Day 31: Phoenix, AZ
Welcome
Yesterday we began west, stopping in Phoenix for a show.
The city of Phoenix has a great love for bodegas. That presumptuous statement is one I firmly planted in my own head after discovering that all the coffee spots in the vicinity of the bus were of the bodega format, carrying a selection of fine cheeses, wine, and preserved fruitsand vegetables, as well as coffee. Jake and I began our day with a walk to the closest of these spots, Hidden Track, Cafe & Bodega. It was a spot tucked into the ground floor of a skyscraper, but it did have nice bit of outdoor seating, and the weather was in good form. I ordered for myself a T.B.L.T. - thick cut turkey bacon, spring greens, tomato, red onions, pesto mayo, on noble country bread.
Jake and I sat for a while working, enjoying the pleasant atmosphere created by the abundant patio plants and loud construction sounds from several nearby building sites.
Soon it was time to climb. I headed back to the bus and Tristan, Liz and I caught an uber to Black Rock Bouldering Gym, 15 minutes north of the city centre. I don’t yet know many of the technical terms in bouldering, but some of the walls are more like steep cliffs where you climb vertically, and some of them are more like caves where you climb hanging upside down like a spider. We in The Beths are not extremely strong in the arms so we like to do a mix of the two styles, normal, and spider. Unfortunately for our arm muscles this gym had only a couple of bits that weren’t made of cave, so we had a very tiring afternoon. Our forearms were so tense they felt like they were filled with metal and and our hands were red and raw.
Arms are dying by this point.
Inspecting the nice vehicle while we wait for our pickup.
Our venue was the Crescent Ballroom, a medium-sized club that has a good Mexican restaurant out the front. The performance space is setup in a landscape orientation with bleachers at the back of the room for if you like a seated gig experience. Gabe was a happy man. He had his brand new red Dickies jumpsuit on, he had a mixing desk he could communicate with, and the room and sound system sounded top notch.
This was one of the days where everything went smoothly, and I was almost ready to say to the readers of the blog ‘sorry, nothing to see here, just another day in the office’. That was until I was found to be the victim of another brutal prank. The second of the tour, and the second where Liz is the key suspect. The tuning knobs of my bass which are normally immaculate and shiny, were covered with a high visibility tape, and then deliberately mislabeled. If anyone knows a good security system I can have installed inside my instrument, please reach out at breakfastandtravelupdates@breakfastandtravelupdates.com.
We always love playing smaller club shows. People are crowded in right up to your feet, and you get to establish a strong connection with your audience. I love watching peoples’ reactions to different songs and various moments in the set. We are all so lucky and so grateful to be able to have this special experience with so many people all around the world.
