Happy holidays, metalheads! We hope that you not only had a head-banging
Some Arizona holiday show staples are in order, like Christmas Pudding and Desert
Friday, December 2 – Warhead CD Release – Club Red
Arizona speed metallers Warhead are kicking off your holiday season with a live show celebrating the release of the band’s second full-length album, Age of Tomorrow, an intense record that’s bound to continue building the band’s popularity on a national scale. And since this show is brought to you by 13th Floor Entertainment, you can expect a whole buffet of delicious metal goodness. There’s Brain Dead, the four-piece based out of L.A. with the sole goal of melting faces with their music; Sanitation Squad, a personal local favorite of mine that combines the best parts of punk, metal, and rock; along with Through the Earth; Unholy Monarch; and Eye Rake.
Friday, December 2 – CO-OP EP Release party – Joe’s Grotto
Sure, CO-OP might fall more into the rock 'n' roll genre, but the band’s mission is nothing short of metal. It’s common knowledge that frontman Dash Cooper makes his father Alice proud with his musical skill set, giving AZ rock an even more solid name — but the band is also freshly signed to David Ellefson’s label, EMP, are in the midst of releasing their EP, and are all about bringing attention to the Solid Rock Teen Center, which was started by Alice Cooper to nurture young musicians. So Teen Center members get in free with ID, and for everyone
Dec 2-4 – Desert
Desert
On Friday, the doors open at 5:30 and the line up includes:
Tome
Christopher Shayne
Jane n' the jungle
Bomb Track
Divided minds
Dutch Rosenberg Theater
On Saturday the doors open at 4:15, and the lineup includes:
Pelvic Meatloaf (who will give you a free Stronger Than You CD with the purchase of your tickets if you get them straight from the band, and who are also shooting a music video during this show)
Sicmonic
Absolute Threshold
Virulent
Deathgrip
Dawn Awaits
Fatal Malady
Hounds of Tindalos
Prepare The Gallows
Saturday, December 3 – Alice Cooper’s Christmas Pudding – Celebrity Theatre
It goes without saying that this annual variety show is legendary. It’s one of Phoenix’s signature holiday events, and it brings together some of the past and present’s greatest musicians, actors, comedians, dancers, and more, all in the name of raising money for the Solid Rock Teen Center. This year it’s an all-star line-up, with the Hollywood Vampires (Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp, Joe Perry), Korn, the Gin Blossoms, and Sammy Hagar.
Saturday, December 3 – Dark Tranquillity – Club Red
As one of the longest-standing bands from the Swedish (Gothenburg) metal scene, Dark Tranquillity is one of those seasoned, stylistic metal acts that, in the flesh, sounds exactly like they do on the album. Early in
Tuesday, December 6 – Asking Alexandria – Livewire
Some just can’t
Wednesday, December 7 – Children of Bodom – The Pressroom
If December 6 hosted a plethora of trendier metal acts, then this show is all about the classic and esteemed. Finnish heavy metal band Children of Bodom released a new album earlier this year, with melodic hooks and a ton of impressive guitar acrobatics of Alexi Laiho, further concentrating themselves as one of the world’s most loved metal acts. And when you throw in vet acts like Abbath, Exmortus, and Oni, you have one seasoned bill.
Immortalized Productions, Heavy Metal Television, That Metal Station, and Dustbowl Metal Show (just to name a few) all bring you this local love at The Rogue. Atmospheric death metal outfit Lord of War headlines, along with Lago, one of my favorite Phoenix metal bands on the scene right now. Avarice and
Friday, December 9 – Flotsam & Jetsam – Club Red
Flotsam & Jetsam have
Friday, December 16 – Singularity, Animus Complex, The Exiled Martyr, and more – Club Red
Fresh with their Void Walker EP, technical black metal powerhouse Singularity is setting the bar at this show, a veritable showcase of local metal. The lineup the band put together includes the beautiful technical metal stylings of Animus complex, heavy hitters The Exiled Martyr, A Lapse of Ethos, Deadspawn, Depraved Heretic, Path of Exile, and more. Plus, with a bar special of $8 Blue Balls (shot of fireball and a PBR tall boy), what more could you ask for at the holidays?
Sunday, December 18 – Lynch Mob,
American hard rockers Lynch
Saturday, December 31 – Steel Panther – Livewire
What better way to ring in the New Year than partying with America’s favorite comedy rock/glam metal band? Steel Panther is a show to remember all on its own; last time they were in town, they were opening for Judas Priest. Think of them as a cross between our locally loved Metal Head and Guns N' Roses. They’ve got crazy musical talent (their guitarist can