Last night I went to see Banner Pilot and Teenage Bottlerocket at the Nile Underground in Mesa, AZ.
What I'm left with, more than anything, is that this place is fucking HOT in the summer. Is there anyway the people who run The Underground could hook up a portable AC or something? It was a relief to hit the 104 degree street after each band was done.
Aside from that the venue is just small enough to be intimate and large enough to hold a decent crowd. It's enough of a dive to retain street cred but (somehow) established enough to host larger bands who still marginally exist below the mainstream radars.
They sell water, soda, snacks and earplugs.
But jeezus man, get an AC in that place.
Postscript: If you're claustrophobic never mind going to The Underground. I'm not claustrophobic but I still felt uncomfortably closed in. However, it's not enough to keep me from avoiding this place.