With Mohawk Radio having an early flight the following day, it was decided beforehand to drive up to Phoenix for the night so they could be closer to the airport for when they move onto Texas.
Sue and I are staying with a girl called Jennifer in a cosy and modern flat just off the Interstate, and the band and Maddy have a full house to themselves ten minutes away.
I’ve only really glossed over talking about our hosts in Tucson so far, and there’s a purpose to that. I wanted to dedicate a full post to them. On day five I got that opportunity. Today was all about Mickey & Noomie, possibly the nicest, most interesting and down to earth people I’ve ever met in my life.
The trip so far is testing from a writer’s point of view. Not that I’m short of material, far from it, but I’m too busy to update. I’m having a blast and I don’t want it to end, that’s the important thing! Every day is different!
Today’s the day where the rock n roll element of the tour kicks in. We are going to meet Mohawk Radio and watch them play at Sky Bar later on. The token jet lag still hasn’t let up and it’s about 6am when the messages between Me, Mia and Maddy start, trying to organise breakfast.
Jet lag seemed to be setting in already as me and Sue were wide awake at about 6am. We got ready and packed, commenting on how the constant packing on this trip was going to be a ball ache. Well with all those shoes and cosmetics I have to put in my case it would be! We definitely brought too much stuff.
On March 13th 1971, a young poet and rock idol moved from America to Paris with his girlfriend. After four years of heavily being in the limelight for both the right and wrong reasons, a brief exile had become a necessity to escape the trials and tribulations bestowed upon him, as well as a need for renewed creative inspiration in a place that is home to many writers, poets and philosophers. Unfortunately, the old habits of this troubled genius failed to cease, and on July 3rd 1971, he met his demise in mysterious circumstances. Over the years, several theories have put been put forward about what actually happened that night, including whether or not he died at all. Whichever story is true, it led to a quick burial at the world famous Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
Who are we? A very simple question with the most varied and complex of answers. Well, as a race we are far from perfect. You only need to switch the news on to find evidence of that with the majority of story’s revolving around violence, war and poverty, an array of terrible things we do to each other on a personal and global scale. But how did we end up this way? Where did we go so wrong? ‘I AM’, a truly powerful documentary film by director Tom Shadyac investigates why? For those unfamiliar with Shadyac, he is as he puts it, “the man to make Jim Carrey talk out of his arse,” a pun in identifying himself as the man who directed ‘Ace Ventura’, ‘Bruce Almighty’ and ‘The Nutty Professor’ amongst other comedies.
From the subtle, musical plains of Heaton Moor, Stockport comes the scintillating and emotional biography of ‘Haven’, a band very nearly on the cusp of realising their potential, unjustly falling victim to the economic decline that shadowed the music industry and the UK in the mid to late 2000’s.
The Doors: Unhinged: Jim Morrison’s Legacy Goes On Trial is a book written in 2013 by Doors drummer, John Densmore, documenting the 2004 legal battle between himself and the other surviving Doors members at the time, Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger.
We managed to survive two rain filled nights and live to tell the tale. The pin holes in our tent held up despite puddles of water being left in the porch both mornings. Surprisingly, the sun was out and the prediction of all day rain was again proved wrong.
Saturday morning duly arrives at Blackthorn and the first thing I do is check the weather to see that the forecasted all day rain has been pushed back to later in the day. We may even get some sun. Hooray!