Is Going Out Better Or Worse Now? Modern Bar & Nightlife Culture | Ep. 132

Remember when “going out” just meant cheap drinks and loud music? These days it’s a whole different game. Breweries now double as concert venues, restaurants, and community hangouts, but are we getting what we actually want out of the experience?

In this episode of Arsenic Culture, Matt, Jason, and Jordon break down how going out has changed over the years. From nostalgic beer choices to brewery pizza debates, to whether we just want to be left alone with our date, we’re asking: what do people really expect when they step out for the night?
What’s your ideal night out: food, music, vibe, or all of the above? Drop your thoughts in the comments.


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Transcript

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Play, and then They come rolling in with their guitars. and you, And you're like, and all of a sudden you're asking your server like, When are they going on stage? And they're thinking like, you're being like, oh yeah, these guys are great. And you're like, no, no, no, no, We wanna be gone. By the time they're there. Welcome back to Arsenic Culture. I am Matt, I'm Jason. I'm Jordan. Ah, you Fucking did it normal again. I thought you were gonna do something off the Wall. I can, I can change my I'm Jay Song. Jay Sa I'm Mateo. I'm I'm Jody B. There. There. It's, and, uh, we're coming to you not live from my cellar The cellar, yeah. The cellar space. And we've been having a discussion. Jordan has been um, talking about how shitty. All my beer. is. It's it's nostalgic. It's not shitty. It's nostalgic. It's both. That's a a nice way of saying it. Yeah. I got some non nostalgic stuff over here Don't worry. My myself the same, but I definitely have some nostalgic I Is this all off camera. Yeah. I got some nostalgic stuff over here. You can't see a sudden urge for some Dogfish head and Avery Don't know why. Stuff For some reason, you can actually have as much of that Avery as you want. That will never all get drank. 20% alcohol. You could probably sell to the beer trap. Yeah, Yeah. maybe. maybe. Yeah. We've been having, uh, some discussions. We were having fun, we're drinking beer and stuff. And, uh, we're talking about going out. Jordan works at a, uh, very well to do, uh, local quote unquote local brewery. And, um, now, well it's quote unquote, they started in Lexington. They're In Georgetown, now. I'm saying like, Still local. it's Local. It's hyper-local. by the way. also pretty big country Boy brewing. Um, you guys are doing really well. and You're expanding like all the time. And your venue in Georgetown is quite massive. Not only that, you've had events there, you've had concerts there. We'll talk about in a second. That have blown your all's doors off. Figuratively speaking. Maybe literally. I don't And literally, they can move 'em up. They got those, you know, on, on the patio. You're good. um, Yeah. Going out, it's like, what do you expect nowadays? Because it has changed a lot from when we were, changed. it's changed a Yeah. From when we started going out and what our expectations were. Um, but it's not just like, what do you expect on your plate? What do you expect in your glass? But it's like, what do you expect around you? You know, we're talking about music, we're talking about the social aspect, and stuff like that. It is, uh, I mean, it is a conceptual idea. You know, it's just like, what do you. What do you want, Jason? You're where are you, where are you going? with Angie. And like, what do you want? So if I'm with my wife, we usually go out somewhere where we can have drinks and food. So that's the first two things we look at. Of course, that goes without closest one to our house is probably mere twin local brewery. So they have like a rolling oven pizza. Yeah. And then we have beers there. So the nice thing about that. About that Dutch and Flies over here, man. The, the nice, the nice thing about that brewery there is, and most of the ones in town, you have a variety. So if you want a pilsner, they have it. You want a weed, elk, londale. If you want a barrel age stout, they have those sours. So that's important to us. And then also the food. Is it, is it pretty good or good? You know what I mean? It's hard to go wrong with just pizza, at a brewery. Yeah. Right. Because that is, like, that's a staple, right? It's like pizza and beer. Am I wrong? You're looking at me like I'm wrong. Depends on what you expect out of the pizza. I don't, I don't know. Well, okay, but like Well, but if you look at the, if you look at breweries now though, everybody has a food part of it. Yes. So even like Ethereal doesn't have food in their space, but you have good fellas and in that taco place right beside it, right next with Country Boy, you all have a kitchen in Georgetown and then Lexington though you don't have food right now. Right. Well, it depends on what you're talking about. at this point. So like it chips and, and No, it's a Dad's I'm Talking about our location of PKL, we have a, full blown that's right. The pickleball place. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. Okay. that is, uh, just as close as me, Twin, you call it PKL. that's what I call it. Okay. Wait, does that's what it's called. I think that's what it's called. I think it's what it's called. It's what it's called. called. Oh, okay. No, that's what I'm Like literally it's called heard you say call it PKL. Okay. So, so what do you look for when you go out, Matt? Um, it, I mean, this is easy to say. It depends on what I'm in the mood for, but it's like, um, if I, if, if, I want a nice experience. I want to, honestly, I wanna be left alone. Like with me and my significant other, I We'll probably expect to pay. We talked about this with, uh, I can't remember what episode we talked about. Like, like cocktails and going out And like price and stuff like that. I would expect to pay, you know, $12 for a Manhattan. say 15 to 20. A lot of places. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Um, I'm expecting like really like acute mood lighting, you know. And I want like idle discussion to be at a minimum, and I want very soft, ambient music. And, I want the food to like, I want it to be elevated, you know, um, maybe versus a But there are times where I'm going out, especially if I'm going out with like, like Drew, our buddy that's been on here like a hundred times. I, I've heard of him. Yeah. Right. Yeah. If I'm I'm going out with air, We're family friends. Our daughters are the same age. Sometimes we will go to mirror twins, Sometimes we'll go to uh, Marikas And honestly, I expect it to be loud and boisterous. And if they have live music, that's kind of like an unanticipated bonus. like Just like add to the ambiance part of it because it's, it's almost like a party kind of thing. you know? I guess the problem is, is like when you go out to a place and you're not expecting that, if you go to like a place and it's quiet and you see the band rolling in with their like amps and they're like, oh shit. You know what I mean? you ever going out with like, then, then you're actually sitting around three feet from the, from, from the stage, like Exactly. And then they come rolling in with their guitars. And and you're like, and all of a sudden you're asking your server like, When are they going on stage? And they're thinking like, you're being like, oh yeah, these guys are great. And you're like, no, no, no, no. We wanna be gone by the time they're there. You know what so again, it depends on where you're going. So if I'm going out with friends, just guys, we'll go anywhere, right? I mean, go to a dive bar, wherever you wanna go to. I don't care. Yeah. But if it's, you know, my significant other, if it's Angie, we're going somewhere a little bit better, a little bit nicer Yeah. Yeah, I agree. So like maybe Angie wants to go to the dive bar. Jason? I don't think she does I think she does they have good burgers. Yeah. So like, here's the thing. It's like you go to one of these places, even if you want like a slightly low key experience and you go to, maybe not a die bar, but you go to somewhere where you're not expecting like a whole lot of like boisterousness. If that's a word. But then let's say who rolls in. or You're selling tickets for this event? Oh yeah. Tyler Childers. I Tyler Childers comes in. Granted that was a ticketed event, right? It was, It was, but Country Boy. Yeah, country Boy up in Georgetown. You all have a large space there. Yeah. I mean, It's pretty large in the back. it's pretty big, right? Still not enough room still. not enough room, exactly. You can accommodate some people, but like you're selling tickets, people are expecting to like Be with other people, but like to the degree of that concert. Tell us exactly what it was like Up there because there was literally a live feed from the crowd's Perspective. Like that was nuts. you know, that's one of the things, and shout out to Tyler. I mean, he's been a friend of the brewery for years and years. Uh, I never