Concerts playing Phoenix in December: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Christian Nodal, Gin Blossoms
As we near the end of 2021, two holiday traditions return to metro Phoenix after taking 2020 off for COVID-19.
Alice Cooper's Christmas Pudding is set to get the month off to a festive start with special guests including Tom Morello, Felix Cavaliere and Ace Frehley.
Then, as we get a bit closer to Christmas, Trans-Siberian Orchestra bring the bombastic holiday spectacle of "Christmas Eve and Other Stories" to Footprint Center.
December also brings concerts by Courtney Barnett and Pokey LaFarge as well as local heroes Gin Blossoms and Injury Reserve.
And Relentless Beats will ring in 2022 with a two-day dance party stacked with many of the hottest names in EDM, including Marshmello, Kaskade and DJ Snake.
Walt Richardson
Tempe Center for the Arts couldn't very well showcase the musical, theatrical, dance and visual artists of Arizona as part of a series called 48 Live without finding a spot on the schedule for Walt Richardson. The Tempe legend, whose music is a user-friendly blend of reggae, folk and funk, was the first Valley artist enshrined on Tempe's Music Walk in 2014. He's also been inducted into the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 2. Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway. $5-$15. 480-352-2822, tempecenterforthearts.com.
The Bounce 101 Throwback Holiday Jam
Ice Cube tops the bill at the inaugural KZCE-FM (101.1) Bounce Throwback Holiday Jam with Too Short, Warren G, Baby Bash, The Luniz and J.J. Fad. The gangsta-rap legend owned the crowd at the Pot of Gold Festival in 2019, bringing thousands together as one nation under a groove with a funky set of hip-hop classics tracing his career from the groundbreaking glory of "Straight Outta Compton" by the group that made him famous, N.W.A., through "Bop Gun (One Nation)" and "It Was a Good Day."
Details: 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3. Footprint Center (formerly Phoenix Suns Arena), 201 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix. $45 and up. 602-379-7800, ticketmaster.com.
The Iron Maidens
As the title of their debut album summed it up, they are "The World's Only Female Tribute to Iron Maiden." They cover classics from all eras of the British metal legends' career, encompassing their biggest hits and fan favorites, with a stage show that includes appearances by Maiden mascot Eddie, the Grim Reaper, the devil and more.
Details: 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3. Marquee Theatre, 730 N. Mill Ave., Tempe. $27 and up. 480-829-0607, luckymanonline.com.
Waterparks
The Houston, trio — Awsten Knight, Otto Wood and Geoff Wigington — are touring in support of a fourth album auspiciously titled "Greatest Hits," released in May, which recently became their second album in a row to crack the Top 10 on the Billboard rock and alternative charts. NME hailed the album as "a 17-track epic in which they try their hand at emo-rap, stadium rock, club floor-fillers, chaotic hyperpop and lo-fi confessionals."
Details: 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3. The Van Buren, 401 W. Van Buren St., Phoenix. $30-$35. 866-468-3399, thevanburenphx.com.
Aaron Lewis
After making a name for himself as the Vedderesque voice of such post-grunge rock-radio staples as "It's Been Awhile" and "Right Here," Lewis stepped out on Staind to go country with some help from Charlie Daniels and George Jones on the platinum “Country Boy,” which charted higher on Billboard’s rock charts than its country chart. He's also known for his unwavering support of the twice-impeached former president and wearing MAGA hats on stage.
Details: 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3. Talking Stick Resort, Loop 101 and Pima Road, Salt River Reservation. Sold out. 480-850-7734, talkingstickresort.com.
No Volcano
Every time I throw a No Volcano record on, I'm instantly reminded that they're probably the Valley's most consistently inspired rock 'n' rollers, always somehow effortlessly rising to the challenge of maintaining the impossibly high standards of their previous releases. And this is your first chance to see them bring those songs to life in two long years.
They're joined by three bands playing their first show. Nominal Gain is a new project featuring Jeremy Randall (No Volcano's first guitarist) and Jef Wright, formerly of ROAR and Treasure MammaL. Bobby Carlson of the fabulous Exbats is playing his first show with a Tucson band called No Stones. And Gaba Waba features Brook Boner with members of Necronauts.
