Highlights include performances by Scottish indie rock acts We Were Promised Jetpacks, psychobilly kings Nekromantix, folk singer-songwriter John Paul White, and off-kilter indie act King Khan and the Shrines.
With it being the weekend, there’s also tons of EDM events, including gigs by trance music legends Kyau & Albert, Fool’s Gold founder A-Trak, and melodic dubstep artist Seven Lions.
Details about each of these shows can be found below in our list of the best shows happening in the Valley this weekend. And for even more live music happening around the Valley this weekend, hit up Phoenix New Times' online concert calendar.
A-Trak
Saturday, October 12
Maya Day & Nightclub in Scottsdale
If there is anything you should know about Alain Macklovitch, a.k.a. superstar DJ, skilled turntablist, and Fool’s Gold Records founder A-Trak, it’s that he’s a man of the people. For proof, look to last week, when he got into a Twitter spat with Zedd, a superstar DJ with more money than certain small countries, over Sheck Wes’ hit banger “Mo Bamba.” It began when Zedd condescendingly tweeted (and later deleted) “I just heard the song ‘Mo Bamba’ for the first time … and I have so many questions…” A-Trak, a bit miffed like the rest of us, replied, calling it the best song of the year. Zedd, still on his bullshit, offered a rebuttal: “Agree to disagree.”
This is the part where A-Trak becomes a hero. “You can’t,” he responded. “Objectively, you can’t disagree, sorry. It’s the most important song of the year. Perhaps I could take you to a club and show you why I’m saying this and what’s innovative about it? I would really like that.” Of course, he’s right and Zedd is an elitist prick putting EDM on a pedestal, and he’ll be proven even more right when A-Trak puts “Mo Bamba” on in the club and the place explodes. Douglas Markowitz
Nekromantix
Friday, October 12
Nile Theater in Mesa
Melding the skronk of the Cramps with the grim stylings of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Denmark's Nekromantix
Prior to that, the band had been active in their native land since 1989, making them already seasoned scene vets and import-only curiosities.
Since followed by three more LPs and a live album, Dead was a blistering 13-track workout featuring lead bassist and singer Kim Nekroman's trademark coffin-bass plucking and frantic howling.
If you have any predilection toward Texas' hellacious Reverend Horton Heat, you will find Nekromantix their perfect Danish counterpart. Break out the pomade and the fangs, kids. They’ll be at the Nile in Mesa this weekend with like-minded acts Messer Chups, Creepsville 666, and Belfry Bats. Craig Hlavaty
King Khan and the Shrines
Saturday, October 13
Valley Bar
Good vibrations will
Kyau & Albert
Saturday, October 13
Aura Nightclub in Tempe
Trance music is back and bigger than it’s ever been. The euphoric and high-energy electronic dance music genre, which often features more ethereal and melodic elements, is in the midst of a major resurgence and is finding its way into clubs and on the charts. Trance’s heyday dates back to the ’90s (when DJ superstars like Markus Schulz, Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Paul van Dyk, and others were spinning it on the regular) but lessened in popularity in the ensuing decades.
Flash-forward to today: Modern-day artists and producers like Christ and Rustie are using it in their tracks, and old-school trance artists are in demand. That includes German-born DJ act Kyau & Albert, longtime practitioners of the genre. Since their debut in 1990, the duo of Ralph Kyau and Steven Moebius Albert have spun trance like mad, released multiple albums filled with its sounds (including last year’s Matching Stories), and have toured the world. This weekend, their travels bring them to the Valley for a gig on Saturday, October 13, at Aura Nightclub in Tempe. in Tempe. The gig, which is being promoted by Phoenix Trance Alliance, starts at 10 p.m. Tickets are $15 to $20. Benjamin Leatherman
We Were Promised Jetpacks
Saturday, October 13
Crescent Ballroom
Typically when bands are having success, time off isn't really an option.
While their last release was well received, it showed a definite deeper side to the band's sound, distancing themselves from what a lot of indie rock bands sound like. However, the band's new album, The More I Sleep The Less I Dream, is full of crazed energy, sounding like the work of men younger than those who made it. Produced by Jonathan Low (Mumford & Sons, The National), The More I Sleep The Less I Dream is a return to the energized sound that the band exhibited on their debut, with more earnest emotions sprinkled in. David Garrick
John Paul White
Friday, October 12
Musical Instrument Museum
Don’t misunderstand John Paul White. He loves performing and appreciates the fact that many of his recent concerts have been selling out. “It means I must be doing something right,” he deadpans. It’s the being away from home part of the deal that he could do without. “It’s gotten harder to be away from my wife and kids,” White says. “I’d be perfectly happy if I could narrow into that couple of hours of stage time and fast-forward through the travel and waiting-around time.”
