November-December 2011

The question was posed: Can Pueblo offer seven consecutive nights of live music? Since there are many regular weekly events Tuesday through Saturday, seven days would be trivial  - except that every week has a Sunday and a Monday.  Serendipitously, I was being asked to record Sonic Vomit during a thrash show at Phil's on a Monday preceding a regular (fourth) Sunday Jazz show at the Riverside. I accepted the challenge.

Monday, Sept. 19, Phil's Radiator: Sonic Vomit (thrash) headlined with three other bands.

Tuesday, Sept. 20, CJ's Grill Stage, Big Band (weekly), free: Al Eberhardt's Bands of Glory features 15 musicians, mainly from CSU-P. The band plays selections from a two-page single-spaced set list. I hope to soon hear them play Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.

Wednesday, Sept. 21, Downtown Bar, $4 (including a drink): Filthy Still (punk/ska) from Providence, Rhode Island, was a fun group that got people hopping.

Thursday, Sept. 22, Cowboys (Colorado Springs), $5: Jason Boland and the Stragglers (red dirt country). I got distracted from Pueblo's nightlife by an invitation from Beat Pharm's Dave Ray to see his brother Roger in Colorado Springs. Though this was off-plan, it was well worth it, as these guys were fantastic, playing a 100-minute set plus a three-song encore. Visiting with the band in their diesel pusher tour bus afterwards prevented me from getting to any normal Pueblo nightlife. See next week's notes.

Friday, Sept. 23, Bingo Burger: Chrisanne (folk) on guitar headed a trio of Beulah musicians including a double bassist and a mandolin player. These happy musicians sang and played very soothing music while I enjoyed a typically-great burger.

Friday, Sept. 23, Broadway (weekly): The Fabulous MoJoTones played their first set of well-rehearsed, well-ordered, classic blues to a thin audience. The crowd built until the fourth set was standing-room-only and somewhat rowdy.

Saturday, 24 Sept., Bingo Burger: Thomas Alan played his set of classic, sing-along, pop and AM radio tunes.

Saturday, 24 Sept., Riverwalk: a superbly dressed and coifed Robert Zander busked his original tunes.

Saturday, 24 Sept., Riverside, Rock (weekly): Krush, with a substitute drummer and sideman, were beautifully playing and singing their usual set of covers and originals. Since Paul was preparing tomorrow's chile, I was able to get a bowl at 1am, even though the kitchen was closed. 45 minutes later, Dave Ray came by and Paul graciously prepared a plate of chile-fries for him.

Sunday, Sept. 25, Riverside, (jazz, 2nd & 4th Sundays): the Riverside Express Jazz Band is Lyman Bushkovski (bass), Carlos Crull (sax/vocals), John Fujikawa (keyboard), and John Gerlock (drums). This is as good as you would see in any NYC club. Various musicians and vocalists join in to make this a most enjoyable event.

Sunday, Sept. 25, Phil's Radiator: the Asbestos Tampons (thrash) played a set dressed as chiles to end Chile Fest for me.

It was a long week, finished off by the Chile Fest where I saw about 10 acts. Except for that emergency concert on Thursday, I stayed right in Pueblo to enjoy the local nightlife. It was good to be done. But, then I noticed that there was a concert on Monday. Now, I could see my way all the way to day 13. Since there were places I had not yet visited, I kept going. Here are my notes from week two:

Monday Sept. 26, Sangre De Cristo Art Center's Theater (monthly), free: The Air Force's Brasserie Big Band puts on a fantastic concert to a mostly gray-haired, appreciative crowd.

Tuesdays, Sept. 27, CJ's Grill, (big band, weekly): See last week's notes.

Wednesday, Sept. 28, Park East Steak House Lounge (weekly): Martini Shot Unplugged is Andy and Ryan from Martini Shot their original tunes and covers of easy listening popular

Wednesday, Sept. 28, The Broadway, Broadway House Band (weekly), a fine example of a typical Pueblo rock-n-roll cover band, performs well-known classics that make you want to dance. This is the band where Bobby Montoya played up until last year. Many Pueblo musicians have cycled through this band.

Thursday, Sept. 29, CJ's Grill Family Night (weekly): Patrick Kratzer is a 20-something well-known local singer/songwriter around Pueblo.

Thursday, Sept. 29, Park East (weekly): Sarah Wood is a 16 year-old singer/songwriter from Pueblo with a great voice who covers modern pop tunes and sings her own originals to a regular audience.

Thursday, Sept. 29, Riverside, OpenMicJam (weekly): This is a popular setting for local musicians to get out and play with others in a friendly setting. This one is tilted towards rock while the Thursday bi-weekly OpenMic at Legends is acoustically oriented (no drum kit).

Friday, Sept. 30, Angelo's patio (weekly, in season): Thomas Allen played his familiar classic pop.

Friday, Sept. 30, Legends, (rock ,weekly): Full Gamut had them up on the dance floor and moving.

Friday, Sept. 30, Phil's: Ashley Raines, TJ McGinty, and Dave Smith (Americana) were performing their last set at midnight.

Saturday, Oct. 1, Runyon Theater, modern jazz, $12: Pure Acoulectric played a fantastic show of jazzed-up popular tunes and a few originals. Oak Bridge Productions regularly puts on concerts at the Runyon Theater.

Sunday, Oct. 2, Sangre de Cristo Arts Center Theater, $15: The Veronika String Quartet (classical) did a superb performance of some really old, complicated music.

It was a great two weeks of music. Never let it be said that there is nothing to do in Pueblo.