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  #1  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2008, 12:49 AM
HX_Guy HX_Guy is offline
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Phoenix First Friday's

Last night, I finally decided to go and check out First Fridays. I headed out about 7:00, took I-17 to McDowell and that to Grand and headed toward Van Buren. I had looked online and seen that Grand is supposed to be one of the hot spots, so I figured I'd so mobs of people...and *crickets*...

It was pretty damn quiet aside from a few stragglers. Quite disappointed, I headed toward the Roosevelt St area and that's where it got good. I parked the car on 3rd St and started walking the streets.

Both my girlfriend and myself were very pleasantly surprised. There were gobs of people on Roosevelt from Central to 7th St and also on 3rd plus a few of the other streets. We were pretty surprised by the quality of a lot of the art pieces throughout the galleries, as well as the galleries themselves. A break dancing group broke out and gathered a pretty large group of people which was great...felt like my recent trip to San Francisco where I saw something similar on the streets. Fate, and the new bar/nightclub they have going outside was packed and the music playing was good...definitely have to go again to hang out there for the night.

Overall, it felt a bit like Mill Ave mixed with a sort of swap meet/market. The energy was great and felt very organic. They could certainly use a good mix of buildings along all those streets to be able to showcase out of and bring some more bars/club/restaurants to the area. I'm not sure if there were more people then normal due to the Super Bowl being in town, but there were thousands of people out.

Definitely check it out if you haven't had a chance.


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  #2  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2008, 1:23 AM
Kroney Kroney is offline
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^ Yeah, it was pretty packed last night on Roosevelt St. It was only my 2nd time attending a First Friday so I couldn't tell if last night was busier than normal. I've never seen the neighborhood so alive with people! I'll definitely go back.

After walking Roosevelt, my wife and I headed downtown to check out the scene around the convention center. Not much was happening outside but Networks and Majerle's looked full. Speaking of Majerle's, I attended the block party last night. The turnout was pretty sad. There couldn't have been more than 100 people there. Still, it was kind of cool to see Young MC perform "Bust A Move" - he actually performed it twice! I also witnessed Tone Loc perform "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina" prior to heading out (we didn't stay for Digital Underground).
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  #3  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2008, 1:29 AM
HX_Guy HX_Guy is offline
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We drove around a bit the area of Washington and 1st St and there were some people walking around...the line to get into the Sky Bar was pretty long, but overall there weren't that many people, I was expecting more with the Super Bowl but I'm sure the majority were in Scottsdale.

We headed to Cibo before hitting Roosevelt and then saw a movie at the AZ Center. On the way home, about 11:30, we took Central past Club DWNTWN, Amsterdam and Pallazo and it was pretty dead which was surprising, I've seen those places packed before.

Speaking of...that is a pretty nice theater but really oversized for the area, it seems to be 90% empty every time I've been. Something like a 12 screen would be better there...maybe they can redevelop that part of the AZ Center someday and possibly rearrange it to face the street with the Sheraton right across the street and Alta as well, plus the nursing school...it would make sense.
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  #4  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2008, 2:21 AM
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I went to a First Fridays about a year ago. We started right downtown since we had spent the afternoon at the Science Center (the Human Body exhibit was going on). Downtown was pretty much completely dead. I was very disappointed until we headed up 1st street and got to Roosevelt and found all the action. Finished the night eating at Pizzeria Bianco, just barely got in before they closed, we were literally the last group to be seated. All in all, good times.
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  #5  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2008, 3:27 AM
bwonger06 bwonger06 is offline
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Roosevelt is where everyone is usually at between 3rd and 7th street.

And i am sure the AZ Center theatre will start picking up a lot when students start inhabiting the new ASU dorms.
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  #6  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2008, 3:59 AM
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What i dont get is why downtown doesn't have more events like this! It seems like a huge hit so why not do more
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  #7  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2008, 4:42 AM
HX_Guy HX_Guy is offline
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It's possible that if it's too often, then it wouldn't be such a huge hit. The way it's set up now, everyone goes on the specific date because that's you're only choice. I could see if they had it every Friday for example, the number of people would be half.
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  #8  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2008, 4:54 AM
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Sorry I didnt mean that particular event. I meant new and different events.
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  #9  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2008, 5:07 AM
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Originally Posted by AZ KID View Post
What i dont get is why downtown doesn't have more events like this! It seems like a huge hit so why not do more
I think that is exactly what JSED is planning to do!
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  #10  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2008, 4:59 PM
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KEVINphx KEVINphx is offline
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I have been going to First Fridays for about 3.5 years now, and back then it was definitely NOTHING like today!

I dont really think there were more people due to the super bowl (what super bowl tourists would be going to First Friday on the Friday night before the game with all that is going on in Scottsdale?!)

There are simply thousands more people at the event now compared to even a year ago, its really exciting! I too think it should be every Friday, as do many of my friends who go with me.

