Cold War

"What has happened is that we had partners who have taken another opportunity," Skylight co-owner Joe Ray Sandoval tells SFR. "The business had taken on a life of its own, and we were starting to do well, so I guess it's a testament to what we've accomplished at Skylight that another club would want to offer them jobs."

The club in question is Shadeh, housed within the Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino in Pojoaque, a space that will now be run by original Skylight partners Sol Bentley and Pete Samaniego.

"The timing could not have been more perfect," Bentley says. "Three out of the five founding partners have now pulled out, and you can take that any way you want, but let's just say that if Skylight had operated as we had intended, we'd still be at Skylight."

Bentley says that he and Samaniego were offered the chance of a lifetime to rebrand and relaunch Shadeh in any way they saw fit.

"They were sick and tired of having this open call for the job to run the place, and what they needed was an owner in there," Samaniego says. "I can't stress enough how open they've all been to new ideas."

Both Bentley and Samaniego picture a revitalized space complete with a brand new JBL sound system, a truss rod for lights and lasers, upscale service, pay-per-view events and other such amenities.

"We have this chance to literally do what has never been done in Northern New Mexico before and create the kind of upscale nightclub experience you'd find someplace like Las Vegas," Bentley says. "We'll have everything you'd possibly want to do, too, because this is Native land, and they operate under different laws than a city … we could stay open till 4 am if we want."

It certainly sounds cool, but things start to get a little hairy when we take into consideration that a number of Skylight employees have followed Bentley and Samaniego, with the former saying, "We've been given the go-ahead to use money wisely, and part of that is building an amazing staff."

Yikes, right? I mean, it doesn't sound great. Almost like poaching, but at the end of the day, it's really about business, and people will generally go where there's money. Though there appears to be a certain level of restrained frustration bubbling just below the surface from each camp, both Skylight and their former partners are being pretty cool about the transition.

"Honestly, it's what I would have done myself, and Sol is like my brother," Sandoval says. "Besides, we see opportunity in the future for the club in building our identity and entering another phase, and there's nothing wrong with a little healthy competition."

Part of the next phase at Skylight includes a brand-new pizza oven for full pies and slices, both of which can be ordered through a phone app called—surprise—Skylight Pizza. Who's not down with that? And anyway, we've seen what Skylight has accomplished as a ragtag team of DJs and businesspeople, and recent shows like comedian Hannibal Burress and Revolver Tuesdays prove they're still in the game.

As for Bentley and Samaniego's new place, it certainly doesn't hurt that casinos have deep pockets, but it does sound like it'll be an uphill battle at first. Buffalo Thunder is cool and all, but it's fairly far by Santa Fe standards.

Asked about the distance, Bentley stays cool and says, "Yeah, we know it's a destination location, for sure, but we're only talking about 15 minutes from town."

True enough. At the very least, it seems like we have more options for nightlife in Santa Fe than we've had in some time, and whatever you choose to do, there'll probably be pizza.

Santa Fe Reporter