saw him personally down at Cher Avenue. but, Uh, there's a lot of stories about him. Just keep talking about Cher Avenue. That was the original brewery. Uh, country Boy started out in downtown Lexington. Tiny place, super unfriendly. They don't want you there. Uh, there's like three people that ever go there and, uh, there's only two seats. Yeah. Cut that. out. But No, but, uh, Tyler, you know, used to hang out in the taff room there and he would just sit on the bar top and start singing. there. Uh, by all accounts. Yes. Yeah. And, uh, I never saw it myself, but Uh, he wanted to come back and do something for us because him And Give back. Yeah. Yeah. Him and d him and DH and Nathan are, are such good friends that he wanted to, uh, kind of. Bring his new style of music back and make it all full circle with the guys that made him, kind of, uh, didn't make him, but we helped him out along the way. I gave him platform. and, uh, just deeper, like the the event went on. And You all sold tickets, but like Well, went I think he did. we didn't sell the tickets. I'm sorry. He, did tickets. I, I'll use that in a royal a donation too, like I think it went to a cause Well, you know, I saw' em. They went live. I could have got I was with you. were a little too little, too pri We were, it was here actually filming Yeah, we were here filming, That's right. have bought tickets when we went on sale. They were a little proser than I wanted to spend 'cause they were such a small well, and listen guys. It was so secretive I couldn't Oh, it was I didn't even know like when it still and still, not only did it like sell probably beyond capacity, but like, you know, it was like standing room only outside, like I mean the people were outside the venue because, there probably fire codes you couldn't let people in. Right? Yeah. Well you look at that stuff. I mean, I think a small venue for music is generally a better thing. Right? I remember we've seen, okay, okay. We've seen Tyler shelters, you know, my wife and I, just myself. I think we see him probably five or six times. Right. Um, the best spot I saw him was Red Rocks in Colorado, was actually with Jordan out there, but we saw him at Kroger Field recently talking about venues. Um, it sounds awesome to sell out a stadium. So like, you know, it's Commonwealth Stadium, university of Know Football Stadium. Commonwealth Stadium. What's that? it's Kroger Field, whatever. Commonwealth Stadium it's always Commonwealth Stadium. Yeah. so when you have that big a venue, we got, we got seats on the field thinking I'm gonna be close to the stage or whatever. But the way they had it set up, the stage wasn't high enough. So I'm like 30, 40 year olds back on the lower, like on the field, I can't see him. He's like down almost like ground. He's like almost level, like he's probably five foot above me, but that's not enough. Anybody standing up? That's crazy. I find myself the whole concert watching the damn big screens, and I'm like, I paid a premium to be on the, you know, the ground level. I should have a little better view than that. That's pretty So that's something I look at for a venue too, if you're looking live music. Right, right, right. Like Red Rocks is like a bowl. It comes up, the stage is low and you can see down into never been there. I've never been. the best place I've ever seen a concert. Really. You've been multiple times. been to Red Rocks three times. Well, probably six times, but only three for a concert. Only through that You remember? No. Well, two that I remember. But you know, uh, we were talking earlier about, uh, what will you expect when you go out. and Drink a beer somewhere. right? Yeah. Yeah. Or bourbon, whatever. Yeah. Uh, for me it's, I don't want, I well, I don't want kids running around Okay. At a certain, at a certain time Of the night. Uh, I just kind of wanna be to myself and kinda. But you know what? I do enjoy? I actually enjoy the louder music. Okay. And, and I know, I know you like a little bit lower music, you said that's a valid point. Keep going. Yeah. Uh, if I'm just trying to. Come down from the week and, uh, enjoy a couple drinks. A few drinks. I thought you just said when I'm trying to come down from the weed, it Oh no, no, took me a minute. You said week, week. I got you. I'm following. I'm falling. Ways to do that. Continue. Continue. Yeah. Sure. Whatever. floats your boat No, when when I'm, when I'm, uh, trying, you know, finishing a work week and I just want a few beers To, or bourbon, whiskey, whatever, to kind Settle out the