Big sellouts: The Format returns for a short run of shows starting at the AZ State Fair

“I was in California when we put that show on sale. (The Format at Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum on 9-27) By the time I was driving back to Phoenix, it was sold out. I was driving home on the 10 and I looked over (at the Coliseum from the freeway) and I was just like, ‘How is that still there?’”

Sam Means is one-half of Phoenix indie darlings made good, The Format, the other half being Nate Ruess of fun. He’s talking to New Times about how his beloved band, on hiatus since 2008, sold out Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix in a matter of hours. Also, about the unlikelihood that the Coliseum, opened in 1964, is still standing, given this town’s disregard for its own history, especially when it comes to preserving historic buildings. “Phoenix has had a tendency to tear down a lot of its history. The fact that this building's still standing is one of the reasons we really wanted to play it,” he adds.

Selling out the 13,000-seat arena puts the band in league with Elvis and Nirvana, the latter selling out the Coliseum when it hosted the In Utero Tour opener. The Format holds a modern distinction of fastest sell-out, in part due to tech advances, but primarily because of a massive, loyal, local fan base that’s been hoping for years to see the band play live again.

In hindsight, the Coliseum may seem like a perfect place for the band to play. It’s a large local venue that could hold the loyal base, and a symbol of bygone Phoenix. The location has hosted many notable shows, and from 1967 to 1992 served as the Purple Palace, home of the Phoenix Suns. In keeping with the Format’s seeming casual good fortune, it was an offhand comment about the absurdity of playing the huge location that brought it into focus in the first place. Means explains: “I just kind of jokingly said, 'We should play the Coliseum.' We were just trying to think of unique places that would be big enough. So we shrugged that off until we realized the timing was working out, that it could be part of the (Arizona State) Fair.”

Playing the Fair was appealing on multiple levels. Means and Ruess both grew up in Phoenix and saw plenty of shows there. And, if tickets sold modestly, it could make sense. “So then we were like, well, if it's part of the Fair, then it's less pressure,” Means said. “Not like we're trying to play this huge room, we're just playing the Fair.”

 “The Gin Blossoms played the Fair, they didn't sell it out. Nobody cared. So that was the idea. If we could play, and then the pressure's off, and everybody will be able to go. We'll get tickets as cheap as we can so that we can try to fill it up. That's just kind of how it happened. And then somehow, ridiculously, it just sold out super-fast, and we were not expecting that at all. Even the day before, we were kind of like, ‘Why did we do this? This might be embarrassing. This was a big leap.'"

“It’s an honor. I don't know if we've registered how it's possible,” Means adds, with humility.

For those not already in the cult, here’s a little background on how The Format came to be capable of selling out the Coliseum in Phoenix and two nights at The Beacon Theater in NYC, as well as a 4,000-head capacity lawn at a cemetery.

I profiled the band in the New Times in 2002, when they were plucked from relative obscurity by Elektra Records on the strength of one song. At the time of the signing, Nate Ruess commented that: “It's so weird. When you've only played four shows, it's crazy stuff. We got thrown into the fire pretty fast."

The surprise signing of an untested band who’d played 5 shows and recorded one song was a coup for a local act. This was old-school A&R at work, local radio buzz and record sales driving decisions rather than today's soulless algorithmic approach employed by greed-goblin labels.

The band capitalized on their break, releasing full-length "Interventions + Lullabies" in October 2003 and touring with Something Corporate. After Elektra was absorbed by Atlantic Records, creative differences led to their departure, and The Format released their second album, “Dog Problems,” independently in 2006 on Means’ imprint, The Vanity Label. They also continued to tour with acts like The All-American Rejects and even hit Tokyo for a headlining gig in 2007. But in early 2008, they announced a hiatus that would stretch over a decade.

During the break, both members found success elsewhere. Sam Means built Hello, Merch into an indie powerhouse now HQed in a 50,000-square-foot Phoenix warehouse. He also scored a soundtrack, released solo records and contributed songwriting to Ruess’ band fun. Nate Ruess formed that band, which scored the worldwide hit "We Are Young,” the Song of the Year Grammy winner in 2013, and co-wrote Pink's number-one hit "Just Give Me a Reason.” He has also co-written with some other notables, including the dearly departed Brian Wilson.

In February of 2020, The Format announced a screening for the re-release of a concert film at the venue inside Mean’s warehouse. Instead of the screening, The Format surprised fans with an acoustic reunion show, their first performance in nearly six years. Plans for a three-city reunion tour were repeatedly postponed due to COVID-19 before being officially cancelled. Despite the setbacks and frustrations with ticket agencies, The Format's cult-like following has only grown into an intergenerational audience capable of selling out notable, spacious venues.

Not only did the band sell out the Coliseum and two nights at the 2800-seat The Beacon theater in New York in no time, but the same thing happened at the 4,000-capacity lawn at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, those gigs slated just after the Phoenix show. Nate Ruess tied it all together on his Instagram about choosing the other venues. “The Beacon in New York is one of our favorite theaters anywhere. Hollywood Forever seems like a special place to see a show, let alone put one on,” he said.

Means had this to say about The Beacon: “It's a beautiful place, and we're doing two nights there, and those also sold out in minutes. They offered us more, but we got scared. We're like, let's just take the win on these two.”

The Hollywood Forever Cemetery, a 62-acre memorial park built in 1899, is the final resting place of many old Hollywood icons, as well as two Ramones. “It's like 4,000 or 5,000 people,” Means says of the capacity to hold living show-goers. “We just thought, it’s fine if we don't sell it out. It's a lawn. The rest of it's just a big lawn too (The cemetery portion), but there’s just a bunch of bodies on it.” For certain, there’ll be a bunch of bodies running around at the Arizona State Fair on Saturday, September 27.
The Format show boasts an outdoor stage, lovingly branded the ‘Wallace and Ladmo stage’ and curated by the band. The stage will host three kick ass local acts. Pop-psych master song crafters (say that five times fast), Astrologer, and the dreamy indie pop of JPW and Dad Weed can be seen outside before the Format show. Sydney Sprague, who’s toured in support of Jimmy Eat World, and is set to release a new record the day before the show, will bring it home after the Format on the Wallace and Ladmo bandstand. Excellence in abundance.

With all the momentum and hoopla surrounding the reunion and mini-tour, can fans dream of more touring? “We want to play more. I think time will tell, but there's really no reason for us not to. Even back in 2020, it was like, ‘let's play a few shows in some places we like to play and see if we sound good still, see if anybody cares. And then if they do, we'll just try to do some more.' As long as we're having fun and if it's a good time, then why not?”

Not to come off ungrateful, but it’s hard not to wonder if there’s new music on the horizon from the Format. “I certainly hope so. It'd be cool. Yeah, I've been wanting to do new music for a long time, so we'll see.” A little understandably cagey, but hopeful.

At this point, for Sam, the reunion and excitement around it feel surreal, the scale of the venues, improbable: "It doesn't make sense that we're playing this big room to me, I'm going to keep saying that," he admits with characteristic humility. “But A lot of stuff that happened to us in this town never really made any sense. We're just really lucky, fortunate here. Still after 20-something years — massive gratitude to everybody that's coming to these shows, especially in Phoenix.”

For a band that always pushed boundaries on what could or couldn't be done, selling out the Purple Palace feels like the perfect full-circle moment, improbable, historic and undeniably Phoenix.

Tickets for the 2025 shows are sold out, but you can visit The Format's website for all band information.