The 11 Best Concerts in Phoenix This Week

Want to see a show this week? There certainly are plenty of 'em happening over the next few days at Metro Phoenix music venues, as you can see for yourself by viewing our extensive online concert listings.

We're fairly certain that there's something for everyone, regardless of your particular tastes.

Fans of Americana music, for instance, will want to attend Corb Lund's show at the Musicial Instrument Museum, while anyone into indie or experimental sounds might want to check out gigs by The Regrettes, Cold Cave, or Xambuca.

Other highlights of this week's concert offerings include peformances by R&B/roots musician Fantastic Negrito, aggrotech act Combichrist, reggaeton artist Farruko, and jazz legend Kenny Garrett.

It's also your last chance to attend the Vans Warped Tour, as the high-profile summertime tour will make its final visit to the Valley this week.

Details about each of these shows can be found below. And for even more live music happening around the Valley, hit up Phoenix New Times' online concert calendar.

Kenny Garrett
Monday, May 25
Musical Instrument Museum
By the time Kenny Garrett was 18, his alto-sax chops were already good enough to earn him a spot in the Duke Ellington Orchestra, which was then led by Ellington's son, Mercer. Nearly a decade later, Garrett recorded with Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Art Blakey and Donald Byrd, and performed with other jazz luminaries, including Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, and Pat Metheny.

He's also worked with Pharoah Sanders, who appeared on his 14th album, 2006's Beyond the Wall, as a leader. The two saxophonists joined forces again on Garrett's 2008 live Miles Davis album, Sketches of MD. His most recent effort, 2016's Do Your Dance!, includes all original songs that subtly riff on a variety of dance beats, including swing, Latin, and funk. This week, he stops by the MIM for a solo show on Monday night, which starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $38.50-$48.50. Jon Solomon


Xambuca
Monday, June 25
The Lunchbox
In every round of the decades-old board game Scrabble, you get seven lettered tiles to create a word. Chandra Shukla rearranged tiles from that game and came up with Xambuca, and decided to utilize it for his musical project. That was back in 1995, so obviously it stuck. In those early days, his experimental, electronic music project was collaborative, keeping an open door to a revolving cast of co-conspirators.

These days, Xambuca is more of a two-person project, featuring Shukla of course, and Geo Lynx, who provides the video visuals that make the live show even more of a trippy affair. The soundscapes that Shukla creates are diverse and unpredictable; his many years of experience have rendered him able to make sonic twists and turns flow seamlessly from one part to the next. A drone-y buzz might pull you into a comfortable lull, where you’ll rest as long as he lets you. You could be pulled gracefully from that trance by a soft, climbing beat, or rattled from that mellow mood by a harsher, noisy wall of fuzz. Throughout the aural adventure, mutable videos filled with text and imagery increase the headiness of the experience. Amy Young

The Regrettes
Monday, June 25
The Rebel Lounge
If you take one message away from listening to Los Angeles rockers The Regrettes, it should be this: Don’t fuck with The Regrettes — they clearly do not have time for your bullshit. The band’s garage punk is hardly straightforward. A lot of its fuel comes from the spirits of ’50s and ’60s doo-wop and the riot grrrl sounds of the 1990s. Through their sonic mix, what they’ve been delivering in the last few years as a band are songs that encourage finding and utilizing your personal power.

It’s as clear in older songs like “Seashore” from 2016 as it is in recent offerings like “A Living Human Girl.” The former kicks off with this: “You’re talking to me like a child / Hey, I’ve got some news, I’m not a little girl / I won’t give you a little twirl.” The latter, from Feel Your Feelings Fool! is another take-me-or-leave-me anthem, which launches with more realisms: “I’ve got pimples on my face and grease in my hair / Prickly legs, go ahead and stare / An ass full of stretch marks and little boobs / And a nice full belly that’s filled with food.” Catch ’em live as they rock their you-do-you message, driven by a fed-up angst. Amy Young

U.S. Bombs
Tuesday, June 26
The Rebel Lounge
Just like punk itself, U.S. Bombs will apparently never die. The infamous street punk band, which has been around in various forms for 25 years and counting, has survived numerous lineup changes, breakups, hiatuses, and spats between members, and is still alive and kicking.

Formed in Southern California back in 1993 by vocalist/pro skater Duane Peters and guitarist Kerry Martinez, U.S. Bombs unleashed a cannonade of roaring guitar riffs and sneering lyrics in the vein of ‘77-style punk, as heard on its debut album, Put Strength in the Final Blow.

Over the next quarter century, the band added and subtracted more than a dozen different musicians, including such notable names as guitarist Jonny "Two Bags" Wickersham, onetime Circle Jerks bassist Zander Schloss, and drummer and longtime Valley resident Chip Hanna. The band’s current version features Peters (the only original member left), as well as Brandon Meunier, Philip Barber, and Dave Barbee. They're scheduled to perform at The Rebel Lounge on Tuesday night. Krovak, Corky's Leather Jacket, and Sewer Gap will open. Benjamin Leatherman

Cold Cave
Wednesday, June 27
Crescent Ballroom
With a deep, baritone voice that rumbles the lower registers of the bass spectrum, Wesley Eisold can be a messenger of doom. Complemented by aggressively sinewy beats and sound collages provided by musical partner Amy Lee, however, his words lessen in ominous tones and instead bathe in moments of euphoria and exaltation.

As Cold Cave, the duo refuse to be boxed in by convention or association. Sure, they mirror characteristics of bands like Joy Division and Nine Inch Nails, and yes, their minimalism reflects the mood established by folks like Suicide and Savages. Listen closely, though, and you'll start to see some cheer sprinkled in among the dark overtones. Tracks like "Glory" and "Oceans With No End" bring about a sense of almost glee, forcing listeners to pull their hands from their pockets and perhaps dance a little. The band will make sure that attendees of Wednesday night's show at Crescent Ballroom go through all the ranges of emotion. Jeff Strowe
Corb Lund
Wednesday, June 27
Musical Instrument Museum
It only takes one listen to any Corb Lund album to know the guy is witty and whip-smart. The salty Albertan who studied jazz in Edmonton before joining metal band the Smalls, also has a good sense of history and a strong respect for the land and people who work it, whether ranchers, farmers, or roughnecks on a drilling rig. Typically, His songs have always dealt with horses, cattle, prairies, drilling rigs, poker, liquor, and occasionally even women.

What separates Lund from the pack is his ability to draw his family ranching and rodeo experience into his songs, abetted by his band of ultra-tight virtuosos. His songs, which have filled nine full-length albums thus far, present us with a new and meaningful 21st-century addition to the traditions of Western and cowboy music, something to succeed the likes of Ian Tyson and Ramblin' Jack Elliott and save their art from total extinction. William Michael Smith

Fantastic Negrito
Wednesday, June 27
Last Exit Live
Fantastic Negrito, a mesmerizing performer whose music spans blues, funk, R&B and roots genres, will swing by Last Exit Live in downtown Phoenix on June 27. Born Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz, the self-taught musician and Oakland native famously won NPR's Tiny Desk contest in 2015 after wowing judges with an acoustic version of his R&B/roots song “Lost in a Crowd.” A year later, he released the critically acclaimed album, The Last Days of Oakland, which scored a Grammy in 2017. In recent years he's also toured with such cats as Sturgil Simpson. His gig here in town kicks off at 7 p.m. and features local blues artists Dave Riley and Bob Corritore as openers. Tickets are $13. Jeff Strowe

Combichrist
Wednesday, June 27
Club Red in Mesa
As founder of the iconic futurepop act Icon of Coil, Norwegian sound terrorist Andy LaPlegua showed an early penchant for the darker, harder sounds of the industrial music fringe. However, it was with his current outfit, Combichrist, that he fully realized his caustic musical dreams.

Unapologetically eardrum-splitting, brutal, and even vulgar, the group represents the apotheosis of aggrotech, a subgenre that sounds exactly like its name. At the core of Combichrist songs are danceable beats that lock into a robotic, usually high-BPM groove. It's what keeps the common thread among songs that, above all that, gleefully push both sonic and content boundaries. For a clue, just check out the title of the band's most recent albums, including 2014's Throat Full of Glass and 2016's This Is Where Death Begins. Arielle Castillo


Tim Green
Wednesday, June 27
Bar Smith
DJ/producer Tim Green had a meteoric ascension from bedroom producer to internationally acclaimed artist more than a decade ago. Back in 2006, his funked-up banging techno productions began to garner the attention and praise of top industry players like Pete Tong, Ritchie Hawtin, John Digweed, and Deadmau5. In the ensuing years, Green amassed massive worldwide accolades, including a DJ Magazine nomination for Best Breakthrough Producer and his breakthrough track, "Mr. Dry," topping the Beatport charts.

Since then, Green's dropped a flurry of releases on a number of high-profile and tastemaking labels, including Sven Vath's renowned Cocoon imprint and Claude Von Stroke's Dirtybird Records, in addition to holding down a hectic global touring schedule that's taken him to five continents. You can catch Green spinning at Bar Smith on June 27 as the featured guest at this week's DVINA Wednesday dance party. Opening sets will be performed by Alex Clark, Nikolas, Brando, and Aztech. Doors are at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10. Sean Levisman

Vans Warped Tour 2018
Thursday, June 28
Ak-Chin Pavilion
Get your goodbyes ready. As you've probably heard, Vans Warped Tour will mount its final cross-country jaunt this summer. So when the 2018 edition comes to Phoenix's Ak-Chin Pavilion on June 28, it's likely to be a rager.

That's because the lineup will include local rockers Doll Skin and The Maine, Buffalo scream rock darlings Every Time I Die, and party ska legends Reel Big Fish.

After that, it's not clear what will happen with the event. But it's a big deal that it's ending. Warped Tour has been going strong since its founding in 1995 by Kevin Lyman. "I truly am happy to get the chance to travel around the country one more time to thank you for your support, and bring you another best day ever," Lyman says in a press release.

Joining the aforementioned bands in Phoenix will be 3OH!3, the genre-refusing Canadians in Simple Plan, and The Used, as well as a number of heavy hitters on the Mutant Red Dawn and Mutant White Lightning stages. Lauren Cusimano

Farruko
Thursday, June 28
Marquee Theatre in Tempe
The popularity of “Despacito,” the most streamed song of all time, indicates that the world market is craving more Latin sounds, and that reggaeton definitely is not a genre of the past. So it’s likely that the riddim-loving crowds will turn out for artist Farruko’s show — which will also feature performances by Lary Over, Yoan y Enyol, and DJ Lynch — at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe.

A Daddy Yankee collaborator, the Latin Grammy-nominated Puerto Rican is on tour touting his latest album TrapFicante, which dropped earlier this year. Doors are at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $35-$65. Liz Tracy