This ten-show-in-nine-night-run through the South West, begins with a five hour flight to Phoenix and a three hour drive up to Flagstaff. The drive has it all; starting with mile upon mile of Phoenix’s exurbia - malls and housing developments; giving way to the low-lying scrubby, cactus strewn Arizona desert; gradually climbing up on to the Colorado Plateau; and finally at the end, 7000 feet above sea level, at the foot of Mount Eldin, nestled in the great Ponderosa pine forest, Flagstaff.

After settling in to our hotel on “Famous Route 66” (right next to the “Route 66” used car lot) some of us headed into the center of town in search of a brew pub and TVs to watch the Penguins vs Red Wings in game 3 of the Stanley Cup playoffs and the Celtics/Pistons, game 5 of the NBA semi-finals. We were successful in our quest and were able to watch both games simultaneously from strategically located seats at the bar…and better, still, both games ended with favourable outcomes: Penguin and Celtic victories.

This is an odd town and hard to get a handle on. This is also the first time that we’ve been here so this is new territory. It kind of has the feel of a once-upon-a-time very vibey small town that has in recent years been consumed by the need to cater almost exclusively to tourists and “outdoor enthusiasts”. There is still a lot of  “original” buildings still standing, occupied by some funky looking local businesses, but it feels like those are being squeezed out by high end “outdoor stores”. But more to the point, Flagstaff is a jumping off point to the Grand Canyon and to some of the most spectacular and unique scenery in the world and that alone is reason enough to venture this way.  If I had the energy I would have rented a car and made the 60 mile journey to stare into the abyss but I decided against it. Despite the thousands of miles that I have put in traveling back and forth across this country, I still haven’t seen the Grand Canyon. I tell myself that I am saving it for a family trip…one day.

The gig tonight was in a decent-ish theater/club, with not the greatest sound. On stage the sound was particularly bad and we had a distracted kind of night. Not great, not bad….just ok. We had a sold out house which is always comforting, especially when you come through a town for the first time, but it seemed like about half of them were there as curious on-lookers, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but usually creates an odd kind of energy in the room. Hopefully we converted a few and they will return the next time we come back this way.