Phoenix

My original plan for Phoenix was to spend 2, or maximum 3 days there, primarily to catch up with Bryan and Christine. After my first morning there I was contemplating possible just the one day and a night, then moving on, catching another bus north to my next stop at Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon...there just didn’t seem to be a whole lot to do, and everything was soooo spread out, and I didn’t have wheels.

I ended up staying 3nights and getting driven up to Flagstaff. And this was all because of one tiny little detail. While I was wandering about the City, I picked up a local street-press magazine, and noticed an ad for one of my favourite Irish bands, The Frames, playing this coming Tuesday night. I saw these guys live in Vancouver back in March, and they rock, big style. And if I missed these guys, it would be the third band in a week that I wanted to see that I’d miss.

Back in San Francisco, L.A. and San Diego, I missed by just a couple of days each time, Icelandic band Sigur Ros, and part-Aussie act Dead Can Dance (at The Hollywood Bowl, no less). I was so so so close to reconfiguring my entire trip to fit in DCD at The Bowl. For me, seeing my fave bands live is an integral part of who I am ...I couldn’t let this happen three times on this trip.

So mentioned this to Bryan, who basically said “Here’s a proposition for you. Stay here til Wednesday, you’re more than welcome, I’ll go this gig with you on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I’ll drive you up to Flagstaff, coz I’ve never been...and hey we’ll throw in ½ a day at Sedona en route”. Now that is a proposition you can hardly say No to.

Bryan and Christine are two of the most generous people I have met. It still amazes me to this day actually the generosity of people I have met over the years of my traveling, welcoming me into the homes and lives. Bryan and Christine are a perfect example of this. Inviting me into their home, particularly as Christine was heavily pregnant at the time, and acting as taxi and guide, I couldn't have been more thankful.





Arriving at their edge-of-the-desert suburban home, I was truly spun out by the size of the house. having gotten used to the smaller blocks of Ireland, living in a small house in Vancouver, and living out of my rucksack for the majority of recent times, the sheer spacious sprawl of their house befuddled me. I s'pose out here, on the outskirts of Phoenix and with nuthin' but space to play i guess they said 'why not'. The exact same thing i said when the offer a nice cool shower on the chance to wash my clothes came up!!

after a bit of a snooze and freshen up, the subject of 'what to do' came up. Squaw Peak Recreation Area, not a million miles away from Anthem has a number of hiking trails to attack, not least one to the summit of Squaw Peak, some 2608feet high and providing an awesome view over desert mountains and the sprawl of Phoenix city and 'burbs. A hike timed to finish at the peak just before sunset was the order of the day - yet another ideal photo op for me, and a chance to dust of the cobwebs in my muscles, give 'em a bit of a workout.

The view was something I could not have imagined, the sheer amount of space had me jaw-agape and making (quite reasonable) comparisons to home.







A stop off at a Thai restaurant en route home for a totally delicious meal just topped off the night.

With Bryan off to work at the crazy time of 5am, and the heat of the day reaching beyond 100 Fahrenheit, the next day was written off as a chill out that involved little more than a DVD-watching marathon(Team America - World Police being the highlight), with no plans til late afternoon - a desert highway drive to the Desert Botanical Gardens. Another gorgeous desert sunset beckoned. The Gardens are 145 acres, with thousands of arid-land plants and is a beatiful insight to the desert ecosystem, particularly the 20-foot-plus-tall Saguaro Cactus - the stereotypical type you see in Roadrunner cartoons. Stunning.







The sunset from the Gardens, of a 'nature' nature was almost surpassed on the drive home by a sunser of an 'urban' nature, so muc so that I had to stand up thru the sunroof to photograph it for posterity!!





Not wanting to waste another full day lazing about the house (as nice as it, its not why i'm here), I resolved to get up with Bryan at 4am for a drive to his work, where I would then sleep in his car to 7-ish when Public Transport kicked into gear. There is absolutely none in Anthem, so this was the only way i'd be able to get anywhere and utilise my day properly.

There was some touristy stuff that could be done in historic Scottsdale, which was en route to the university 'burb of Tempe.





Scottsdale's Old Town is known for it's early 20th Century buildings (and others built to look old, and is kinda quaint, but is basically home to a lot of upscale galleries and gift stores. There is definitely an artists colony kind of feel to the town, which is only accentuated by the random street art scupltures dotted about the place, like these.





Sitting at the bus stop again, waiting for a ride to Tempe, I was a little disturbed to see this shop sign.



I guess it kinda, unfortunately, backs up the stereotype of American's as gun-lovin' simpleton hicks when the sign advertising a gun store has a picture of a teddy bear holding a gun......shudder to think.

I was quite looking forward to seeing Tempe. It was originally a city in its own right, but over the years Phoenix's suburban sprawl eventually eclipsed Tempe, and it's now considered a large outlying 'burb of Pheonix. The city is home to the 46000-student-strong Arizona State University, and as such is typical of University towns - full of cool bars, restaurants and with a slight hippy/alternative edge. Several excellent record stores too. My Lonely Planet guide had a 'Recommended Music To Drive Thru The Desert To' section, and so it was my objective here to seek some of this music out, with some success I might add - Calexico's 'The Black Light' being prime desert listening, especially as they're from southern Arizonan city Tucson.

Eastside records was my muse here, and the guy behind the counter being the usual knows-everything-under-the-sun-about-music kinda guy that i love talking to.





Lunch was at Desert Greens Cafe, a fantastic natural foods grocery/co-op along the lines of Friends Of The Earth in Collingwood, Melbourne. deee-lish.

Having shopped and lunched, it was time to drink. 'Head on down to Mill Avenue' was the word on the street from a cuppla friendly enquiries, it's Tempe's main drag. I got in touch with Bryan too, who was finishing work at agreed to meet at The Library, a bar themed on, funnily enough, a library, with cute as hell waitresses in way-too-short tartan mini-skirts. A perfect spot for a university. You can tell your folks/mates/lecturers that you're going to the Library to 'study', and technically, you wouldn't be lying!!

Several beers later with Bryan, it was time to head towards the evenings entertainment at the Rhythm Room - my boys from Ireland, The Frames.

As told before, this band are almost bigger than Ben Hur in Ireland, and I had seen them at a comparatively small club in Vancouver. Now, here in Phoenix, I'd see them again in front of an audience of barely 50 people!! Awesome!!!







It was somewhat strange seeing them play with an entirely deserted dance floor in front of them, but credit to the boys, they still gave it their all, held nothing back, and Bryan was an instant convert. The final last few songs of the set finally saw some of the crowd venture forward, which then emboldened a few more, so by the final song, the venue seemed a little more filled. All in all, a great gig, with a good mixture of old songs with the new from Burn The Maps, their latest album.