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Local bassist TK Campo got his start in Phoenix’s arts scene thanks to Joanna TwentyThree. Along with her late husband, Michael, 23, she introduced him to local DIY culture through their now-defunct space, The Firehouse. The experience shaped Campo, who’s giving back by organizing a benefit concert Friday for TwentyThree’s current venue, Miami Art Works.
Both spots have been vital to Arizona’s DIY scene and meaningful to Campo.
“Some of my first memories of being a part of the community stem from the Firehouse, watching bands play or performing (there) myself,” Campo says. “I’ve also got good memories of playing at Miami (Art Works), hanging out with Andy Warpigs or helping out The Doyenne. Joanna and that community have left so many good impressions on me; helping out like this is the least I can do.”
And Miami Art Works needs all the help it can get right now.
Lob Instagon
‘No one was prepared for it’
In late September, monsoon storms ravaged the two adjoining buildings making up the Miami, Arizona art space and venue. Flooding heavily damaged two businesses within the property, the Lyric Soda Fountain Shop and Thee 23 Skidoo bar. Hurricane-force winds also tore off portions of the roof.
Musician Lob Instagon, a Miami Arts Commission board member who resides at the venue, says enduring the storms was a “maddening” experience.
“No one was prepared for it,” he says. “It was 60 to 70 miles per hour winds going sideways with dime-sized hail. It just ripped the roof off the Lyric and Thee Skidoo and threw it into our courtyard.”
Other damage to Miami Art Works, a hub for art and music events since its founding in the 2010s, was extensive. Waters from a creek behind its buildings flooded the ground floor as rain poured through exposed ceilings. Both wreaked havoc, ravaging artwork and mementos from TwentyThree and her late husband’s former spaces, Firehouse and Thought Crime.
“The entire archives of Thought Crime and Firehouse and every other thing Michael 23 had done in Phoenix was in those archives,” Instagon says. “I’d estimate 40% of it got destroyed.”
TwentyThree and others at Miami Art Works are still assessing the damage, including structural issues. Over the weekend, remnants of Hurricane Priscilla dumped more torrential rainfall on Miami, pushing floodwaters back toward the battered venue. As of Monday, it was unknown if the latest storms caused further damage to Miami Art Works.
Instagon says they “don’t even know” when it will reopen or host events again.
“It’s been pretty overwhelming,” Instagon says.
A GoFundMe launched on Sept. 26 by TwentyThree’s sister-in-law has raised nearly $16,000 as of Monday. Instagon says Miami Art Works will need much more to get back on its feet.
“Our damages here are probably going to be exceeding $50,000. Both our buildings took structural damage. Our gallery and all of our workshops were destroyed,” he says. “All of our businesses are shut down, so our only income currently is through the GoFundMe and whatever else people can do to help.”
Enter Campo, who’s helping organize this weekend’s Miami Art Works benefit at Overdue.
Gracklz
‘It’s the right thing to do’
Campo, a former board member of Phoenix DIY venue The Trunk Space, has been booking his Noodles Night Cafe residency at Overdue in recent weeks. In late September, Trunk Space co-founder Steph Carrico suggested turning one night into a benefit for Miami Art Works.
Campo was happy to oblige.
“It’s important to support Miami Art Works and Joanna because it’s the right thing to do,” he says. “Not just because of what (she) and her husband did for the downtown art scene for so long. Not just because they opened a refuge in Miami for people to come to. Not just because they continue to support art and music from Miami. Lots of people in that area need support right now, and helping support one part of it can lead to good for the whole town.
The benefit’s lineup includes local artists with previous ties to Firehouse or MAW’s annual Miami Loco festival to honor TwentyThree’s legacy.
“We wanted to be very thoughtful when it came to (who) got booked, so (we) tried to focus on acts that played Firehouse back in the day or participated in Miami Loco,” Campo says.
The benefit will include dark synth/guitar duo Gracklz and experimental sound artist Parker Weston’s noise project Stembreo. Phoenix garage-rock band Thee MadCaPs will perform an acoustic set.
Instagon’s namesake band will also take the stage. He describes the long-running “conceptual project” as a “unique anomaly” with no set or lineup ever repeated.
“It’s been going on 32 years. I never rehearse or practice for it and I never play with the same ensemble on stage. So it’s an improvisational project. Sometimes it’s a full rock band. Sometimes it’s jazz. Sometimes it’s unpredictable. Once it happens, it’s gone forever.”
Instagon says he’s looking forward to the gig.
“I’m really excited about playing,” Instagon says. “I think it’s the first of probably many benefits.”
Noodle’s Benefit Night, 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, at Overdue, 1346 W. Roosevelt St. $10 donation.
