Mesa Arts Center

Culture Following

Puppet Love

Fleetwood Mac, Gregg Allman, Bonnie Raitt, And More Just Announced Shows

Did anyone watch David Letterman Monday night? Well, if you didn't, you missed the greatest rock band of all time, Led Zeppelin, interviewed after receiving a Kennedy Center Honor. Something about seeing them together made me feel...overwhelmed. They're still alive but they have no intention of ge ... More >>

Fiona Apple and Blake Mills, Mesa Arts Center, 9/18/12

Fiona Apple and Blake Mills @ Mesa Arts Center|Tuesday, September 18Singer/songwriter Fiona Apple has a reputation. Her public struggles with fame and her label give the impression that a Fiona Apple performance could fall apart at any moment. But it never came close last night at Mesa Arts Center ... More >>

Blake Mills: Fiona Apple's Guitarist Makes Killer Pop on His Own

Blake Mills isn't a household name, but like classic sidemen of lore (David Lindley, Ry Cooder, Leon Russell), he's makes an impact wherever he shows up. As a guitarist in Fiona Apple's band (he's performing with her on Tuesday, September 18, at Mesa Arts Center), Lucinda Williams, Cass McCombs, B ... More >>

Incoming: Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, The Walkmen

As usual, we're stoked for lots of upcoming concerts, but this week we're excited about a little extra hard-rockin' estrogen on the list.Nobody puts on a great performance quite like a strong female frontwoman. If you're a heartbreaker who loves rock 'n' roll, then you won't want to miss out on ... More >>

Big Bangs Theory

Wet Strength

Art Cars: American Folk Art You Can't Hang on the Wall

Incoming: Flogging Molly, Dr. Dog, Steve Aoki

​Before you know it, it will once again be one of the craziest party days of the year: St. Patrick's Day. Lucky for us locals, we're blessed with an annual celebration in Tempe Beach Park featuring a performance by Flogging Molly. It's official: they're back for some more luck o' the Irish an ... More >>

Chat Room

Incoming: Bush, Meat Puppets, Brian Setzer, Puscifer, Starfucker

​English rockers Bush, who have always had better luck in the US than in their own home country, are looking to further their success as they sweep through Phoenix in December.If you've been eagerly awaiting to hear grunge hits like "Glycerine" and yearning to enviously stare at Gavin Rossdale whi ... More >>

Incoming: 311, Chris Cornell, The Chariot

​Even though it's another somewhat slow week as far as upcoming concert announcements go, it's a good week to be a rock fan.Gear up to buy tickets to the performances of some really solid talent.311, Chris Cornell, The Chariot, and other artists will be bringing their shows to town soon.The rest o ... More >>

Puscifer Venue Announced: Mesa Arts Center

​UPDATE: The show has been rescheduled for Friday, December, 9.Yesterday we brought the news that the ever-busy Maynard James Keenan was bringing his art-rock/comedy troupe Puscifer to Phoenix on Friday, December 9, with the venue TBA. Today, we can confirm that Puscifer is scheduled to perform at ... More >>

The Decemberists at Mesa Arts Center With Video, 8/11/11

The DecemberistsMesa Arts CenterThursday, August 11I guess I had The Decemberists pegged wrong. Here's this insanely popular indie-folk-Americana blended outfit with heavily starched clothing that comes from (where else?) Portland, Oregon. Yes, lead singer and songwriter Colin Meloy has a beard. Yes ... More >>

Steve Martin and Six More Actors Who Don't Totally Suck at Music

One of these men was "born a poor black child."​He may be known best as a "wild and crazy guy," but Steve Martin is the master of more than one craft. In addition to his work as a comedian and actor, Martin is a writer, playwright, and as Rare Bird Alert, his new album with The Steep Canyon Range ... More >>

Winter's Bone: Music From the Motion Picture Performed Live Last Night at Mesa Arts Center, 6-8-2011

Blackberry Winter​Winter's Bone- Music from the Film Performed LiveMesa Arts CenterJune 8, 2011Americana is a funny genre. It's not fair to call every dude or lady in cowboy boots a poser -- and, seriously, in 2011 the word poser sounds awfully outdated -- but it does seem that the acoustic guitar ... More >>

Guy Fieri The Road Show -- It's Happening Tomorrow

Guy Fieri ​Just in case you've been living under a rock or need a friendly reminder, the spiky-haired Food Network star Guy Fieri will be on stage at Mesa Arts Center tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.. The National Pork Board (what's a "pork board"?) sponsored event promises to bring "the best elements of a l ... More >>

Living Colour's Doug Wimbish Discusses Band Reunions, Jimi Hendrix, and Embracing Your Fears