week. I like to be a little bit, you know, the low lighting right? The mood lighting. But I like louder music and it has a touch tunes. Guess what? Oh, Oh, playing that ship. I'm flooding it. I'm yeah, that's, I'm like this is now my Yeah. Yeah. and I'm That, Okay. So that's that. That is that. That's another end of the spectrum. It's tunes is pretty cool. Touch tunes is pretty cool. Sometimes you'll go out and it's just like, I wanna chill and like 99% of the time I am. well. Okay. 80% of the time, I'm out with my wife, Kendra, she's been on the show a couple times. Or honestly, I'm out with you. You know what I mean? And it's like we have like an itinerary of what our expectation is, and it's usually just like shooting the shit, hanging out, and just like being with each other. But it's like sometimes a song will come on and you'd be like, oh, it's my jam. You know what I mean? And it's like, oh, they got touch tunes. I got $8. Let's see what else. I can like, push up on the your, your jam. What? It's raining men. Is that the one, is that the one you get up and dance for? not quite. Yeah, the seen, I've seen you actually. I get it. more of a back that ass up kind of guy. it's a juvenile baby. My, uh, my, my touch teams usually drives people out of the bar. It's, uh, they, they, they ban it I, I guarantee it. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but yeah, it's just like, sometimes you'll get in the mood for it, you know? But I, it's just like going back to what I was saying before, it's like one thing I just, I. just. Can't do is I'll go into a bar and there will, there will be that setting to where you're hanging out, whatever, and it's, and it's always quiet before bang goes on. It has to be, because you know, they're doing sound checks and stuff like that and the band goes up and you're like, I just got used to being quiet and now you're gonna put the speaker. Four feet from my ear. And you're just gonna like, turn it up and it's like, I did not want that. Like, To me that's, that's, that's kind of, bullshit. it depends. So if you're going to a brewery or something, let's just say that you have to realize where you're going, of what you want, what's you're, what you're trying, the environment you want to be in for that evening. So for example, and I used to work in Denver a lot. I knew if I wanted loud music and just a lot of stuff going on, I'd go to True Brewing when they were still open. Now you Can't do Can't do it anymore. But they were like metal music. you Do that They closed. let me well That's a good reason not yes. That's actually not a good reason. If I wanted, would've loved to have gone there with the metal music, And that's kind of like, that's your place, that's, that's that's your I would, I would be, I need, I need at least eight tattoos to get in, but they let me in. I'd wear a long sleeves against Seat is like, it soothes me. It's a very strange, like, dynamic, but like I, I mellow out if I can listen to metal, but then if I, if I know I'm going there, that's what I'm getting. Right? Yeah. So I go to Falling Rock Tap House in Denver. Yeah. Also not open anymore, but you could go over there and get all kinds of beer that you're wanting. Like it just, they didn't make their own. They brought everything in. Yeah. So you would have that. It's a more quieter atmosphere. You had the outside patio too, you know? So I knew where I was going. So I think that's, there's different environments I want at different times. I think all of us do. Right. You know where you're going. Yeah. So I think live music has become like kind of a weird thing because. um, Artists, people that play music, they want to get famous, right? In order to get famous, you can't just get a record deal. You have to go out and you have to play in public playing in public can't just play on um, whatever lives. mean, Not everybody is Nas X. You can't just like throw something up on Spotify and get famous. Right? But it's. in Nashville, that's understood. I feel like, you know, is you You go anywhere in Nashville, am I wrong? You're just expecting to just like hear live music? At, at like, any, any moment. But it's like if you go anywhere else, you go like around here and it's just like, I don't wanna say, I don't like. Listening to live music, but there is not that expectation that like it needs to be there. No, I get that. Again, I think, I think it's situation specific, right? Like you, you want to, if you look at live music venues though, I think we actually have one of the best in the state at the