It has taken us twenty years to do our first gig in Tucson, but judging by tonight’s gig, it won’t take us another twenty to return. It was an amazing audience tonight, they were boisterous and loud when needed and then completely silent during the 4 song acoustic set. It is an amazing feeling performing with just an acoustic guitar and vocal in front of 1000 people and have there be complete silence and focus: a very thrilling evening.

This was also our first experience of the city. We only got to spend a day here, so everything is based on first impressions, but it is definitely an interesting place. The downtown core has obviously been through some very hard times. There are a lot of boarded up storefronts and some very seedy looking blocks, but there is apparently a big push on to redevelop the downtown over the next ten years. Hopefully they will try and do as much re-storing as possible and not tear down all of the old buildings. Despite the seedy-ness, or maybe because of it and the resultant low cost of living, there is a very vibrant, underground art/music scene. It kind of reminds me of Richmond, Virginia in the late 1980’s. I’m sure if I spent some time here I’d find the Tucson equivalent of Oregon Hill. One of the centers for the scene seems to be the Hotel Congress. The hotel has a very colourful history, including having Dillinger captured in one of its rooms. It is one of the funkiest hotels that we have come across in the past twenty years. I wouldn’t recommend it if you are in to comfort, but if you want a little cultural experience, this is the place for you.

We were greeted and treated very warmly by everyone we met today. A very satisfying day spent in Tucson, Arizona.