Mixing masters
20 legendary artists with concerts in Phoenix this fall
There are thousands of artists coming through the Valley in the next few months, from the singer at the top of Billboard‘s Hot 100 as I type this – Lizzo headlining a sold-out show at the Van Buren – to the hippest up-and-coming artists working their way up the food chain in the Valley’s more intimate venues. ●T●is guide puts the focus on a handful of the most established names with concerts on the way, from Squeeze tonight at Chandler Center for the Arts to jazz great Chick Corea, legendary guitarist Jeff Beck and two former member of Genesis, one of whom is playing “Selling England By the Pound” in its entirety and one of whom is named Phil Collins.
Squeeze
The Squeeze Songbook 2019 Tour finds the U.K. legends, hailed in Rolling Stone as the Lennon-McCartney of their generation, playing their extensive list of hits and some lesser-known gems from both Squeeze’s own extensive catalog and their solo careers. Glenn Tilbrook promises “a set of songs that are both new, contemporary and as innovative as people have come to expect from us, along with the old beauties.” Those beauties include some of the greatest pop songs of the New Wave era.
Details: 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15. Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave. $48-$78. 480-782-2680, chandlercenter.org.
Iron Maiden
The Legacy of the Beast Tour opened in Europe, playing to more than half a million fans. The Times declared it “an extraordinary show filled with world class theatrics” and “a master class in performance and staging.” In a press release, singer Bruce Dickinson promised that the British metal legends would deliver their most spectacular and “certainly most complex” show to date.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17. Talking Stick Resort Arena, 201 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix. $44.75 and up. 602379-7800, ticketmaster.com.
Lenny Kravitz
This four-time Grammy winner set a record for most wins in the best male rock vocal performance race. The son of actress Roxie Roker (”The Jeffersons”) broke through at alternative radio with “Let Love Rule,” the title track to his acclaimed debut. Subsequent hits included “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over,” “Are You Gonna Go My Way,” “Rock and Roll Is Dead,” “Fly Away” and his take on the Guess Who’s “American Woman.”
Details: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18. Comerica Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix. $58.50 and up. 800745-3000, livenation.com.
Kansas
The Point of Know Return Tour finds the heartland’s preeminent prog sensations performing the album “Point of Know Return” in its entirety. Having hit the mainstream with “Leftoverture,” a quadruple-platinum that spawn a million-selling calling card in “Carry On Wayward Son,” they made the most of that momentum by releasing “Point of Know Return” less than a year later, adding two more massive singles to their resume, the title track and an existential, acoustic-guitar-driven ballad called “Dust in the Wind.”
Details: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19. Mesa Arts Center, One East Main St., Mesa. $43-. 480-644-6500, mesaartscenter.com.
Mark Knopfler
This tour is in support of “Down the Road Wherever.” In a press release, the guitarist who rose to fame at the helm of Dire Straits said of the tour, “My songs are made to be performed live. I love the whole process of writing them alone and then recording them with the band, but ultimately the best part is playing them to an audience live. I enjoy the whole circus, travelling from town to town.”
Details: 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21. Comerica Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix. Resale prices vary. 800-7453000, livenation.com.
Aaron Neville Duo
This New Orleans soul great topped the Billboard R&B charts with the 1966 release of “Tell It LIke It Is,” a stone-cold classic. But his highest-profile hit came decades later when he teamed with Linda Ronstadt on a 1989 duet called “Don’t Know Much,” following through in 1990 with a second Ronstadt pairing, “All My Life.” His latest album, “Apache,” is a soulful gem reflecting his social and spiritual concerns, marking only the second time in his 56-year recording career that he’s co-written nearly an entire album’s worth of material.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21. Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave. $46-$56. 480-782-2680, chandlercenter.org.
Toto
We’re in the midst of a bit of a Toto resurgence. Their greatest hits collection “40 Trips Around The Sun” topped the charts in eight countries in early 2018. Then Weezer covered “Africa” and a whole new generation blessed the rains. As individuals, Toto members can be heard on an astonishing 5,000 albums with combined sales of half a billion and more than 200 Grammy nominations. As Toto, they have more than a billion streams worldwide on all streaming services.
Details: 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21. Celebrity Theatre, 440 N. 32nd St., Phoenix. $40-$60. 602-267-1600, celebritytheatre.com.
