Grey Daze Releases New EP Featuring Chester Bennington
Grey Daze, the local rock act that starred a pre-Linkin Park Chester Bennington as frontman, recently released a new EP, Amends … Stripped, featuring vocals by the late singer. The album, which dropped on January 29, offers alternate versions of five songs from Grey Daze’s 2020 release Amends, including “Shouting Out,” “Sometimes,” and “The Syndrome.”As Phoenix New Times reported last year, Amends utilized vocal tracks recorded by Bennington prior to his death in 2017 for a new Grey Daze project. Sean Dowdell, the band’s drummer, told the Arizona Republic recently that the new EP features acoustic renditions of a handful of Amends songs and was created “to give Chester's audience a way to hear him really scaled back and stripped down.”
Tracks from Amends … Stripped can be heard on Grey Daze’s Bandcamp and a limited-edition gray vinyl version of the album can be purchased here.
Sonoran Desert Chorale Announces Virtual Concert
With most in-person concerts on hold for the foreseeable future, the vocalists of the Sonoran Desert Chorale have been staging a series of free virtual performances over the past several months. Their latest, Songs for Humankind, will take place on Saturday, February 27, via the ensemble’s YouTube channel. The performance, which starts at 7 p.m., will feature a variety of pre-recorded material, ranging from hymns like “Keep Your Hand On the Plow” and “Simple Gifts” to the Beatles hit “In My Life.” More information can be found here.
You'll have two chances to see The Weeknd perform in the Valley in 2022.
Aaron Thackeray
The Weeknd Announces Second Valley Concert in 2022
Days before his halftime performance at Super Bowl LV, The Weeknd has announced a slew of new and rescheduled dates for his After Hours tour next year, including a second stop in the Valley. The tour, which is in support of his 2020 album of the same name, will hit more than 100 cities worldwide and kicks off on January 14, 2022, in Vancouver. It will include The Weekend’s previously announced date on March 22 at Gila River Arena in Glendale and a second performance on April 24 at the PHX Arena (formerly known as Talking Stick Resort Arena). Tickets for the new dates will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Monday, February 8.Fu Manchu Postpones Phoenix Show
Bad news for fans of legendary stoner rock band Fu Manchu: Their upcoming gig at The Rebel Lounge has been officially postponed. Stephen Chilton of Psyko Steve Presents, the show’s promoter, told Phoenix New Times that a March 8 concert at the venue featuring the influential Orange County band, which has been kicking around the rock world since 1985, will be rescheduled for a later date. All previously sold tickets will be honored.
A pair of Country Thunder attendees in 2016.
Leavitt Wells
Country Thunder Arizona Rescheduled Again
As we reported earlier this week, organizers of the popular Country Thunder Arizona music festival have moved the four-day event to the fall. Originally set to take place in mid-April, it will now run from October 14 to 17 at the event’s usual stomping grounds at the Canyon Moon Ranch near Florence. (For those keeping track, this is the third time Country Thunder has been rescheduled since the pandemic began last spring.)The lineup will include headlining sets by Luke Combs, Eric Church, and Dustin Lynch, as well as performance by dozens of other country artists. According to promoters, tickets purchased for any of the festival’s previously announced dates can be used for admission.
