On an August weekend in Phoenix, there's generally only one requirement for any activity:
Air conditioning.
But it also helps if you can play and listen to music.
Los Angeles' Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band made the trek out from the coast to play a couple sets at the Children's Museum of Phoenix on August 20, and since I help book the series, I was definitely eager to see 'em play.
One thing CMOP has started to do is put a few of the shows in their large atrium. What it does is let a lot more people see a show at any particular point in time (that picture there doesn't quite capture the dozens more outside of the frame), or just let the people playing in the 3-story-tall Schuff-Perini Climber (which you can see just a very small portion of at the top left) hear music while they scamper around. It would be a bad setting for a solo artist playing an acoustic set, but for the more active rock and pop shows, the kinetic and vocal energy helps encourage the kids who are there in front to move around and dance. I think if artists are willing to accept the less-than-distraction-free environment it can be a fun show.
I'm a big fan of Lucky, of course, and he and wife/co-band member Alisha Gaddis made a fair amount of noise considering it was just a duo. I was particularly impressed by the kick-suitcase Diaz had fashioned to give his songs a little bit of extra "oomph."
Anyways, here's a clip of the band playing "Lemonade Stand" off their latest album A Potluck.
Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band - "Lemonade Stand" (Live at the Children's Museum of Phoenix) [YouTube]