bur. That's a really good venue. Like it's standing room only if it's an inside show. Okay. But outside you, I mean, there's a lot of open space here, right? The burl is a, is a weird use case scenario. So Yeah, but it's, it's for those, it's for those musicians. Like Jordan said, they're underappreciated probably. We were like, they're not big. We saw Steve Earl play there, my wife and I, and that was probably the biggest act they get, you know what I mean? Like that's, but he, this is like to the point that I was making, they're doing it right. So the burs a venue we have locally here. in Lexington, They have three buildings. Yeah. Not every venue can do that, but they have, they have the venue for like musicians, Okay. they have the brewery. And then they have the arcade. It's all arranged in a horseshoe, but it's like if you want the live music, the live music is there. Sometimes they do it slightly outdoors, sometimes they do it indoors. But then like if you just want to like. Tone down a little bit. You go to the brewery. right? like Disneyland a little bit. It's honestly, it kind of is. No, you're right. Yeah. As weird as that sounds. Where did you pull that out of? No, you're right. It is, it is kind of like Disneyland. You get what you want. when you want it. And it's hard to achieve that. So that is one of the very specific cases to where it's like that, that, that's kind of an ideal scenario. Now, I'm not gonna go there and get like a, you know. a$50 prime rib and like sit down and get their, their food is good. So we go there for game days sometimes. Me, you and Drew, whoever low key stuff. So you got, you got the beers at the Bur Brew, which are good. And then, and then you have the, I don't know what the place is called anymore, the food area there. Food used to be a food truck Is it, a different anyway, I think it's maybe some of the best wings in Lexington. Like they're fantastic the wings. there? No, The lemon pepper wings fantastic. And I don't order lemon pepper wings, so yeah, think anybody actually ate I didn't either, but I ordered them one time for some reason. They're Have you seriously never Had the wings over at the No, I would recommend it. Are you kidding? The, they, They're not. Their hands down the best in Yeah. I don't think it's close. I drink beer I think, I think when you all had your food truck open at a chair, I think those wings could have, could arrive.'cause there's smoke before they're deep fried. Steve does a good job with What about PKL? I never had. had pks. I feel like the disparity though, is like when you go into a place That is like. Let's say there's like low end. Like middle end, Like high end. You go into like low to a middle end place, and it's just like, you just expect to kind of like, maybe have like a pleasant evening. And then all of a sudden they bring out, you know, fricking, you know, a, a, a. Yeah. Or, or just like, um, like laid back heavy like cover band or something like that. And you're just like, what the hell It's like. It defies expectation. Like it, it goes against your expectation. So like there has to be a certain It's also like trivia. Like we, we went to a restaurant a couple weeks back, me and Angie on Friday, is a separate and all of a sudden they started doing trivia on a Friday night. I'm like, who the hell does trivia on a Friday night? Then they're like, yelling in your ears. I'm like, I don't want to be here. It completely shatters the, dynamic of what you're, there, don't wanna be there at I'm in The mood for that. that's great. If I'm not, it's just like, trivia to me is Sunday through Thursday. I don't want no Friday or Saturday trivia at all. This is the point right here. I feel like there needs to be like an expectation Of like what people want when they go out. I think breweries really play to that car really well. They do. They They do do trivia. Single. SGO Yeah. Yoga all. I don't do middle of the week. just, I, I know it's hard to believe. Looking Are you serious? do much, I don't do much I just assumed you did. me, for me, we were talking about, you know, live music. I want to hear some original music. I don't want hear covers. I can hear that from any not gonna lie, I'm the exact I kind of want to hear a good cover. If I'm listening to a local band, I want hear nothing but hover. Yeah. I Yeah. I, so I'm in between I, if it's we have such good. like, Original artists here in, Kentucky. we uh, I, I, one of, one of, uh, one of the ones I really enjoy and he, he, he doesn't play too often anymore, is