Totally Tubular Festival is coming to Phoenix's Arizona Financial Theatre in June

The '80s-themed retro tour is too sexy for its shirt.

February 4, 2025

Image: Astrid Plane, left, and Bill Wadhams of Animotion.

Astrid Plane, left, and Bill Wadhams of Animotion. Live Nation

What happens on the ground matters — Your support makes it possible.

We’re aiming to raise $6,000 by August 10, so we can deepen our reporting on the critical stories unfolding right now: grassroots protests, immigration, politics and more.

Contribute Now

Progress to goal

$7,000

$750

Audio By Carbonatix

[
          {
            "name": "GPT - Billboard - Slot Inline - Content - Labeled - No Desktop",
            "component": "21251496",
            "insertPoint": "2",
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
          },{
            "name": "STN Player - Float - Mobile Only ",
            "component": "21327862",
            "insertPoint": "2",
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
          },{
            "name": "Editor Picks",
            "component": "16759093",
            "insertPoint": "4",
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
          },{
            "name": "Inline Links",
            "component": "17980324",
            "insertPoint": "8th",
            "startingPoint": 8,
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
            "maxInsertions": 25
          },{
            "name": "GPT - 2x Rectangles Desktop, Tower on Mobile - Labeled",
            "component": "21934225",
            "insertPoint": "8th",
            "startingPoint": 8,
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
            "maxInsertions": 25          
          
          },{
            "name": "Inline Links",
            "component": "17980324",
            "insertPoint": "8th",
            "startingPoint": 12,
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
            "maxInsertions": 25
          },{
            "name": "GPT - Leaderboard to Tower - Slot Auto-select - Labeled",
            "component": "17012245",
            "insertPoint": "8th",
            "startingPoint": 12,
            "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
            "maxInsertions": 25
          }
        ]

During summertime in Phoenix, two things are certain: the extreme heat will make everyone utterly miserable, and numerous retro concert tours will roll into the Valley, offering hits of nostalgia.

Such will be the case this summer with the popular Totally Tubular Festival, the ‘80s-themed tour scheduled to bring New Wave and synth-pop bands and other throwback acts to 18 U.S. cities.

The 2025 Totally Tubular Festival tour comes to Arizona Financial Theatre in downtown Phoenix on Sunday, June 29. This year, the Totally Tubular Festival lineup includes Right Said Fred, Men Without Hats and Animotion.

The tour, which launches in California in June, offers what our sister paper, Dallas Observer, calls a “collective flashback.” Last year’s Totally Tubular Festival was headlined by Thomas Dolby (who dropped out of the Phoenix show due to unforeseen circumstances) and Thompson Twins co-founder Tom Bailey.

click to enlarge

Fred Fairbrass, right, and Richard Fairbrass of Right Said Fred.

MN2S management

UK pop band Right Said Fred tops the Totally Tubular bill this year. They technically qualify as an ‘80s act — as they formed in 1989 — despite not achieving mainstream success until their breakthrough hit, “I’m Too Sexy” went big time in 1992.

The rest of the Totally Tubular Festival’s 2025 lineup features bands that scored at least one Top 10 hit in the ‘80s, including New Wave group The Motels—best known for 1982’s “Only the Lonely” and 1983’s “Suddenly Last Summer” — and pop-rock act The Escape Club, whose 1988 hit "Wild, Wild West" reached No. 1 in the U.S.

Totally Tubular Festival 2025 lineup

Here's a list of every band on this year's tour

Right Said Fred
Men Without Hats
The Motels
Animotion
The Escape Club

How to get Totally Tubular Festival 2025 tickets in Phoenix

Totally Tubular Festival tickets are on sale now at livenation.com.

Reserved seating tickets are $53.40 to $216 per person (plus taxes and fees). Pit tickets are $119 to $354 per person (plus taxes and fees).

Benjamin Leatherman is a staff writer for Phoenix New Times where he focuses primarily on arts, culture, music and nightlife. He joined New Times in 2003. Prior to that, he contributed to magazines such as Tips & Tricks and The Wrestler. Benjamin has earned multiple awards from the Arizona Press Club including an award for sports enterprise reporting in 2009 and an award for statewide arts reporting in 2014. He holds a bachelor’s of arts in journalism from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

A message from Benjamin Leatherman: If you value independent journalism, please consider making a contribution to support our continued coverage of Phoenix's music, events and entertainment scenes.

Support Today