I have a friend who is quite a regular at The Roosevelt on 1st street and she tells me that other than first friday that it is quite dead in that bar (which is an amazing place, so a bit surprising)

Anyway, for those of you who have only been a couple of times, I thought I'd share my experience that the amount of people down there last friday is pretty typical of the crowds that show up for the event regularly
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  #11  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2008, 7:48 PM
Kroney Kroney is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KEVINphx View Post
I have a friend who is quite a regular at The Roosevelt on 1st street and she tells me that other than first friday that it is quite dead in that bar (which is an amazing place, so a bit surprising)
You mean the Roosevelt Tavern on 3rd St right? It's been open over a year now. I used to go there often when it first opened but I haven't been back since April. Still, there's a lot to like about The Roosevelt:

1) Excellent beer selection
2) The glass wall that showcases the kegs.
3) They did an excellent job restoring that property.

I think I'd go more often if it had a beer garden in the back. There's plenty of room. I find the interior to be a little too trendy for my tastes. It's really simple: Plant some shade trees, lay down some sod, throw in a few picnic tables, and I'm in heaven. Heck, I'd even lobby the RAA Board to move their monthly meetings there.
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  #12  
Old Posted Feb 3, 2008, 11:36 PM
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They're trying to open a beer garden, but Phoenix is being pissy with permits (per usual).

I thought FF was a little less busy this month than the last time I was there, sometime last fall? I don't remember what month it was.

My other FF impressions was that there were a lot of junior-high students hanging around (what? Are malls closed on Friday nights now?) but other than that, it seemed like a decent FF. A lot of lots were fenced off, which is unfortunate for small vendors, even though I don't usually look at their wares.

I did hit up a quick open house of the 215 E McKinley project, by Urban Form. TIGHT project. The developer (or whoever gave the tour) talked about the Holy Grail of downtown Phoenix, a SUSHI BAR (!!!!!!!) going in on the ground floor. Sometime mid summer he thought they would be close to opening.
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  #13  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2008, 12:30 AM
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HooverDam HooverDam is offline
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I took my Mom (an ultra conservative Evangelical woman who works in Mesa) to FF in October and she loved it, I was amazed. She keeps asking when I'm taking her back. I think it was the Zombie Wedding and folks dressed in super realistic Ghostbusters costumes that won her over.
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  #14  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2008, 4:48 AM
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The mass of people is definitely on Roosevelt during FF, but I get a little sick of all of the "flea market artists" and people hawking their crap in the empty lots.

I went down to Grand for the first time last month, and that is sooo much better. The venues are much better, there are less people, and something about the grittiness of Grand along with many of the old store fronts make it seem much more urban.

Luckliy there is so much to like about First Fridays.
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  #15  
Old Posted Feb 4, 2008, 6:22 AM
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KEVINphx KEVINphx is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kroney View Post
You mean the Roosevelt Tavern on 3rd St right? It's been open over a year now. I used to go there often when it first opened but I haven't been back since April. Still, there's a lot to like about The Roosevelt:

1) Excellent beer selection
2) The glass wall that showcases the kegs.
3) They did an excellent job restoring that property.

I think I'd go more often if it had a beer garden in the back. There's plenty of room. I find the interior to be a little too trendy for my tastes. It's really simple: Plant some shade trees, lay down some sod, throw in a few picnic tables, and I'm in heaven. Heck, I'd even lobby the RAA Board to move their monthly meetings there.
yes. third, NOT first .
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  #16  
Old Posted Jun 25, 2012, 1:44 AM
alexico alexico is offline
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are the crowds still showing up for first friday? I went last yr and plan to go again sometime soon.
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  #17  
Old Posted Jun 25, 2012, 9:33 PM
Vicelord John Vicelord John is offline
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I cannot get myself far enough away from first friday.
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  #18  
Old Posted Jun 25, 2012, 9:36 PM
Vicelord John Vicelord John is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HX_Guy View Post
Last night, I finally decided to go and check out First Fridays. I headed out about 7:00, took I-17 to McDowell and that to Grand and headed toward Van Buren. I had looked online and seen that Grand is supposed to be one of the hot spots, so I figured I'd so mobs of people...and *crickets*...
That's because Grand Avenue is where people go who actually want to look at art instead of be seen by other hipsters and douchebags.

First Friday has grown out out of what it used to be, and that is an art festival, into a congregation of underage binge drinking, of age binge drinking, pompous hipsters who want non-hipsters to see them looking "cool", and a few sophisticated types who actually want to look at art, and they stay far far away from that clusterfuck on Roosevelt.
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  #19  
Old Posted Jun 26, 2012, 1:34 PM
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Jsmscaleros Jsmscaleros is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vicelord John View Post
First Friday has grown out out of what it used to be, and that is an art festival, into a congregation of underage binge drinking, of age binge drinking, pompous hipsters who want non-hipsters to see them looking "cool", and a few sophisticated types who actually want to look at art, and they stay far far away from that clusterfuck on Roosevelt.
Hah, some people are never happy.

The event has simply grown enough for kids to take over certain parts and real artists to move to others. You want art? There are still more places than ever to find it on FF, just not where it used to be.
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  #20  
Old Posted Jun 26, 2012, 4:40 PM
Vicelord John Vicelord John is offline
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Yeah, they're on Grand Avenue, not where the idiot fest is on Roosevelt.
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