Not having been to a club in quite a while (and especially not in the industrial area of Tempe) I was a bit skeptical about going to Phase 54. My roommates band was playing and I had promised I would go, so I headed up there on Saturday night.
I have to agree with Amber W. - The place is utter chaos and not in a good way. To enter the club you walk upstairs and through an outdoor patio. There was a hard core techno DJ spinning outside and girls dancing on the bar that would have looked better with more clothing on.. As soon as you walk inside there is a band playing in the corner of the upstairs area, there is a small bar and a deathtrap spiral staircase to go downstairs. Seriously this thing is dangerous, I was sober and had a hard time walking down it.. The main problem with the upstairs area is that you can hear both the band and the DJ at the same time, the sound system is horrible. Same to be said for downstairs, there was a metal band playing and you could still hear the band from upstairs.. How is this enjoyable? It was a really interesting crowd, the metal heads, the hardcore kids and the emos, then the older folks that came to listen to the folk/jazz band.. Weird...
The bartender must have kept confusing water for vodka because he poured the weakest drinks I have had in a while (seriously 4 vodka sodas later and no buzz), then he overcharged (2 drinks I hadn't ordered). By that time though I was so eager to get out of there I didn't care.
2 stars for visual stimulation - I saw a granny with a cane, and a kid with foot high rainbow mohawk standing by each other. That rocks.