Photos of Korbe in the Moment (Korbe Canida) performing at Shady Park in Tempe, Arizona on May 28, 2016. Korbe in the Moment was the second opening band for Jane N’ The Jungle at their music video premiere and concert. Coming next: Photos of the first opening band We, Beloved!
Photography © Katherine Amy Vega, Kataklizmic Design
All Rights Reserved.
Photos of Jane N’ The Jungle’s “Shake Me Out” music video premiere and performance at Shady Park in Tempe, Arizona
on May 28, 2016.
Photography by Katherine Vega, © Kataklizmic Design
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO STEALING
Check out our review of Jane N’ The Jungle’s new “Shake Me Out” music video, and watch the video here!
REVIEW: Jane N’ The Jungle ‘Shakes Out’ New Video
TEMPE, Ariz. — Butcher Babies wouldn’t have been an easy act for anyone to follow Monday night. The heavy metal band from Los Angeles was the final opener for Lacuna Coil, taking the stage right after 9Electric at the Marquee Theatre. And if synchronized hair tossing and head banging were an Olympic sport, frontwomen Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey would have taken the gold.
Butcher Babies’ set was short but memorable, especially when, at one point, Shepherd decided that security would help them play a game with concert-goers. “You ready to catch some bodies?” she asked before announcing that during the next song she wanted to see how many high-fives they could collect from fans crowd-surfing to the front of the stage. And they received a lot more high-fives than one might expect from the modest number of concert-goers that attended the show.
Watching Butcher Babies play to a crowd is akin to watching parents dropping their kids off with two favorite aunts who then spend the weekend spoiling their nieces and nephews—deliberately getting them wound up and hyped full of sugar before letting them return home to terrorize their parents. By the time they demanded concert-goers start a circle pit in front of the stage, the audience was already wild with adrenaline and excitement.
The band itself was a sight to behold on the stage. They brought an immense amount of energy and enthusiasm to the show, every member dancing and head banging in time with the music. Harvey was even seen cartwheeling mid-song. And crowd participation wasn’t just an option, it was a requirement.
“We absolutely will not start this song without you… I want them to hear us in Utah!” Shepherd shouted. “Let me hear you scream!” she roared as they launched into “Magnolia Blvd.” from their self-titled album.
Toward the end of their set, while singing, Shepherd made her way down from the stage into the center of the circle pit with a member of the security staff shining a flashlight on her as a makeshift spotlight. She then finished the song from the center of the pit while the moshers flung themselves about recklessly around her. Lacuna Coil couldn’t have asked for a better opening act.
Butcher Babies will play with Painted Wives, 9Electric, and label-mate Lacuna Coil during the first leg of their North American tour to promote Lacuna Coil’s upcoming album, “Delirium”, which hits record stores on May 27.
Photography: Katherine Amy Vega
Photography by Katherine Vega, © Kataklizmic Design
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
TEMPE, AZ — Violent Femmes packed the Marquee Theatre in Tempe on Tuesday, May 3, as part of their tour to promote their latest album, “We Can Do Anything”. The punk-rock headliner of over 35 years drew a more mature crowd that evening, with fans eschewing sleep on a weeknight for the chance to see Violent Femmes live. They wasted no time in giving concert-goers exactly what they wanted and opened with their biggest hit, “Blister in the Sun,” from their self-titled 1983 album, then went right into “Kiss Off.” It was clear from the start that fans were in for a great show when bassist Brian Ritchie was already rocking out to a bass guitar solo by the second song.
After sating the audience with two of their most well-known hits, Violent Femmes played “Memory” from their new album. At the song’s conclusion, lead vocalist and guitarist Gordon Gano finally addressed concert-goers, “Here’s another one that sounds just the same, but with different words and chords and melodies,” he said jokingly before launching into “Big Car,” another song from their new album, after which, Ritchie announced to excited fans that it was the first time they had played the song live.
The release of “We Can Do Anything” in March of this year was a special treat for Violent Femmes fans. It was the band’s first new album in 16 years. Amid a variety of conflicts between Gano and Ritchie, the group disbanded in 2009 due to a lawsuit Ritchie filed against Gano in 2007. It wasn’t until 2013 that Violent Femmes reunited to play at Coachella. According to an interview with Gano, it was that event that laid the foundation for the two musicians to put aside their differences in order to successfully record a new album.
The set list for Tuesday’s show artfully wove together new songs with old favorites. “Now we’ll do one we’ve played maybe 3,000 times,” Ritchie smiled before playing “Country Death Song,” another one of what he referred to as “murder story songs”. From there he announced that they would play another, more wholesome murder story song and kicked off “I Could Be Anything,” which tells the story of Bongo the dragon slayer. The set list also included, “Please Do Not Go,” “Good for/at Nothing,” “Issues,” “Good Feeling,” “Never Tell” and “Hallowed Ground.”
