Sunday, November 24, 2013

Phoenix | Part 2

On Tuesday, Devin was feeling a lot better. We took our time waking up and eating breakfast, and by 11:30, were back on the 51 to Tempe, to explore Mill Avenue. We had come during the week, and John and Caree still had work, and Rory still had school, so it was up to us to fill our afternoons. This area is really fun because it's right by ASU campus and there were lots of shops and cafes. We walked up and down the street while planes flew disturbingly low overhead (we were near the airport as well) before deciding on a place for lunch: La Bocca, a local pizzeria. Devin and I split the truffled mushroom chef's pizza, and it was the greatest pizza i've ever had! Sauteed mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, goat cheese (my favorite), spinach, balsamic vinaigrette and truffle oil. Amazing. I can't even. Just... auh. Yes.

After we exhausted Mill Avenue, we drove to downtown Phoenix, and got lost almost immediately. We passed all the major league arenas and found ourselves in the sketchy part of Phoenix, before happening upon a street name we recognized, and then we decided to check out the local rock climbing gym, which was ultimately unimpressive (we've concluded that we're just really spoiled at momentum. no other gym really compares).

Next we headed back home to rest up and get ready for the concert: our whole point in coming to Phoenix. We had watched the Pearl Jam documentary, "PJ 20" the night before in preparation (it got us all pumped!), and I was so excited to finally see them in concert. We grabbed a quick dinner at in-n-out before heading into Glendale to the venue, the Jobing.com Arena where the Coyotes play (NHL team). The drive was sort of long (Arizona seems to be a lot of really, really long, really straight roads).

We got there about 30 minutes early, but seats were assigned so we weren't worried about that. The show started almost an hour late, and then began the mind blowing.

Holy. Cow. After 22 years together (I will always remember how long Pearl Jam has been together because they started the year I was born!), they can still entertain. They are veterans! This was no rookie show. The second song they played was "Release Me" which is one of their most popular songs, but also one of the most powerful. I had goosebumps! Eddie Vedder sounds the exact same as he did in the 90's - if anything, just better.

The entire concert, I had these images in my head of the 20-something year old Eddie climbing up the stage scaffolding and diving into the crowd and thought his crazy days were behind him. Although there was no crowd surfing that night, there were still plenty of split kicks and more than enough head banging. It was awesome! I was so impressed by the sound, the energy, and the chemistry that can only come from playing together for two decades. It was so cool to see and recognize each band member, and hear all the songs I hoped they would play! (except no ledbetter! ugh. i'll forgive them this once, i guess.)

They did two encores, and I'm sure we could have stayed all night. They didn't have an opening act, which was so cool because it meant they played for three hours! I can't even begin to tell you how impressed I was with this concert. Aside from most of the crowd getting high the whole time and stinking up the place, it was such an incredible thing to be a part of. There were probably at least 16,000 people there and they played it like an intimate bar show. I don't think you could ever explain to someone what it's like to go to a show like that. You've just gotta experience it for yourself. I was so, so impressed. These guys are pros. Masters. AH!!!

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still not over the palm trees and cacti. it's paradise.

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her name's blackie.

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*so…. I have photos from the concert, but they refuse to rotate? That's cool. You can see the ones I posted on instagram here and here though! 

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