February 2010

Nightlife shines brighter in Sun City

El Pasoans have more options in touring acts and venues

By Lisa Kay Tate

Combine a huge influx of young military and the virtual shutdown of Juárez as an entertainment mecca, and the result is a boom in El Paso’s nightlife.
Although in the past El Paso suffered in comparison to other major Southwest cities, such as Albuquerque, local music promoters say that the Sun City’s reputation is shining more brightly — both in terms of quantity and diversity of touring acts.
The surge of troops stationed at Fort Bliss not only adds thousands of prime clubgoers to the city’s population, but also has shifted clubs to locations nearer the post. And not only are El Pasoans staying on this side of the river to hop from club to club, but more of their neighbors from Juárez are coming over here, promoters noted.
But even in the best of times, the nightclub business is no sure thing. Clubs are constantly reinventing themselves to keep up with the times and changing tastes of the market. Owner and promoters who master communicating to the Facebook and Twitter generation are most likely to stay ahead of the rest.

Following the music

Promoter Bobbie Welch said that more and more clubs are adding live music and entertainment to their offerings, and local audiences are very receptive. This is particularly true with the number of new and newly renovated or renamed clubs bringing a greater choice of entertainment styles to El Paso.
One of the newer live-music venues, Welch said, is the recently reinvented West Texas Stampede. The Upper Valley dance hall that holds around 1,500 (formerly The Stampede) is under new ownership and, according to Welch, has big plans for live-music events in the near future. So far, the club at 5500 Doniphan has brought in well-known acts like outlaw country cult favorite David Allan Coe.
“They haven’t done many shows yet, but he’s got a whole roster of acts coming in,” she said.
Welch said that other clubs of note are Take II on Mesa, who “pretty much do live music all the time”; The Vault dance club; Percolator coffee house Downtown; and the long-lived Chic’s on Montana. Chic’s, she said, is often a stop for touring metal and hard-rock bands from around the world.
“They’ve been around for years, and do shows all the time,” Welch said. “If you look at the national (tour) rosters, they always pop up.”
Two of the most visible clubs are Club 101 on Airway, whose recent shows have ranged from American Idol winner David Cook to alternative rockers Third Eye Blind, and Whiskey Dick’s country-music venue, which regularly brings in everyone from emerging Texas music acts to nationally known names, such as contemporary country artists Lady Antebellum and rockers Everclear.
One of the most noticeable areas with several clubs emerging in close proximity is the El Paso downtown area. The remaining clubs seem to be scattered from Doniphan to Mesa and out to Airway.
“In downtown El Paso, you’ve got a great entertainment district,” Welch said. “And you can’t discount the presence of The Plaza (Theatre) or Abraham Chavez (Theatre). Some of the larger clubs like Club 101 don’t hold much less than The Plaza.”
She said that The Plaza Theatre is the ideal proof that audiences are ready and eager for more entertainment in El Paso. When the venue first reopened in 2006, some had doubts that El Paso would have the numbers to support more (and more diverse) live shows. The audiences were there, and now more independently owned venues are taking chances on bringing in new acts as well.
Billy Biddle, who runs sound for several area nightclub shows, said that the live music in the Sun City is definitely picking up the pace.
“There are a lot more venues and a lot more variety of shows coming to El Paso now,” he said. “There are shows that five or six years ago never would have even come to El Paso.”
He said that this increase in venues has helped to catch the eye of performers looking for more dates to add to their travel schedules, and with El Paso already conveniently situated along I-10, adding an El Paso show is an easy decision.
To help accommodate more of these acts, Biddle has recently co-founded the Malibu Discotheque in Canutillo. He said that the location, able to accommodate an audience of 1,300, helps fill a far West Side live-music void for a larger venue than just a dance club.
“I think this area needed something that was kind of between El Paso and Las Cruces,” he said, adding that the club’s first traveling shows have already drawn near-capacity crowds.
Biddle said that the live-music trend will only get better; once word of mouth from bands spreads that El Paso is a good place to find a gig, others will follow.
“I think there’s enough variety of clubs here now that any genre can find a place to play,” Biddle said. “There’s plenty of publicity from these clubs as well (so) that any performer doing a little bit of research or looking will find a suitable place to pick up a performance date.”

