The Concert for David Denogean Honors a Fallen Champion of the Phoenix Music Scene

On November 25, David Denogean, a track coach and teacher at Camelback High School as well as a long-time security guard at Rebel Lounge, was shot and killed (per AZCentral). Denogean, 30, was walking his dog, Evie, near the parking lot of Feeney's Restaurant & Bar (near 12th Street and Maryland Avenue) when he was murdered by the still-unknown assailant.

While his family seeks justice, others who knew Denogean, especially his cohorts in the local music scene, seek to honor his memory with a tribute show on Saturday, March 18, at The Rebel Lounge.

"I think our role in life is to bring our community together at The Rebel Lounge," says Jeff Taylor, the venue's booker and talent buyer. "And it's important that we can bring an event like this together in order to not only honor David, who was obviously a really important part of our team for about seven years, but also to provide this outlet for his family and to bring that community together around his family."

It wasn't just that Denogean worked the door and broke up altercations; that role seems to have encapsulated him at some fundamental level.

"David was a super kind, easygoing, and a reliable force on our security team for years," Taylor says. "Anytime that someone needed some assistance, he was always there to jump in. For the average fan, or artists walking into the building, he was extremely friendly and safe for them to recognize."

Matt Aldawood, whose band Troubled Minds is one of several acts playing the memorial, witnessed Denogean's efforts first-hand.

"Security is one of the most important roles — period," he says. "And I believe that because security guards help you to stay safe. David did an incredible job of doing that. You see a lot of security guards working for venues, and their intentions are, in some cases, questionable."

And if that description of protector makes you think he was perhaps rough-and-tumble, or especially stoic, Denogean seemed anything but.

"I would describe David as a big teddy bear," Aldawood says. "He's over 6 feet tall and probably over 200 pounds. That doesn't intimidate me — that actually helps me feel safe. I knew that he was a good dude."
Taylor agrees with that characterization: above all else, Denogean wanted people to feel welcomed in the space that meant so much to him personally.

"And I believe there's something really valuable about feeling comfortable in a space," Taylor says. "I think David played a pretty integral part in making people feel very at home when they arrived at Rebel."

He adds, "He's definitely always had a passion for working as close to the music as he could. To be able to help fans have the best experience possible. It was something that he was passionate about."

Zoe Sugg, who met Denogean some six years ago while still in college, says being a protector was so ingrained that he even did it off the clock.

"Most of the shows we went to were faster paced, heavier; there was always a mosh pit," Sugg says. "If you're going to go to a show like that, you need a buddy system, and you need somebody to watch your back in case you go down. Everyone who knew David felt safe around him, and that's really tough to accomplish when you're that big."

She adds, "Even in debates, when you're at some bar getting into discussions about politics or whatever. He would always bring the conversation down and see everybody's side and just be so chill throughout the whole thing. I don't know how anyone could lose their temper around him. He just had this warm energy."

While Denogean did eventually appear less at Rebel — focusing more on his teaching and coaching — Taylor says his work at Camelback High School was perhaps an extension of his efforts at Rebel.

"I think if nothing else, it definitely does speak to the sort of character of the person that ends up working at Rebel for an extended period of time," he says. "There's definitely an element of that, and it contributed to him being one of the longer-standing employees. In the last year, there were only maybe a half dozen of us that had been around for the whole course of the venue."

But being away from Rebel didn't mean he'd ever stopped chasing his favorite bands. Sugg has an especially poignant tale, one that speaks not just of their friendship but how art and music helped frame much of Denogean's life.

"The last show that I was at with him, a couple of us traveled out to Oklahoma to see My Chemical Romance and Coheed and Cambria perform together," she says. "And [MCR] played 'The Ghost of You.' And there's that line, 'You are never coming home, never coming home.' And that's become my anthem for him. I feel lucky to have seen that with him and it seems to be such a unique song with him."

It's those similar sentiments of family and music's affirmational power that Aldawood and Troubled Minds hope to communicate during the show.

"I'm excited to play this show for bringing David's life to life, and explaining that we need more people like him," he says. "What he brought to the scene was important. It's always been a really positive community and a very uplifting place. I'm happy to play the show and be able to speak to the community around Rebel."

And sure, as Taylor mentioned, a lot of that community remain quite specific in their musical tastes, including Denogean.

"He definitely had a soft spot for the emo-leaning stuff," Taylor says. "Working the emo nights, even though they're longer and some late hours, he was always excited about it."

Sugg, however, says the choice of bands doesn't just capture Denogean's taste — he was an expert on even the most niche genres, she notes — it also emphasizes his outlook on life.

"So much of the music that we listened to together was emo," she says. "And that's all high energy and celebrating life in the face of darkness. So the fact that this show celebrates his love of music and celebrates this person who was so full of life, and for all of us to dance together and listen to art together, it's such a life-affirming thing."
But perhaps the biggest indication of what Denogean meant to the scene doesn't have anything to do with his friends and coworkers; rather, it's those people whose paths he'd only ever crossed briefly.

"Something that's been really cool over the last few months is to see the outpouring of positive memories and stories," Taylor says. He adds that he's already heard plenty from "folks that would say, 'I didn't know David, but I had a really positive experience because of him.' Or, 'He always made me feel comfortable.'"

It's that very dedication and larger spirit that's helped Sugg deal with Denogean's passing — this idea that, once the memorial is over and everything lands as it inevitably will, Denogean's life has greater value.

"He was so recklessly in love with his community and his friends," Sugg says. "If you don't know anything else about him, take that energy and move forward with it."

Remembering David Denogean Memorial Concert. With Sundressed, Troubled Minds, Collide, and Bee Jennings. 4 p.m. doors, 5 p.m. show, on Saturday, March 18, at The Rebel Lounge, 2303 East Indian School Road. $10 minimum donation; proceeds for the show will help benefit the Silent Witness Fund to further Denogean's case. Or, donate directly to his family via this GoFundMe campaign. Get tickets on The Rebel Lounge website.