Feb
18
2012

I Am AZ Music

(Add / View Comments) (0)Saturday, February 18, 2012 - 07:28:47 pm
(Posted Under: Tempe Music Scene Tempe Music Scene, Music Music, Instagram Instagram)
No, that's not a big self important statement. It's the name of the current exhibit at the Phoenix Music Instrument Museum, in conjunction with the state's centennial, which opened today. You had me at...err..."I Am AZ Music". I've been looking forward to it for weeks.

As excited as we both were to see the entire exhibit, let's not bullshit here - there was one item on display we were most excited to see, and headed straight for it. Doug Hopkins white 1986 Studio Les Paul. I've seen many Les Pauls, some famous, some worth obscene amounts of money. But I don't think seeing any other guitar, Les Paul or otherwise, will compare to this one. Actually, I know it won't. You just can't top seeing your guitar hereo's infamous axe. You just can't.

Instagram Image

If how beat up your main instrument is an measure of what a rock n' roll musician you are, and in my experience it is, there is no mistaking that this was Hopkins guitar. Volume knob missing, cigarette burns, beer and sweat stains and no shortage of chips and misuse. That's rock n' roll.

Bill's displayed basses were also cool items. Particularly of interest to me was that they were noted as used on Dusted, Up and Crumbling, New Miserable Experience and Congratulations I'm Sorry respectively. That and the older P-Bass was sporting a Guns N' Roses sticker. Which funnily enough harked back to a conversation from earlier this morning. I don't think either of use were expecting that. A pretty cool display all around. How can you not be impressed by a massive background of the art work of your favorite album of all time?

The rest of the I Am Arizona exhibit was well done. It was just after 10 when we originally went up there, are returned for the tour later on in the day. Lot's of stuff donated by John Dixon, who was also there in person. Kind wished we'd gone up and thanked him on that recent vinyl purchase of ours that came from his collection.

And the rest of the museum it's self - wow. We've known about the museum for a couple of years, and while we wanted to check it out, we had thought that the $15 admission seemed a little steep. And this morning, I expected to spend only a few hours there. Well, I take it all back. The museum is fantastic, and well worth the money. Having the I Am AZ Music exhibit made it a no brainer for us this weekend, but after seeing the museum I think that $15 is completely reasonable, even without a special event. And we struggled to see everything by 5pm when it closed.

My only complaint was that they didn't have I Am AZ Music t-shirts. A big disappointment to both of us. Which meant we had to buy this... I've never been as quick to purchase something without even knowing the price. (Okay, I would have had to buy this, even if they did have t-shirts).

Now Playing: Gin Blossoms - Found Out About You

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