Having survived the various mishaps of the first night of my quest, I got up bright and early Saturday morning to pack for the Arizona leg of the trip. Since I was going to be spending Sunday night camping, it took a bit to dig out the gear I’d need (including my military sleeping bag, since it was supposed to get down to the upper 20s overnight in Flagstaff).
After a stop for gas, I was on the road again, west-bound and down, so to speak.
The drive to Phoenix was fairly uneventful, but long. I’d forgotten what it was like to take the southern route, down US 191 and US 60 through St. Johns, Show Low, and Globe. Mostly a winding two-lane highway, with the occasional passing lane. It’s a nice drive, but I wouldn’t attempt in in winter. Thanks to the Road Runner cartoons, most people who have never been to Arizona probably visualize a lot of sand and cactus, but the eastern part of the state is anything but. It’s mountainous and heavily-forested, and gets quite a bit of snow in the winter. It’s also pretty high up, elevation-wise. Where I live, it’s about 6,500 feet above sea level. About 40 miles into the trip, I crossed the Continental Divide, at an elevation of 7,228 feet.
From there, it’s all downhill (literally). Phoenix, about 300 miles away, is at about 2,000 feet.
I finally made it down to Sheriff Joe’s old stomping grounds in Maricopa County around 4:00, and figured I’d be at my motel in a few minutes. What I’d forgotten to take into account, though, was the fact that Maricopa County is vast, bigger than some states. It took me nearly an hour to get to where I was planning to stay (and several more minutes to figure out how to get to it from the freeway after I got there). Fortunately, I had plenty of time, since the show didn’t start until 7:30.
Saturday’s show was to take place at the Musical Instrument Museum, which not only consists of a nearly 200,000 square foot collection of more than 15,000 instruments and artifacts from around the world, but also includes a world-class concert hall.
Quite an upgrade from the night before! It really is a beautiful facility, and I plan to return when I have time to visit the museum itself.
I got there about 20 minutes prior to the scheduled start time, and spent some time wandering around the lobby. The contrast between MIM and the NHCC Plaza couldn’t have been more profound. This was definitely an upscale crowd (which I’d already figured out from the number of Mercedes in the parking lot). I was glad that I’d decided to change before the show.
I had been really lucky when purchasing my ticket. I was able to find a single seat in the 8th row near the center. Had I needed two or more seats, I would have been way in the back (although, in fairness, it wasn’t that far back, since the theater only holds 300 seats). Apparently, most of those in attendance were MIM members, who not only get discounts, but get to buy tickets before they go on sale to the public. This made for an interesting dynamic in the audience, which skewed much older than I’d expected. It looked as though the audience was mostly family groups, consisting of older MIM members and their children (or grandchildren), who convinced them to go.
When the appointed hour arrived, the house lights dimmed, and Samantha and the band walked out on stage to polite applause. Once again, the audience had no idea what they were in for!
The set was pretty much perfect, with none of the technical glitches that happened at the smaller venues, and the sound quality was incredible. The larger-than-usual stage gave Samantha room to roam, so she was constantly in motion. Between that and the lighting, unfortunately, it was pretty difficult to get decent pictures.
It didn’t take long for the audience to warm to her, though. During a couple of her numerous guitar changes, I heard people around me commenting on how good she was. The equipment changes finally became the subject of a joke from Sam, who quipped that they’d only seen half of the guitars she’d brought, and that they mostly carried them around for fun, “especially dragging them through airport security.”
This was a much longer set than the night before, as I expected. About an hour and 45 minutes, total. Along with the Chills & Fever material, she played a number of older songs, including the acoustic favorite “Go Home,” from her 2015 album Wild Heart
This time, the band actually did the standard leave-the-stage-and come-back routine, following a several-minute-long standing ovation. Finally, it was time for the final encore, and they tore it up with a great performance of “Black Wind Howlin’,” the title track off her 2013 album.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4U0bCAr3OE[/embedyt]
As I made my way out of the theater, I decided that I would stop by the merchandise table in the lobby where Sam usually hangs out after the show. I made the mistake of stopping at the men’s room first, though. When I got to the lobby, there was a line of about 100 people waiting to meet her! I was amazed, since it was only a 300 seat venue in the first place, and at least half the audience went in not even knowing who she was. Once again, Samantha’s voodoo was working!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zn_Rr4o_t8[/embedyt]
Having spent most of the day driving, I decided not to wait in line that night. I knew I’d have another chance on Sunday in Flagstaff.
To be continued…
