If you’d like to mark the occasion with an evening out at a concert, you’ve got plenty of possibilities this weekend, all of which run the gamut in terms of genres and styles.
If you’re into old-school R&B, for instance, there’s the latest edition of the I Love the ‘90s Tour, which hits Talking Stick Resort Arena on Saturday and includes performances by TLC, Blackstreet, All-4-One, Rob Base, Biz Markie, and C+C Music Factory.
If you’re more into cowboy sounds, however, you might consider attending the “Soul2Show” show featuring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (a.k.a. the prom king and queen of country) at Gila River Arena in Glendale on Friday night.
Other highlights of this weekend’s slate of big concerts includes gigs by Playboi Carti, Post Animal, Black Asteroid, Flotsam and Jetsam, and Nicolas Jaar. Local night The Hip Hop House is also celebrating its fifth anniversary, and the punks of Dephinger have a big party planned over in Glendale.
Read on for details on each of the aforementioned shows or hit up our online concert calendar for even more options.
Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
Friday, July 21
Gila River Arena in Glendale
The coupling of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill has been the #RelationshipGoals of the country-music world for 20 years. No, seriously. They’ve lived together and loved together for years, and earlier this year, this pair of mega-stars released their first-ever duets album, and they're backing it up with the Soul2Soul World Tour. The country prom king and queen, who have collectively sold a bajillion records, will be at the Gila River Arena in Glendale this weekend for an evening of country-pop and crooning. Cowboy hats and Wranglers are optional. Tom Murphy
Jonny Lang
Friday, July 21
Chandler Center for the Arts
Being a prodigy can sometimes suck. Take Jonny Lang, for example. When he burst onto the scene as an astonishingly gifted 14-year-old guitar wünderkind, it must have seemed like the coolest thing in the world. Of course, as gifted as Lang is, his success was intimately linked to his youthfulness — a sort of novelty factor. Pretty quickly, that novelty began to take on a different air, with critics frequently applying his age as a qualifier, asking, essentially, if his limited years had an inverse relationship with his audience's perception. Lang, however, chose to do something at which prodigies often fail — he grew as an artist. Over the course of a decade and five albums, Lang has moved away from the strictures of structured blues, embracing a host of styles ranging from Southern-fried rock to Memphis-style soul to gospel, finding room in his music to embrace the spirit of the blues that got him started in the first place. Nicholas L. Hall
Flotsam and Jetsam
Friday, July 21
Club Red in Mesa
For our money, Flotsam and Jetsam kicks out some of the best metal around, and that’s not just because they are a bunch of hometown dudes who have made good. The band has made an impact on the world metal scene and their most recent record, their self-titled Flotsam and Jetsam, is a strong nod back to the glory days as well. In fact, the glory days of “Flots” might be upon us right now. Eric “AK” Knutson, vocals, and Michael Gilbert, guitar, have been with the band the longest, but the current lineup, which also features guitarist Steve Conley, bassist Michael Spencer, and drummer Jason Bittner, is nothing short of formidable. Their upcoming show at Club Red is the final show of a five-week tour that has seen the band traverse the country, so they should be firing on all cylinders as they return to the Valley for a hometown show. So pull on your knee-high moccasins, bust out your tightest jeans and your favorite Maiden shirt, and get ready to rock: Flotsam and Jetsam are coming home. Tom Reardon
Playboi Carti
Friday, July 21
Marquee Theatre in Tempe
Just call him Posterboy Carti. In only a few short years, Atlanta's Playboi Carti has be-come one of the leading figures of "mumble rap." Complex Magazine called him "Rap's Young and Restless Prince." His fame in the underground is impressive, when you consider the fact that people have been praising him since 2015 and he didn't drop a mixtape until April 2017. Carti is a protege of rapper/producer Ethereal, whose experimental beats became a perfect fit for Carti's brash, swaggering lyrics. It was on early Ethereal collabs like "YUNGXANHOE" (where Carti rapped over a loop of the PlayStation 2 startup noise) and "Broke Boi" that Carti found his lane. Thanks to his single "Magnolia," Carti's started to pick up some serious heat. Its goofy "Yo, Pierre" hooks, baby noises, and woozy beats make it perfect earworm material. A song like that could make a crown prince worthy of his lofty station. Ashley Naftule
Dephinger (Music Video Shoot)
Friday, July 21
Starlite Lounge in Glendale
Infamous local skate punk act Dephinger likes their music loud, rowdy, and full of fun. And according to its members, the band’s show and music video shoot this weekend over at the Starlite Lounge in Glendale will be much the same. “It's gonna get pretty loose,” says bassist Chris Warmuth. “The bands [will] all rip, the bar is an interesting and friendly West Side spot, and we told all our homies about this show. Dephinger will be shooting the music video for one of their songs at the gig, which will also feature performances by the Heavy Chills, The Earlygrabs, Sewer Gap, and The Glides. There will also be a raffle featuring “righteous prizes” from Cowtown Skateboards, Pirate Company, Lame Brain Skatebords, Pyramid Country, The Record Room and PBR. A dance party follows with spins by DJ Brewdini, DJ Real Beat Sugar, and DJ Schralp. Best of all, admission is free. Benjamin Leatherman
The members of local rock band The Sink or Swim.
