4/20 at Yucca Tap Room recap

So I should have done a show recap a couple weeks ago, but at times it can be difficult to tie things off with a bow when all I want to do is move on to what's next. Perhaps that's coupled with a little bit of sheer exhaustion, but that's the reality of any great endeavor, no matter what scale or size.

I had a personal gig to play before the show and wasn't able to watch the trickling in of attendees, so when I walked in the party was already at full blast and it swept over me like a wave. It was a very special feeling to walk into a full room of people that enjoyed music as much as I do, at a moment when I was a bit stressed out and trying to keep my expectations in check. All the stress in these sorts of situations generally comes from either being ill-prepared, setting expectations too high, or a little bit of both. Over time, I've gotten better at working hard and working smart to ensure that I'm as prepared as I possibly can be, but nobody's perfect and there's always a slight chance that something unforeseen will surface in the last moments of execution. But having the right team to combat anything that may arise is by far the most important part of putting on one hell of a show and so I have to give some proper shout outs to those who helped most.

Good Rust, Pride Through Strife and SURF AVE., I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for working your asses off to not only bring people out, but to create beautiful music that emanates from your souls and which you've practiced for countless hours behind the scenes to make sure it delivers the greatest impact to everyone in the room. It showed BIG TIME and I wish I had better footage to post here that could show how hard everyone was vibing in the audience. It was one of those shows where everything comes natural because all the bands are REAL and not forcing a vibe on people, but rather letting it flow naturally. Bravo boys.

Huge thanks to Zach Castro for holding down the live sound engineering so perfectly. It does my heart no greater good than when I walk in the venue and after scanning the stage and the crowd, looking over at the sound man to see him getting the f*** down behind the mixer. Sound design is not an easy job and engineers aren't always going to be able to work with their preferred genres, so it can be difficult to always be "into it." But man, you killed it Zach and definitely look forward to doing more shows with you behind the control board.

Robbie "Bob Rabbit" Rigolfi, thank you for being our liason at the start of the show when I wasn't able to be there to make sure things got up and running smoothly. It is a huge help to have someone we trust to take the lead on direct communication when we aren't there and I truly appreciate you helping us out. I think we're going to do great things with RIVIR and I'm so stoked to have someone like yourself involved with what we're doing. That new Katie record you just put out on Spotify is fire btw ;)

As always, Yucca Taproom housed a great show and perfect vibe for the local music scene. This venue has been rocking HARD since 1974! That's still totally mind blowing to me, especially with how often venues come and go in Tempe, it's truly a staple of the music scene and culture here. Thanks to Ben Talty for booking the show and staying close contact when we needed anything on our end.

Lastly want to give shout outs to High Nine Clothing for coming in at the last minute to help us promote and give the show that extra flavor with their unique brand of board sport and cannabis threads. I've been wearing my green snapback you guys hooked me up with loud and proud!

I've been organizing shows ever since I started my own band Sunset Voodoo, which drove me to book for venues such as C.A.S.A. Lounge and Shady Park over the past couple years and to now move towards building RIVIR with my very good friend and business confidant, Esteban Obregon. While we are in the early stages of the company, we have a shared vision of where we would like it to end up and with all our ambition and high expectations, it's really nice to taste the fruits of our labor when we can and this event was just so much fun to be a part of.

Thank you to everyone for reading and please check out everyone I've mentioned if you're looking for good music, booking inquiries or want to share their work!

Much Love,
Joey

RIVIR

Good Rust - Facebook / Booking
Pride Through Strife - Facebook / Booking
SURF AVE. - Facebook / Booking
Bob Rabbit - Facebook / Booking
High Nine, LLC - Facebook / Booking
Yucca Taproom - Facebook / Booking