Love checking out live music in Phoenix? Then consider February’s packed concert calendar a Valentine of sorts. And it’s addressed to you.
It’s brimming with big shows and performances by famous names and living legends alike, including Robert Plant, Lana Del Ray, Bruce Cockburn, Miranda Lambert, Kid Koala, Fetty Wap, and They Might Be Giants.
February is also the unofficial beginning
There’s also a lot more happening around the Valley when it comes to concerts. Don’t believe us? Then check out the following list of the 25 best shows happening in February or hit up Phoenix New Times’ online concert calendar.
STRFKR
Thursday, February 1
The Van Buren
If you think that you haven’t heard a song by STRFKR, there’s a good chance you’re wrong. The electronic pop band’s 2008 banger “Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second” has been used in everything from Target pharmacy commercials to episodes of The Blacklist and Weeds. Besides commercial appeal, the band has had a reliable 10-year track record of creating solid albums full of light, synth-filled rock.
And they’ve been looking back on the early STRFKR days.
Last year, the band released roundups of rare and unheard tracks as small collections dubbed Vault Vol. 1, Vault Vol. 2, and Vault Vol. 3. The old tracks were allegedly saved from songwriter Josh Hodges’ ailing computer and date back as early as 2007. Now, they’re taking it all on the road. Lindsay Roberts
Passion Pit
Friday, February 2
Marquee Theatre in Tempe
Like many bedroom-recording success stories of the past decade, Passion Pit began in 2007 as Michael Angelakos’s unknown, one-off musical project. But the songs he created for a college girlfriend became the EP Chunk of Change, which led to shows, a record deal, and the formation of a full band. Evolving from laptop beats and the childish, chorus-of-voices approach that MGMT made famous, Passion Pit went on to produce commercial-friendly
Through a rotating cast of instrumentalists, the act has always remained Angelakos’s affair: He’s the principal songwriter and composer of everything that is Passion Pit. A few years ago, the musician went public with his battle with mental illness, but that action only seemed to strengthen his fan base. Bree Davies
Kid Koala
Friday, February 2, to Monday, February 5
Musical Instrument Museum
Nufonia Must Fall was turntablist Kid Koala's 2003 dialogue-free graphic novel that told the story of a headphones-wearing robot that falls in love with an office girl. In 2016, the Montreal DJ brought his vision to life with help from a dozen artists and technicians, led by Oscar-nominated production designer K.K. Barrett (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Lost in Translation, I Heart Huckabees, Her). It's now a touring production, which will spend four nights at the MIM in early February. Puppets are projected on a screen as they re-create each scene from the book on miniature sets. Kid Koala performs a live score along with a classical quartet. Siran Babayan
The Octopus Project
Saturday, February 3
The Rebel Lounge
Theremins, video games, and film scores — Austin’s the Octopus Project have many projects. A sci-fi quartet of multi-instrumentalists, the band have been releasing a steady string of inventive and hyperactive albums since forming in 1999. The band has become so good at producing their iconic sound that they’re in demand as film and video game composers.
It’s not surprising that they’re sought-after composers. The Octopus Project make music that’s highly visual. Using a mix of electronic and analog equipment, they blur together drum machines, guitars, percussion, keyboard, synths, and theremins to create a sound that’s as pixelated and manic as an old-school arcade game. Yvonne Lambert’s theremin playing is one of the band’s signatures. She uses her instrument’s wobbly UFO sounds to add a kitschy and retro element to the band’s energetic, Devo-inspired songs.
The Octopus Project are also known for putting on sensory overload inducing live shows. Psychedelic lights and projections of original video art and clips from old movies like I Am Cuba take the audience on a disorienting journey through the band’s kaleidoscopic music. Ashley Naftule
Desert Trash Party feat. AJJ
Saturday, February 3
The Van Buren
Folk-punk band AJJ will return to Phoenix on Saturday, February 3, to present Desert Trash, a party they curated that features a lineup full of “friends and heroes.” This multimedia event will be hosted by Kevin McDonald of Kids in the Hall fame. Turns out the legendary sketch comedian is a fan of the band, who came up playing the Trunk
Desert Trash's roster of bands predominately comprises Arizona acts. AJJ will share the stage with Xiu Xiu (solo), Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra, Chris Farren, Karima Walker, and Sundressed. The list of bands is still being finalized and more acts will be added soon. But we do know that AJJ will perform with the band's
In addition to the music and comedy, the party will feature exhibitions curated by local artist J.J. Horner presented throughout the venue, a live screen-printing demonstration from Tucson’s Tanline Printing, and a pop-up skate park courtesy of the folks from Valley-based Cowtown Skateboards. Amy Young
Walk the Moon
Wednesday, February 7
The Van Buren
Cincinnati pop-rock group Walk The Moon is using this year's Press Restart Tour to do just that: restart and enter a new phase of their existence as a band. The band has been out of the limelight for the last two years as frontman Nicholas Petricca cared for his ailing father.
Walk the Moon’s new album reflects those shifted priorities; it dials the energy back a bit and offers more contemplative lyrics. Even so, the band tore through an appearance on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve, revving up the crowd and sporting its trademark war paint. Walk the Moon also has big plans for this tour, including a collaboration with creative content maker FragmentNine, which has provided a live-action spaceship and laser lights to the show. Jeff Strowe
Sabaton
Thursday, February 8
The Van Buren
When a band is named after a knight’s foot armor, you can probably bet on two things: It’s either a power metal
So it makes sense that, in 2012, almost all the members left to form a band called Civil War, leaving vocalist Joakim Broden and bassist Par Sundstrom to recruit new members for their heavy international tour gigs. The band is still loved worldwide though, and they host an Open Air Sabaton festival, as well as a Sabaton cruise. Lauren Wise
Dua Lipa
Friday, February 9
The Van Buren
Dua Lipa has a whirlwind year in 2017. The 22-year-old U.K. pop singer released her debut, self-titled album and instantly saw breakout success with the single “New Rules,” which sailed to No. 1 in the United Kingdom, helping her finish the year as Spotify's most-streamed female artist from the U.K. Stateside, “New Rules” caught fire on YouTube, and American audiences are starting to get hip to the singer’s superstar prowess.
This year is shaping up to be huge for Lipa; she’s teamed up with high-profile producers such as Jack Antonoff, Diplo
Fetty Wap
Friday, February 9
Marquee Theatre
“Overnight success” has been the constant narrative of New Jersey rapper Fetty Wap’s rise to fame. But more than three years after his megahit “Trap Queen” bounced from SoundCloud to the Billboard charts, the glitter-voiced singer-rapper is no longer new to the game.
He’s already shared the stage with Kanye, collaborated with Drake and toured with Chris Brown — but it’s his own Remy Boyz with whom he’s most proud to share the spotlight. The “1738” crew is currently out on the road with the star helping to create the vibe of camaraderie and hometown street cred expressed in his music.
Off-kilter yet melodious and catchy, Fetty’s unique style of warbling has turned the notion of a club banger on its head while ruling the charts with four singles simultaneously — hardly a career move reserved for newcomers. Bree Davies
Blitzen Trapper
Saturday, February 10
The Rebel Lounge
It’s been over a decade since Blitzen Trapper’s breakout album Wild Mountain Nation blew the mustaches off half the country’s hipsters and turned them on to the world of experimental folk/country. The self-released album produced a Top 100 hit and garnered high-ranking reviews from Allmusic, PopMatters and Pitchfork, a virtually unheard-of consensus.
Once Sub Pop picked up the Portland-based band, the deal was sealed, and Blitzen Trapper secured its place at the top of the alt-folk heap. The latest offering, last year’s Wild and Reckless, checks all of the genre’s boxes and is bound to rank up there with the group’s most lauded records when all is said and done.
