nothing to do here. I can agree to this sentiment to an extent.
Some of you would say that with our standing as having the highest DUI rate in the state of Colorado and the highest amount of bars per capita that all we do is binge-drink... and again I would have to agree with you.
Some of you would blame our poverty level and unemployment rate as contributing factors to our love of binge drinking, alcoholism, and again getting in trouble with the law, but I'm honestly going to tell you something that my friend from LA once told me: "it's all what you make of it".
Pueblo, Colorado is a community that has one of the Top 10 most popular food festivals in the country and we still don't move forward looking to enhance the landscape of events offered. Sure, there's your average watering holes, dive bars and night time events, but what is it that people keep ragging on?
I don't think they rag on actually binge drinking itself. Binge drinking is over glamorized on TV now when you see celebrities at the Golden Globes or watch a reality TV star get schnockered on camera, so I'm not going to feed into the vibe that all we do in Pueblo is get plastered and do stupid shit; I will, however tell you that it can become monotonous behavior.
For me personally, I love to enjoy a couple evenings checking emails at my favorite watering hole, The Downtown Bar, located in Central Plaza, and take in the randomness that comes with the bar scene. For the most part, I see the same people and talk about alot of daily happenings. My favorite thing to do is not get drunk, but to talk alot of shit and make people laugh. Genuinely, I love making people laugh.
What I have done with friends for the past decade I translated into stand-up comedy recently. Yes, I'm a novice, but I'm not doing too bad at it either.
My style of comedy is not the same as many of the uber-male performers that accompany me. I tend to stand out like a very well-shellacked sore thumb with Chanel nail varnish flashing in the spotlight on a small stage at the DTB on a late Wednesday night. My style of comedy is more of a storyteller with a woven punchline about my family, adventures with friends, how I grew up or even poking fun at myself.
Something I could have never done is had the opportunity to express those kind of salty-worded thoughts unless there was a stand up night mid-week.
I think when you see open mic nights like that, you see a community changing and trying to offer something different than sitting in the bar waiting for a fight or a sloppy drunk to get kicked out. How cool is that?
We have a number of events that pop up during the year held by many non-profit associations. Between food events, our version of Dancing with the Starz, the first Friday art walk and many stage productions between our multiple venues, I see some of the community trying to offer new opportunities besides a drinking fest downtown and throughout the city.
The art district does quite well at it's monthly First Friday Art Walk where people go from gallery to gallery looking at artwork, sipping wine and discussing it with another patron. The number of galleries in downtown Pueblo is growing and a really enlightening, cultural alternative to getting blasted. Now as for me, I love to visit a gallery and head out for a night of bullshitting with my friends after.
One thing we do lack though in Pueblo is late night eateries. Most restaurants shut down by 9 and 10 if you're lucky during the summer months. This is what saddens me the most. With all the great food highlighted in this community, I still see a lack of participation from local restauranteurs. They either complain about NOT BEING busy enough or complain about being TOO BUSY.
Let me tell you: being too busy is good problem to have!
Now, for some of my friends that like to dance and see shows in nightclubs, we definitely lack that "Scene" in Pueblo. That saddens me really. The only place I would even consider dancing in this area is Tracks in Denver, Colorado, but probably never would I dance in Pueblo or Colorado Springs. This area of the state is simply not enthusiastic about nightlife or breaking up the complacency.
My favorite place in the United States is the Abbey in LA. They have it down to an art! Tracks in Denver runs seamlessly as well. We simply do not have a passionate place here that wants to offer top-self experiences to dancers (as of yet).
I love going out and have been a staple of the downtown, late night scene since I was 22 years old in this community. I even had a gossip/socialist columnist write about me a few years ago calling me "Mister Downtown".
I wish life was like it is on TV in Pueblo; I would love bottle service champagne and friends spray tanned and dressed to the nines, but Pueblo is a working class town and it's bars reflect that vibe.
Here's my question to all you locals reading (it's 2 parts):
-what do you enjoy doing in Pueblo with yourself or with friends
-also, what would you like to happen to enhance Pueblo's nightlife?
I'm all ears.....
Cheers mates,
Josh
Have a subject you want me to sound off about? email me jcooley@fastmail.co.uk or tweet me @studiojry