Surrealsister Photog
Friday, July 21
The Rebel Lounge
If you'd wager a bet that desert rock in-volves singing about saguaros, it might be time to leave the house for a spell. We'd recommend seeing The Sink or Swim bring a distinct brand of desert rock to The Rebel Lounge. On Friday July, 21, the Tempe band will perform with guests The Ricky Fitts, Good Boy Daisy, and Nothing On The Moon. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30. Tickets range in price from $10 to $12 and are available in advance at Stinkweeds or online via Ticketfly. Lindsay Roberts
Read on for even more big concerts happening this weekend, including Post Animal, Nicolas Jaar, and this year's I Love the '90s Tour.
I Love The '90s – The Party Continues feat. TLC
Saturday, July 22
Talking Stick Resort Arena
Maybe you still live for those Fresh Prince of Bel Air or Boy Meets World reruns, and keep that '90s playlist on repeat, waxing nostalgic while you sweat it out on the treadmill. A big tour of R&B pop artists from that era is up your alley. The I Love the '90s Tour, which was a huge hit last year, is back with a new roster of performers who produced plenty of chart-topping hits that defined the decade. This time, it's the I Love the '90s: The Party Continues Tour, and the lineup is guaranteed to inspire dancing, as well as those awkward cry-screams where people are just so happy that it hurts. Causing that joyous weeping will be TLC, Blackstreet, All-4-One, Rob Base, Biz Markie, and C+C Music Factory. Some of the acts won't be sporting all original members — like TLC, who lost one-third of its trio when Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes passed away in 2002, or Rob Base, whose co-conspirator on the massive hit "It Takes Two" died a few years ago. But they're still gonna bring it hard, rocking the tunes that made you fall for them. Amy Young
Black Asteroid
Saturday, July 22
Monarch Theatre
Black Asteroid is one of many incarnations of musician Bryan Black's creativity. Black, meanwhile, is half the brains behind MOTOR, a techno powerhouse that opened for the Depeche Mode world tour in 2009 and formed after Black finished working as a sound designer for none other than Prince. Black Asteroid gives him the opportunity to take his trademark mechanical, gorgeously dissonant sound and mold it into a precision missile of power aimed at your sense of rhythm. It's a relatively new persona for Black, who was signed to Chris Liebing's illustrious CLR label a week after he released his debut EP in 2011. Clearly he's doing something very, very right. Amber Taufen
The Hip House House’s Five-Year Anniversary
Saturday, July 22
Tempe Tavern
Fast fact for y’all: the first-ever edition of local event The Hip Hop House first took place back in 2012 inside an actual residence. True story. According to co-founder Nick Norris, the monthly showcase of local rap and hip-hop talents launched five years ago at now-defunct DIY venue Funny World, which just happened to be located at an oddly decorated domicile in downtown Phoenix. Since then, it’s taken place at a number of local spots, including the old Hidden House and the original Club Red in Tempe. And its hosted a wide variety of Valley hip-hop artists. “We've done a lot of fun things over the past five short years,” Norris says. He ain’t kidding. During its lifespan, the Hip Hop House has served as a platform and talent incubator for a slew of rappers, emcees, DJs, and other artists, both burgeoning and established, as its become a multi-city, multi-state showcase of urban artistry. This weekend, Norris and company will continue doing what they do best during the Hip Hop House’s Five-Year Anniversary celebration at Tempe Tavern. The lineup will feature such regulars as Prophetiko and Bob Domestic, as well as Kahlee, Unorthodocks, and others. Meanwhile, DJs Fact135 and J20 will be on the record decks. The party starts at 9 p.m. Benjamin Leatherman