Jeff Beck
This is one of only seven U.S. shows the guitarist is playing this year. Other dates include the Crossroads Festival with fellow Yardbirds veteran Eric Clapton and the Hollywood Bowl with Rod Stewart. Ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, Beck has been inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice – as a member of the Yardbirds and in recognition of his solo work.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24. Celebrity Theatre, 440 N. 32nd St., Phoenix. $35-$179. 602-267-1600, celebritytheatre.com.
Peter Frampton
This is the end of the performing line for the British guitarist whose “Frampton Comes Alive!” remains one of the biggest-selling live recordings of all time, with worldwide sales of more than 17 million. Frampton’s breakthrough also spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s album chart and sent three classic singles to the upper reaches of the Hot 100 — “Show Me the Way,” “Baby, I Love Your Way” and “Do You Feel Like We Do?” It seems a safe bet that you’ll hear all three in Phoenix.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 26. Comerica Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix. $59.50 and up. 800-7453000, ticketmaster.com.
Blue Oyster Cult
These Long Island rockers made the mainstream safe for existential ballads with more cowbell when “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper” ascended the pop charts of 1976, earning “Agents of Fortune,” its parent album, a platinum certification in the process while ending the year as Rolling Stone magazine’s pick for best rock single. Other songs of note include “Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll,” “Godzilla” and “Burnin’ for You.”
Details: 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29. The Van Buren, 401 W. Van Buren St., Phoenix. $42-$87. 866-468-3399, thevanburenphx.com.
Alejandro Sanz
The singer-songwriter from Madrid boasts a wonderfully raspy voice that sounds like it has been soaked in nicotine and whiskey, and he offers songs that are romantic, thoughtful and often quite playful. His best-known material includes such “Pisando Fuerte,” “Si Tú Me Miras,” “”Un Zombie a la Intemperie” and the Alicia Keys collaboration “Looking for Paradise.” He’s touring to promote “#El Disco,” which was released in April.
Details: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3. Comerica Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix. $49.50 and up. 800-7453000, ticketmaster.com.
Chick Corea
A pianist whose status as a true jazz legend extends from his work with Mile Davis to founding Return to Forever and beyond, Corea brings Christian McBride on bass and Brian Blade on drums to Mesa. The trio earned two Grammys for 2014’s landmark 3-CD set “Trilogy.” Corea had this to say about McBride and Blade in a statement: “Both are master musicians and together we have an easy rapport. There is a lot of give and take in our music. It’s always a lot of fun.”
Details: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6. Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St., Mesa. $43-. 480-644-6500, mesaartscenter.com.
Tower of Power
Emilio Castillo’s horn-heavy funk outfit has offered such blistering, getout-of-your-seat workouts like “What is Hip?” and “Squib Cakes” for decades now. On the flip side, few can create such majestic old-school ballads as the aching “So Very Hard to Go” and the luminous “You’re Still a Young Man.”
Details: 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12. Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St. $29.50-$159.50. 480-644-6500, mesaartscenter.com.
Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers
Jazz legend Art Blakey, who died in 1990, would turn 100 this October had he lived. To celebrate 100 years of Blakey and the seventh Anniversary of The Nash, Javon Jackson’s Jazz Message will perform two shows featuring Blakey alums Eddie Henderson on trumpet, George Cableson on piano, David Williams on bass, Donald Harrison on alto sax, and Robin Eubanks on trombone. They’re joined by the Nash namesake Lewis Nash, a legendary drummer in his own right.
Details: 7 and 9:15 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12. The Nash, 110 E. Roosevelt St., Phoenix. $15; $8 for students with ID. 602-795-0464, thenash.org.
Phil Collins
This is Collins’ first Valley performance since 2004, when the playfully titled First Final Farewell Tour brought the star to what we now call Talking Stick Resort Arena. As the tour name seemed to indicate, he was only so committed to pulling the plug on his touring career at the time. So you can’t say he didn’t warn you that he might be back. Some things have changed since that last Valley concert, including the fact that undiagnosed nerve damage has left him unable to drum or even stand while performing.
Details: 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15. Talking Stick Resort Arena, 201 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix. Verified resale ticket prices vary. 602-379-7800, ticketmaster.com.