In a live setting, Blitzen Trapper manages to sound like a much larger ensemble than the five-piece it is. Their upcoming show at The Rebel Lounge will probably be one of the best country-infused
Lana Del Rey
Tuesday, February 13
Talking Stick Resort Arena
Lana Del Rey is embarking on an arena tour — a major step for a singer-songwriter who’s been pilloried for her live performances ever since her entry into pop music. Yet Del Rey has not swerved from her gloomy, cinematic vision; it’s the audience that has come around to her talents.
Her biggest breaks into the charts may be the 2013 remix of “Summertime Sadness” and her contribution to the Great Gatsby soundtrack, “Young and Beautiful,” but those songs are defined by a soaring contralto voice and glamorous death drive — which are all Del Rey.
With Lust for Life, her latest album, Del Rey officially moved from cult favorite to year-end best-of lists, garnering a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album. Del Rey will bring her chilly-beach-bingo aesthetic to her new L.A. to the Moon tour, where fans can expect a stripped-down style that resists pop-star expectations. Katie Moulton
Bruce Cockburn
Tuesday, February 13
Marquee Theatre in Tempe
Bruce Cockburn has to be the most hot-and-cold songwriter operating today. On one hand, there are songs about sunrises, horses running across golden plains, the mysteries of life, and spiritual awakening. And on the other, Cockburn fires off songs about narco-politics, human rights, religious flaws, and environmental degradation, offering such poignant lyrics as "If I had a rocket launcher, some son of a bitch would die."
He is not a man to hold back his feelings, ideas, and thoughts — no matter how unpopular or unusual. In fact, lyrics have always been Cockburn's strong suit, consistently offering striking visual images, thought-provoking nuance, and pointed allegory. His words have drawn the ire of politicos, church leaders, and right-wing leaners and praise from environmentalists, fellow musicians, the hippie set, and those just after a damn good song.
Musically, Cockburn typically meanders though loosely assembled styles and genres that call on Irish brogues, Native American spirits, Middle Eastern Sufis, Southern blues, American folk roots, and idiosyncratic jazz. Cockburn's arrangements are creative and cunning, shifting from numbers interspersed with carefully placed instrumentation or backup vocals and harmonies to stripped-down, barren, and raw orchestrations. He can rock as hard as The Who, shuffle at a whisper, or take on laid-back folk instrumentals à la Leo Kottke. Glenn BurnSilver
Jeff Rosenstock
Thursday, February 15
The Rebel Lounge
“They’re pushing you out in the name of progress and selling your memories to the tourists,” Jeff Rosenstock hollers on “Wave Goodnight to Me.” It’s just one of several songs on his latest album, Worry., which deals with gentrification. In an age when every arts district in America looks like it’s in a race to see who can transform themselves into a luxury condo enclave first, it packs a powerful punch.
While lyrics like “The city don’t care if you live or die / It’s just gonna grow and it doesn’t care why” drip with bitterness, it isn’t reflected in the sound of Rosenstock’s music. The pop-punk and third-wave ska veteran
Curren$y
Friday, February 16
Club Red
Curren$y has spent his career, which spans well over a decade, in the company of hip-hop’s major players like Master P, Lil Wayne, and Wiz Khalifa, each of whom took the rapper under his wing at different times. Because of that, the New Orleans native has been signed to and sought after by numerous major labels
Surprisingly Curren$y’s never achieved much mainstream success. Instead, he’s cemented a longstanding status as an underground legend, selling out massive shows across the country and moving loads of mixtapes and albums via his own Jet Life record imprint, all the while appealing to the smoker’s club. Mikel Galicia
Kimya Dawson
Saturday, February 17
Trunk Space
It's ironic, of course, that "Kimya" is Swahili for "silent." From the moment we first heard Kimya Dawson, it’s seemed like the prolific antifolk heroine has been destined for her own subversively cutesy sort of stardom. As a member of the Moldy Peaches, she couldn't help but stand out. That King Buzzo–esque shock of frizzled hair belied a small but penetrating voice — a dangerously adorable weapon as likely to deliver a line about true love as one about dancing until a turd drops from one's pants.