On the saxophone, Blaise Garza stole the show during “Love Love Love Love Love.” At the end of the song, Ritchie told concert-goers that Garza had been playing with them for 14 years. “Now he’s 27, so he’s been playing with us for half his life,” Ritchie added. Later, the group played “I Held Her in My Arms,” in which Garza delivered an incredible saxophone solo in tribute to the late Steve Mackay who played with the group early in their career.
© Kataklizmic Design
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Throughout the night, Garza played at least four different kinds of saxophones, including the impressively large contrabass for “Gone Daddy Gone”. But he wasn’t the only one in the spotlight. Gano and Ritchie were surrounded by a host of talent. While Gano rocked out with a fiddle during “Jesus Walking on the Water,” he was complemented by guitarist Jeff Hamilton on the mandolin. Drummer John Sparrow hammered out beats on a charcoal grill at one point. And during “Black Girls,” Sparrow delivered an impossibly long drum solo while Gano credited all of the players.
Violent Femmes closed the show with “American Music,” after which they came back out and played “Mirror Mirror (I See a Damsel)” and “Add It Up” for their encore set. The combination of nostalgic hits from past and new soon-to-be favorites made it a fun night for young and old alike. It was also impressive to see the plethora of instruments that made their way onto the stage. If future performances hold as much fun and nostalgia as Tuesday night, Violent Femmes can look forward to a successful comeback tour.
PHOTO ALBUM by Katherine Vega
Photography by Katherine Vega, © Kataklizmic Design
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (THAT MEANS NO STEALING)
Phoenix, Ariz. – Jim Adkins, lead singer of Jimmy Eat World, returned home to Arizona last night, bringing his solo project super chill “dude-with-a-guitar” gig to Valley Bar. The show sold out at least a month in advance, which is no surprise considering the success of the band he fronts, the success of his recent European tour, and the special place he holds in the hearts of those in his hometown.
A refreshing deviation from the norm, the show unexpectedly opened with stand up from Anwar Newton instead of an opening band. Recruited by Adkins, he loosened up the crowd before it was going to “get emo”. Newton succeeded in garnering laughter from the audience with off-color humor about topics like self-righteous coworkers, a carjacker who couldn’t drive manual, separation of food and politics, and paying taxes versus giving blowjobs (in his opinion… there’s no question, BJs FTW). For those that came to see Adkins, this was an engaging act, and time passed quickly before Adkins took the stage. It was unique that, as the headliner, he was the second act of the night with more bands following.
As emotional as Adkins’ music is, he brought a very lighthearted, slightly goofy stage presence to Valley Bar. He was excited to be playing at Valley Bar for the first time! Despite 23 years in Jimmy Eat World, he is arguably the least pretentious major musician you could ever meet. Adkins effortlessly tapped into the vulnerable emotions of his music, while still interjecting his quirky sense of humor between songs. One moment he was singing heart-wrenching lyrics like, “Are we too damaged now to possibly connect?”, and the next, he was joking about learning Slayer songs to play upon request.
For the set, Adkins played songs from his “I Will Go” EP, as well as select J.E.W. songs and covers. Without falter, his vocals delivered exactly what you would expect from listening to his records, with the only noticeable difference being intentional changes to the melody for the performance. Adkins’ guitar is like an extension of himself, which lends itself to his ability to fully invest in the nuances of his vocal performance. He is a seasoned musician with the ability to genuinely connect with his adoring audience on the same level.
For some solo projects, such as Nate Ruess and The Band Romantic or Amanda Palmer and The Grand Theft Orchestra, the artist performs with a full live band. For Adkins’ solo endeavors, he may be only one man with an acoustic guitar on a big empty stage, but these humble, low-key vibes are exactly what he goes for.
In a 2015 interview, Adkins told Substream Magazine that, “…planning out an encore makes me feel like an asshole.” So it was unsurprising that when Adkins exited the stage, that was the end of his set. He loaded up his equipment himself afterward, which he joked is what rock ‘n roll really is. Some in the crowd were overheard asking, “Why is he carrying out his stuff himself?”
Jim Adkins is a totally normal guy who happens to be a world-famous musician, and Arizona is proud to call him our own.
PHOTO ALBUM by Katherine Vega
Photography by Katherine Vega, © Kataklizmic Design
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (THAT MEANS NO STEALING)
Photos of Nate Ruess (fun., The Format) performing at ALT AZ 93.3’s FestivALT in downtown Phoenix, Arizona on April 23, 2016.
