Audio By Carbonatix
Arizona has no shortage of punk shows. On any given weekend, you can catch bands ripping through sets at spots like Rips Bar or Tempe’s Yucca Tap Room.
But a festival dedicated entirely to showcasing Arizona punk acts? According to Phoenix resident and promoter Ruben Garcia Jr., that’s something that’s never happened.
“There have been punk events and festivals, but there’s never been a full-blown festival with bands from Flagstaff, Tucson, Prescott and elsewhere,” Garcia says. “It hasn’t been done.”
That changes this weekend when the inaugural Arizona Punk Festival takes over the Nile Theater in Mesa.
The all-ages event on Saturday features a dozen acts spanning multiple corners of the genre, including Four Banger, Rejected Monsters, Skeleton Army, Bad and Dumb, Sick in the Head, Asphalt Alchemy, Perfect Sense, Vox Manicka, Something Outrageous and Swigfoot.
Jonny Stalnaker
Garcia, who launched the Arizona Goth Festival in 2020, says the idea was born from a desire to bring together a community that often feels fragmented.
“I had the idea, ‘Why hasn’t anyone thrown an Arizona punk festival?'” Garcia says. “There have been punk events and festivals, but there’s never been an Arizona punk festival that has bands from Tempe, Mesa, Flagstaff, Tucson, Prescott. It hasn’t been done.”
Garcia says the concept emerged from the same impulse that sired the Arizona Goth Festival during the pandemic.
“The idea was founded at the time when it felt like everyone needed something to hope for and look forward to,” he says. “A punk festival seemed like a natural idea. Let’s get together and celebrate what’s still special about our community when so many things seem to be disappearing.”
The Arizona Punk Festival’s lineup reflects Garcia’s belief that punk is far more expansive than many outsiders realize.
“There are certain festivals locally that have a lot of punk to offer, but there has never been a festival focused solely on punk,” Garcia says. “It’s not just thrash punk or regular punk rock. We have ska bands, folk-punk acts, basically every branch that comes off the punk limb performing that night.”
That diversity was intentionally baked into the festival’s DNA by Garcia and others involved with the event.
Garcia compares the festival to “a Baskin-Robbins 31 flavors of punk,” with bands representing different sounds, styles and approaches to the genre.
One of his goals is introducing younger fans to local artists in the same way he discovered Arizona punk as a teenager.
“I remember going to local shows when I was 12 or 13 years old, seeing Authority Zero at The Clubhouse,” Garcia says. “Learning that national music wasn’t the only special thing. Right down the street from you, your favorite band might be playing.”
The Nile Theater felt like the obvious place to host such an event.
For decades, the historic Mesa venue has served as a launching pad for countless punk, ska and alternative bands. Garcia points to stories from acts such as Rise Against and Slightly Stoopid, who have spoken about early Arizona shows helping build their audiences.
“A lot of the bands you hear on the radio most likely played at least three to five shows at The Nile in its heyday,” Garcia says. “It seems appropriate.”
Dave Pisani
In addition to live music, Arizona Punk Festival will feature vendors like Gilbert vinyl emporium Grace Records and performances by Pain Proof Punks, who are creating a family-friendly version of their normally more extreme burlesque and sideshow-inspired act.
Garcia acknowledges that debuting a new festival aimed at a niche audience in the midst of an Arizona summer isn’t necessarily an easy feat. Convincing bands and local punks to believe in a new event can be the bigger challenge, though.
“It really is a proof of concept,” Garcia says. “We can create a celebration of art and community without absolute capital and we can do this all ourselves.”
Garcia says the festival’s success won’t be measured solely by ticket sales or attendance. The larger goal is showing that Arizona’s punk scene is diverse enough to support a statewide gathering under one roof.
“I’ve been going to punk shows for 20 years and I’ve never seen this,” Garcia says. “I’m just the one who’s stupid enough to do it.
Arizona Punk Festival. Saturday, June 20, 5 p.m. at The Nile Theater, 105 W. Main St., Mesa. Tickets are $39.19 in advance and $40 on the day of the show.
