Laura Donovan's Blog

Read my essay that I had to write for my Creative Non-Fiction class-It’s on the Cactus Moon Nightclub. Some names have been changed by request and to protect the privacy of commentators. In case you have no idea what “creative non-fiction writing” is, this is a pretty decent example of something in that category. Enjoy:

The New York Times calls the Cactus Moon Cafe a “large and glitzy nightclub.” I wouldn’t use “glitzy” to describe the country, cowboy-themed club. The lack of anything “glitzy” is the reason I like the Cactus Moon so much. Club Planet had a better choice of words in its review of the Cactus Moon, which they consider “a hybrid of both trendy-club and swank-lounge. Get there early and stay late; it’s the kind of place where you can have an amazing drinks and then stay for the nightlife.”

There’s no real dress code. For someone like me who hated having to wear high heels at the Las Vegas clubs Pearl and Tao, the casual dress environment at Cactus Moon is a real draw. This isn’t Los Angeles, New York City, or Las Vegas. It’s Tucson, and there’s no need to don designer clothing at the Cactus Moon.

I go to Cactus Moon almost every Wednesday, which is Ladies Night. From 8-10pm, drinks are $.25 cents for women. From 10pm-2am, drinks are $1.25 for ladies. “That’s sketchy,” joked Kara in class, and I tend to agree. Regardless, students typically jump at any opportunity to get reasonably priced drinks, especially at a club like Cactus Moon with a cover charge.

I generally go to Cactus Moon with my friend Ashley, who is a dance major. She’s my favorite person to frequent the club with because of her amazing dancing skills and appreciation for the cowboy culture.

“The Cactus Moon…like no other bar in Tucson,” Ashley says. “I have the most fun when I go to the Moon over other night clubs, mainly because of the focus on the dance floor and the variety of music. I’m a country girl so naturally that is a highlight for me, and learning to two-step has been a blast. Some experienced two-stepping cowboys have taught me to country dance like a pro. Cactus Moon is also a common stop for touring military, which is often a nice bonus! Despite my sober state when I’m at Cactus Moon, it never fails to be a fun time.”

Ashley doesn’t drink, and I really like that about her. She doesn’t need to get drunk before dancing. I’m the same way, so I almost don’t want to be at the Cactus Moon unless I’m with Ashley, who has pulled me up to dance on the bar and stage more than once. For that, I should be at least a little tipsy.

We went a few weeks ago on Ladies Night, and it was an interesting experience. We arrived at 11:30, and the entire club was packed. Thankfully, we had our friend Matt accompany us, but eventually, he went off to dance with some girl, so we were left alone and vulnerable on the dance floor.

“Do either of you ladies want to dance?” some guy asked.

I pointed at Ashley, and she dragged the guy toward another part of the floor.

This leads me to list the flaws of the Cactus Moon, and my friend John lays out what he views as significant drawbacks to going here, “Cactus Moon may be fun to see once or twice, but it is not a scene I would frequent. There is the issue of distance. Either one needs to stay sober or shell out big for a taxi, no bueno..”

He has a valid point here. Cactus Moon is located on Broadway, so most people have to drive there. It’s kind of a trek for students who live in other parts of Tucson.

“Because of the distance from campus I saw fewer UA kids than I would see at, let’s say, Gentle Ben’s. I go out to have fun, but to also drunkenly bump into people I know. Instead, at the Moon I saw a much different crowd, and definitely more T-locs (Tucson locals). There are middle aged people, older people, and just people our age (21). There is a cover to begin with, most campus bars do not charge one. I mean if ya got nothing better to do on a Wednesday night, maybe… But why not just wait until Thursday with Bens and 4th?”

College students definitely come to the Cactus Moon, but John is correct when he says this nightclub has an older crowd than perhaps O’Malley’s on Fourth Avenue. I have no issue with the older community as long as the older men don’t follow or harass me, and luckily, this hasn’t been a problem.

“There are a lot of cougars preying upon insecure college guys,” said my friend Jenny. The UrbanDictionary defines a cougar as “an older woman who frequents clubs in order to score much younger men.” I’ve seen this a lot at the Cactus Moon, but I have no opinion on the matter.

I do, however, appreciate the friendliness of certain regulars. I’ve seen Al and Sheila on nearly all my Cactus Moon visits.

“I started coming here when I first turned 21,” Sheila, now 36, shared, all the while smiling and holding a cup of jack and coke and a medori sour. “I love this place. My favorite part is that you can develop friendships with the bouncers and workers. We’re like family. Some of my closest friends are from when I first started coming here fifteen years ago.”

Shiela tries to come to the Cactus Moon three nights a week, typically on Tuesdays for Metalhead, Wednesdays for Ladie’s Night, and occasionally on Friday’s. Luckily, her husband hates bars, so he stays home and watches her kids while she goes out.

Another famous regular is Al, an older man who teaches country dancing to anyone willing to try it out. He frequently dances with Ashley, the dance major friend of mine that I referenced earlier. Ashley and Matt once forced me to dance with Al, and the only reason why I denied for two minutes straight was because I’m horrible at step dancing.