Details: 8:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 3. Rebel Lounge, 2303 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix. $10. 602-296-7013, therebellounge.com.
Rachel Eckroth
Eckroth, who grew up in Phoenix and tours with Rufus Wainwright and St. Vincent when she isn't doing her own music, will compete for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album at the 64th annual Grammy Awards for "The Garden." All but one song on the album was written after Eckroth and her husband, bassist Tim Lefebvre (who played on David Bowie's "Blackstar" and produced "The Garden"), moved to Tucson during the pandemic. She and Lefebvre are joined at the Nash by drummer Christian Euman, who also appears on the album.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4. The Nash, 110 E. Roosevelt St., Phoenix. $32-$40 (12.80 for students). 602-795-0464, thenash.org.
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Alice Cooper's Christmas Pudding
Alice Cooper has a prediction going into Christmas Pudding 2021, a benefit for Alice Cooper's Solid Rock Teen Centers. "I think the guy that's gonna steal the show," he says, "in my opinion, is Felix Cavaliere from the Rascals." This year's lineup also features Cooper fronting his own touring band (with the exception of guitarist Nita Strauss) with sets by Tom Morello, Ace Frehley of Kiss, Ed Roland of Collective Soul and Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray.
Details: 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4. Celebrity Theatre, 440 N. 32nd St., Phoenix. $60-$300. 602-267-1600, celebritytheatre.com.
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Courtney Barnett
The Australian singer-songwriter who made the rounds of year-end critics' list with a breathtaking breakthrough called "Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit" returns to Phoenix in support of this year's model, "Things Take Time, Take Time." Her third full-length effort has Barnett stripping things down sonically and lyrically to brilliant effect on a pandemic record that finds the 33-year-old, as Slant magazine put it, "giving voice to a generation’s endemic social anxieties while also "providing an endlessly empathetic blueprint for confronting them."
Details: 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4. The Van Buren, 401 W. Van Buren St., Phoenix. $31-$36. 866-468-3399, thevanburenphx.com.
Kacy Hill
She was 18 and fresh out of Sunnyslope High School when she moved to Los Angeles and established herself as the face of American Apparel. Five years later, in 2017, she dropped a masterful debut executive produced by Kanye West, who signed her to his own G.O.O.D. Music imprint. Now, she's touring in support of "Simple, Sweet and Smiling," an intriguing step forward that draws you in with a piano-driven, gospel-flavored opener that sounds like something Chance the Rapper would get the feels to on his way to church on Sunday morning.
Details: 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4. Rebel Lounge, 2303 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix. $16. 602-296-7013, therebellounge.com.
WayneFest
The Coronado neighborhood in Phoenix hosts the third edition of a nonprofit music and food micro-festival in Coronado Park that puts the focus squarely on the local scene. This year's lineup features Mega Ran, 2Tone Lizard Kings, Rebel Set and Blood Feud Family Singers, with Four Peaks Brewing Company providing beer and food trucks. The festival raises money for neighborhood projects and the North High School music program. The North High marching band will kick off the festivities with a grand entrance into the festival space.
Details: 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 4. Coronado Park, 1717 N. 12th St., Phoenix. $5-$20. eventbrite.com.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
This tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of "Christmas Eve and Other Stories" will play two shows in a single day at Footprint Center. The triple-platinum album launched Trans-Siberian Orchestra's career and spawned the holiday tradition that has played to more than 17 million fans across the nation. Part of the proceeds from the early show will benefit Operation Santa Claus. Part of the proceeds from the second show will benefit the Arizona Animal Welfare League.
Details: 3 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5. Footprint Center (formerly Phoenix Suns Arena), 201 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix. $44.75 and up. 602-379-7800, ticketmaster.com.
