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The Dust Devil’s concert calender for October and November!

October 1st, 2009 Posted by: Dust Devil

Yeah, yeah, I have been away for a while. But I realized today is October 1 and holy cow, you have not been informed of the next two months of must-see concerts! So away we go!

October 2; Knesset, One AM Radio and Former Ghosts; Trunk Space. If you have never done First Friday in downtown Phoenix, you have seriously missed out! This evening over at the Trunk Space these three bands will be performing as a part of the First Friday festivities. Knesset is a killer band, well crafted shoegaze with a fine pop aesthetic. They smoked when I saw them open for The Appleseed Cast earlier this year.

October 4; Star Wars in Concert; Jobing.com Arena. Unless you have hidden under a rock since the seventies you are bound to recognize most, if not all of the score from the six movies of the Star Wars saga. John Williams created a brilliant piece of music for each flick. A full orchestra will play music from all six films, and the music will be accompanied by scenes from each movie projected on an enormous LED screen. There are two shows on this day, one at 2:00pm and the second at 7:00. What a great way for the entire family to spend a Sunday together!

October 9; Sunny Day Real Estate and the Jealous Sound; Marquee Theatre. It is finally just about here, the long awaited return of emo-legends Sunny Day Real Estate with all four original members! Rumor is the band is focusing on the Diary and Pink LP’s, created with this foursome. I have seen this band in the first reunited version without bassist Nate Mendel. They were very good, but this is another case of the complete sum of all parts being exponentially better than any other possibility. Emo was still cool back in the day when these guys were originally around. It had not undergone the transformation to the pathetic genre of music it is today. Yes, bands like My Chemical Romance (no matter how much they claim they are not emo) killed the genre and made it into the sissy form of music it is today. Sunny Day is just the opposite, unbelievable, powerful music that still resonates today. Opening band The Jealous Sound put out a great album by the name of Kill Them With Kindness in 2003, then went on what appeared to be a permanent sabbatical in 2005. I saw them once at The Jar years ago and that was a good show.

October 10; Fishbone; Yucca Tap Room. Are you serious? I may have to go to this just for the nostalgia. Their self-titled EP from 1985 was tremendous, and they have put out some killer singles since then, including Sunless Saturday, It’s a Wonderful Life (Gonna Have a Good Time) and Swim. Unfortunately, in my opinion of course, there has been too much output that was severely lacking in quality. The Dust Devil can say that on both occasions I had an opportunity to see Fishbone play they killed live.

October 12; New Model Army; Mardi Gras. This show is a must-see, and I will have to punch myself in the face if I do not go this time. New Model Army has visited Arizona a number of times in the past few years and I have yet to see them. Bad move on my part, but once again a chance to redeem myself. I was introduced to this great band back in high school (thanks Lucci!) when The Ghost of Cain came out. It is difficult to categorize this band, but the early days of militant post-punk has gradually evolved into a more melodic, yet still intense style of stripped down rock and roll. Their work in the eighties was unbelievable, releasing some killer albums and a string of great singles that include Heroes, I Love the World, Better Than Them and one of my all-time favorite tracks from any band White Coats. This show should be amazing!

October 17; The Father Figures; Hollywood Alley. The third show for this great new local band, the Father Figures will be celebrating bassist Tom Reardon’s 40th birthday at this show. How cool is that, the first gig the band celebrated Michael Cornelius’s 50th and drummer Bobby Lerma turned 40 in between. The name is completely apropos now! However, what is more appropriate is you showing up to Hollywood Alley on this evening. Check out my review of the Father Figures’ first gig at the Ruby Room if you have not seen these guys yet. Unbelievable band with three veterans of the Arizona indie music scene, the Father Figures churn out a melodic style of post-punk that simply shreds. Seriously people, this is a band that NEEDS to be on your radar. If you live in Arizona there is no logical reason to not see these guys now, because there is serious potential for big things. Also, if you have a Facebook account, be sure to check out the Father Figures page there.

October 18; Stone Temple Pilots; Arizona State Fair. Yep, STP is back from the dead once again. I will be in Seattle the night of this show so the Dust Devil will not be in attendance. Did I really see these guys at The Jar years ago?

October 20; U2; University of Phoenix Stadium. I am up in the air about this one because I fly in from Seattle that afternoon and may be burnt out on live music by that point (Bob Mould, Sunny Day Real Estate and A Place to Bury Strangers in five days, holy cow!), but I may have to go just to see the incredible stage set-up the band has put together for this tour. It amazes me the original four of Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. are still together all these years later. U2 was once my favorite live band, having seen incredible shows from them at Compton Terrace for the Unforgettable Fire tour, and four times in 1987 during their tour for the epic album The Joshua Tree. Then I made the mistake of seeing them during the Zoo TV Tour and wanted to play frisbee with all their albums afterwards. A friend of mine told me the last time they were in Arizona they were back to being incredible live. A tough decision.

October 21; Monsters of Folk; Orpheum Theatre and The Pogues; Marquee Theatre. A month ago I was torn. Do I see this new band Monsters of Folk with members of My Morning Jacket, She and Him, and the Bright Eyes, or do I see The Pogues at the Marquee Theatre, a band I have never had a chance to see and has been on my radar for years. A tough choice, but after hearing the self-titled debut release from Monsters of Folk the decision became easier. The Pogues are a great band and I am bummed I will not be there, but I cannot logically pass up this chance to see what some music critics are hailing as the “indie Traveling Wilburys”. High praise indeed, but listen to songs such as Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F) and I think you will feel the same way as I do; this is a stellar new band. I love this venue to top it off, although my memories are still of seeing R.E.M. in 1985 supporting the Fables of the Reconstrcution album, and an incredible show a year earlier of Black Flag supporting the mighty Ramones, the last good Ramones concert I saw by the way.

October 24; Agent Orange; Jugheads. It is almost criminal how good this band STILL is 30 years later! My favorite punk rock band of all-time, I saw Agent Orange November of 2008 in Tucson; Mike Palm still shreds on the guitar and still has a great voice! Another no-brainer of a show, tracks like Bloodstains, Voices (In the Night) and Breakdown never get old.

October 29; Rob Zombie; Dodge Theatre. I thought he only made movies now. I have never seen Zombie solo, did see White Zombie years ago with The Melvins and Reverend Horton Heat opening. His music wears on me after a bit, but a Zombie concert has enough theatrics to guarantee a good time.

October 30; Sea Wolf, Port O’Brien and Sara Lov; The Modified. Port O’Brien is a cool indie-folk band that I missed seeing at Monolith last year, so I am primed to arrive early and check them out.

October 31; Father Figures; Inkenstein Tattoo. Two Father Figures gigs in one month, sweet! This is a Halloween show at Inkenstein Tattoo out in the West Valley. How cool is this; one long-time friend drums for the band, another owns the tattoo parlor where this show will be at. Go Bob and Jason! Seriously folks, three bands and booze for $10, are you kidding me? Get out there!

November 3; Dinosaur Jr.; Marquee Theatre. My personal belief is Dinosaur Jr. only has competition from My Bloody Valentine, early Jesus and Mary Chain and A Place to Bury Strangers for loudest band ever. I have been reading reviews of their shows ever since Lou Barlow rejoined the band. Needless to say I am extremely excited about finally seeing these guiys tear it up live! J. Mascis put out some decent Dinosaur Jr. material after he kicked original bassist Barlow out of the band, but the Dinosaur, You’re Living All Over Me and Bug albums with the original line-up of Mascis, Barlow and drummer Murph were outstanding. Go to the MySpace page for Dinosaur Jr. and listen to Freak Scene, you will be blown away.

November 20; John Cleese; Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. I loved Monthy Python back in the day, and John Cleese was always my favorite. Prepare for an evening of that typical dry, British humor when John Cleese takes the stage.

Holy mackerel, that is a lot of events! And all of them well worth it. As always, I encourage you to check out TickCo for concert tickets if the box office is sold out or you want better seats than what they offer. Who knows, occasionally you may find a deal there as well!

Cheers!
The Dust Devil

Filed under: Concert Tour Announcements