Live & Local Fridays

I attended the first Live and Local Friday at the Scottsdale Center for Performing Arts. I was so very pleasantly surprised to find Distrito cookin’ up some pork tacos and also offering chips/​salsa and guacamole. I don’t eat pork, so they (without my asking!) cooked up some vegetables and make me veggie tacos instead. HOW FREAKIN NICE!
The affordable drinks are also nicely poured into cups with a lid and straw (no spilling for this clumsy gal). My drink was super strong (so that it didn’t taste good) but that is probably considered a bonus for some people. The male bartender worked quickly and was very friendly.
Now, I didn’t truly love the band performing (the vocals either weren’t good or had so much echo turned on that it sounded really bad — could not understand most words). The instrumentals of the band were awesome, and the sound was so crisp when, for example, the violinist performed a solo.
Random thought: the ticket barcode scanners make a cool laser noise that made me giggle.
Note: the parking garage directly to the west is where we found easy parking. Some nights it’s not so easy, so I’d recommend extra time if these sort of things go on beyond the summertime.

This was a really fun and unique event that showcases local talent. We were not sure what to expect since it was a last minute Unilocal event and a brand new concept to the area. We started out in the Atrium at the Scottsdale Convention Center’s theater. Before the concert we indulged in some eats and drinks. Unilocal likes to call them Lite Bites. We received some drink tickets. I tried a Passion Fruit Paloma and my friend had a Margarita. Yummy! They also had street tacos and chips from Distrito at the Sahuaro Hotel.
At 8pm the doors opened to the concert. The band that was playing this evening was a lot of fun and very interesting. I was not familiar with the Dry River Yacht Club band from Tempe before this evening. It is hard to know how to describe them. I read on the brochure a mixture of carnival, gypsy, dance stopping, maybe throw in some folk, punk, rock, Scottish/​Russian story telling music and you might come close.
My friend and I were our wracking our brain to try to figure out who the singer, Garnet or even the musical genre reminded us of. My friend thought of a 80’s Singer Jane Wiedlin and I thought of a more G rated Amanda Palmer. Their sound is so different and was great. A mixture of ethnic, folk, punk, classical and rock. Very intriguing.
The only negative is they are probably not used to performing in a smaller enclosed space. The music was too, too loud and you could not understand the singer at all. With that said, the musicians have training. They are all extremely talented. The violinist stands out as amazingly so. The singer sure has a set of pipes on her. She also obviously loves what she does and that came shining through. She was having so much fun on stage. It was contagious!
I also had a great time meeting some new Unilocal staff and friends. That is always nice. Being an Elite gives me the change to try out new activities around town. For that I am always very grateful. Thank you.