Wednesday Wednesday
Jesse Teer of the Senators will host a new songwriters showcase at Crescent Ballroom every Wednesday, inspired by Joel Eckel’s Monday Monday show at Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles, where Teer has been a guest performer. In a press release, Teer said, “This kind of songwriters showcase should have happened in Phoenix years ago. But, it probably couldn’t have. There just wasn’t enough of a coalesced scene then. There is now.” The inaugural Wednesday Wednesday features Camille Sledge (Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra), TRUVONNE, Anameike Quinn (Las Chollas Peligrosas), Tyler Matock (Gus D. Wynns & The Breakers/Sure Son/Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold), and Danielle Durack.
Details: 7 p.m. Wednesdays, Dec. 1-22. Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Ave., Phoenix. Free. 602-716-2222, crescentphx.com.
Robert Cray Band
It’s been 35 years since “Strong Persuader” took this soulful blues guitarist to the mainstream, largely on the strength of “Smoking Gun,” a breakthrough single that remains his biggest hit. It’s doubtful Cray will ever top the double-platinum benchmark set by “Strong Persuader.” But the album this tour is supporting, “That's What I Heard,” proves that Cray is as strong a persuader as ever.
Details: 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10. Talking Stick Resort, Loop 101 and Pima Road, Salt River Reservation. Sold out. 480-850-7734, talkingstickresort.com.
93.3 ALT AZ Ugly Holiday Sweater Party
It could be argued that there are no better sweater songs a headliner could hope to play at the annual 93.3 ALT AZ Ugly Holiday Sweater Party than "Undone — the Sweater Song" by Weezer. Which works out great because they're topping this year's bill, which also features the Regrettes (one of the best young rock bands on the planet) and Upsahl, the Phoenix-born pop star on the rise who recently released her full-length Arista debut.
Details: 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11. Mesa Amphitheatre, 263 N. Center St. $65-$175. 480-644-2560, mesaamp.com.
Beach Bunny
Lili Trifilio and her bandmates earned raves for filtering vulnerability through sugar-coated pop hooks with the urgency of punk to cathartic effect on last year's "Honeymoon." Paste magazine raved, "All nine songs are catchy as hell, featuring triumphant choruses and impressive J. Mascis-esque guitar solos." Now they're touring the States in support of a four-song follow-through called "Blame Game," living up to the promise of "Honeymoon" on such obvious highlights as "Good Girls (Don't Get Used)."
Details: 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11. Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Ave., Phoenix. Sold out. 602-716-2222, crescentphx.com.
Com Truise
Com Truise is Seth Haley, a synthwave sensation whose stage name is rather obviously a reference to Tom Cruise, the actor, who should seriously do a music video dancing "Tropic Thunder"-style to one of Truise's songs. The Wire praised "Persuasion System," Truise's latest album, for having stronger melodies and arrangements than earlier efforts, "elevating their effect from that of incidental, if still effective background music to the gripping theme of a main character." He's here to do a DJ set at a show that also features a DJ set from Matthew Dear.
Details: 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 11. Shady Park Tempe, 26 E. University Drive. $20. 480-474-4222, shadyparktempe.com.
Jeff Rosenstock
In 2016, Pitchfork raved, "In certain circles, Jeff Rosenstock is one of the most important figures in modern punk." Five years later, Rosenstock is as revered (and relevant) as ever, arriving in support of last year's excellent "No Dream." It's as funny as it is cathartic, crashing the gate with the reckless abandon of the feedback-laden "No Time." "Did you turn into a person that you really want to be?" he asks. "I didn't have the time." He's joined by Slaughter Beach, Dog and Oceanator.
Details: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 15. Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Ave., Phoenix. Sold out. 602-716-2222, crescentphx.com.
... And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
These alternative Texans are touring the States in continued support of last year's mesmerizing return from a five-year hiatus, "X: The Godless Void and Other Stories." It's the sort of prog-inspired headphone-music masterstroke you'd half expect from a band that decided to title the opening track "The Opening Crescendo." MusicOMH says, "This is not the sound of a band trying to recapture the past, it’s the sound of …Trail of Dead hurtling into the darkness of the void whilst carefully refining their sound once again."
Details: 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16. Rebel Lounge, 2303 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix. $18. 602-296-7013, therebellounge.com.
Kip Moore
The multiplatinum singer-songwriter who got his career off to a headline-grabbing start with the triple-platinum breakthrough single, "Somethin' 'Bout a Truck," which topped the Billboard country chart, will bring the How High Tour to downtown Phoenix. The Detroit Free Press described his "much-praised live shows" as "equal parts high-energy showmanship, sincere audience connections and formidable musicianship from Moore and his band.”
Details: 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 17. The Van Buren, 401 W. Van Buren St., Phoenix. $25-$28. 866-468-3399, thevanburenphx.com.
Authority Zero
"Ollie Ollie Oxen Free" is not a concept album. But there is a thread that runs through several of the more impassioned songs on the album these local rockers are supporting on the tour that brings them home to Tempe's Marquee Theatre, a thread that's well established by the time they hit the first song's chorus. "The idea behind the whole album is 'Ollie Ollie Oxen Free,'" Jason DeVore told the Arizona Republic. "Come out from your scared place a little bit and feel free again to see family."
Details: 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18. Marquee Theatre, 730 N. Mill Ave., Tempe. $22 and up. 480-829-0607, luckymanonline.com.
More: Mesa punk band Authority Zero want to offer fans 'hope at the end of the tunnel'
Gin Blossoms
These Tempe rockers are launching a tour in the new year to honor the 30th anniversary of "New Miserable Experience," the quadruple-platinum triumph that put Tempe on the major-label feeding-frenzy menu thanks to breakthrough hits "Hey Jealousy" and "Found Out About You." In the meantime, they're playing a show at Talking Stick Resort that's bound to feature many gems from that jangle-rock classic.
Details: 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18. Talking Stick Resort, Loop 101 and Pima Road, Salt River Reservation. Sold out. 480-850-7734, talkingstickresort.com.
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Beth Lederman and Jazz Con Alma
This holiday concert is part of the Lakeshore Music series. A fixture on the Phoenix jazz scene for three decades, piano-playing bandleader Beth Lederman combined her love of Latin and Brazilian music with classical roots and her creative exploration of jazz to form Jazz Con Alma, which translates to “jazz with soul” or “jazz with spirit.”
Details: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18. The Ravenscroft, 8445 E. Hartford Drive, Scottsdale (in the Scottsdale Perimeter Complex). $45. 800-785-3318, lakeshoremusic.org.
Ring Finger No Pinky
Last year's "Chlorine Bomb" offered a gritty, cathartic escape from the pandemic blues with a five-song collection of soulful garage-punk anthems that probably peaked on "Dog Days," where they sneak up on the raw side of a ballad. Griffin Brown is the kind of lead singer who can't quite decide if he's going for wounded or bored when he's probably both, which is exactly what you need to navigate the nuance of a world-weary lyric as dispirited as "Feeling trapped in my walls is taking its toll." This is their Holiday Rock Party with Fairy Bones, Veronica Everheart, Bethany Home and KRXS.
Details: 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18. The Nile, 105 W. Main St., Mesa. $15. 480-559-5859, simpletix.com.
Christian Nodal
The Botella Tras Botella Tour is named for Christian Nodal’s viral hit “Botella Tras Botella” which topped the Spotify global chart, the highest chart position for a song by a Mexican artist. The song has had more than 146 million streams on YouTube and is the first Regional Mexican title to enter the Billboard Hot 100 in its almost 63-year history.
Details: 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 19. Arizona Federal Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix. $55 and up. 800-745-300, ticketmaster.com.
Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
In their ’90s prime, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony topped the Hot 100 with “Tha Crossroads,” a Grammy-winning tribute to the legendary Eazy-E from the Cleveland rappers' quadruple-platinum breakthrough “E. 1999 Eternal.” Other hits include the Top 10 smashes “Look Into My Eyes” and “I Tried.” They're joined at the Marquee by Maniacal Militants, Stoner Jordan, and Jahlos and the Rebels.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 19. Marquee Theatre, 730 N. Mill Ave., Tempe. $40 at. 480-829-0607, luckymanonline.com.
