I knew going into this that every tour has a crazy story, and Phoenix was definitely the one for me.
Weeks ago, I set up a show at a gallery/coffee shop in the artsy district that seemed cool.
They warned me that I’d be playing outside and that it would be HOT, but the real trouble began when I tried to follow up and solidify a start time for the show and couldn’t get a single person to return an email or a phonecall.
SO…my first follow up with them was the night of the show. We pulled up and I ran in to double check my start time.
1. The girl working there at the time didn’t know there was music on the schedule that night.
2. They had loaned out their sound system to someone else.
So I proceeded on to my niece Brittany’s house where we’d be staying, the whole time wondering if I should just cancel the show, since “the show” might just be me on the porch playing a guitar.
Aaaaand, that’s pretty much exactly what happened. I got there around 9pm (the start time I had emailed them) and was informed by another barista (who was super sweet and apologetic) that she also had no idea I was on their schedule but that I could set up outside.
Uh, by “set up” I mean, take my guitar out of the case and hold it.
The 6 people I knew in Phoenix came to “the show” and we sat on a picnic bench and hung out until they convinced me to play something.
It was super fun to see old friends, and also super awkward to sit on a park bench and play them my songs.
It was also about 110 degrees.
The guy trying to give people rides around the block in his rickshaw whilst blaring old school Michael Jackson, only added to the aweseomeness and awkwardness of it all.
A very cool discovery, was that my babysitter actually knew one of my Phoenix friends, and we realized it halfway through the road trip so they got to reconnect there. My friend is from California, and my babysitter was from Nebraska and they had only met once during a high school singing group/tour 11 years ago. SO crazy.
We all went out for coffee the next morning – it was so great to be able to have a leisurely morning before driving to L.A.
The drive from Albuquerque to Arizona was the PRETTIEST of the entire trip. The landscape changed SO much. I’ll probably post later just with scenery pics. For now, I’ll stick to the tour details.
The girls were SO excited to see cactus.
The outside of the venue.
Chelsea and Kyla:
My niece Brittany and her husband Jonathan, and the girlies.
The following video is probably only really interesting to the grandparents.
The girls seeing cactus for the first time:
