Cozmic may be the coolest venue in Eugene right now, but owner Alec Cox believes there are even greater heights to be reached.
“This place has already undergone some pretty incredible expansion — and it will continue to grow. If need be, we will raise the ceilings and expand the walls, so long as we can bring Eugene the music it deserves,” Cox said.
Eugene businesses on Sunday afternoons are normally sorely slow. But not Cozmic. The sounds of marimbas, drums and xylophones emanated from the front door as Kudana Marimba, a multi-instrumental group inspired by the sounds of Zimbabwean folk music, performed in front of a diverse group of people. And yet, whatever the audience’s differences may have been, they certainly had one thing in common — a genuine smile covered everyone’s faces.
As a birthday party catered by Cozmic came to a close and a weekly Pokémon league commenced (that’s right, Pokémon is still around), the busy owner who was furnishing all this unexpected Sunday excitement revealed what makes Cozmic such a special place.
Cox brings a Las Vegas booking attitude to the Eugene music scene. “My goal is to keep the stage busy all the time,” he said. “I try to book somewhere around 35 to 40 shows a month.”
He wants Eugene to know that Cozmic is not just a pizza place. It’s a venue and a location where the community can gather and enjoy good music together. “While there is a necessary relationship between the pizza and the venue — neither could exist alone — together they are a force to be reckoned with,” Cox said.
In light of his recent sold-out Built To Spill show, Cox mentioned that the concert was not just his doing. Rather, it was the result of his entire staff’s efforts. When Cox started at Cozmic he asked his staff to write down ten bands they would like to see in their venue, and that Built to Spill was a unanimous favorite. “Even if I only broke even with this show I knew I had to book Built to Spill. I owed it to my staff,” Cox said.
Cozmic may end up having to “raise the roof,” so to speak, with such a bright future ahead. There’s plenty happening at Cozmic this month, including Javelin with Helado Negro and Jamaican Queens on Tuesday, May 7 and the KWVA Record Swap Party on May 18 to name but a few.