So what's a LoDo-esque joint like Blue Ice doing hanging with the misfits of SoBo? Getting all classy and burly with it, for starters. "They have security guards with guns," alleged a 3 Kings bartender when Club Scout stopped by. A man with a weapon is hard to resist, so last Thursday I scoped out the premiere of Blue Ice's now weekly College Night.
No firearms were in sight, but the bouncers did sport fancy-pants walkie-talkies clipped to their shoulders. And one woman shouted compliments from across the bar to a blushing Scout, who insisted that she had the wrong person. "Did everything work out?" the woman asked. "I don't think we know each other," I replied. "Oh," she said, looking puzzled. Then she hugged me.
At that point, the evening was pretty much over, with the bar empty by closing time. But owner Jamal Rassuli is confident that in the coming weeks, with more aggressive promotions, the eighteen-and-over youth-friendly event will pick up. "There's a lot of college nights," he notes, "but not many that focus on dancing. We play everything from hip-hop to reggaetón." The bar is certainly laid out for some cabbage-patching, with a small hardwood dance floor, swirling rainbow lights in the ceiling and a black-trimmed DJ booth sitting on a platform. (The booth lends Thursday DJs Chino and Skogie a distinct Manchester-in-the-'90s aura.) Cushy lounge sofas are pushed to one side of the room, guarded by a large (and kind of creepy) brushed-steel rendition of the Mona Lisa.
"One thing that Blue Ice has been known for is the mix of crowds," Rassuli says. "We tailor to a lot of different people. It's a melting pot, from ethnicities to tastes in music to all varieties of people." Because who needs to fit in when you've got an open mind?
Blue Ice takes its social calendar seriously. So should you. For more information, go to www.blueicemartini.com or call 303-777-3433.