Ian. No, we're gonna, we're gonna go see him at the South Kid House in the next month or two, I think September. But anyway, his cover born in USA is fantastic. It's a fantastic cover. Also, some of his original songs also. Fantastic. Yeah. So, but that's an exception if you have some of the other local artists I've heard, I'm like. I kinda wish you'd play all covers. Yeah, that's, that's But, but, but what's the point of bringing a band a band that plays, covers out? When you can just play it on the speakers in your Well, I think it's a lot different. I think it's a lot different. So, okay, so you get interaction. There's the draw. to having right there. The band, the live band playing to where it's just like you There, there, there is a new dynamic to that. Yeah. I mean there is, I guess, uh, we should make a band. Me and you. Yeah. And we'll just do rap, but we'll lip sync it all. So it's like we're singing but we're not. I'll rap. rap. you can lip sync All right, that's cool. I'll do, I'll do it episode, I'll play the drums with no drumsticks. We're gonna do a episode on just Jordan Jordan rapping or what'd you say? Like yourself rapping. Jody P Jordy, p mc j. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, the, uh, the, just like the dynamic of like having like, uh, um, like an intimate setting and then just being offset by somebody that wants to put trivia on. On a Tuesday afternoon. I, I feel like there should be an expectation there, and it's like. I'm not, this isn't one of those, like, it really grinds my gears kind of See, It sounds like we're getting old when we talk It is getting old. I think though, when you, when you go, when you, when you also, when you go into a venue and you're expecting like, okay, so it's a brewery, whatever, it's a restaurant. They should probably tell you when you're getting seated, like, Hey, tonight's trivia night, or Tonight we have a live band starting at eight. They should probably tell you that just so it sets your expectations. That's probably the problem I went, if I went out to a nicer restaurant or even mediocre restaurant, whatever, and they told me, Hey, at eight o'clock we're having a live band. And I don't want to hear a live band. I'm getting appetizers and a drink and I'm leaving. Seriously, like that's, that's actually one thing I didn't think about because it's like they will advertise that stuff On their social media, which is the norm. Yeah, but you're not always looking. No, the thing is You expect me to scan a QR code? How do I do that? yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's, that's a, completely what my dad text me. Like a qr QR codes. We'll do an episode on QR code, but like 75% of the people walking into that venue. Weren't going there because you had a local cover band. Oh yeah. know I mean? They're rolling by. You must whip it. We're just assuming. Yeah, They're just assuming that you're there for like, so they won't tell you, but like there needs to be some transparent, I feel like there needs to be some added responsibility. Transparency, again, we're like. This sounds a lot like Get off my lawn. You fucking I just think though that what makes a great venue or what makes a great experience is knowing what you're getting into. It's not good to get surprised. Right. I mean, I know if I go to Al's bar what I'm getting. Yeah. I know. If I go Country boy, I'm getting, you know what I mean? I know what I'm getting. along those lines. It's not even about the music to me. It's about the service. And shout out to all the servers and bartenders. yeah. If they do a good job, man, I'm on it. Kick ass job. And When they're yelling at you over the, uh, the, the the monitor right Yeah. your ear No, just can't hear. I, I dunno. Yeah, can't hear. Yeah, you can't hear anything hear today's specials? I do, but I can't hear'em, so I don't dunno. So we got no specials. Yeah, you're getting catfish fingers and that's You want some pizza? I don't know what you said, but Yeah. All of a sudden You're getting catfish fingers pizzas. that's it. Yeah. Well this is the, uh, fingered pizza. catfish, finger pizzas. Yeah. Jesus. Dude, unbelievable. This is mine's in the gutter. You're ever on Jor Jordan. Yo Jordy, This is the last episode you'll ever be on today, guaranteed. That's This is the old, old man episode for, uh, for everybody listening to off my lawn arsenic culture. Yeah. Uh, for more arsenic culture, check us out on all of the socials. We are @arsenicculture, like, and subscribe on YouTube. and we'll see y'all on the next one.