Keeping it fresh

Opening an exciting, cutting-edge entertainment hotspot is one thing, but keeping it going strong is something else entirely.
All That Music owner George Reynoso’s popular music and video store serves as a ticket outlet for several smaller shows that come through El Paso. As a local music authority and pop-music historian, Reynoso has not only witnessed changes in local music trends, but also in the places El Pasoans go to enjoy their favorite genre.
He feels that the key to success for some nightclubs is being able to successfully reinvent themselves with the changing music scenes, particularly those who cater to trendsetting or follow the crowd. This, he said, can be a very “hit or miss” effort for the less-experienced club owner.
“The nightclub business is like hitting a moving target,” Reynoso said.
Successful nightclubs not only have to find the right location for their audience, but make sure they know what audience they want, how to market to that audience, and how to adapt and change (including the club’s name and audience in some cases) with the times. Many club owners also need to have some disposable income, as club popularity may come and go.
“It’s a very competitive business,” Reynoso said. “You have to get it all right to succeed.”
Even with music venues changing hands and changing names as quickly as popular music changes, Bart Reed’s Comic Strip comedy club has been one of the most consistent nighttime destinations. Reed has taken the risks of changing everything from locations to menus to remain one of the city’s most successful club owners for more than two decades. Like Reynoso, he feels that successful clubs need to be adaptable.
“I think the main thing is the willingness to change with the times,” Reed said. “This year, we’re going with more of an ‘edgy urban’ lineup. With the expansion of Fort Bliss and the younger fans we’ve seen lately, it seems to be what draws the most interest.”
He said that he also now relies heavily on Web site–based marketing, including Facebook and Twitter, to announce his shows, but also credits knowing when to change locations to keep audiences coming to shows.
“I really like where we are on Airway; it’s central to everywhere in the city and we have other fun venues all around us,” Reed explained. “I know it seems like we’ve moved a lot, but we were basically in one spot on the West Side for 20 years before that section of Mesa died out.”
When the club first moved to the East Side in 2006, the location wasn’t ideal, but Reed took the chance at reopening at a new spot with positive results.
“I love where we are now,” he said.

All ages (and tastes) shows

The performances are not just Saturday-night events anymore, as venues such as Ardovino’s Desert Crossing and Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino’s Franklin Lounge host live music several nights a week. Even with the close proximity of these venues, the music and audiences are diverse, with Ardovino’s taking on contemporary jazz, folk and Latin sounds, and Sunland Park hosting its popular Mariachi and jazz nights.
In addition to its local acts regularly scheduled two or three nights a week, Desert Crossing Live brings in touring acts nearly monthly, including outdoor concerts in the warmer months such as a summer “under the stars” event planned with Austin-based alternative-country band The Gourds.
“We feature original music, both local and touring, in an intimate, ‘up close and personal’ setting by some of the best musicians in the Southwest,” Denise Heard-Bashur of Ardovino’s Desert Crossing said.
There are several unconventional sites for live music as well. In addition to long-established live-music series, such as Music Under the Stars at the Chamizal National Memorial and Al Fresco! Fridays in Arts Festival Plaza Downtown, live music performances range from free afternoon performances by local entertainers at Upper Valley vineyads Zin Valle and La Viña), as well as weekly during the school year through UTEP’s Wednesday Music Café at the Student Union. Seasonal series also include State Line restaurant’s outdoor concert series during the summer.
Local jazz music groups El Paso Friends of Jazz and JazzElPaso Connection both host jazz performances at various venues around town from Dominic’s Restaurant to the Lancer’s Club. JazzElPaso has also recently established its summer and fall jazz concert series Jazz on the Rocks at McKelligon Canyon Amphitheatre. There are also classical music performances, folksy house concerts and city-sponsored “music in the park” shows to be found nearly every month. El Paso Pro-Musica, for example, offers free Bach’s Lunch performances in January at the El Paso Museum of Art.
The choice can afford some performers to be more selective in their venues. Local performers — like the emerging music trio West Side Bohemians, whose players consist of “The Skipper,” “The Professor” and “MaryAnne” — are still in search of just the right club, but welcome invitations from anyplace interested in giving their new sound a chance.
“We have a luscious and vibrant sound comprised of poignant cello ringing with 12-string and crystal vocals,” the trio’s vocalist “MaryAnne” said. “We’re dying to have all of El Paso come out and hear us once we settle on a ‘home’ venue.”
Music fans aren’t the only ones taking notice of this trend. In addition to the Comic Strip continuing to sell out nationally known live comedy acts each week, the outlook has been good for local comics as well.
Sun City Comedy Media Relations Director Brianne Saad said that she is seeing more places for local comics to perform as well. She said that Sun City Comedy is able to bring its shows and events to different areas of town with venues so spread out.
“El Paso has so many different entertainment districts to choose from,” she said. “In our opinion, the Downtown District is the place with the biggest growth in both music and comedy. Our shows at the OP (on Ochoa) on Sunday nights have grown in the last several months.”
Comedy and other events, including open-mic nights, poetry slams and even belly dancing, are also getting a boost and finding unique places to perform. Even former Black Flag frontman, punk legend and author Henry Rollins is coming to El Paso, to the inspired location of El Paso High School’s auditorium, with his Frequent Flyer spoken-word tour Feb. 20.
Saad said that Sun City Comedy has seen an increase in audiences from both Juárez and Las Cruces at recent shows.
“With Juárez nightlife moving to El Paso, there has been an uprise of new entertainment establishments and a growing interest in a safe and fun environment,” she said.

An upward trend

Club owners and promoters each have their own opinions regarding this wave of emerging or rediscovered nighttime entertainment destinations, but all agree this didn’t happen just by chance.
Reynoso said that he has also noticed a huge rise in the amount of local promoters working for clubs or bands, making the competition for an audience more intense.
“On any given night in this community, it’s a dog-eat-dog war of promoters trying to get the word out of their show,” Reynoso said.
As a result, many promoters and club owners have had to become very creative in their means of announcing an event. Today’s methods of promoting a show or venue greatly differ from just a few years ago, especially with the presence of faster ways of getting the word out. Methods such as hard-copy flyers or ads have been joined or even replaced in some cases by Internet communities such as MySpace and Twitter, or phone texting and other peer-to-peer means of communication, methods that can spread “the buzz” quickly and efficiently to a specific audience.
However, Reynoso said, the same fast-paced information processes that can make a DJ in Germany a hit with El Paso audiences can also push him out of popularity by the next big act just as fast.
“Know the market and know the marketplace,” he said. “What makes this happen is the power of the Internet. It’s just a smaller world today, period.”
Finally, Reynoso said that the unfortunate turn of events in El Paso’s sister city has not only kept local clubgoers in El Paso on weekend nights, but has also drawn a large crowd from Juárez coming to El Paso in search of good shows. What has been Juárez’s loss due to fears of violence has become El Paso’s gain.
“I attribute the violence in Juárez and the influence of the Internet with the acceleration of El Paso’s music scene,” he said.
Presently, entertainment fans aren’t easing down on their pursuit of the new and the popular in the entertainment world, and individuals like Welch feel that the El Paso area is now on par with other cities of its size in giving the community a choice of local and touring performers nearly every night.
Welch said that even with the nation’s economic troubles in the past couple of years, the live-music scene seems to have improved, including in El Paso.
“Even if it was a bad year for the economy, it was a pretty good year for live music,” she said.
Not only is the number increasing, but the diversity of music fans is as well. Welch speculated that not only are more people coming from surrounding areas like Juárez to enjoy El Paso’s shows, but more Fort Bliss troops coming from all over the country are bringing their musical tastes with them. This has helped establishments that cater to a certain musical genre gain bigger followings.
“It used to be you couldn’t find venues for a certain genre, for example, reggae; but now there are places opening up like Zen Meister next to the Comic Strip (on Airway) that fill that niche,” she said. “Pretty much anyone can find what they are looking for now.”
The venues themselves aren’t the only ones appreciative of loyal patronage. When an audience is supportive, performers also take notice.
Welch said that more and more acts are stopping through because they are learning that people will come to the shows. The El Paso area has always had an audience; now there are more places for them to go.
“As long as people support shows, promoters will continue to bring them.”

Headed out? Here’s a quick sampling of night spots

  Ready to go clubbing? Here’s a quick look at only a few of the places to find upcoming live shows:

Central and Downtown

New Old Plantation
301 S. Ochoa, 533-6055
theoldplantation.com
Live comedy with Sun City Comedy featured every Sunday. Live music and touring DJs also regularly scheduled.

The Percolator
217 N. Stanton, 351-4377
Acoustic, jazz, belly dancing, spoken-word and open-mic events.

The Vault
209 E. El Paso, 529-4377
Rock, hip-hop, contemporary Latin and more. Upcoming show: Grammy–winning techno DJ Dubfire (Feb. 19).

Several other Downtown venues with periodic live entertainment include Vanilla Bar, Brick and Mortar and 1914 Lounge (115 Durango), San Antonio Mining Company (800 E. San Antonio), Club Peoria (3233 N. Mesa), Dome Bar at the Camino Real (101 S. El Paso) and La Tierra Café (1731 Montana).

East Side

Bulldog Pub
1201 Bob Hope, 859-9099
Rock, rockabilly, live comedy and other entertainment scheduled regularly.

Chic’s Bar and Billiards
9809 Montana, 433-5340
Primarily heavy metal, hard rock and thrash. Upcoming: Mosh Lives II Tour with Emmure, Terror, After the Burial, Miss May I and Thick as Blood (Feb. 9); ABACABB with Upon a Burning Baby, Molotov Solution, Dr. Acola and Triumph over Shipwreck (Feb. 16).

Club 101
1148 Airway, 544-2101
club101.com
Continuous live touring acts, including rock, alternative, electronic, metal, nationally known DJs and more.

House of Rock Live Bar
8838 Viscount, 595-2530
Live rock several nights a week.

El Paso Comic Strip
1201 Airway, 779-LAFF
laff2nite.com
Live comedy Wednesday through Sunday. Upcoming headliners include AJ Jamal (Feb. 3–7), Bret Ernst (Feb. 10–14), Alex Ortiz (Feb. 17–21) and G. Reilly (Feb. 24–28).

Nova Luna Ultra Bar
2270 Joe Battle, Suite J, 855-5066
Recent live performances include contemporary Mexican singer Aleks Syntek.

Tork Bar & Grill
3000 Lee Trevino, 599-9680
Live rock, Latin sounds and more are scheduled regularly.
Whiskey Dick’s
580 George Dieter, 921-9900
Country, rock, blues and more. Upcoming shows: Cory Morrow (Feb. 2), Valentine’s Evening with Johnny Lee (Feb. 14), Randy Rogers Band (Feb. 17) and Jason Boland and the Stragglers (Feb. 24).

Zen Meister Bar
1160 Airway, Suite D-A, 778-1089
Rock, reggae and more. Upcoming shows include Veil of Maya (Feb. 4), A Beautiful Mourning (Feb. 5), and multiple-band shows on Feb. 6 and Feb. 14.

Other live-entertainment spots on the East Side include The Bayou (9100 Viscount), Julio’s Café Corona (8050 Gateway East), Maverick’s (6999 Montana), Mulligan’s North (10710 Gateway North), Texas Stagecoach Saloon (10416 Dyer) and Three-Legged Monkey (1550 Hawkins).

West Side

Bombardiers
109 Castellano, 532-2292
Rock and more. Upcoming shows include Bob Marley’s Birthday Bash with Radio La Chusma (Feb. 6).

Diggs Tavern
4108 N. Mesa, 531-1135
The club has hosted touring bands and regular open-mic nights.

Mecca Lounge & Desert Crossing Live at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing
One Ardovino Drive, Sunland Park
575-589-0653
ardovinos.com
Original jazz, contemporary, folk and Latin romantic. Fridays feature Hot House Jazz, Urban Edge, The Manny Flores Jazz Quartet and The Borrego Jazz Quartet. Saturdays offer contemporary acoustic guitar by Julio Ortiz.

Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino Franklin Lounge
1200 Futurity Drive, Sunland Park)
575-874-5200
sunland-park.com
Live jazz and other music 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, with live mariachi music at 5:30 p.m. Sundays.

Take II
6315 Mesa, 832-0997
Live music of most genres, from Texas music acts to rock. Recent shows are Agnostic Front’s Anniversary Tour (Jan. 27).

Uncle Paulie’s Pub
126 Shadow Mountain, 832-9570
Live touring bands are scheduled periodically in a variety of music genres.

West Texas Stampede
5500 Doniphan, 584-1600
westtexasstampede.webs.com
Country.

Zeppelin’s Underground
111 E. Robinson, 543-3286
myspace.com/zeppelinsep
Live music of several genres, both local and touring acts, scheduled regularly, ranging from rock and alternative to contemporary Latin sounds.

Other Westside spots with periodic live entertainment are Aceitunas (5200 Doniphan), Billy Crews Restaurant and Lounge (1200 Country Club), Cincinnati Bar (201 Cincinnati) and Kinley’s House Coffee and Teas (2231 N. Mesa).