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Some Valley venues boast built-in spectacle, perfect for amping up a concert’s atmosphere. Topping that list is Tempe’s Hayden Flour Mill. The 107-year-old landmark’s towering silos set an epic backdrop for shows at its outdoor event space, including the new Mill Music Sessions.
The free, all-ages concert series, launched in October, features notable Valley bands performing at the base of Hayden Mill, while local creatives display their works and conduct live art sessions. Promoters say it aims to foster creativity and support the Tempe Arts and Music Coalition.
They also hope it can build toward a larger goal. Namely, restoring Tempe’s “musical heartbeat” and recapturing some of its ‘80s and ‘90s heyday as a concert destination.
Jacqueline Swan, Tempe Arts and Music Coalition’s president, says the event was partially inspired by the city’s live music legacy. Decades ago, downtown Tempe was home to iconic Mill Avenue rock bars like Long Wong’s that hosted such influential bands as Gin Blossoms and The Pistoleros.
“Music is one of the things Tempe is known for,” she says. “My first outdoor show was at Hayden Square (Amphitheatre) when I was a teenager. It was this big punk festival with a lot of local bands. But you haven’t seen as much of those types of events (in recent years).”
While the area’s live music scene has dimmed considerably in the ensuing years due to redevelopment, Swan thinks it can flourish again. Mill Music Sessions is a first step towards that goal.
“We’re trying to incubate more art and music in Tempe in unexpected places or an unexpected way,” she says. “So to be able to activate a historic site like Hayden Mill with live art and live music was just the kind of thing we wanna be doing. We’re bringing more music back to Mill, which I think people really miss. Plus, we’re providing some new paid opportunities that didn’t exist before.”
How Mill Music Sessions was born
The event came about after local promoter Ryan Eland pitched the concept of a limited concert series at Hayden Mill to the city and the Downtown Tempe Authority earlier this year. After securing funding, he approached Tempe Arts and Music Coalition.
“It’s a beautiful handshake between our music community and the city, and it’s not always been the best relationship,” Eland told the Tempe Tribune last month.
Swan says Eland’s promoting experience and her knowledge of the local art scene helped make the event a reality.
“He has a lot of his own music connections, so he took care of kind of booking the bands and sound engineering and stage design,” Swan says. “And then I started getting in touch with artists.”
The first edition of Mill Music Sessions “went off great,” Swan says. More than 1,000 people turned out for the event, which featured seven artists displaying works and sets from Wyves, Banana Gun and Big Finish.
“It felt really great to be able to come together with this team of locals and do something that felt a little bit different from what’s usually going on (downtown) Tempe and was really only focused on art and music,” Swan says.
Swan is hoping for a similar turnout at this month’s edition of Mill Music Sessions on Friday, Nov. 20. Tempe rock band Farmer Wilson will headline, with two additional bands being announced in the coming weeks. The event will benefit Tempe Arts and Music Coalition, and a beer garden is also planned. Patrons are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs for the lawn area of Hayden Mill’s event space.
A third edition of Mill Music Sessions is set for Jan. 31.
Swan says she hopes the series can help fill gaps in the city’s music and gallery spaces while bringing people together.
“We want to bring this sense of community and art that used to be really lively and ubiquitous across Tempe,” Swan says. “I think the crossover with this event to our mission is there’s a lack of music space, gallery space, affordable places that people can go and musicians can perform at. And this sort of helped check all those boxes.”
Mill Music Sessions. 6 to 10 p.m., Friday, Nov. 30 and Jan. 31, at Hayden Flour Mill, 119 Mill Ave., Tempe. Admission is free.
