Scottsdale’s Ultimate Block Party @ Craftsman Court

Objectively speaking, is this eight-years-running New Year’s Eve party in Collagen City really the “ultimate”? Well, if your vision of “ultimate” has room for Rx Bandits and two skilled tribute bands, then, yes, it totally is. Born from the same SoCal ska-punk primordial ooze that yielded Sublime and Reel Big Fish, Rx Bandits have made a nice, 15-year career for themselves, playing high-energy party music at festivals like Bonnaroo and Coachella. The Bandits themselves describe their accomplishments more colorfully: “Rx had emerged as a tidal wave, a force that shatters all the boundaries set against them.” Hot diggity. Maybe they’ll broker peace in the Middle East after the show. Also playing the Block Party: UnSkinny Bop, unquestionably the world’s greatest Poison tribute band after landing a scene in Hot Tub Time Machine; and Breakdown — The Tom Petty Experience (most likely a Tom Petty tribute band), who promise to deliver a performance “rivaled by Tom himself.” Right on, Scottsdale. Go ahead and give it to us.