Phoenix/Scottsdale area

[revlimitbounce]

Anyone here live/work in Phoenix/Scottsdale? I have a possible relocation to there and wondering what life is like out there from a cultural and specifically musical standpoint. Any good funk, jazz, soul stuff? Clubs? How's the musician stock? I know the weather's freezing, but I can get used to it....

[TravisE]

I'd be interested in knowing this as well.

[chrisr777]

I'm guessing this is hell on gear.

http://i369.photobucket.com/albums/oo138/vivitio/dust_storm.jpg

[jefesq]

hot, bit it's a dry heat.

[tiktok]

As long as you've got a job, cheap gasoline, cheap electricity and cheap water, it's a decent place to live.

[Sweetfinger]

What's the difference between Phoenix and Yogurt?
A. Yogurt has culture.

[Frank1959]

Pretty hot there my friend...check out the high/lows for the next 10 days





http://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/29.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/32.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/30.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/34.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/34.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/34.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/34.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/34.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/38.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/34.png
Partly CloudySunnyPartly CloudyMostly SunnyMostly SunnyMostly SunnyMostly SunnyMostly SunnyPM T-StormsMostly Sunny

High106° 107° 108° 110° 111° 110° 107° 105° 104°
Low 86° 87° 86° 87° 88° 87° 88° 86° 86°

[Jiffy_Jeff]

Pretty hot there my friend...check out the high/lows for the next 10 days





http://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/29.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/32.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/30.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/34.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/34.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/34.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/34.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/34.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/38.pnghttp://s.imwx.com/v.20100719.135915/img/wxicon/45/34.png
Partly CloudySunnyPartly CloudyMostly SunnyMostly SunnyMostly SunnyMostly SunnyMostly SunnyPM T-StormsMostly Sunny

High106° 107° 108° 110° 111° 110° 107° 105° 104°
Low 86° 87° 86° 87° 88° 87° 88° 86° 86°






Born & Raised in the AZ heat.... Here is my take!


I go from my A/C house to my A/C car to my A/C office................
Nuff said!!!

If your job is outside over 50% of the day....... Yeah, it can get crappy in the heat.....'

Good luck!

[Peppy]

Phoenix (Chandler lately) has the jobs, Scottsdale the "cleanliness" and Tucson has the live music scene. Whoops!

[thintele]

Im in Scottsdale. Unlike alot of cities this size (Phoenix/Metro), its very spread out. Mass transit is probably about 20 years behind the times. Culture here is pretty much a mixed bag ...from the poor to the very rich. Alot of celebs have places in the Scottsdale / Paradise Vally area. Alot of retirees, alot of winter visitors from the midwest. A ton of very good resturaunts in Scottsdale in particular , many are somewhat trendy. Obviously from the other replies it does get freakin hot in the summer...this summer in particular came late, but with a vengence. Generally speaking 3-4 months of 90-100+ temps , but winters rarely hit the freezing mark...maybe 2-3 times a year. You can drive 2 hours and be in the mountains where its 20-30 degrees cooler.
Musically not the worst , definatley not the best. Plenty of clubs,most dont pay particularly well, Casinos that pay better if you can get into them. But if you play strictly original music dont figure on making a living. My band does originals and covers and we stay busy...generally booked 2-4 nights a week. If you do solo/duo acoustic, you can probably play a steady 4 nights a week with wine bars and coffee houses. Valley audiences are somewhat apethetic, Tuscons culture is a little more bohemian and live music goes over well as in much of the more outlying areas around the state. If you are going to move now is a good time as the housing market tanked along with most of the rest of the country.

[revlimitbounce]

Thanks, all! Good info. About what I expected. I wouldn't be relying on gigging for a living.

[jonturner]

Its hot and sprawled. Both of which can be tough on gigging. Depending on where you live an "in-town" venue could be 45minutes to an hour away. Its hard to get people to be in the heat, drive an hour and pay a cover charge - or at least it has proven to be for me.

Culture-Wise.... well its about as suburban as you can get. There's really no "downtown" anything. Drunk college kids in one area of the valley(tempe), old retired's in on the other side(sun city and apache junction), more wealthy in another(scottsdale esp. north scottsdale), upper middle in another(chandler and far west valley) and poverty line in another (central and south phoenix). That's really the culture - finances. For better or worse. So you can guess which areas lean to which kind of music.

_

To comment on the dust storm pic above... It gets crazy here at the end of the summer and it makes it impossible to keep my Gretsch in tune haha...

[stevieboy]

I go from my A/C house to my A/C car to my A/C office................
Nuff said!!!



Wow that sounds like an awesome lifestyle! Where do I sign up?