The Land of Enchantment

If you haven't had the chance to drive along the 10 freeway across east Arizona, you're missing out. It looks like the massive rocks were literally sprinkled into place from the sky. Piles of rocks are balanced perfectly on top of one another making for a unique desert scenery. 

Econoline still truckin' along like a champ!

We made a couple stops along the way to New Mexico to snap some photos...

Rock climbing

Looking out over the desert

Finally we arrive in Las Cruces, NM and immediately we're again curious as to how the evening might turn out. You see, the general consensus among the locals is that Las Cruces, NM is not the "Land of Enchantment" but rather the "Land of Entrapment" This was our third time in Las Cruces, and everytime, we hear from the few people that we meet that no one seems to have much interest for the arts and music. They seem negative and indifferent when they talk about the music and art scene in general. 

The girls

and The boys

So why stop here...again? Well it's on the way, and Moe has been in contact with an artistic pioneer named Kiki Rodriguez who has been living out of her car for the last year in order to see her dream come true: To open a music venue in Las Cruces. Moe and Kiki planned the grand opening of the creative art/music space "Yum Bunny" and 

it turned out to be a very interesting yet magical evening. 

In the middle of a sad little neighborhood, Kiki brought some light...well actually, a LOT of light

Kiki decorated the entire venue with bright colors, lights, and magic :)

Hand-painted mannequins from different parts of the world

Re-contructed art pieces 

The Peacock guards the rocks, crystals and corals

My blinking little robot friends

Stepping through the door of the "Yum Bunny" was 

like falling down the rabbit hole, where objects seem familiar yet foreign 

because of the new color, light and construction. She even had a stage built (which was later our bed because she let us crash at the venue) where we performed for an enthusiastic few locals. We met a few really cool people in Las Cruces who really touched our hearts. A couple of them blow glass in a workshop next door and left us a care package filled with home made incense, necklaces, and copper earrings for the girls. 

Our care package from Jackson and Mike with a note that thanked us for bringing our music to Las Cruces. 

After both bands played, we spent the rest of the night jamming, writing tunes together, listening to Kiki's own songs, and just having a good time. I think it is safe to say that this was one of my favorite shows so far. We're all very proud of Kiki and we're glad we got to be a part of her grand opening. 

Kiki sang her heart out and we sang along with her!

To all you touring bands out there, you MUST stop by and play at the Yum Bunny!