Living Colour​A lot has happened to punk-metal pioneers Living Colour in the 23 years since their breakthrough album, Vivid, was released. After having hits with their songs "Cult of Personality" and "Open Letter (To a Landlord)," the band broke up while the members devoted themselves to various ... More >>

Revenge of the Nerd

Tapped Out

Eavesdropping made easy with Jonathan Goldstein

Phase 54, Merle Haggard, First Friday, and the Trailer Park Over the Weekend

​Merle Haggard at Mesa Arts Center Merle Haggard's Sunday show at Mesa Arts Center demonstrated the old outlaw to be an outlier. The California native didn't play a long set -- just a little over an hour, actually -- but he looked and sounded great, despite songs like "Tonight, The Bottle Let ... More >>

Cizmar/Chilton: Can Phoenix or Mesa Get Some Synergy Going After the Great Valley Venue Shakeup of 2010?

​It's been a tumultuous year for Phoenix-area venues. Kicking off with Modified Arts' move from indie rock venue to straight-up gallery, things have been shifting and sliding and opening and closing like gangbusters.Downtown all-ages venue Phix is the latest casualty, with Scottsdale's Chyro Arts ... More >>

Critics, Love, and The Avett Brothers

Chris Rush's "Stare" at Mesa Arts Center Puts Viewers Face-to-Face with the Disabled

Curtains: Southwest Shakespeare's Blithe Spirit Is Blithe and Spirited, Thank God

Ash Rhodes, BlackHole Photography Justine Hartley (left), Ben Tyler, and Serena Vesper are ectoplasmically challenged in Blithe Spirit.​Wanna know a secret about publicity photos? A show's final hair and makeup designs often do not appear in them, since they're taken weeks or months before ... More >>

Lady Gaga, Alice Cooper, Guy Fieri and Santarchy Over the Weekend

​Alice Cooper's Christmas Pudding Friday night was the ninth installment of Alice Cooper's Christmas Pudding, though speaking in Christmas/culinary terms, it was really more of a fruitcake, with ingredients both numerous and diverse mingling to create a final product I would definitely try to ... More >>

Dixie's Tupperware Party Offers Classic Plastics with a Twist

We've been eyeing the leftovers in our fridge, some of them of questionable lineage, possibly dating back to Thanksgiving (don't worry -- we're talking about this Thanksgiving), and pondering whether we should tackle the fuzzy brown contents inside or just toss them, unopened, into the trash. Eith ... More >>

The Swell Season Now Has A Mural (Controvery to Follow?)

The Swell Season memorialized in a mural in downtown Phoenix.​Uh oh: Arty Girl is not gonna like this.At first Friday I noticed that the good folks at Stateside Presents have not heeded the words of advice Lilia Menconi dispensed in her blog criticizing the Monsters of Folk mural that appeared on ... More >>

King of the Mountain

Hill-bagging badass kicks off National Geo Live series

Art Burn: Queen's Pizza Not "Fitting In" Boring Mesa

It didn't take Forbes magazine's list of most boring big cities to convince us that Mesa is one sleepy little 'burb when it comes to arts and culture. Sure, there's the state-of-the-art Mesa Arts Center, but outside of that, the town's pretty much a chain store infested, super kid-friendly wonderlan ... More >>

Concert Calendar for This Weekend

As Tall As Lions is scheduled to perform on Sunday at the PHiX.

Curtains: Dixie's Tupperware Party at Mesa Arts Center

Say it out loud, hookers: "Dixie Longate." Mmmm, they sure do. Photo by Bradford Rogne. Hey, it's another one-person off-Broadway touring show that features a lot of audience interaction. This trend is probably a good thing, with all these big expensive new Valley venues to fill up with ... More >>

Great Scot

Late Late Showman stands up

Concert news: Bacharach canceled, new shows announced

Coming soon -- but not soon enough -- to Mesa: de la Cruz Bistro

Theater Scene

What's running now

Theater Scene

What's running now

Art Scene

Current shows, exhibitions, and installations

Art Scene

Current shows, exhbitions and installations

Art Scene

Current shows, exhibits, and installations

Art Scene

Current shows, exhibitions and installations

Art Scene

Current exhibitions, shows, and installations

Art Scene

Current exhibitions, installations, and shows

Battle Acts

Which act deserves your entertainment dollar this week?

Life Is Sweat

Eye Lounge show explores the art of surviving summer in Phoenix

Night & Day

February 18 - 24, 1999

Night & Day

October 15 - 21, 1998

Plays of the Day

Laudable Scapin and Mission make for bravo combo

Kid Pics for the week