Most folks know her work from Juno, via the MP's "Anyone Else but You," but the Olympia, Washington-based Dawson has a sizable catalog of solo albums (title sample: Hidden Vagenda) and odd collaborations, including work with Aesop Rock and Third Eye Blind. She even collaborated with the WWE’s Daniel Bryan once on a song about Captain Lou Albano. Chris Martins
Crush Arizona 2018
Saturday, February 17
Rawhide Event Center
As any local EDM kid will tell you, Crush Arizona is one of the biggest and longest-running dance music festivals in the Valley. The annual
And they also come to rage and get rowdy amid giant inflatable hearts decorating a ginormous tent-like structure. Needless to say, Crush is one of
This year’s edition of Crush Arizona, which happens on Saturday, February 18, will feature gigs by Kaskade, Carnage, Getter, Crankdat, Grandtheft, Volac, and others. Benjamin Leatherman
Miranda Lambert
Saturday, February 17
Talking Stick Resort Arena
Miranda Lambert has struck a delicate balance: Together with kindred artists like Jamey Johnson, she's made country music palatable once again to the sanctimonious scads of big-city, Tea Party-loathing dissenters, infusing the genre with a newfound sense of authenticity missing since the days of her legendary outlaw forefathers.
At the same time, she's managed to write earnest, heartfelt everyman ballads like "The House That Built Me," as well as gritty angst-filled anthems of empowerment like "Gunpowder and Lead" and "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" that resonate with rank-and-file fans of modern country, affording her truckloads of crossover appeal and street cred — not to mention a serious leg up on her contemporaries. Dave Herrera
Margo Price
Sunday, February 18
Crescent Ballroom
Country music has been embracing women’s voices for quite some time now. Dating back to legends like Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, and Patsy Cline, country music — which, to be fair, was and remains a fairly male-dominated industry — has never shied away from showcasing its best and brightest, no matter the gender.
Which brings us to Margo Price, who plays the Crescent Ballroom in mid-February. Price has almost become the face of the women’s country renaissance, despite the fact that her first full-length record, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, was released less than two years ago on Jack White’s Third Man Records; a second full-length LP, All-American Made, dropped last October.
Price has risen to fame, despite little commercial radio play, for a number of reasons. For one, she’s immensely talented. Secondly, her slow rise to success — from playing in empty bars and working side jobs to make ends meet — is a good story, one that affords her some credibility in the shiny Nashville scene.
Most importantly, she ranks among the most personal, poignant singer-songwriters in music today. Price’s songs touch on any number of personal topics, from living in poverty to serving jail time to the tragedy that was losing a child via a miscarriage. Clint Hale
Shovels & Rope
Monday, February 19
Musical Instrument Museum
The rootsy husband-and-wife duo Shovels & Rope traded their softer, folksy sound for something a little more hard-hitting with their latest album, Little Seeds. Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst first started recording music together in 2008, a year before getting hitched.
Hailing from Charleston, South Carolina, Trent and Hearst originally made music as solo artists, but released the self-titled debut album for S&R and realized its potential. They've since won two Americana Music Association awards and are getting plenty of spins on local and national radio. Diamond Victoria
Diego’s Umbrella
Thursday, February 22
Valley Bar
For Diego’s Umbrella, defining the band’s music has always been a frustrating and painful chore. There’s the onslaught of borderline-nonsense hybrid terms — urban gringo mariachi, pirate polka — and descriptions of the band’s typically wild live show, but Diego’s Umbrella is the sort of band you have to see to believe.
“Our go-to is that we play gypsy rock,” says drummer Jake Wood. “We have our slower polkas, we have our punk rock, we have our flamenco sessions, we even have a couple cumbia beats now. It’s all over the map. We’re very greedy eaters of all the different styles of music that are out there. I wouldn’t say we’re capturing things and playing them authentically, it’s more reconstitution it or mangling it with the Diego’s Umbrella blender.”
