A small but mighty crowd assembled at The Van Buren in Phoenix on Monday to see Valley’s late summer headliner. The Water the Flowers, Pray for a Garden Tour transformed the stage into a field of color for the band to celebrate their latest album.
Quirky rock duo Mickey Darling opened the show, drawing the audience closer to the stage to start the dance party early and get everyone warmed up for the main event. Singer Skyler Molina bopped around the stage, encouraging the front row to join him while guitarist Austin Medrano held things down with the rest of the live band. Their set was brief but enormously fun and the duo certainly won more than a few hearts as they took their ending bow.
Seeing Valley in the Valley is always a whimsical time, with their upbeat pop-rock tunes making the fans move- even on a sleepy sort of Monday. The stage was littered with flowers and the blue and green lights bathed the stage, putting the room in the middle of Valley’s own little forest.
The setlist was a solid mix of brand new music and older favorites, and the audience bobbed in unison to “Lost in Translation” and “A Little More” (the song that had this band fall back in love with the music and holds a dear place in everyone’s hearts). After “Let It Rain” and “Swim”, the band turned to their fans for the roulette song of the night. Spotting a fan’s tattoo in the crowd, singer Rob Laska let them choose and the band launched into “Closer to the Picture”- a special moment for all involved.
Valley managed to pack 21 songs into their headlining set, including “Like 1999” and “Crawlspace” before closing the evening with the now classic “There’s Still a Light in the House” and “Bop Ba”. Their fans gave every bit of energy they could muster at the start of a busy week and Valley returned that love with yet another amazing Phoenix show- we’ll be eagerly awaiting their return to the Valley of the Sun.