Desert Splash Pool & Pajama Party
Saturday, July 22
Wyndham Gardens Phoenix Midtown Hotel
Local clubs and music venues aren’t the only places you can find hip-hop artists doing their thing this weekend. They’ll also be partying outdoors at the Wyndham Gardens Phoenix Hotel during this combination Miami-style pool party and pajama affair. Kicking off in the early afternoon and lasting until late in the evening, the event will feature poolside sets by such rappers, MCs, and hip-hop artists as Tookie Blaque, Boss Fetti, Dub Fuego, Yog Westwood, Racheon, and Relaxx Tho. The pool party portion takes place during the daytime while the pajama party goes down after dark. There will also be vendors, contests, a live video shoot, and other fun. MC Bear and Cherokee D'Ass will host the affair, which starts at 2 p.m. Ticket info can be found here. Benjamin Leatherman
The members of Post Animal.
Kristina Pedersen Photography
Sunday, July 23
Valley Bar
Chicago-based Post Animal have only been together for a couple of years, but they've already earned widespread attention with its brand of psychedelic noise rock. The six-member band also happens to be the musical debut of Joe Keery, who plays Steve Harrington on Stranger Things. Keery lends a hand on drums, guitar, and vocals — and the other members are multi-instrumentalists, too. Post Animal is similar in tone to the Stranger Things soundtrack, which is provided by the synthheads of S U R V I V E. The music is a multicolored, auditorial trip into a daydream. The band's stop through Phoenix will be sans Keery, however, as he's busy filming the second season of Stranger Things. Given that much-anticipated status of the Netflix hit, we’re pretty sure no one will object. Locals Stef Chura and Femny will open the evening. Diamond Victoria
Nicolas Jaar
Sunday, July 23
Crescent Ballroom
At 26, Nicolas Jaar is already a respected artist across a spectrum of electronic musical styles. Though he is largely associated with deep house, for the most part his recorded output observes few conventions of any dance-music subgenre. His debut solo album, Space Is Only Noise, from 2011, was a chill-out, down-tempo affair that pointed toward the kinds of abstract compositions and explorations that he would undertake in the future. Jaar outdid himself on 2015’s Pomegranates, a haunted, ambient alternative soundtrack to the classic 1969 Soviet-era film The Color of Pomegranates. His layered, beatless soundscapes articulated the film’s starkly colorful tenor and poetry as well as the original score did. In 2016, Jaar released Sirens on his own Other People imprint. A strikingly eclectic work, it is the rare political electronic album, one with real rhetorical oomph and substance, qualities that Jaar also brings to his live shows. Tom Murphy
Dirty South
Sunday, July 23
The Pool at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale
If the weekend isn’t enough of an excuse to party, Serbian-Australian house DJ Dirty South will be blessing the outdoor stage at Talking Stick in Scottsdale with an extended headlining set during the resort’s Release pool party on Sunday, July 23. The Grammy nominee could definitely use the extra set time to play his extensive catalog, which dates all the way back to 2004, when he started his career as a mash-up artist. After performing his live set to thousands of fans at Ultra Music Festival this past spring, Dirty South has embarked on a world tour hitting smaller, more intimate clubs between his summer festival circuit. From vocal, emotional house ballads to stadium-ready EDM remixes, Dirty South will have you partying to sing-along favorites while you party both in and around the pool. Lina Abascal