It’s that downtime, though, that leads to songwriting, and White is a man fiercely devoted to the craft. An Alabama native who lives in and owns a studio in Florence, White spent over a decade working long and hard as a songwriter on Music Row, churning out hits for other country-oriented artists. Concurrently, he was busy with his own music, too, releasing his debut album in 2008. A year later, he joined fellow singer-songwriter Joy Williams to form The Civil Wars, a folk duo that captured two Grammy Awards in 2012. White followed the split of that project with Beulah, a celebrated solo album released in 2016 that featured a plethora of his trademark plaintive and heart-wrenching story songs. He's quickly following up that release with another slated for an upcoming release.
Known for working with sparse arrangements that serve to highlight the quiet, often reflective nature of his songs, White hints at a new direction for this upcoming batch of tunes. “These new songs are adult-oriented, for sure. Writing the material and working on it really forced me to think about what I wanted to be when I grow up,” he chuckles. “I really thought about what to say and expressly how to say it.” Jeff Strowe
10,000 Maniacs
Saturday, October 13
Marquee Theatre
It's hard to say anything bad about a band that's been around for 36 years, especially one as kindly as 10,000 Maniacs. You know, they're that band that's made a career of being that band you sort of
Valley Fever Quarantine 6
Saturday, October 13
Yucca Tap Room in Tempe
The folks behind renowned local country music night Valley Fever will return to their old stomping grounds at the Yucca Tap in Tempe – and they’ll have plenty of friends in tow. The night’s co-founder Dana Armstrong will lead a wagon train’s worth of local country, bluegrass, and Americana acts to the venue on Saturday for Valley Fever’s annual Quarantine show. The daylong affair will feature sets from such artists as Jimmy Pines and Washboard Jere, Secondhand Sam and His Country Gentlemen, Jim Bachmann and the Day Drinkers, Maricopa County Prison Band, and others. Expect plenty of down-home sounds,
SunSquabi
Sunday, October 14
Crescent Ballroom
It shouldn’t seem surprising a band with SunSquabi’s pedigree would come from Boulder, Colorado. Even the band’s name has a kind of stoner mountain vibe to it. Yet, SunSquabi is not exactly stoner rock, at least not in the sense of bands (Fu Manchu, Kyuss, Eagles of Death Metal, etc.) typically labeled with that moniker. SunSquabi, however, would be very good music to experience stoned. Why? Because the music is a trippy blend of jazz, funk, cosmic disco, classic rock, and hip-hop fused together with looping technology, live improvisation, and a willingness to take chances.
“We were absolutely encouraged to take chances! That’s a very good way of putting it. There
Seven Lions
Sunday, October 14
The Van Buren
The sounds of electronic dance music will pulse through the 20,000-square-foot venue this weekend, courtesy of Seven Lions. The superstar DJ/producer — renowned for his intricate and imaginative mixes of melodic dubstep, electro-house, and trance — will make
Paris Chansons
Sunday, October 14
Musical Instrument Museum
Julia Kantor, one of the founders of L.A.’s Paris Chansons, is reflecting on the broad appeal of French pop music. Starting the group four years ago with her husband, Jacob, the Kantors have formed a tight unit of musicians dedicated to sharing classic French songs with a new generation of audiences. “I don’t know any other kind of international music that has this kind of a reach,” she says.
What’s most surprising about Paris Chansons’ rising profile is their diverse
That unique mix of backgrounds isn’t just in their fanbase, it’s also reflected in the makeup of the group itself. Julia Kantor hails from Ukraine; Jacob is Russian, and one of the other vocalists, Max Cohen, is Moroccan-Israeli. It’s a group of people who, on paper, seem like an unlikely band to carry a torch for singers like Jacques Brel, Edith Piaf, and Charles Aznavour.
Paris Chansons play a variety of French hits, dating back to the 1930s, when songbirds like Piaf walked the Earth, and into the modern era. They also touch on the work of other French pop greats like Serge Gainsbourg and the ye-ye singers of the ’60s, who took Phil Spector’s girl group music and gave it a Gallic twist. Although the band