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January 21, 2018 by Jeff Moriarty Leave a Comment

No Pants Light Rail Ride 2018 was fantastic!

The temperature went up and the pants came down for the 10th annual No Pants Light Rail Ride! It was unseasonably warm on Sunday, January 7, 2018 when 100s of people rode the light rail sans pants, while people in over a dozen other cities did their No Pants rides in actual wintery weather.

Even before the event, we had our first encounter with light rail security. It’s tradition for the organizers to draw arrows and signs on the ground from the light rail stop to the meet-up venue a few hours before the ride begins. This year, a pair of light rail security were on the platform as we began to chalk the ground with a large “No Pants” and an arrow. They asked what we were doing, and we nonchalantly responded, “We have an event today.” We were surprised they didn’t know what “No Pants” referred to.

At 1pm, we kicked off the ride by kicking off our pants. Pantsless groups boarded the light rail, starting at various points from the east and the west to converge at DeSoto Central Market. Most of the reactions from onlookers were positive. A group on one train said they were protesting global climate change – it shouldn’t be warm enough ride the rails in January in undies and t-shirts. Others said they were just on their way to meet up with friends and they had no idea who these other pantsless riders were.

More than one train got a visit from light rail security who rode with the group. When invited to de-pants, they declined and pointed to the train’s security camera. They had a good laugh over where we were keeping our tickets with a lack of pockets.

This was the first year we used DeSoto Central Market as the meetup location, definitely the biggest venue we’ve used to date. The main group from the west side arrived before the east side group, and they said the panted patrons were bewildered and delighted at the arrival of the second pantsless group, as if they thought the first group was an anomaly. Several panted patrons dropped trou and joined in our fun.

(BTW – To the panted couple at DeSoto who were having their first date when our pantsless group arrived: She thanked us for giving them something that broke the ice and something to talk about. She said the odds of a second date were high.)

One of the highlights of the meetup was the live music courtesy of The Painted Soul. Their sound was so funky and festive and it made our group feel welcome in the space. It was so much fun seeing dozens of people dancing in their underwear.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s ride! You can see our photographer’s images from the event here, and we were covered in both The Phoenix New Times and AZ Central.

We’ve created a Facebook event for next year’s ride if you want to join us again. We won’t know the official date until Improv Everywhere announces it in December, but it’s usually a Sunday in early January. Please add yourself to stay in the loop and please subscribe to our list so you’ll know about all of our upcoming shenanigans.

Filed Under: flash mob, reports Tagged With: No Pants Light Rail Ride, No Pants Subway Ride, NoPantsPhx

May 9, 2017 by Jeff Moriarty 3 Comments

Spreading Love Like Butter

There’s a lot of anger and frustration out there, so we thought it would be nice to remind people that they are beautiful and the world is also filled with lots of love. So last Saturday, 60 amazing people braved the Phoenix heat to share some joy with unsuspecting drivers with our first Love and Compliments Rally!

courtesy Kenny Muzzey

We made signs created to make people smile and they drove through the intersection at Central Avenue and Indian School Road. Here were some of our favorites:

  • I like your face.
  • You deserve tacos.
  • You could survive the zombie apocalypse.
  • You are beautiful.
  • Kevin loves you.
  • Honk 4 love.

This event had nothing to do with politics or any causes, and not even sarcasm. We just wanted to let people know how much they are loved, and that they all help make the world a better place.

People loved the love

courtesy, Amy Larsen

We stood at the intersection for about 45 minutes, getting lots of honks, smiles, and waves from cars. The best was an older couple where the wife in the passenger seat was nudging her husband the driver to honk the horn, and when he refused, she reached over and did it herself. They were adorable.

Toward the end of the rally, a car pulled up next to us. It was people from Kneaders Bakery and Cafe. They had extra box meals from an event they supported that morning, and they wanted to give us the leftovers to share some love for us. We happily took their leftovers and shared most of them with the homeless people in the area.

Check out just a few of the great pictures in our Facebook album.

We will do it again

Special thanks to everyone who ventured out into the blazing sun to share some love with us. We’ll definitely do this again.

If you want to join us, make sure you sign up for our email list so you don’t miss it!

You are beautiful!

 

Filed Under: Missions, reports Tagged With: #loveandcomplimentsrally, love, Phoenix, protest, rally, signs

January 10, 2017 by Ruth Carter Leave a Comment

No Pants 2017 Recap: Who Needs Pants?

Hundreds of people suited up to drop their pants at the 9th Annual No Pants Light Rail Ride! On Sunday, January 8, 2017, we boarded the train, starting at platforms all over the valley, and headed to central Phoenix sans pants.

Photo by Devon C. Adams Photography

We had two main groups gather near the east and west ends of the rail line. As the pantsless crowd gathered, drivers started slowing down to stare, gawk, and honk their horns. Some waiting in the left turn lane got out their phones to take pictures. At the airport starting point, one person offered to get their friend to bring the group pants while an airport employee dropped trou for a quick photo with the pantsless group before scuttling back to work.

As we boarded the trains, we got the standard reactions: shocked looks, giggles, and the occasional scowl. One person asked a pantsless rider what was going on, and she responded with, “I was hot and I convinced all these people to take their pants off too.” The panted man looked down at his own shorts, as to consider joining in himself, before deciding otherwise. Some people seemed completely unphased by our band of pantslessness. Perhaps we’ve been doing this so long that it’s become “normal.”

Photo by Ben J. Ammon Photography

We disembarked at the Roosevelt station and took our parade of legs to Angel Trumpet Ale House, which is always happy to have our pantsless patronage. We shared stories and took pictures over drinks and snacks before taking our group photo and heading back from whence we came. It was a fun time had by all . . . well most of us at least. The scowlers never like us.

Thank you to everyone who came out for the No Pants Light Rail, and especially to Angels Trumpet for hosting us. Be sure to check out the photos from this year’s ride of Flickr.

We heard some people missed the announcement for this year’s ride. (You missed a fun time.) To make sure that doesn’t happen again, we’ve already created a Facebook event for the 2018 No Pants Ride. We won’t know the official date until next fall, but if you add yourself, you’ll definitely be kept in the loop.

Make sure you’re on our mailing list to stay in the loop on our next flash mob and all our shenanigans.

The No Pants Light Rail Ride is part of global No Pants Subway Ride, founded by Improv Everywhere.

Filed Under: flash mob, Missions, reports Tagged With: Global No Pants Subway Ride, Improv AZ, improv everywhere, ImprovAZ, No pants day, No Pants Light Rail Ride, Phoenix No Pants Ride

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