Moody’s Underground intends to bring live music and comedy to Grand Valley six nights a week

Tim Harty, The Business Times

Bill Moody said he’s lived in Grand Junction his entire life. That’s 63 years.

And a live-entertainment venue, featuring musicians or comedians every night, six days a week, along with good food, good cocktails, dancing and a cool vibe, he says those are in short supply in the Grand Valley. Actually, he couldn’t name one.

But in the next week or two, he’ll show you what he intends will be the start of one: Moody’s Underground, which he and his son, Logan, will open at 201 S. Sixth St. in downtown Grand Junction. And yes, Moody’s Underground has direct ownership and management ties to Moody’s Lounge at 546 Main St. They’ll even share some employees.

“I just don’t feel like we’ve had a place like this before,” Bill Moody said of Moody’s Underground, which has a large sign to make it easy to find. “We think there’s a need for it.”

During a March 19 interview with The Business Times at the location, Moody showed what’s been done in the space that previously housed Drive Train Industries. The premises were low-lit, but there were no signs the location once provided parts and service for heavy-duty trucks.

Visible instead were: a stage where music will be played and jokes will be told; a dance floor in front of it; a VIP area with several couches; and the back bar (or is it the front?).

Asked what remains to be done, Moody said, “Not much,” then listed a few installations and things that need finishing touches.

Everything an observer could see, he said, “We did. Everything in here is new construction.”

Moody said Moody’s Underground is on track to open in the first or second week of April.

“At least we’ll do our soft opening,” he said, “and assuming things go well …”

Let the live entertainment begin! It will take some time to get a steady flow of performers, but the goal is to have live entertainment every night.

“We’d like this to be a place where local musicians can play,” Moody said, “so we’ll have a jam night one night a week. The house band will play one night a week, at least for now, and we’ll see how that goes. And then, we’ll just be looking for local talent and talent that’s touring through the valley, and try to fill up the nights as we go.

“We hope to get some national acts that come through and just really try to bring a really cool, live-entertainment vibe to the valley.”

Moody will be a member of the house band, playing the saxophone. He’ll be joined by drummer Rob Labig, guitarist Kellen Michael, bass player Bill Ritchen, keyboardist Eric Gross and “lead singer and frontwoman” Gonzales. Yes, she’s a one-name performer, formerly of Peach Street Revival, and Moody said, “She’s a force.”

He deemed the house band “smoking” and said, “We’ll do everything from jazz to funk to country. We’ll put any style in here, really.”

Moody acknowledges getting comedy nights going will be more difficult than lining up musicians, but the goal is make them regular events.

“I don’t know if it’ll be once a week or once a month, or what the frequency is ’cause we have to be able to populate it with comedians, but yeah, it’s our goal to have a regular comedy event here,” Moody said.

One of the things Moody said will be available every day from the outset is good food. In that way it will be similar to Moody’s Lounge, but instead the fine dining offered at the lounge, it’s going to be bar food in the underground. Make that, “really good bar food,” Moody said, including smash burgers and sandwiches.

Ultimately, Moody said the overall experience is going to be something people will want to seek out, and it’s what was intended for Moody’s Lounge, but the lounge evolved into a different animal.

“This is what we wanted to do, but when we got in there, the space kind of dictated ultimately what we ended up doing,” he said. “It morphed more into a restaurant than a lounge. I mean, it was intended to be a place that had live entertainment, a limited menu, and focused more on the lounge environment with the entertainment. But it morphed into what it is today, which is exactly what it should be.”

The intention for Moody’s Underground, Moody said, is for it to be “a place with a really cool vibe, really good cocktails, really good food, and this time throw in the entertainment aspect of it that we can’t do at Moody’s (Lounge). We hope we can provide that same ambiance, environment that we did at Moody’s (Lounge) in this venue. You know, trying to do it right.”