Pokey LaFarge
LaFarge has said he'd like his music to be seen as timeless, not retro, so we'll meet him halfway and say there's a timeless appeal to the songs on "In the Blossom of Their Shade" that transcends the sensation that we're listening to something made before the star was born. There are obvious echoes of Roy Orbison, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly and other legends of the rockabilly era in the LaFarge's jazz-tinged cocktail-rock approach. We're talking about an album whose last track fades out on a whistling solo coming out of a monologue.
Details: 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 19. MIM Music Theater, Musical Instrument Museum, 4725 E. Mayo Blvd., Phoenix. $49.50-$54.50. 480-478-6000, mim.org.
Kinch
First we had Black Carl reuniting in October for their first show in seven years as part of Crescent Ballroom's 10th anniversary weekend. Now, it's Kinch's turn, bringing Kinchmas to Crescent with Buddy Culture, Those Fabulous Lum Bros. and Mitch Freedom.
Welcome back to 2011, the year Crescent opened and Kinch released "The Incandenza," an album their Bandcamp page says was "influenced by lux coffee, boss orange distortion pedals, steinway b's, david foster wallace, samplemoog, anxiety, acid reflux and downstrokes." Mostly, though, it feels like Spoon and Quasi sitting down to hammer out a soulful middle ground that works for everyone.
Ten years after the fact, it feels ever so slightly more timeless than the day it hit the streets. And they've just released their first two music in a decade, "Sympathy."
Details: 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 23. Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Ave., Phoenix. $15. 602-716-2222, crescentphx.com.
Injury Reserve
Tempe hip-hop legends Injury Reserve are touring in support of "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," their final album with Stepa J. Groggs, who died in June 2020. It may be this year's most consistently compelling hip-hop album. Sputnikmusic says, "What these artists have pulled together in their last outing as a trio is something more than the sum of its parts, a paradoxical masterpiece that lies somewhere in the space between, blindingly bright and painfully incomprehensible."
Details: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 29. The Van Buren, 401 W. Van Buren St., Phoenix. $25; $22 in advance. 866-468-3399, thevanburenphx.com.
More: After losing Stepa J. Groggs, Tempe's Injury Reserve release new music
Decadence Arizona
Relentless Beats have added Marshmello to Decadence Arizona for a two-day event the local EDM promoters are calling "the country's hardest-hitting New Year's lineup." In addition to Marshmello's only New Year's engagement, this year's party features sets by DJ Snake, Kaskade, Seven Lions, Alison Wonderland, Alesso, Madeon, Shaquille O'Neal as Diesel, Alan Walker, Dillon Francis and many more.
Details: 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Dec. 30-31. Rawhide Event Center, 5700 W. North Loop Road, Gila River Reservation. $179 and up for weekend pass; $99 and up Thursday; $109 and up Friday. 480-502-5600, relentlessbeats.com.
New Year's Eve Block Party
Crescent Concerts and Walter Productions have found a new home for their 10th annual New Year's Eve Block Party, which moves to Margaret T. Hance Park in Phoenix. Billed as "the biggest NYE Party in Phoenix," it features three stages of music. The Walter Show and Kalliope Soundstage features DJ sets by Sean Watson, Avitas and more. The Club '90s Stage has DJ Jeffery spinning music from Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Panic at the Disco and more. And the Plaza Stage features DJs spinning soulful house.
Details: 8:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 31. Margaret T. Hance Park, Second and Portland streets, Phoenix. $15 and up. seetickets.us.
Futuristic release show
Tempe rap sensation Futuristic will ring in the new year while celebrating the release of "Don't Wanna Be Famous," an album whose title clearly doesn't match the energy, talent or passion he's put into making a name for himself since releasing a debut album titled "Dream Big" in 2012. And he's assembled quite a guest list for the party: Khiry, Toure Masters, Samara Cyn, Oswin Benjamin, Sam Opoku and Dela Preme.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 31. Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Ave., Phoenix. $25; $20 in advance. 602-716-2222, crescentphx.com.
Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix concerts for December: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Christian Nodal