Since forming in 2001, the San Francisco quintet has drawn comparisons to MarchFourth Marching Band, DeVotchKa, and Gogol Bordello. “We all get excited about different styles of music,” Wood says. “I’m somebody who when I hear something new I can’t wait to learn how to play that, whatever it is, and I want to throw it into whatever I’m working on.” Eric Swedlund
Black Violin
Friday, February 23
Chandler Center for the Arts
Male, classically trained string specialists (you know, guys on violins) are hard to find these days. But the innovative duo Black Violin has managed to flourish in their unique roles as genre-bending bards, even in a region not known for its commitment to orchestral endeavors.
Kev Marcus and Wil B — of the violin and viola, respectively — got their start doing hip-hop covers, but after winning at the Apollo in Harlem, in front of a notoriously demanding crowd, they knew they were developing a winning formula. Their mix of hip-hop and classical caught the ear of Alicia Keys, who invited them to play alongside her at the Billboard Awards.
Marcus and B have also collaborated with Wu-Tang and Linkin Park, all while touring about 200 cities a year. Black Violin even had the honor of playing for the first family at President Obama's second inauguration in 2013. In 2015, the duo released Stereotypes, which explores the limits of their musical tools and promoted social consciousness, ‘cause music is so much better when it has a soul. Style and substance: always a winning combination. Liz Tracy
Black Label Society & Corrosion of Conformity
Saturday, February 24
Marquee Theatre in Tempe
Zakk Wylde is best known for delivering bluesy, hard-rock guitar squeals as Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist, not to mention co-writing a few different albums with the seemingly immortal metal legend. It’s not Wylde’s only claim to fame, as he’s also had a steady career with his own band, Black Label Society.
Wylde is fronting the four-piece as it tours off its Grimmest Hits collection, which debuted last month
Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters
Monday, February 26
Symphony Hall
Think of Robert Plant and his decade-plus run with Led Zeppelin, and images of pure hedonism are likely to spring to mind. Flowing hair, open shirts exposing bare chests, metal-heavy riffs, and fables of questionable encounters with fans (even involving shark parts) run rampant.
Plant today is the antithesis of all those
He's publicly disavowed his contributions to heavy metal in the
Enter Shikari
Tuesday, February 27
Crescent Ballroom
Enter Shikari has been in existence for 14 years, 18 if you include its earlier foray into band life with a project called
On this current tour, Enter Shikari will be performing their debut album, Take to the Skies, in its entirety, an ongoing musical trend at present. It’s particularly weird for these guys, though, a band that doesn’t like to look
“The first album was quite raw,” Shikari frontman Rou Reynolds says. “It was fairly rushed, only recorded in two weeks. You can really hear every instrument. The guitar, the electronics — everything is in its own little space, and things haven’t congealed together yet. I’ve listened to the album for the first time in about 10 years. There’s probably stuff I’d change now, but it has its place in our history, and it defines that era for us. I look back on it with warmth and happy nostalgia.”
At the end of the day, Enter Shikari is a fascinating, innovative rock band that you either “get” or you don’t. And you really need to have the inclination, the desire, to want to get it. But the effort is worthwhile. Like an onion, each layer peeled away reveals something new. Each ingredient is vital, and the fact that the same members that started the band remain in its ranks is important. Brett Callwood
They Might Be Giants
Tuesday, February 27
Marquee Theatre
John Flansburgh and John Linnell have been playing as They Might Be Giants since 1982, and they’ve had no reason to stop. More so than any other band, They Might Be Giants’ music has made being into science and history cool.
The band, known equally for its adult and children’s hits, will play the Marquee Theatre in Tempe on Tuesday, February 27. For the setlist, They Might Be Giants have more than 20 albums’ worth of material to choose from, including the recently released I Like Fun. Eric Grubbs
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