CONNOR GREENWALL: In July, Valley Metro and Downtown Phoenix Inc. hosted a series of live musical performances on the light rail B line. The concerts were part of the Ride the Rail initiative to bring people downtown to shop at small businesses during the hot summer months.
On a train platform in the heart of downtown Phoenix, concertgoers are waiting for the concert to come to them.
It's part of a concert series put on by Valley Metro and Downtown Phoenix Inc. on the light rail. And this concert is the final one in the series.
PLATFORM ANNOUNCEMENT: In this train, you will be able to enjoy some live musical performances by some talented artists. We are excited, we're happy to transport you to your destination today, and we thank you for choosing Valley Metro.
[MUSIC PLAYS: "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire]
CONNOR GREENWALL: Passengers shuffled in when the train doors opened. The train was off, and the first musician took over.
JULIAN DAVIS: My name is Julian Davis. Yeah, I play the harmonica. Chromatic harmonica.
[APPLAUSE]
[MUSIC PLAYS: "Man in Mirror" by Michael Jackson]
JULIAN DAVIS: If you guys want to clap your hands to any of these songs, feel free to, um, if you feel like singing too, you can do that.
I think I'm playing on the way back, too.
CONNOR GREENWALL: Riders like John Allan loved the experience so much, he came back for an encore.
JOHN ALLAN: It's just so nice. We get two hours of wonderful music for $2. Try that someplace else.
[MUSIC PLAYS: "Isn’t She Lovely" by Stevie Wonder]
CONNOR GREENWALL: To keep the show near downtown Phoenix, it requires multiple train transfers. It starts at the downtown hub before transferring southbound at Camelback Road. Each artist performs for one roundtrip.
JULIAN DAVIS: I can only be myself. There's a song called "I Can Only Be Me." And I can only be me. I can't be Stevie. But I'm just inspired by him. I'm inspired by a lot of music, a lot of artists.
Oh, it was really fun. I've never done this event, so I'm hoping I can do it again.
CONNOR GREENWALL: Davis wrapped up his harmonica concert right as the light rail pulled into the downtown hub.
[MUSIC PLAYS: An original song by Jake Williams]
JAKE WILLIAMS: Hello, friends.
CONNOR GREENWALL: A quick transfer later, and the second act is underway.
JAKE WILLIAMS: My name is Jake Williams. I'm an instrumental guitar player, so I utilize a lot of modern guitar techniques, such as open tunings and two hand tapping and some other things that I usually do in my live shows.
Yeah, I played mostly original songs that I've written and released.
So there's usually more going on in these songs than what you're hearing right now. But I'm, I'm doing my best with just going solo acoustic without an amplifier.
CONNOR GREENWALL: Williams was playing his guitar with as much force as possible, trying to increase the volume. Combined with the temperature, he had to tune his guitar half-a-dozen times during the show.
JAKE WILLIAMS: There's nothing wood and strings like more than Arizona dry heat.
JAKE WILLIAMS: Thanks again to Herberger Theater for sponsoring this event as well as Downtown Phoenix. I think stuff like this is really awesome, especially in the age of AI. I feel like people are going to be clamoring for real world artistic experiences. So this is awesome.
CONNOR GREENWALL: The light rail chugged along back towards downtown while Williams plucked "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin.
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