Pop Goes the Summer

Summer in Phoenix means more than just triple-digit temperatures and massive music festival tours. Here in the Valley of the Sun, it also means a smaller population (see ya in November, snowbirds!) and a ton of awesome local shows. And while paying $45 for a festival ticket at some massive outdoor amphitheater — where a bottle of water costs $10 — might appeal to some people, we’re offering a more intimate, cost-effective alternative: the New Times Summer of Sound series.

This year, we’re modeling the series after the “Summer of Love” and the Woodstock festival — the idea being that even in the face of warnings about global warming, political unrest, and inflated gas prices, we can still get together over music and dance naked in the mud like happy hippies. Well, okay, maybe not the latter part — but we can still get together over music. And rather than cram 35 artists on one stage for one day, we’ve decided to again stagger seven shows in seven genres, over the course of 14 weeks. This year’s categories of shows run the gamut: punk, hip-hop, pop, jazz, experimental/eclectic, rock, and metal. Each show boasts a hot national headliner, as well as four of Phoenix’s finest local acts. We’re setting up some stellar shows, including the “Pop” showcase on June 21 at The Sets in Tempe with headliner Limbeck and Phoenix artists What Laura Says Thinks and Feels, Jody Gnant, The Via Maris, and Matthew Gilbert (of Poem), and others.

Sat., June 21, 7 p.m., 2008