“I can teach anyone to dance,” Al said back then. “No one is bad.”

“Some people like golf, some like baseball, my passion is country dancing,” Al said. “I’ve met girls who say they absolutely hate country music, and three days after dancing with me, they say the country dancing unbelievable.”

Al says that he caters to his dancers. “If a girl likes to dance to hip hop music, I mix that in with country. I try to fit the other person’s mode.”

It’s true that he can make even the most insecure of country dancers to appreciate or at least respect what he does. As I said before, I was very adamant about not making a step dancing fool of myself on the dance floor, but Al repeatedly told me to just “watch [his] feet,” and listen to the music. I did, and to my surprise, I didn’t drive him crazy or look like a complete moron.

“The Cactus Moon is really fun,” one customer named Sarah told me later on. “There’s a good balance between country and top 40 music.”

To revert back to the lengthy analysis of the Moon, my friend Dan shares similar thoughts with John, who was critical about various aspects, “Since it’s far away from campus it has a high T-Loc factor. Ladies night is country-dancing themed. Tuesday night has Metalhead’s Tloc following as well as a modest number of college kids rocking out to 3 sets of greatness. Service is typically fast and awesome. Downside is cover charges on those nights. Every other night is probably even more infested with Tlocs than 4th ave.”

Since I can’t possibly distribute a poll to every single Moon attendee in existence, I don’t know about John and Dan’s theory about Cactus Moon being infested with “T-Locs,” but I’ll definitely admit that there are, at times, some peculiar characters here.

Cactus Moon employee, Amanda, knows this all too well.

Amanda is one of the women’s restroom monitors. The bathroom stall doors swing and have no locks, so it’s Amanda’s job to watch the restroom, tell girls which ones are open, and prevent anyone from entering occupied stalls. I’ve seen women walk in on each other before, and there was quite a bit of shrieking.

I approached Amanda on her break, and she was alone by the bar.

“I’m not much of a talker, so the bathroom job is good for me,” she said. I could kind of see this, but she warmed up to me when I’d pause, allowing her time to formulate longer answers to my questions.

“I’m really shy, different,” she went on, smiling all the while.

Regardless, she admits to conversing with customers at times. “Sometimes, they’ll come into the bathroom and just want to sit and talk, escape from someone, or avoid the chaos going on by the dance floor. Or they’re just so drunk that they want to talk,” she said, laughing.

When asked about the craziest thing she’s seen while on duty in the Cactus Moon restroom, she mentioned a young lady with a million piercings. Someone pointed to this woman’s tongue piercing and said it must have hurt. “No, replied the girl,” who pulled up her shirt and revealed her two pierced nipples to three complete strangers, Amanda included. In the end, Amanda said she liked the work.

Kristin, who has been a Cactus Moon bartender for five years, also reported a positive experience of the work environment. “It’s a fun atmosphere, very busy, and it’s good money [for bartenders]. Right now, the British military men are visiting. It’s a slow season but still pretty crazy on certain days of the week, especially Wednesdays and Saturdays.”

Saturdays typically draw an older crowd while Wednesdays bring in the college students, she said.

One Yahoo reviewer recalls, “This place gets too crowded and the only way you can get a drink is to go to one of the back bars (you will only have to wait about 10 minutes in the back).”

On Wednesday’s, it’s common to wait at least ten minutes at the bar without being served. For this reason, I usually go to the Cactus Moon early in the evening and buy drinks before the crowd gets too large. Sometimes, however, I have to do things for my friends.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Cactus Moon with my friend Anna, who became extremely dehydrated around midnight. All the bars inside were packed, but I needed to get her some water as soon as possible, so I pushed to the front of one of the bars.

“I can tell you how to get free drinks,” a football player-eqsue, hefty man said to me.

“All right!” I said.

“As a gay boy, I feel I can give you the best advice out of everyone here,” he said, his minty, effeminate inflection spilling out.

I immediately got excited. Gay men are my favorite people on earth. They’re the nicest people I’ve ever met. Even so, I wasn’t out to get alcohol that night, and I explained this to my new friend, who managed to get me and Anna two cups of water in less than a minute.

“I bet you’re the party girl out of all your friends here,” he said. “All the others are sitting out, drinking water, and you’re up here laughing!”

“Hardly,” I said. Most strangers find me extremely uptight or extremely wild. I’d say both attributions are accurate. It all depends on what kind of vibes people give me, and I’ll come off as either fun or nervous.

It’s definitely true that there are bizarre people at the Cactus Moon, but these same individuals have come to my rescue, as shown above. This kind of genuine camaraderie is non-existent at the more superficial nightclubs I’ve been to, where I’ve seen girls scream at each other in long bathroom lines and men fight over who arrived at the bar first.

In spite of the cover charges and various other imperfections, the Cactus Moon really is a Tucson specialty. The regulars are personable and memorable, and various other customers are kind and willing to chat.I’ll venture to say the country vibe creates a more relaxed, friendly club scene. I think college students can benefit from the older atmosphere-I really enjoyed my conversations with the non-college crowd, and these individuals remind me that it is possible to go out and have fun after age 21.