Photography by Katherine Vega, © Kataklizmic Design
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO STEALING
ORDER NATE RUESS’ SOLO ALBUM!
TEMPE, AZ — Say Anything came to the Marquee Theatre Friday night and gave fans exactly what they came for. The show opened with sets from mewithoutYou, Teen Suicide and Museum Mouth. Directly preceding the Los Angeles pop-punk headliner, mewithoutYou along with their high-energy barefoot drummer, Rick Mazzotta, was the perfect act to get concert-goers warmed up for what was to come.
Even as the backline crew prepared the stage for the main act, attendees couldn’t contain their screams of anticipation when Say Anything’s backdrop fell open.
When the house lights finally dimmed to herald Say Anything onto the stage, the screams were deafening. From the first song to the last, lead vocalist, Max Bemis, brought raw, hard energy to the stage.
The group opened with “Give a Damn” from their new album, “I Don’t Think It Is,” released earlier this year in February. And with hardly a breath between songs, they continued into “Say Anything” from their 2012 album.
Smiling and swinging the mic around by its cord between lyrics, it was evident that Bemis and the band were genuinely having fun on the stage. With a sea of hands raised in the air, Bemis alternately sang and screamed the words to “Woe” before thrusting the mic toward the audience. The crowd sang in unison, every word committed to memory.
It was clear that even as concert-goers were feeding on Bemis’s energy, he was feeding on theirs too, and their enthusiasm was fueling the performance. But what’s perhaps most striking about Say Anything is their sincere love for their fans. At the end of the song, while concert-goers applauded, Bemis applauded them.
Say Anything’s set included other favorites like “Six Six Six” from their 2014 album “Hebrews” and “Death for my Birthday” from their self-titled 2009 album. Bemis then doled out some sage advice to one 14-year-old he spotted in the audience, advising him not to listen to the next song. “If you can relate to it, that’s awesome,” Bemis said. “Otherwise, you don’t want all this. Trust me,” he said before launching into “17 Coked Up Speeding.”
At one point during the night, Bemis confessed that he was glad to see that so many fans had connected with their latest album, despite the band’s two-year hiatus before the album’s surprise release. Many of the lyrics in Say Anything’s songs relate to Bemis’s troubled past and his struggle with bipolar disorder. But the passion he brings to the stage and the emotions that come through as he sings are what make it real. And it was that realness that concert-goers connected with Friday night.
The highlight of the show came when Bemis’s wife, Sherri DuPree-Bemis took the stage for “So Good” from the band’s 2012 album, “Anarchy, My Dear”. Her voice was hauntingly beautiful as it grew in intensity, perfectly complementing Bemis’s own vocals. Their affection for each other is readily apparent when they’re on the stage together, and it was easy to see that fans were engaged, not only with the music, but also with the story behind it.
At the end of the night, Bemis sweetly announced, “one more song for you” before playing “Belt” from the band’s 2004 release, “…Is a Real Boy”. But it wasn’t the last song. After exiting the stage to screams of “encore” and people chanting “one more song,” the band came back out. Bemis, rejoined by his wife, Sherri, sang “Two of a Crime,” a duet from the album of the same title that the two recorded together as Perma in 2013. It was followed by “Varicose Visage”.
But something was missing.
“One more, for real,” Bemis said. “If you know this song, sing along. If you don’t know it, I don’t know why the fuck you’re at this show.” Say Anything closed out the night with their most popular song, “Alive with the Glory of Love”. Before leaving the stage for the last time, Bemis thanked concert-goers for making it a fun show. And in one last display of affection for their fans, drummer Reed Murray took out his phone to snap a shot of the audience before disappearing backstage.
For concert-goers who came for a night of high-energy punk music that rocked hard and didn’t quit, Say Anything didn’t disappoint.
Check out our review of Say Anything’s new album!
REVIEW: Say Anything’s New Album “I Don’t Think It Is”
Photographer: Katherine Amy Vega
Photography © Katherine Amy Vega, Kataklizmic Design
All Rights Reserved.
Photos of Coheed and Cambria performing at Marquee Theater on March 21, 2016.
Photographer: Katherine Amy Vega
Photography © Katherine Amy Vega, Kataklizmic Design
All Rights Reserved.
Photos of Vance Joy performing at Marquee Theatre in Tempe, Arizona on March 1, 2016.
Photographer: Katherine Amy Vega
Photography © Katherine Amy Vega, Kataklizmic Design
All Rights Reserved.
Photos of Elle King performing at Marquee Theatre in Tempe, Arizona on March 1, 2016.
Photographer: Katherine Amy Vega
Photography © Katherine Amy Vega, Kataklizmic Design
All Rights Reserved.
