Pueblo native comes home to headline first concert at Pueblo Ice Arena

Country music star Cody Cozz will headline the first concert at the Pueblo Ice Arena and Events Center in August.

Cozz, who hails from Pueblo, will play along with Dan Marshall, a top-10 finisher on "American Idol" from Virginia.

Jerry Wilhite, owner of the Pueblo Bulls, said he’s been speaking with Cozz and his agent for a year and wanted Cozz to be the first artist to play the venue.

“I don't care if it was Luke Bryant — there isn’t anybody that I would much rather have open our facility than Cody,” Wilhite told the Chieftain.

“It means a lot to us and I think it’ll mean a lot to city,” Wilhite said.

Who is Cody Cozz?

Cozz’s full name is Cody Cozzolino. He played varsity football at Pueblo West High School and graduated in 2017.

He also attended Colorado State University Pueblo to study construction management, according to a 2021 article in the CSU Pueblo student newspaper, The Today.

He currently lives in Nashville and has a record deal with Grindstone Records, according to his website.

He was nominated for the New Artist of the Year award at the 2022 Rocky Mountain Country Music Awards and also won the award for having the best fanbase.

His most popular song, “On My Way,” has been streamed over 200,000 times on Spotify.

Cozz recently played a concert in Colorado Springs and is playing the Pueblo County Fair on July 22.

What else is new at the downtown rink?

The leadership of the Pueblo Bulls junior hockey team enacted an agreement with Pueblo City Council last year to take on more responsibilities at the ice arena.

This is the first concert being held at the venue since Wilhite unveiled his vision for the arena last fall.

Whilhite said the team's ownership purchased flooring from an NHL team on the East Coast for the rink to host non-ice events. He said people would be “pleasantly surprised” about some other renovations underway at the rink, including expanding the concession area and adding a girls locker room.

The Bulls are also adding several video monitors outside of the arena to advertise events and other happenings at the rink.

What to know if you go to the Cody Cozz concert

The Aug. 5 concert is at the Pueblo Ice Arena, located at 100 N. Grand Ave. in downtown Pueblo.

Doors open at 6 p.m., and the concert starts at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets start at $30 for assigned seating and are available to purchase on the Pueblo Bulls website or at the hockey shop, located at 310 W. Fourth St. The shop is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Anna Lynn Winfrey is a reporter at the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo native Cody Cozz headlining first concert at Pueblo Ice Arena