REO Speedwagon
Kevin Cronin and his bandmates topped the album charts in 1980 with the 10-times-platinum “Hi Infidelity,” which spawned the Top 10 singles “Keep on Loving You” and “Take It on the Run.” Other hits you can expect to hear include “Don’t Let Him Go,” “In Your Letter,” the chart-topping “Can’t Fight This Feeling” and such earlier album-rock radio staples as “Ridin’ the Storm Out,” “Roll With the Changes” and “Time For Me to Fly.”
Details: 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16. Mesa Amphitheatre, 263 N. Center St. $55-$79. 480-644-2560, mesaamp.com.
Steve Hackett
The Genesis guitarist will play “Selling England By the Pound” in its entirety. Released in 1973, a year before “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway,” “Selling England By the Pound” was Genesis’ highest-charting album to that point in their career. It finished seventh in 2012 when Rolling Stone invited readers to vote for their favorite prog-rock albums of all time. Hackett often cites it as his favorite thing they ever did and it includes some of his greatest moments as a lead guitar, not the least of which is “Firth of Fifth.”
Details: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17. The Van Buren, 401 W. Van Buren St., Phoenix. $37-$87. 866-468-3399, thevanburenphx.com.
Tool
Arriving more than 13 years after their previous release topped Billboard‘s album charts, the much-anticipated “Fear Inoculum” returned these reluctant alternative-metal sensations (led by Arizona winemaker Maynard James Keenan) to No. 1 while earning rave reviews. Kerrang!, for example, declared it “an album that pushes and challenges its creators and its audiences in new ways, the finer details of which will probably take another 13 years to fully unwrap and appreciate.”
Details: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23. Gila River Arena, 9400 W. Maryland Ave., Glendale. Resale ticket prices vary. 623-772-3800, ticketmaster.com.
Dream Theater
The nearly three-hour performance will feature tracks from “Distance Over Time,” their latest effort, as well as selections covering their 30-year career and a nightly celebration marking the 20th anniversary of their legendary concept album “Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory,” performed in its entirety. In 2012, the album topped a readers’ poll at Rolling Stone of “Your Favorite Prog Rock Albums of All Time.”
Details: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24. Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St., Mesa. $43-. 480-644-6500, mesaartscenter.com.
Mott the Hoople ‘74
Mott the Hoople’s enigmatic leader Ian Hunter is joined by two fellow survivors of the lineup so brilliantly captured on 1974’s “The Hoople,” including the classic “Roll Away the Stone” – the great Ariel Bender on lead guitar and Morgan Fisher on keys. They sold out New York City’s Beacon Theater as part of their acclaimed spring run, which featured their first U.S. concerts in 45 years. The Minneapolis Star Tribune said their show there was “one of the most exciting rock ‘n’ roll shows in recent memory.”
Details: 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31. Talking Stick Resort, 9800 E. Talking Stick Way, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Reservation. $50. 480-850-7777, ticketmaster.com.
Carlene Carter
June Carter Cash’s daughter (Johnny’s stepdaughter) has spent the better part of the past few years on John Mellencamp’s Plain Spoken tour, both as a support act and joining him nightly on duets. Her latest album, “Carter Girl,” is a Don Was-produced collection of Carter Family songs and originals inspired by her family. The album earned a perfect score from Mojo, which declared it “unashamedly traditional: committed, personal and really quite perfect.”
Details: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16. Mesa Arts Center, 1 E. Main St., Mesa. $40. 480-644-6500, mesaartscenter.com.
Maná
It’s been three years since the multiplatinum, Grammy-winning rockers, hailed in Billboard as “the most widely sold and heard Latin band in the world,” toured. Their previous Latino Power Tour sold out venues across the U.S. with a message of unity and empowerment.
Details: 8 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17. Talking Stick Resort Arena, 201 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix. Resale prices vary. 602379-7800, ticketmaster.com.
Cher
The Detroit Metro Times summed up a recent show with “Sixteen songs, nine costume and wig changes, four video montages, three ABBA covers, and one duet with a late ex-husband via video screen, and what you have is but the tip of the iceberg in terms of Cher’s latest farewell spectacle.” The Here We Go Again Tour, which features Nile Rodgers and Chic, marks the singer’s first Valley appearance since she launched her Dressed to Kill Tour at Talking Sticking Resort Arena in 2014.
Details: 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23. Gila River Arena, 9400 W. Maryland Ave., Glendale. $74.50 and up. 623-772-3800, ticketmaster.com.