This summer was hot. Temperatures broke 110 nearly every day. The monsoon rain was hot. The wind was hot. The concerts were hot. While you were gone on summer break, some pretty awesome shows continued to tour through Arizona despite the heat and pleased music lovers of all types.
New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys, Bob Dylan, Katy Perry, Skrillex, Journey and the Mayhem Festival all visited Arizona this summer; an extremely wide variety of genres graced Phoenix’s music scene.
New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys revived their '90s preteen heartthrob status. Touring together through Arizona in late June, they proved they still have what we all thought dissolved away more than 10 years ago.
Seventy-year-old Bob Dylan, after many decades of sharing his music with the world, also made it to Arizona one more time in mid-July. Katy Perry headlined a couple of weeks later on the same stage at Comerica Theatre.
Skrillex, riding his recent rise to fame, stopped by in Scottsdale with fellow electro artists Porter Robinson and Zedd for a night of lights, dance beats and dancing.
In its fourth year of existence, Mayhem Festival gained some credibility this time around with Disturbed, Godsmack and Megadeth taking the Rockstar Energy Drink main stage at Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion.
Ashley Pavilion also welcomed Journey, Foreigner, and Night Ranger this summer. The first two have relatively new lead singers, but they still gave a dynamite performance for all of the nostalgic 40-somethings and their college-aged children who have grown up listening to '80s hair bands. Jack Blades of Night Ranger did not disappoint either.
Piano rocker Ben Folds had two Arizonan stops on his tour this July. One was at the Rialto Theatre in Tucson and another at the Marquee Theater in Tempe. At the Tempe show, Folds’ opening act was Kenton Chen, an a capella performer Folds met while judging the second season of “The Sing-Off” last December.
Ben Folds, known for his thick-rimmed glasses, incredible piano playing and mixture of soft ballads and hard rock songs, performed the majority of his newest full-length album, “Lonely Avenue,” written by author Nick Hornby. Folds’ audience was an extremely diverse crowd – in attendance were senior citizens, toddlers and people of every age in between.
The Decemberists paid a visit to Mesa Arts Center last Thursday and showcased their newest album, “The King is Dead” very well. Although the album is solid and lead singer Colin Meloy did a fantastic job belting out his lyrics, the band’s greatest song of the night was “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” from their 2005 album Picaresque. The nearly nine-minute song served as a perfect encore thanks to the crowd’s involvement and the utilization of instruments such as the mandolin, accordion, and stand-up bass.
Passing through town last week was Scotland natives Frightened Rabbit on tour with indie rock legends Death Cab For Cutie. The combination of Frightened Rabbit’s beards and accents captured the audiences’ attention, along with the catchy tunes of their newly released album, “The Winter of Mixed Drinks.”
Unlike Frightened Rabbit, Death Cab focused less on the publicity of their new album and more on what they knew the majority of the crowd wanted to hear. Of the eleven songs on “Codes and Keys,” released in May of this year, the band performed four. The rest were all oldies from Death Cab For Cutie’s discography that the fans were begging to see them perform. Frontman Ben Gibbard pleased his crowd, performing on multiple instruments throughout the set and mocking how hot Arizona is. “Can you imagine if this show were outdoors? F--- that,” Gibbard noted between songs.
The big shows and exciting concerts don’t just occur during the summer, though; keep a heads up for Lil Wayne’s tour coming through Phoenix on the 25th of this month. Bon Iver, Fleets Foxes and the Walkmen will also be performing at Comerica Theatre during the middle of September. Blink-182, Matt and Kim and native Arizonans Jimmy Eat World are also headlining this year’s edition of Fall Frenzy at Tempe Beach Park late next month, so don’t forget to mix in a little fun in with all of the schoolwork you are being assigned.
Reach the reporter at kmstark1@asu.edu
