Circa Survive Are Popping Up in Mesa for a July 27 Performance

The band members of Circa Survive will be gaining a different perspective from their upcoming set time in Mesa — meaning the early afternoon in late July. Not that the aughts-famous, experimental rock band hasn’t performed a midday slot at a music festival, but a typical performance from Circa’s Phoenix stop usually happens at someplace like Marquee Theatre, at night.

Not so at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, which is hosting the special summer exhibition, "Petrichor," by Esao Andrews. Circa Survive fans know the work of this Japanese-American artist even if they don’t know him by name. Andrews has almost exclusively done all the surrealist album artwork for Circa Survive’s official releases, including Juturna and On Letting Go.

Therefore, Circa will be performing a stripped down, pop-up performance to accompany Andrews for his mid-career retrospective exhibition – which is presented by Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum in collaboration with Thinkspace Gallery. Andrews was born and spent some formative years in Mesa, even attending Red Mountain High School.

“Our relationship with Esao has been symbiotic in every sense,” says Circa guitarist Colin Frangicetto in a press release. “It has easily been the most organic and pure collaboration the band has ever known, so much so that we’ve referred to him as our visual soulmate and sixth band member pretty much from the start. It’s hard to imagine what Circa Survive would even mean to the world without Esao’s imagery. We are his biggest fans and are so honored to be a part of his career and this celebration of it thus far.”

The unplugged performance is a stop for Circa on their way to Ak-Chin Pavilion for their performance during Disrupt Festival.

The free performance does not require an RSVP, but space is limited. Circa Survive is set to perform at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 27, at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum.