The Entertainer! Magazine - March 2022

PHX METRO » MARCH 2022

Inside GOING BLOODY MAD

Yungblud is crazy about his U.S. fans

CELEBRATE THE WINDY CITY Beer, hot dogs, music—it’s all here

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THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE MARCH 2022

CONTENTS

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ON THE COVER

CELEBRATE THE WINDY CITY

Beer, hot dogs, music — it’s all here

Times Media Group 1900 W. Broadway Rd. Tempe, AZ 85282 Phone 480.348.0343 Fax 480.348.2109 entertainermag.com

publisher

Steve T. Strickbine

steve@entertainermag.com

Vice President

Michael Hiatt mhiatt@timespublications.com

ExecutiveEditor

Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

christina@timespublications.com

Assistant Editor Connor Dziawura

cdziawura@timespublications.com

designer

Shannon Mead

production manager Courtney Oldham

production@timespublications.com

circulation director Aaron Kolodny

aaron@entertainermag.com

writers

Lila Baltman, Allison Brown, Alex Gallagher, Jordan Houston, Laura Latzko, Bridgette M. Redman, Annika Tomlin, Noah Velasco

Photographers

A24, Corey Ray, Dennis Murphy, Getty Images, Janus Films, Jonathan Weiner, Kelli Leslie Photography, Magnolia Pictures, Melissa Coulier, Sidestilt Films, Spidey Smith, Tom Pallant, Warner Bros. Pictures

ONE COPY PER READER

A TASTE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN

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Royal Palms Resort offers a getaway without leaving the Valley

FIERY AMBITION

Rising’s championship aspirations match Luis Seijas’ goals

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CONTENTS UPFRONT

6

Top 25 • Chicago Fest West • Phoenix Film Festival

CITY

13

Iman Shumpert • Del Amitri

ARTS

15

Ari Levin • Art Detour • re:BIRTH • Arizona Fine Art Expo • “That Golden Girls Show!”

ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

DINING

20

SPORTS

Royal Palms Restaurant • Dining Calendar

Luis Seijas • Liam O’Brien

BREWS & SPIRITS

FAMILY

22

Pecan & Wine Festival • Brews & Spirits Calendar

CASINOS Casino Entertainment Calendar

26 28

Friendly Pines Camp

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MUSIC

30

Live Music Calendar • Punk in Drublic Craft Beer & Music Festival • Yungblud • Last Train to Juarez • Chandler Chamber Ostrich Festival • Kameron Marlowe • The Darkness

The Entertainer! is circulated throughout the Phoenix Metro area, especially concentrated in entertainment districts. ©2022 Affluent Publishing, LLC. A free online subscription is available to all readers simply by going to entertainermag.com/subscribe.

For calendar and news items, the deadline for submission is the 15th of the month prior to publication. Submissions are included based on available space and are used at the discretion of the editor. Unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations will not be returned unless it is specifically requested and submission is accompanied by a properly addressed envelope and sufficient postage. The Entertainer! makes every effort to authenticate claims and accurate times and event locations. We encourage readers to verify information prior to attending events or purchasing tickets.

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Jubilant, transformative, and triumphant!

March 2 – May 1 ASL/Audio Describe Night: March 24 Celebrate life with the revival of this joyous, Tony Award winning musical With a joyous score featuring jazz, ragtime, gospel, African music and blues, The Color Purple is a story of hope, a testament to the healing power of love, and a celebration of life. Based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, it tells the uplifting story of Celie, a woman who struggles through adversity to find strength, love and the power of her own voice. Experience this historical story told by a powerful cast of performers who will take you on a lifechanging, emotional journey. With direction by Daryl Brooks and a Grammy Award winning score, this beloved story of sisterhood and perseverance is sure to move you.

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TOP25

By Connor Dziawura

“Survival of the Slowest”

THROUGH AUGUST 7 Celebrating the slowest, smallest and weakest creatures in the animal kingdom, this exhibition features wildlife educators and animal care staff with live animal demonstrations including a live sloth, hedgehog, iguana and more, giving an upclose look at the animals and other educational info. All Arizona Science Center guests older than 24 months are required to wear a mask regardless of vaccination status.

Arizona Science Center’s Sybil B. Harrington Gallery, Level 3, 600 E. Washington Street, Phoenix, 602.716.2000, azscience.org, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, $6.95-$8.95, or free for kids 3 and younger; general admission ticket required

the heels of multiple collaborative projects. Action Bronson, on the other hand, is known across all areas of entertainment — more than a decade in the rap game, cooking and hosting television series.

Marquee Theatre, 730 N. Mill Avenue, Tempe, 480.829.0607, luckymanonline. com, 6 p.m., $60-$80

"The Batman"

“The Batman”

THROUGH DECEMBER 31 With a combination of paintings, photographs, installations and digital media sourced from collections of the Phoenix Art Museum, the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation and local artists, “Breaking Up” is about, well, breaking up, so to speak — but not in the way one might think.

Phoenix Art Museum describes the exhibit as exploring “themes of deconstruction and fragmentation through (artists’) evolving practices.”

Phoenix Art Museum’s Katz Wing for Modern Art, 1625 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, 602.257.1880, phxart.org/exhibition/breakingup, see website for museum hours, included with museum admission

Action Bronson and Earl Sweatshirt

“The Little Engine That Could”

MARCH 3 An all-star lineup, this 2022 world tour features Action Bronson, Earl Sweatshirt, The Alchemist and Boldy James. Earl Sweatshirt just released his long-awaited new album “Sick!,” while the always prolific producer The Alchemist and rapper Boldy James are hot on

PHX » CITY » LOCAL » PRIDE » DO » SEE 10 a.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, $6-$12, or free for infants

M3F Festival

MARCH 4 AND MARCH 5 All proceeds go to charity at the annual McDowell Mountain Music Festival, which this year boasts a star-studded lineup including Zhu, Leon Bridges, Kaytranada, Jungle and a host of other popular musicians across its two days. Plus, there will be yoga classes, daily drum circles, a kids zone and, of course, food trucks and a beer garden.

Margaret T. Hance Park, 67 W. Culver Street, Phoenix, m3ffest.com, gates open at 1:30 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m.

Saturday, $85-$410

Harlem Globetrotters

OPENS MARCH 4 Reportedly taking more of a noir, detective angle, writer-director Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” features an all-star supporting cast of Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne, the caped crusader; Zoë Kravitz as Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman; Paul Dano as Edward Nashton, aka the Riddler; Jeffrey Wright as GCPD’s James Gordon; John Turturro as Carmine Falcone; Peter Sarsgaard as Gotham District Attorney Gil Colson; Jayme Lawson as mayoral candidate Bella Reál; Andy Serkis as Alfred; and Colin Farrell as Oswald Cobblepot, aka the Penguin. Rated PG-13 for strong violent and disturbing content, drug content, strong language and some suggestive material.

In theaters, thebatman.com

“Breaking Up”

UPFRONT

MARCH 4 TO MARCH 13 “I think I can!,” as the famous saying goes. Why, it’s the Little Engine That Could! Join the Great Arizona Puppet Theater for this child-friendly puppet show retelling the famous story.

Great Arizona Puppet Theater, 302 W. Latham Street, Phoenix, 602.262.2050, azpuppets.org,

MARCH 5 AND MARCH 6 As part of the Spread Game Tour, the skillful Harlem Globetrotters are hitting courts around North America in honor of the late Curly Neal. These entertaining players are bringing their brand of performative basketball to the Valley to give two chances to see them in action — Downtown Phoenix and Glendale.

Footprint Center, 201 E. Jefferson Street, Phoenix, 602.379.7800, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday; Gila River Arena, 9400 W. Maryland Avenue, Glendale, 2 p.m.

Sunday; harlemglobetrotters. com, $20-$106

courtesy of the Arizona Cancer Foundation for Children, Volanti Scottsdale and fitness trainer Sofia Demski. Brunch includes an afterclass drink and entry into a raffle with prizes from Lululemon, Gooder Goods Café, Puro Tequila and more. Proceeds benefit the Arizona Cancer Foundation for Children.

Check-in begins at 8:15 a.m.

Volanti Scottsdale, inside the Scottsdale Airport, 15000 N. Airport Drive, Scottsdale, lu.ma/ yogaandbrunch, 8:45 a.m., $25

Art d’Core Gala

MARCH 11 The ninth annual Art d’Core Gala is hitting midtown Phoenix with the theme “Forces of Attraction.”

The gala — the signature event in Artlink’s 34th annual Art Detour art walk — also doubles as the opening night of the Art d’Core Exhibition. The evening will feature a combination of visual, performance, fashion, culinary and musical works in a neverbefore-seen 80,000-square-foot venue, showcasing all Arizona has to offer arts and culture.

Park Central, 3121 N. Third Avenue, Phoenix, artlinkphx.org/ art-detour/gala, 6 to 9 p.m., $125

Persian New Year Festival

MARCH 5 Now in its fourth year, this annual, all-ages celebration of Persian culture features MCs comedian Tehran and Leila Parnian, music from DJ Vahid Shad and singer Hengameh, cultural art and dance performances including Ballet Afsaneh, kids activities and plenty of food. A portion of the proceeds benefit Kids Inspire Difference, a local, youth-led nonprofit that empowers teens and brings attention to social justice issues.

Pre-register online for a free hot tea.

Scottsdale Waterfront, 7135 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale, persiannewyearfestival.org, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., free admission

Yoga + Brunch at Volanti MARCH 5 Take part in yoga and brunch,

"Drive My Car"

Best Picture Film Fest

MARCH 11 TO MARCH 24 Ahead of the 94th Academy Awards, set for March 27, nine of the 10 Best Picture nominees will be screening at participating Harkins Theatres locations.

Films include “Belfast,” “Don’t Look Up,” “Drive My Car,” “Dune,” “King Richard,” “Licorice Pizza,” “Nightmare Alley,” “The Power of the Dog” and “West Side Story.”

Individual tickets cost $5, or an All-Access Pass — which includes one ticket to each film — is $30.

The final nominee, “CODA,” is available to stream on Apple TV+.

Various Harkins Theatres locations, harkins.com, $5-$30

2021-22

ROCK • COUNTRY • OLDIES • BIG BAND GET TICKETS

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OUR SHOWS Variety Show Spectacular Solid Gold Rock n’ Roll Malt Shop Memories True Country

Super Show Finale Classic Country • Mar 20 Beach Boys Tribute • Mar 30 Beatles Tribute • Mar 31

CALL 480-288-0300 or VISIT SilverStarTheater.com 5247 E Brown Road • Mesa, AZ 85205

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UPFRONT | CITY | TRAVEL | ARTS | DINING | BREWS & SPIRITS | CASINOS | SPORTS | FAMILY | MUSIC | NIGHTLIFE | IN CLOSING

Experience Ireland

MARCH 12 AND MARCH 13 Ireland's music and culture meet during this two-day special event at the MIM. From morning through the afternoon, the museum will play host to Emerald Isle-themed programming, from musical and dance performances and workshops to crafts, a special lunch menu and more. View the full itinerary online.

Musical Instrument Museum, 4725 E. Mayo Boulevard, Phoenix, mim. org, 480.478.6000, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., included with paid museum admission, free for members

Starship; and Fran Cosmo and Anton Cosmo, formerly of Boston, with support from Nate Nathan and the Mac Daddy-O’s, Good Life Festival will also have wine, craft beer and bourbon tasting; a variety of food; and shopping. Doors open at 2 p.m.

Schnepf Farms, 24810 E. Rittenhouse Road, Queen Creek, thegoodlifefest. com, 3 p.m., $75-$120

Benny the Butcher

Phoenix Suns vs. Los Angeles Lakers

MARCH 13 This home game sees the Suns versus the Lakers, with a chance to see the two teams hit the court on ESPN. But that’s just not the same — snag a ticket and take to the floor seats to see the teams up close and personal.

Footprint Center, 201 E. Jefferson Street, Phoenix, 602.379.7800, nba.com/ suns, 6 p.m., $140-$1,899

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” Trivia

MARCH 16 Over two decades and 11 seasons later, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is still a fan favorite. Recall the hilarious, uncomfortable situations Larry David and friends find themselves in with this trivia event, which is free in Valley Bar’s Rose Room. With host Corey G, compete to win prizes and concert tickets. Craft cans will be $1 off. Signup starts at 6 p.m.

Valley Bar, 130 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, 602.368.3121, valleybarphx.com, 7 p.m., free

“X”

OPENS MARCH 18 Ti West, the filmmaker behind the 2009 cult classic “The House of the Devil,” is back with “X.” Judging by its trailer, the film harks back to the sleazy atmosphere and rural Texan setting of the original “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.” Set in 1979, Mia Goth, Jenny Ortega, Brittany Snow and Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi) star in the film, which is about a group of young filmmakers fighting for their lives after their reclusive, elderly host catches them making an adult film. Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language.

In theaters, a24films.com/films/x

Good Life Festival

MARCH 19 Anchored with performances by Grand Funk Railroad; Jefferson ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

attendance will receive an exclusive cap, courtesy of Gila Riva Resorts & Casinos, designed by local graphic designer Sage Aune to highlight Gender Equality Month and amplify women who are driving the sport of hockey forward. ESPN+ and Hulu will also broadcast the game.

Gila River Arena, 9400 W. Maryland Avenue, Glendale, 480.563.PUCK (7825), nhl.com/ coyotes, 7 p.m., $27.50-$392.50

Lucky’s St. Patrick’s Day Crawl

MARCH 19 Individuals 21 and older can imbibe in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in either Scottsdale or Tempe. As the official holiday is on a Thursday, this event is appropriately saving the partying for the weekend. Crawlers will get a venue map, custom Lucky badge and lanyard, as well as two complimentary drinks or shots. Plus, cover will be waived at all venues, which will feature drink and food specials. The costume contest isn’t one to be missed either, as there’s a $1,000 grand prize.

Stick around for the after party.

Various locations in Scottsdale and Tempe, crawlwith.us, 4 p.m. to midnight, $10-$15

Desert Roots Craft Beer & Music Festival

MARCH 20 Craft beer, hip-hop and reggae will meet at this festival, which pulls together Cypress Hill, Common Kings, Katastro, Fortunate Youth, Arise Roots, Bikini Trill and The Irie with a whole host of breweries.

There will also be plenty of food vendors, including vegan options.

Beer tasting passes cost an extra $10; and VIP passes provide early entry, plus other perks.

Parking is $10 per vehicle.

Scarizona Scaregrounds, 1901 N. Alma School Road, Mesa, desertrootsfest.com, 1 to 8 p.m., $39-$150, or free admission for kids 12 and younger

Arizona Coyotes vs. Seattle Kraken

MARCH 22 The ’Yotes take on the Kraken in the first edition of the Local Artist Hat Trick Series. The first 5,000 fans in

MARCH 25 Griselda’s takeover continues. Benny the Butcher, one of the star talents from the independent label and hip-hop collective, is the latest to come to the Valley. Always prolific, like his label cohorts, Benny dropped a couple EPs and a collaborative project last year, and now, the fourth installment of his “Tana Talk” series is reportedly on the way.

The Nile, 105 W. Main Street, Mesa, 480.494.7580, theniletheater.com, 8 p.m., $30-$135 "Everything Everywhere All at Once"

“Everything Everywhere All at Once”

OPENS MARCH 25 From the brilliantly confounding minds of Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), the writer-director duo behind the quirky “Swiss Army Man,” this film seems to up things to a whole new level. Synopsized as “a hilarious and big-hearted sci-fi action adventure about an exhausted Chinese American woman (Michelle Yeoh) who can’t seem to finish her taxes,” its trailers reveal it as something much bigger — a highconcept martial arts epic spanning the multiverse. The cast also features Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jenny Slate, Harry Shum Jr., James Hong and Jamie Lee Curtis. Rated R for some violence, sexual material and language.

In theaters, a24films. com/films/everythingeverywhere-all-at-once

KNIX Barbeque & Beer Festival

MARCH 26 This year’s Barbeque & Beer Festival combines music by Lee Brice, Park McCollum, Kameron Marlowe and Jacob Morris with over 20 BBQ pitmasters, beer, spirits, novelty food items and a kids zone. A portion of

the proceeds benefits Greater Cause Foundation. All tickets purchased for the 2020 event will be honored.

See Page 37 for more info.

Tumbleweed Park, 745 E. Germann Road, Chandler, chandlerbbq. com, noon to 10 p.m., $20-$225

World Championship Hoop Dance Contest

MARCH 26 AND MARCH 27 This annual contest respects the art of hoop dance, which has roots in healing ceremonies, traditions and practices of multiple Indigenous communities, as much as it celebrates the creativity and growth dancers have brought the form over the years. Cash prizes will be awarded to winners in each of the five divisions.

Registration is open through March 14, and tickets are available for those who just wish to observe.

Heard Museum’s Libby Amphitheater, 2301 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, 602.252.8840, heard.org/ event/hoop, 8:30 a.m., $9-$22, or free for kids 5 and younger

“Freaks and Geeks” Trivia

MARCH 30 Over 20 years after its much-toosoon cancellation, “Freaks and Geeks” remains a cult classic, having jump-started numerous careers, including Linda Cardellini, James Franco, Seth Rogen and Jason Segel.

For free in Valley Bar’s Rose Room, remember favorite moments from the series with trivia host Corey G while competing to win prizes and concert tickets. Craft cans will be $1 off. Signup starts at 6 p.m.

Valley Bar, 130 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, 602.368.3121, valleybarphx.com, 7 p.m., free "The Pez Outlaw"

Phoenix Film Festival

MARCH 31 TO APRIL 10 The Phoenix Film Festival is back, tied in with the International Horror & Sci-Fi and Arizona Student film festivals. On the road to normalcy after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic the past couple years, this year’s event is planned to feature over 200 feature and short films, not to mention parties, panels, awards and Kids’ Day. See Page 12 for more info.

Harkins Scottsdale 101, 7000 E. Mayo Boulevard, Phoenix, 480.513.3195, phoenixfilmfestival.com, times and prices TBA

LIVE. IN-PERSON. TOGETHER.

The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra | MAR 6

Wonderful Crazy Night: A New Elton John Tribute | MAR 13

Accompanied by a 15-piece Orchestra!

Buddy Guy

Marie Osmond

MAR 16

MAR 11

That Golden Girls Show A Puppet Parody | MAR 17-20

2021 GRAMMY® winner

Ledisi Sings Nina

Scotty McCreery

MAR 26

APR 3

La Santa Cecilia

Ben Folds ~ In Actual Person

Meow Meow

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Live For Real Tour | JUN 19

MAY 22

BREWS & BAGPIPES

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UPFRONT | CITY | TRAVEL | ARTS | DINING | BREWS & SPIRITS | CASINOS | SPORTS | FAMILY | MUSIC | NIGHTLIFE | IN CLOSING

Celebrate all-things Chicago at this fest

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

F

irst-generation college students can struggle transitioning successfully from high school to college, including wading their way through financial aid, according to Elizabeth Paulus.

But her Mesa-based organization, College Bound AZ, is helping with that through myriad programs.

Paulus and her husband, Gerald, plant a seed with eighth grade first-generation students, letting them know college is possible and they are going to go.

Through College Bound AZ’s program Rise Scholars, the couple gives laptops to the lowest income demographic.

They streamline the college application process and take them on college tours.

Finally, they provide food boxes on the community college level to address food insecurity.

“About 60% of students in the community college system are food insecure,” says Paulus, a Chicago native.

“Our food box program helps relieve one of the stressors and burdens of completing their education. They did a study in our state: 60% of students are food insecure, and 13% are homeless.”

To raise much-needed fund, College Bound AZ is throwing Chicago Fest West, a celebration of all-things Windy City from 2 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, March 19, at the Mesa Convention Center.

Featured performers are Bluesman Mike and the Blues Review Band (3 p.m.); Breakdown, a Tom Petty tribute

(5 p.m.); REO Survivor, an REO Speedwagon and Survivor tribute (7 p.m.); and Chicago Rewired, a Chicago tribute (8:15 p.m.). The Valley band Palomas performs at 2 p.m.

The live music show will kick off with bagpipers performing in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. The day prior, starting at 6 p.m.

Friday, March 18, College Bound AZ is hosting Party with a Purpose!, an exclusive pre-party with legendary Chicago Bears quarterback and Arizona resident Jim McMahon. With a $100 ticket, fans can attend a meet and greet with McMahon and have food and drinks from 6 to 8 p.m.

Other activities include “Coleslaw Carey” cornhole, a kids zone, sports memorabilia sales, a VIP lounge and food vendors Party with a Purpose! also will have silent and live auctions, a 50/50 raffle and live music. Carvin Jones and Ocean’s Rat Pack will provide the entertainment.

Last year’s fundraiser was held in a pub, so this year the couple decided to take it a step further and turn it into a music festival.

“There are a lot of people from Chicago here,” Paulus says. “I thought this could have a lot of momentum.

We decided to grow it to the next step, so we’re taking it out of the pub and putting it into a music festival that’s at the Mesa Convention Center.

“We need these funds to buy laptop computers or provide scholarships.”

The couple founded College Bound

Jim McMahon

AZ in 2010, after they observed lowincome students struggling to figure out how they could get into college using the benefits that were designed for them.

“It’s just a little more complex than your usual high school assignment,” she says. “So, by virtue of watching them struggle and realizing that number of low-income students, we walk them through some of the steps for their college applications.”

Last summer, the Arizona Legislature approved the Arizona Promise Program, which provides scholarships for lowincome students to cover tuition and fees Palomas

at ASU, UA or NAU. “That’s great, great news, right?” she says. “Well, these are kids who have never set foot on that university. Now you’re going to send them fully funded?

I love it. But if you’ve never stepped foot on a university campus, oh, my gosh, it’s its own little city.”

These students are more than intimidated.

“So, the need for our program is even more important than it ever was before,” she says. “There’s a bigger population of students with this wonderful potential and a system that’s trying to help them that also is its own barrier in some ways.”

Paulus says her job is gratifying, and she wants to raise awareness of College Bound AZ. “It’s amazing to watch these students succeed,” she says. “It’s more gratifying than I imagined.”

Chicago Fest West WHEN: 2 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, March 19 WHERE: Mesa Convention Center, 263 N. Center Street, Mesa COST: Tickets start at $12 INFO: chicagofestwest.com Ultimate VIP Pre-Party WHEN: 6 p.m. Friday, March 18 WHERE: Hob Nob Sports Grill, 7200 Chandler Boulevard, Chandler COST: $100 INFO: chicagofestwest.com ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

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chicagofestwest.com Changing lives & inspiring tomorrows leaders through education, one student at a time.

Benefiting

‘CRAZY MOVIE LOVE FEST’

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UPFRONT | CITY | TRAVEL | ARTS | DINING | BREWS & SPIRITS | CASINOS | SPORTS | FAMILY | MUSIC | NIGHTLIFE | IN CLOSING

Phoenix Film Festival inching its way toward normalcy

By Connor Dziawura

“

Oh, here we go again,” the Phoenix Film Festival’s Jason Carney remembers thinking leading up to last year’s event.

Delayed from its usual spring setting to late summer, he says the annual festival came right as concerns were mounting due to the COVID-19 delta variant.

Thankfully, the event performed well — better, in fact, than the previous year’s event, which had itself been delayed and dissected into a smaller version of itself amid the pandemic’s early waves.

Carney, the festival director, remains hopeful for this year’s 22nd annual Phoenix Film Festival, which returns to its usual spring setting at Harkins Scottsdale 101 from Thursday, March 31, to Sunday, April 10. The International Horror & Sci-Fi and Arizona Student film festivals are once again tied in.

And Carney says he’s still seeing the enthusiasm filmmakers and audiences had toward last year’s festival this time around.

“Audiences were crazy enthusiastic — and so were the filmmakers,” Carney says of 2021. “Many of these filmmakers, they played other festivals, but all of them had been virtual. This was the first time for them to have an audience, and so their excitement level was really high, and many of the audience members hadn’t been back to the movies yet, and so they were really excited. It was just like some kind of crazy movie love fest.”

This year’s diverse lineup is projected to include more than 200 works spanning local, national and international productions, plus appearances from guest filmmakers.

And over the festival’s 11 days, audiences will be able to see films from all over the world compete for awards.

Films range from feature length to shorter projects, encompassing mediums and genres like live action, animation, narrative stories, documentaries and college productions — or, “kind of a little bit of everything,” as Carney puts it. The inclusion of the annual International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival lends credence to genre pictures.

Highlights, according to Carney, include director Dan Mirvish’s Watergate thriller/dark comedy “18 1/2” and the “wildly entertaining” documentary “The Pez Outlaw,” about a smuggling operation of rare Pez dispensers from Europe into the United States in the ’90s.

“You want to come to a festival and you don’t want to see a bunch of dramas ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

or you don’t want to see a bunch of dark documentaries,” Carney says, emphasizing the variety. “You want to be able to see some light stuff, too. And so it’s important for us to program some romantic comedies, you know what I mean? There’s a place for that, and you want to lighten up; you want to have an enjoyment of your day.

“You’re going to see these powerful, amazing performances of trauma, but like, hey, let’s cleanse our palate and see something that’s going to make us laugh or see a documentary that’s going to raise awareness or just give us a good feeling.”

The recent Unified by Film category, on the other hand, has been rebranded and expanded as Community Spotlight — with the hopes of showcasing the diversity of filmmakers from the African American, Latinx, Native American, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and LGBTQ+ communities.

The idea, Carney says, is to work with and promote nonprofits in those communities to create opportunities and raise awareness of the issues they face, while also giving those communities the

happening again this year.”

The Arizona Student Film Festival is set for Saturday, April 9. The annual competition screens short films created by grade school and high school students, with one high school winner to receive a $1,000 scholarship.

“It’s always a fun day at the festival that Saturday morning,” Carney says.

opportunity to see films with their same world view.

“It’s nice to see yourself represented on screen in some regard or at least getting that vision and having that commonality with the director of films,” Carney says.

“There’s plenty of 30-year-old white guys making movies out there. So it’s good for us to do that and not only just do it for the sake of doing it, but really commit to it and be part of these communities and grow this thing.

“We just try to do it a little bit more each year, and I’m just really proud of our organization and our commitment to it. It’s never been just a one-off thing; we want to transform it and continue to grow it. So you can count on that

“It’s just exciting to not only have the opportunity for these young filmmakers to have their films on the screen, we get to see the family, their parents, their siblings, their grandparents, they’re all there and they’re all supportive. It’s just such a great feeling, and we’re just really proud of that program for sure.”

Notable this year, beyond films, is more of an emphasis on the social aspect that had been reduced the past couple festivals. While last year’s audience was not the size it had been just a few years back, Carney says it “set the tone for us just kind of moving forward and setting us up for hopefully an even bigger comeback this year with the return of our Party Pavilion, which we haven’t

"Anaïs in Love"

been able to do since 2019.”

The opening weekend Party Pavilion, he says, is back with some changes aimed to ensure comfortability and openness. Highlights are the Opening Night cocktail party; Friday’s Industry Night, which Carney calls “the biggest networking event of the year for the state”; and the Saturday night Film Prom.

“It’s kind of fun to intermingle that with so many great films we play,” Carney says.

Free educational filmmaker panels will also be set up in the theater on each weekend. Plus, there’s the free Kids’ Day the first Saturday morning, April 2, another opportunity for connection — and education. Carney says the festival works with area film schools to set up hands-on filmmaking experiences.

“We try to do a whole thing where it’s different parts of the filmmaking so it’s educational and fun, and it’s a wide enough variety so they can kind of go from station to station without waiting forever to do an activity,” he explains.

After a great 2019 and then a quick scaling back of the festival’s many activities due to the pandemic, Carney feels the pieces are moving for the Phoenix Film Festival to remain on track toward a successful future.

“2022 gets us another step towards where hopefully we were and get us back on our big growth mountain that we’ve been climbing over the years.”

Phoenix Film Festival WHEN: Various times Thursday, March 31, to Sunday, April 10 WHERE: Harkins Scottsdale 101, 7000 E. Mayo Boulevard, Phoenix COST: See websites for more information INFO: phoenixfilmfestival.com, horrorscifi.com, azstudentfilmfestival.org

THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE MARCH 2022

CITY

13

STYLE » ENVY » PASSION » FASHION » BEAUTY » DESIGN

FROM BASKETBALL TO MIRROR BALL

Iman Shumpert is coming into his own

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

W

hen free agent basketball star Iman Shumpert watched “Dancing with the Stars” co-star JoJo Siwa, he thought there was no way he was going to win the season 30 mirror ball trophy.

“I don’t go into stuff trying to lose, though,” Shumpert says with a laugh. “I felt like it would be tough. Anybody who saw JoJo dance would have felt the same: I couldn’t beat someone who could go so seamlessly from ballroom female to male style. That takes talent.

“To watch that live, I would get lost in her dances. I thought I couldn’t give a better show than that. I’m not dipping my back, for example.”

Week six was a game changer for him and his professional partner, Daniella Karagach.

“Dani incorporated lifts into the choreography, and we found our niche.

It was then that I thought we had a good chance,” Shumpert says.

The partners will show off their mirror ball trophy at “Dancing with the Stars Live!” at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 12, at the Arizona Federal Theatre in Phoenix.

The tour will feature dancers from the TV series, including Karagach, Brandon Armstrong, Alan Bersten, Artem Chigvintsev, Sasha Farber, Pasha Pashkov, Gleb Savchenko, Emma Slater and Britt Stewart, performing the chacha, foxtrot, salsa and tango.

“The tour is a lot of fun,” Shumpert says.

“It’s nonstop dancing. I never thought I’d see an audience who could watch so much dance. ‘Dancing with the Stars Live!’ has a little Broadway to it, a little acting to it. It’s serious. It has its vulnerable moments and its funny host moments. Emma (Slater) is one of the best people I’ve ever heard on the mic. She has the (English) accent, and she has great crowd control.”

Shumpert says it’s been nice to get to know the dancers on a personal level — beyond the 5-second responses to Tyra Banks’ questions on the air.

“We do meet and greets,” he says.

“We’re taking a bus. There are a lot of Instagram stories about the bus. It’s always a lot of fun. I’ve enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

“It’s been especially cool to link up with Jimmie (Allen) again. It gave me comfort just knowing I’m not the only one on the tour trying to figure it out.”

Country star and Grammy nominee Allen appeared on a few dates during the tour.

This is a busy year for Shumpert. He’s dropping an album and slowly rolling out his record label and associated artists and producers. He’s considering a podcast because, when he appears on other shows, the comments are favorable.

Shumpert is reviving his clothing line and rebuilding it with “prestigious” high designers.

“It’s nice having been able to dive all the way into it,” he says. “It’s also nice coming home and being around the people who really, really know me.”

As for the album — which Shumpert has tentatively dubbed “This Car Ain’t Stolen” — he says the music will resonate because of his honesty.

“I used a car because getting pulled over is such a common ground for Black men in America,” Shumpert says.

“When you talk about that idea, you can play on that in a lot of different ways, especially with rap. I just wanted to give that little snapshot to open people’s minds. I used to be the kid who was in the van with slider doors. People would think that because I’m riding with my brothers, we’re looking for trouble, whether it’s a drive-by or a joyride.”

Shumpert says the album will address sheltering himself from trouble, how his mother speaks to him, his grandmother and what upsets him.

“I never really broke things down that raw before,” he says. “Before, everything has been an EP or a mixtape. This is me owning all the beats and all the rights to everything. I’m going to present it, shoot the videos and see where it goes.”

“Dancing with the Stars Live!”

WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday, March 12 WHERE: Arizona Federal Theatre, 400 W. Washington Street, Phoenix COST: Tickets start at $38.50 INFO: 602.379.2800, arizonafederaltheatre.com, dwtstour.com ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

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NO MISTAKES HERE

Del Amitri rolls with its trademark sound on new album

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

T

he Scottish pop-rock band Del Amitri spent its first chapter scoring five U.K. Top 10 albums and selling 6 million copies between 1980 and 2002.

The duo, Justin Currie and Iain Harvie, went their separate ways when interest in the “Roll with Me” band waned.

In 2013, things changed. A promoter “started sniffing around,” Currie says, so Del Amitri booked a comeback tour in 2014.

“We really, really enjoyed it,” Currie says via Zoom. “We absolutely loved it.

Then we did another tour in 2018. This time, we started thinking about writing new songs.

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“We had maybe written 20 new songs at that point. An album was just inevitable, really.”

The result is 2021’s “Fatal Mistakes,” its first album since 2002’s “Can You Do Me Good?” Del Amitri is touring for the first time in 25 years, and the itinerary includes a Sunday, March 27, gig at the Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix.

“Fatal Mistakes” continues the Del Amitri legacy of blending ballads, such as “Driving with the Brakes On,” and protest songs, like “Stone Cold Sober.”

Currie calls “Fatal Mistakes” fun.

“I do think that is true of anything we’ve ever done before,” he says. “In the ’90s, as always, there was quite a lot of pressure either from the record company or just pressure that we put on ourselves to make albums that sound standard and accessible.”

Currie says, to him, writing is very difficult because, for the last 13 years, he has been penning songs for his solo records. So, he rented a house on the Isle of Lewis.

“Once we decided who we were going to ask to play on the record, it became a lot easier because, in your mind’s eye, you can picture who the players are. You can imagine what they’re going to do with thing. It got a bit easier.”

Currie and Harvie considered Del Amitri’s sound during this time, which was harder than they thought.

“We had to write a lot of songs for it because about 50% of the songs we wrote for it didn’t sound sufficiently like us,” he says.

“It probably wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t done solo albums in the

interim. You kind of develop and evolve.

Because we’ve been away for so long, we didn’t want to. We didn’t want to do something that was quite different sounding without showing all those steps along the way.

“So we went back to the basics — just two guitars, bass and drums — and said, ‘Let’s do it that way.’ It worked.”

Del Amitri w/Kris Dollimore WHEN: 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 27 WHERE: Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Avenue, Phoenix COST: $29.50; plus vaccination card or proof of negative test INFO: 602.716.2222, crescentphx.com

THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE MARCH 2022

ARTS

15

CULTURE » THEATER » DANCE » GALLERY » DRAMA » VISION

SOMETHING NEW

Madison Center’s director is making his mark

By Bridgette M. Redman

A

ri Levin’s career as an artist has taken him around the world, but he always returns to Arizona.

Born in Tucson, Levin is the executive director for the new, $24 million Madison Center for the Arts, 5601 N. 16th Street, Phoenix.

His goal for the 908seat auditorium is to present shows that have yet to be seen in Arizona — and sometimes the world.

The upcoming season includes a visit by the well-known Swissbased theater troupe Mummenschanz. Its 50th anniversary tour brings it to Arizona for the first time on its only U.S. stop.

“I am concentrating on bringing different shows — art, music, dance, theater — that has never been to Arizona,” Levin says. “I’m searching for unique programming that has never been to the entire state or even the United States.”

BIGGEST NAMES Levin was raised in Las Vegas but returned to the Grand Canyon State to attend ASU, where he played trombone in its orchestra. He even starred in a cult classic horror film.

His university experience inspired him to take the Madison job.

“I loved ASU when I was there, and my son is there now,” Levin says. “I came back because I just loved it here and had the chance to create something artistically and bring culture, dance and theater that had never been here before.”

Levin spent several years as a performer before moving on to produce and direct for major arts organizations around the world. He hit the stage with London’s Royal Shakespeare Company.

He was one of a handful of Americans who have portrayed Hamlet for them.

He’d also eventually direct it for the world-renowned organization.

He was later be responsible for bringing the only RSC production of

“Hamlet” to the United States.

“I think ‘Hamlet’ is Shakespeare’s bestwritten play,” Levin says. “It flows the best.

It’s his only play where he establishes every single character in the first sentence.”

As executive producer and director, he was responsible for bringing Russia’s Kirov Ballet — now called the Mariinsky Ballet — to the country for its lone U.S. performance.

“Those were things on the highest level that I brought to different places,” Levin says.

“That’s what I want to see about doing here.”

In Las Vegas, he served as entertainment director at The Tropicana and helmed La Folies Bergere. He cast and directed “Star Trek: The Experience” at the Las Vegas Hilton and had his own show on the strip called “Xtreme Magic.”

He is still the executive producer of Vegas’ CinemaCon — the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners. With it, he served as executive director for the Lifetime Achievement Awards for Goldie Hawn, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Jodie Foster, among others.

Other achievements include producing and directing the grand opening of the 2007 NBA All-Star Game with Kobe Bryant, producing more than 30 episodes of Oprah Winfrey’s “Where Are They Now” for four years and writing, producing and directing for ShoWest, Paramount Studios, CNN and the BBC. The producing side has had great appeal and reward for Levin.

“It’s about having full artistic and creative control,” Levin says. “That is what appealed to me.”

to find out when things could happen, when we could go back to live.”

Phoenix offers the artists something not found elsewhere, says Levin, who splits his time between Gilbert and Los Angeles. Many Valley cities have performing arts centers.

“Los Angeles doesn’t even have that,” Levin says. “You can go to Scottsdale, Chandler, Madison and they are all these beautiful, beautiful facilities. My goal is to make (Madison) just as popular as all the other centers for the arts.”

The Madison Center for the Arts is owned by the Madison School District, so Levin has scheduled free afternoon performances for students.

He also partners with Madison artists to create free master classes for district Madison students to come to the center and to learn from the world’s best artists.

“Every show I have done here does that,” Levin says. “It’s free to the entire Madison School District, including Title I schools. It’s fantastic, and several hundred kids attend.”

Upcoming shows In the upcoming months, the Madison Center for the Arts will feature: The ASU Concert Series Thursdays March 3 and March 24 “Memphis Jookin’” Thursday, March 10 “Rent” Thursday, March 31, to Sunday, April 3 Mariachi Sol De Mexico de Jose Hernandez Cinco de Mayo Celebration Thursday, May 5 Mummenschanz 50 years Friday, November 18, to Tuesday, November 22.

The Madison Center for the Arts is located at 5601 N. 16th Street, Phoenix. For more information, call 602.664.7777 or visit themadison.org.

SOMETHING SPECIAL When he arrived at the Madison Center for the Arts at the beginning of the pandemic, he built it from the ground up.

“There was nothing set up here,” Levin says. “I had to do everything from hiring all the staff to getting the ticking system to everything. During the pandemic, that’s what I was doing. It was a matter of finding shows and everything else, but also waiting ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

AN ‘EXPRESSION OF LOVE’

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UPFRONT | CITY | TRAVEL | ARTS | DINING | BREWS & SPIRITS | CASINOS | SPORTS | FAMILY | MUSIC | NIGHTLIFE | IN CLOSING

Art Detour returns with monthlong celebration

By Annika Tomlin

F

ollowing the success of last year’s expanded event, Artlink’s Art Detour will expand its reach.

“Art Detour is a monthlong celebration of arts and culture, and what makes it most significant is that it has evolved from the original Art Walk event in all of Phoenix,” says Catrina Kahler, Artlink president and chief executive officer.

“This Art Detour event is the founding Art Walk event that predates First Fridays and Third Fridays that started in 1989. Here we are, 34 years later, now evolved to a monthlong celebration that is a really strong reflection of the art and depth of the arts and culture community and how strong it is and how it is very much still thriving actually more than ever.”

Last year, due to COVID-19, the organization adapted to the artists’ and community’s availability to continue the event while expanding it.

“We took the approach of, rather than creating experiences of critical mass given all of the restrictions, we decided to go big and expand the experience over 33 days last year to give people the time and opportunity to experience arts and culture activities at their leisure as needed and also online as much of the programming was pivoting to virtual platforms,” Kahler says.

Artlink presented more than 1,000 activities during those 33 days, and it was met with a “warm response” from the public, according to Kahler, prompting them to continue it. With COVID-19 restrictions still in place, Kahler and her team thought it was the best option.

“It did well, it served the community and it allowed us to not just expand in terms of time, but it also allowed us to expand and educate the public on perhaps change perceptions of the whole definitions of arts and culture,” Kahler says.

“So many people default to being a traditional visual and performing arts when it is much more than that. It includes public art, fashion and culinary arts and the culture of our historic properties and the architecture.”

In terms of the geographical expansion, Kahler says she wanted to also set up virtual experiences for those who are not ready for in-person events.

“The name Art Detour itself was an

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indication back in the day from artists to the public saying, No. 1, we are here, we are creating, and by coming to visit our studios — because it started as a studio tour specifically — by coming to visit our studios in the heart of Downtown Phoenix we will perceive and

experience the city in a new way,” Kahler says.

“It is about traditional and expanding art forms, but it’s also about place and community. It’s about the economy, and it’s about understanding the artists and arts and culture communities as a whole.”

Throughout March, Art Detour will host galleries, workshops, performing art performances and public art installations, among various other events. The calendar of events is available on the Art Detour website, artdetour. com.

“There are a number of events and projects that we want to highlight, and the first one is the substation project that is located at Roosevelt and Seventh streets,” Kahler says. “It’s an electrical substation that is being built on a

very prominent corner in Downtown Phoenix in the Roosevelt Row Arts District and the Evans Churchill neighborhood.

“It’s a city-block-wide project between Sixth Street and Seventh Street, and all of the front-facing walls of this substation are going to be filled with murals and metal work, sculptures, etchings and sound sculptures and more.”

Kahler says the pieces should be complete prior to Art Detour, and she hopes the artists will then talk about their

work.

An event highlight is the virtual discussion panel “People Power the Arts: From Passion to Action” hosted by Arizona Citizens for the Arts on Monday, March 7. The panel is regarding the “reauthorization of the commission of the arts.”

“Every year when the governor comes out with the budget for the state, arts and culture is kind of in the budget, but sometimes not really,” Kahler says.

“Arizona ranks near or at the bottom of the list for the states when it comes to the funding of arts and culture.

“We want to take this opportunity in this seminal year of renewal and as a community advocate for more sustainable funding moving forward

to work in partnership with Arizona Citizens for the Arts on an arts and culture advocacy discussion and panel of discussion to really understand not just the importance of public funding for arts but for those who really care about it, what are we to do?

“The effect and the benefit of public funding in terms of social program and environmental where there are some projects that just beautify but there is so much community benefit through the distribution of these funds.”

The signature Art d’Core Gala is set for Friday, March 11, in an 80,000-square-foot space in Midtown Phoenix.

“It is the major reception for a debut exhibition that is produced by members of the Artlink Artists Council as well as invited artists, each of whom were selected via an open call to artists and selected by each member of the Artists Council,” Kahler says. “The net result is going to be 15 collaborative art installations amidst culinary pop-ups by favorite restaurants, creative drinks, live performances, dance, video projections and so on.”

Kahler adds the space makes it easy to socially distance while allowing the event to be visually and experientially powerful.

“We are excited about that,” she says.

Though there are struggles to putting together a celebration of this magnitude, Kahler says that at the end of the day that her favorite part of the event is the “expression of love.”

“The entire team here is so open hearted and so desiring to connect with the artists and anyone else that we can connect with via this organization. It’s very easy for each of us and us collectively to love this arts and culture community,” Kahler says.

“The effect of what they do is so strong, the wisdom, the insights are so special and so many of the organizations and partners as well do so much with either so little or under real pressures whether under pandemic or otherwise. The love here just never stops.

The love and the embrace are the best part. The execution is where it gets a bit more challenging.”

Art Detour WHEN: Various times, Tuesday, March 1, to Thursday, March 31 WHERE: Various locations throughout the state COST: Pricing may vary INFO: artdetour.com

OUT OF THE ASHES THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE MARCH 2022

17

Phoenix Chorale sings story of rebirth

By Bridgette M. Redman

T

he phoenix has inspired artists, writers, builders and leaders throughout the centuries. The ultimate symbol of rebirth, of hope springing from loss, the mythical desert bird is said to burst into flame at the end of its life, often wreaking terrible destruction, only to come to life again.

It is the city’s namesake and, for two Arizona artists, a metaphor for Phoenix and its inhabitants.

The Phoenix Chorale will be premiering the work by these two artists, soprano and composer Kira Zeeman Rugen and Phoenix’s first Poet Laureate Rosemary Dombrowski, Friday, March 18, to Sunday, March 20, as part of its re:BIRTH concert.

The work, “Out of the Ashes,” reflects on the phoenix and all that it means for a city that continues to survive and thrive.

Surprisingly, the work was not born out of the pandemic but was finished before it; however, its premiere was delayed by the COVID-19 shutdowns.

Rugen, who has composed several pieces for the Phoenix Chorale since joining them in 2004, was commissioned to do a new piece and she sought out a poet who could help her express what she wanted to accomplish with this work. She found Dombrowski, who was the city’s first poet laureate.

“I was thrilled,” Dombrowski says. “I mean, I had never embarked on a project like this before. I had never written lyrics for a song.”

For both, it was a new experience. For Rugen, she was used to working with dead poets. For Dombrowski, she was used to simply handing off her work to another artist. Instead, they had an intense back-and-forth collaboration.

Their process had them constantly revising and reworking. Dombrowski would provide the poem; Rugen would compose. Then, Dombrowski would move lines around or change a few words. Rugen would work with the musical phrasing and making sure each word got the treatment it deserved.

“It was the truest collaboration,” Dombrowski says. “She started to explain the composition process to me, and so every time she needed a change, I knew it was real. We would ask questions — do we want to rhyme? Do we not want to rhyme? Do we want alliteration here? How do we tell the story?”

The story, they say, was about the phoenix, and they wanted to incorporate many different elements of the phoenix myths from all around

the planet. The story, like the city it is based on, needed to be multicultural and not just give one version of the bird. Rugen did a great deal of research pulling out tales that came from Greek, Chinese and Japanese mythology.

Together, they talked about how they could combine those things to make the city of Phoenix version of the bird.

They even incorporated elements of the Thunderbird, as it had Phoenix ties.

One of the first things they settled on was that the bird was gender fluid. The older bird is male and the newly born baby bird is female.

“It literally is in the literature,” Rugen says. “When it dies, it could be reborn either gender. We made this gender fluid creature because I think that is so much more representative of the city. We wanted it to be a representation of the modern city of Phoenix, and I think that allowed us to do that.”

Early on, they decided the story needed to have concrete, because the city has so much of it, and that their phoenix would descend upon a city, be a part of the city and rise from the city. It would also encounter the desert. It would not exist in a mythological place. Elements include an Arizona monsoon, a salt river, the Phoenix summer heat, mountains, cicadas and plants native to the area.

“We had to have that sort of intersection between desert and bird and city and bird,” Dombrowski says.

The result was something Rugen felt ended up being a little prophetic because of what came next in the world. It was so prophetic, in fact, that they didn’t make any changes to it when the new artistic

director scheduled it for the March premiere.

“Before we could even have the premiere — because it was supposed to happen two years ago — there was a pandemic,” Rugen says. “I look at it now and it is so much more than just about the city of Phoenix and the people of Phoenix and their birth. Now I see it as like humanity. It’s everybody.

It’s everywhere. It’s the multicultural bird that you find everywhere. It grows old, it gets sick, it dies, it dies in fire and ash and water and rain. We have this big storm that has happened, metaphorically and realistically. And then we have at the end, a rebirth and baptism of the people. And to me, it’s just like, oh, my God, we’re seeing that’s happened in real life.”

The chorus will sing the song a cappella with the only instrument a big drum when the bird dies.

Dombrowski says she wrote about Phoenix enough to know that she had to represent its flora and fauna along with the resilience of a city that has emerged in the middle of a hostile, waterless desert. She says she has contemplated how anything thrives in such an inhospitable space and that she thinks the phoenix is a metaphor for everyone who ends up in the city.

For her, it also represented a particular segment of the community.

“The phoenix represents the artists that I’ve grown up with here, who have raised me in the desert and on the streets of Phoenix,” Dombrowski says. “It represents the power of artistic communities that take flight. It

represents their power to rebirth people within those communities, to help us find our rebirth.”

In addition to “Out of Ashes,” the chorale will perform Aaron Copland’s “In the Beginning” as part of its Phoenix Masterworks Series. It will also perform “Tanzen and Springen” by Hans Leo Hassler, Felix Mendelssohn’s “Der Erste Fruhlingstag,” “Three English Folksongs” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, “lo son la primavera” by William Hawley and “There will come soft rains” by Connor J Koppin.

Rugen, who says she spent the pandemic at home composing, is pleased to be once again sharing art with audiences. This year will witness the premieres of six of her works. More than ever, she says her art needs to incorporate healing and nature, two things very present in “Out of Ashes.”

“Add the components of healing and nature and the rebirth of the arts, there’s some good reasons for people to come out,” Rugen says.

re:BIRTH WHEN/WHERE: 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 18, La Casa De Cristo Lutheran Church, 6300 E. Bell Road, Scottsdale 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 19, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 100 W. Roosevelt Street Phoenix 3 p.m. Sunday, March 20, Camelback Bible Church, 3900 E. Stanford Drive Paradise Valley COST: $42 INFO: phoenixchorale.org ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

‘EACH STROKE COUNTS’

18

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Expo artist compares his works to golf

By Laura Latzko

P

atrons rarely have opportunities to talk to artists while they’re working in their studios. The Arizona Fine Art EXPO lets patrons have these immersive experiences through Sunday, March 27.

“They can come in, talk to each artist, see what they do, talk about their work and anything that might interest them,” says Judy Long, who runs the event with her husband, Dennis, and Judi and Roger Combs. Dennis is Judi’s brother.

“Artists are very open to spending time talking to people.”

In its 18th year, the expo is in a 44,000-square-foot space at the corner of Scottsdale and Jomax roads, near MacDonald’s Ranch.

Black panels and gray carpeting give it a consistent look. The show boasts 124 studios and around 80 artists from around the world.

“It’s like going into a gallery.

It’s not a hodgepodge of all different looks,” Long says.

To participate, artists must be juried, primarily by Judi Combs, who also runs Thunderbird Artists with her daughter. The artists pay $2,500 for the booth and a commission of 20% on sales.

The expo allows artists to put their work before a large diverse audience who is interested in a variety of art forms. Many commissions and long-term relationships between artists and patrons start at the expo.

Guests can see a range of artwork, including sketches in pencil, charcoal and pastels; clay, stone, metal and wood sculptures; watercolor, oil and acrylic paintings; furniture; photographs; jewelry and mixed-media artwork.

A 2-acre sculpture garden, where some artists will work, displays metal, stone and mixed-media sculptures. Musicians perform on Saturdays and Sundays. Café food is available for a snack or lunch.

Long says that while there is a level of competition in getting sales, the artists have a strong camaraderie.

“The artists get along really well and help each other,” Long says.

“It’s really a big extended family. It’s wonderful for their creativity. It makes a ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

huge difference,” Long says.

Returning artist Jon Crocker says his work can be very solitary. The expo allows him to work near others.

“The beauty of the Arizona Fine Art Expo is that the artists have the opportunity to work, show, learn and, most amazingly, share with each other throughout the tent,” Crocker says.

The watercolor artist, who divides his time between Ireland and Colorado, started attending the expo in 2018.

Crocker often paints portraits and landscapes. Through his company Art of Golf, he paints signature golf holes of notable courses.

At the expo, Crocker will have limited edition golf prints of golfers like Tiger Woods, his friends in Ireland, his family members and people he observes in his everyday life.

Crocker says he differs from other watercolorist painters because of his

details, which can be difficult.

“Watercolor is like golf. Each stroke counts, and the second you think you have it mastered, it will come back to bite you,” Crocker says.

In his paintings, he tries to represent the people’s spirit, including the flaws that make them distinctive.

“When I’m painting someone’s portrait, it’s not enough to match their likeness.

I want to expose their personality. I’m trying to capture a person’s essence, their

soul. I think a quality painted portrait has so much more meaning than a photo,” Crocker says.

Crocker has dabbled with other types of paint, but he prefers watercolor because of the negative space.

“For me, watercolor’s true magic is the white of the paper,” Crocker says.

“Unlike painting with oils or acrylics, I use no white paint to create highlights or white areas. The paper creates a much crisper, cleaner and more natural white than I could ever achieve painting in the highlights.”

Growing up, Crocker drew and painted as a child. He earned a fine arts degree from Colorado State University but went into marketing and advertising.

He ran two advertising agencies until

2008, when he left to take care of his ailing father, wife and daughter. He cared for them for four years before they died within the same year, which was difficult for Crocker.

His Irish partner Gina Phelan, whom he met online, and painting helped him through the grief. His first painting after the deaths was of his father peacefully napping. Soon, others wanted portraits of their deceased loved ones.

That emotional response affects him as an artist.

“My favorite part of painting a personal commission is the fi rst second where the client sees the completed piece and I see in their eyes the unmistakable recognition, often followed by a tear or two.

Th at’s the best feeling in the world, an acknowledgement I captured and touched both their souls,” Crocker says.

Arizona Fine Art Expo WHEN: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Sunday, March 27.

WHERE: 26540 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale COST: $12 for season pass, $10 for seniors and military, free for children younger than 12 INFO: 480.837.7163, arizonafineartexpo.com

THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE MARCH 2022

19

LONG-LASTING FRIENDSHIP

Puppets put a new spin on on the classic ‘Golden Girls’

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

B

etty White was beloved by many, but Samantha Lee Mason gets to share that adoration regularly.

She plays White’s character, Rose, in “That Golden Girls Show!” a new “theater experience” that parodies classic “Golden Girls” moments — with puppets. Mason lists the reasons to see the show: cheesecake, laughter, Jazzercise, shoulder pads, sex and schemes.

“It’s super fun,” Mason says. “The character of Rose is known for being very sweet and, playfully, somewhat dim. She’s very earnest and naïve.

“I love getting to bring her to life every day on the stage. Playing Betty White’s character — especially since her death — does bring a lot of weight to the world. It wasn’t there to begin with since I started. I now have the great pleasure to carry on Betty’s legacy the best way I can.”

The 75-minute “That Golden Girls Show!” hits the Chandler Center for the Arts stage on Thursday, March 17, to Sunday, March 20.

“Our story is told through three episodes of the ‘Golden Girls,’” she says.

“They’re not episodes that were directly pulled from the actual show. It’s an amalgamation of different lines in the series with a new storyline within the world of the show. It’s very short, very sweet and you’ll laugh the whole time.”

She confesses that even she has a hard time keeping cool during the performance.

“I tend to be pretty good in terms of staying with it in the show,” she says.

“But there have been a few moments

when something crazy happens and you have to really focus. That’s the beauty of live theater.”

A Chicago native, Mason is a trained musical theater performer who attended Indiana University. Now residing in New York City, she had puppeting experience, thanks to a run with “Reusable the Musical,” written and directed by John Tartaglia.

“Most of my other performances are in musical theater,” she says. “I lived in Japan and worked for Tokyo Disney Resort for a year and a half. I wanted to travel the world, and that was the best way to do it.”

Mason admits she wasn’t an “avid watcher” prior to her auditions for “That Golden Girls Show!” She saw it on Hulu, fell in love with it and binged the entire series.

Now, she gets it.

“That Golden Girls Show!” kicked off its jaunt in 2016 and was forced to close down — just like the rest of the world — due to the pandemic.

“The audience response has just been amazing, too,” she adds. “We look out in the audience and they’re wearing ‘Golden Girls’ face masks. It’s just overwhelming.

“This is the farewell tour now. Fans should see it before it’s gone.”

“That Golden Girls Show!”

WHEN: Various times Thursday, March 17, to Sunday, March 20 WHERE: Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Avenue, Chandler COST: Tickets start at $36 INFO: 480.782.2680, chandlercenter.org

uide to The Insider ’s G

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20

DINING

EAT » EXPERIENCE » INDULGE » SAVOR » DEVOUR » NOSH

A TASTE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN

Royal Palms Resort offers a getaway without leaving the Valley

By Allison Brown

T

he Royal Palms Resort and Spa may be a AAA Four Diamond luxury vacation destination for travelers, but locals know and love it for the iconic Mediterranean food at T. Cook’s and personalized, top-shelf options at the Mix Up bar.

T. Cook’s matches the Spanish Colonial setting of the Royal Palms, which rests nestled at the foot of Camelback Mountain. Upon setting foot into the courtyard, guests are transported to a faraway Mediterranean villa with intimate clusters of casitas and villas, regal Spanish Colonial architecture, 100-year-old rustic doorways and hand-painted tiles, winding stone paths along Tuscan-style gardens, and outdoor stone fireplaces throughout the property.

T. Cook’s menu reflects the atmosphere, and guests can experience seasonal rotating selections for brunch and dinner with influences from Northern Italy, Greece and Spain. The award-winning restaurant is not only for those staying at the resort; customers can enjoy a mini, Mediterranean “trip” and still make it home to sleep in their own bed.

“It’s kind of interesting that our restaurant and bar primarily have locals who go to them, which is different from other hotels. We have one of two celebrity chefs in Phoenix with chef Lee Hillson,” says Brianna Macfarlane, sales manager at Royal Palms. “It’s such a true, local hotspot.”

Hillson is a James Beard Housefeatured chef and was a participant on Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” show. He has reimagined T. Cook’s menu and put the resort on the culinary map. Some of the Royal Palms staff’s recommendations include the Iberico bone-in pork chop ($55), which has meat directly from Spain; huevos rancheros ($21) on the brunch menu; and the orange bomb ($15) for dessert.

Hillson’s dishes may have influences from Mediterranean areas, but he makes sure to use locally sourced ingredients when possible. Their bread comes from down the road, and the restaurant’s orange marmalade is made from orange groves that are on the Royal Palms property.

“It’s not just about buying in bulk; it’s

about making interesting dishes that are seasonal and, if not completely locally sourced, at least have a big influence by the local community and partners,” says Evgenia Williamson, director of operations.

Hillson doesn’t just source locally.

Williamson says he has a personal relationship with local vendors, who chat with him. That connection with the local community is part of what has made T. Cook’s a staple over its 25 years.

“We have so many guests that have returned for their anniversary trip or birthday or babymoons,” Williamson says. “A lot of our local guests had an event or a wedding or their daughter got married here, and we’re part of their memories. So a lot of people do come back to recreate those memories, and it’s great to be part of that experience.”

Macfarlane says she is proof of the resort’s local roots, as she has visited the property with her family since she was 8. She says she took it a step further than others by accepting a job at the resort, but it was ultimately because of her fond memories there.

“My grandparents used to take me to T. Cook’s when I was a little girl,” she says. “I would dress up in my big Easter dress and walk through the mansion courtyard like it was a runway. It’s one of my favorite childhood memories.”

Whether it’s an anniversary dinner, a family brunch or wedding reception, Williamson says T. Cook’s has a dining option to suit the occasion. Meals can be

enjoyed in the main dining room or outside patio, which have views of Camelback Mountain, or there are also private dining options for special occasions. The private dining space can accommodate up to 60 guests, and the intimate Via Cappello dining experience is customized for couples to savor five chef-inspired courses on a private patio or garden.

T. Cook’s isn’t just known for its food, though. It partners with the Mix Up bar, also on the Royal Palms property, to provide a full list of wines, spirits and specialty cocktails. The Mix Up bar also has its own lounge area with access to the full bar and quick bites for those looking for something lighter.

In keeping with T. Cook’s, the Mix Up bar uses fresh, local ingredients for enhanced flavor and even makes its own syrups and ginger beer in-house. Some of its cocktail combinations might be surprising, like the Long Live the Queen, which has Zacapa 23 rum, allspice dram, pear liqueur, pumpkin spice, egg white, lemon and blackstrap bitters.

If guests want to see how to mix egg white and pumpkin spice, or if they find their new favorite cocktail, they can actually learn to make it themselves.

The Mix Up bar offers an interactive mixology class, where guests learn from cocktail experts to pour, mix, shake and garnish a signature cocktail to savor. The class, offered every day from around 2 to 4 p.m., was started by the bartenders,

who wanted to have a way to connect with guests and have some fun.

“It was a way to engage locals, because there were so many local guests who wanted to come ask questions and try something different,” Macfarlane says.

“Our bartenders are extremely creative, and they come up with a new menu once a quarter. They always have something going on, they always want to try something new or add something new, and I think this is a way for them to kind of flex that muscle of theirs and have something fun and different.”

Once the plates have been cleared and the drinks are put away, guests can explore the grounds. The resort is 9 acres designed around a 1930s mansion and offers 119 custom guest rooms, intimate casitas and villas, regal Spanish Colonial architecture, more than 20,000 square feet of meeting space, Tuscan-style gardens, various antique décor and stone fireplaces throughout.

“I always tell guests to get lost on the property, which sounds harsh, but what I mean by that is we have some horticulture that just doesn’t grow anywhere else besides their home territory,” Macfarlane says. “We’re large enough where you could just walk and explore and find your new favorite fireplace or favorite fountain that you want to sit next to and grab a book and a glass of wine. I think that’s something that can’t be missed here, the beauty of being still.”

THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE MARCH 2022

DINING

CALENDAR

By Annika Tomlin

Mountain Shadows Resort, 5445 E. Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley, 6 to 10 p.m., homewardboundaz.org, $300

Roars and Pours

Gimme a Chimi

MARCH Macayo’s Mexican Food celebrates its signature dish, the chimichanga, with the return of its popular “Gimme a Chimi” promotion. With the “build your own chimi” special, guests can select their choice of protein (shredded beef, shredded chicken, ground beef or pork carnitas); sauce (relleno sauce or fire-roasted tomatillo sauce); and topping (sour cream, guacamole or the Macayo’s Baja sauce). Additional toppings are $1.49 each. Guests can round out their meal with a side of choice (rice, refried beans, black beans or calabacitas) for an additional $1.49.

Various Macayo’s Mexican Food locations, macayo.com, $10

Rooftop Fundraiser

MARCH 4 The Friends of Homeward Bound invite patrons to their second Rooftop 2022 to join the fight against homelessness under the stars. It will feature views, gourmet food stations, craft cocktails, entertainment and a few surprises.

Attendees must be 21 or older.

MARCH 17 The Phoenix Zoo hosts guests 21 and older for Roars and Pours, during which patrons can stroll along zoo trails for happy hour brews, wine and food. Don’t forget about animal encounters, yard games and live music.

Phoenix Zoo, 455 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., phoenixzoo.org, $10

organic green salad and a sweet treat of handmade biscotti. This month’s featured dish is Polenta Con Sausage, which features a creamy polenta and homemade sausage in a rich tomato sauce.

Marcellino Ristorante, 7114 E. Stetson Drive, Scottsdale, 1 to 3 p.m., marcellinoristorante. com, $70 per person

Central Arizona Food Truck Battle MARCH 19 This event will feature 20 food trucks going head to head for judges’ and guests’ votes to earn trophies. Diners can also enjoy the food from trucks competing for additional categories like best taco and best dessert trucks.

Ak-Chin Circle Entertainment Center, 16000 N. Maricopa Road, Maricopa, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., eventbrite.com

Crust Simply Italian, 10 N. San Marcos Plaza, Chandler; 8300 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., crustrestaurants.com, $22

21

Arizona Fried Chicken and Wings Festival

MARCH 20 The second Arizona Fried Chicken and Wings Festival features varieties of fried chicken ranging from Korean to Nashville Hot chicken. An array of drinks, including cold beer, cocktails, lemonade and boba tea, along with desserts, will be available.

All tickets purchased for previous dates will be honored for this date.

The Pressroom, 3125 S. 52nd Street, Tempe, 12:30 to 6 p.m., bit.ly/3v4HWef, $4-$15, children 6 and younger free

Drag Disco Brunch

Learn & Lunch Cooking Class MARCH 19 Learn chef Marcellino Verzino’s secrets at his Learn & Lunch Cooking Class. This intimate, watch-and-learn-style class is held at the Chef’s Island, where he demonstrates how to prepare a signature dish, telling stories of his childhood growing up on a farm in Italy. Following class, patrons enjoy a delectable lunch of the featured dish plus an

National Ravioli Day

MARCH 20 It’s National Ravioli Day, and Crust Simply Italian is taking the traditional dish to a new level with jumbo fresh lobster ravioli served with Alfredo and a touch of marinara for a pink sauce.

MARCH 26 Bottomless brunch, plenty of champagne and a drag show are just a few of the things that guests can expect at Drag Disco Brunch at Kähvi. Inferno Drag performers include Burandy J. Wine, Pyra Addiction, Rosie Cheeks Savage, Lucy Purr, K. Yass and more. General admission includes brunch, glasses or bottles of champagne, beats by DJ Kim E Fresh and the show from noon to 2 p.m.

Kähvi Coffee + Café, 214 E. Roosevelt Street, Phoenix, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., drinkkahvi.com, $60

Inspire The World Publish Your Book Today Your book made available at all major secular and specialty Christian bookstores including: Amazon, iTunes, Barnes & Noble, and many more.

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480-378-8183

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22

BREWS & SPIRITS

SIP » BREW » RELAX » EXPERIMENT » REFRESH » TOAST

‘PRIME TOURISM DRAWS’ Annual Pecan & Wine Festival returns to Downtown Camp Verde

By Jordan Houston

C

amp Verde’s annual Pecan & Wine Festival returns to celebrate its 21st birthday, as well as a plethora of local pecan growers and

wineries.

The Verde Valley Wine Consortium and the town of Camp Verde will cohost the free event from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 19, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 20, in Downtown Camp Verde.

The two-day festival will feature 13 Arizona wineries along with a variety of pecans for pairing, a competitive pecan pie contest, Budweiser beer garden, food trucks and more than 70 local artisans.

The Pecan & Wine Festival, sponsored

by Yavapai College and Larry Green Chevrolet, honors the area’s two “prime tourism draws,” explains Michael Marshall, Camp Verde parks and recreation manager.

“What makes it worthwhile for myself, and for the rest of us, is lots of people come and have a good time — that’s what we want. That’s a vague description and not something we can quantify,” Marshall says. “The numbers are great and it’s nice to be bigger, better and faster, but a lot of people are having a good time and that’s what we want to see.”

Local wineries will showcase their newest releases by the glass, bottle and case, Marshalls says. Guests can sample the wines, meet the winemakers and purchase bottles to take home.

Participating wineries include 1764 Vineyards, Alcantara Vineyards, Arizona Stronghold Vineyards, Bodega Pierce, Clear Creek Vineyards, Cove Mesa Vineyard, Da Vines Vineyard, High Lonesome Vineyard, Heart Wood Cellars, Page Springs Cellars, Salt Mine Wine, Southwest Wine Center and Winery 101.

“Our mission is to provide diverse recreation opportunities, and events are part of that diversity,” Marshall says.

“Not everyone wants to play a sport and not everyone is a youth, so other events are part of the options we offer for the public. We think it’s important that we keep it free so that people can attend — the mere price of walking through the ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

gate isn’t difficult for people.”

A mixed bag of performers will hit the stage during the festival, such as the Salt Miners, Scott Marshall and the Free Radicals, Chicago Bob and the Blues Squad with Garry Segal, Steve Willis with Roger Smith and Dr. Robert Sellani, the Swamp Poets and Friends, Peaceful Outlaws, Big Daddy D and the Dynamites, and Charles “Cros” Mac. New to this year’s festival is a free children’s activity area featuring a Children’s Art Exhibit and Puppet Theatre sponsored by Glorybound Publishing. The Verde Valley Blues and Roots Review, a collaboration with the Northern Arizona Blues Alliance, will also take the main stage.

“We want to provide opportunities for local community groups to have a place where they can get the word out and fundraise to make money or for whatever product they sell,” he says. “We want to have a large number of vendors and a very diverse group of vendors. We want to have something for everyone.”

But those aren’t the only festival changes attendees can expect, he continues.

Additional COVID-19 safety precautions, such as socially distanced vendors and enhanced cleaning and

sanitizing of all public areas, will be implemented to ensure a safe and fun experience for all, Marshall says.

Face masks will also be encouraged.

“We’ve instituted some improvements from the past and made some changes with COVID,” Marshall explains.

“Some of the changes we’ve made with COVID and with the vendors — we like it better than before. One of the things we did is we have additional hand-washing stations on the event field and not just in the bathrooms. It’s silly we weren’t doing something like that before.”

Restrooms, staff areas, wine tasting tables, work tables and all public seating will be sanitized.

Stricter social distancing guidelines also allow for more breathing room for the vendors and attendees, Marshall says.

“We spaced out our vendors quite a bit more, and we’ve come up with a couple of different arrangements based on wanting to increase social distancing outside,” he says. “It increases the sales space available for each vendor and makes it easier for the public to see where things are and move around. That’s something that isn’t going away.”

The festival is part of the parks and recreation division’s larger effort to offer

diverse, affordable and safe ways for the community to connect and celebrate the area.

“The reason we do these events is to provide an opportunity for residents and visitors to come to events,” Marshall explains. “We’re not making money.

The proposition for us is it’s part of our recreation opportunities for people. So, that does make a difference to some of the decisions we make. One of the big decisions is they’re all free events.

“In general, our big thing is that people are happy and are enjoying whatever we’re providing for them.”

Camp Verde Annual Pecan & Wine Festival WHEN: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 19, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sunday, March 20 WHERE: Downtown Camp Verde, 75 E. Hollamon Street COST: Free. Wine tasting tickets, which include a commemorative wine glass and six wine tasting tickets, are $20 online. They’re $25 at the door.

INFO: cvaz.org, verdevalleywine.org

THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE MARCH 2022

23

BREWS & SPIRITS

CALENDAR

By Annika Tomlin

ticket includes six tasting tickets and a commemorative wine glass, while VIPs get 10 tastings. Standard beer drinker tickers include one ticket for a 16-ounce beer or 9-ounce cocktail and commemorative Pilsner glass with VIP tickets good for double the beer or cocktail.

Downtown Litchfield Park, East Wigwam Boulevard, Litchfield Park, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., eventbrite.com, $15-$20

Dapper & Stout Uptown Grand Opening

Morning Squeeze Green Drinks

MARCH In the spirit of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, two new drinks were added to the permanent menu at Morning Squeeze. The new Down the Hatch Bloody Mary ($11) puts a green spin on the breakfast cocktail with hatch chile vodka, housemade green chili bloody mix, charred melon and cucumber lime. For the nonalcoholic drinkers, there is the new Groovy Green smoothie ($10) blending oat milk, apple juice, spinach, honey yogurt and banana.

Morning Squeeze, 4233 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale; 690 S. Mill Avenue, Suite 110, Tempe; 1 N. First Street, Phoenix, morningsqueeze.com, $10-$11

Scottsdale Whiskey Festival MARCH 5 Savor tastings of whiskeys, bourbons and scotches from around the world. General admission tickets include 20 whiskey tastings while VIP tickets include 24 whiskey tastings plus early access to the event from 2 to 3 p.m. with other VIPs for more one-on-one time with distillers.

Wasted Grain, 7295 E. Stetson Drive, Scottsdale, 3 to 6 p.m., eventbrite.com, $25-$35

Spring Art & Wine Festival

MARCH 5 AND MARCH 6 The free fine art festival in the center of Litchfield Park will have more than 150 art booths, a beer and wine garden with tastings offered by local wineries and breweries, plus music and food. A standard wine taster

MARCH 14 In celebration of Dapper & Stout’s grand opening, the coffee-meetscocktail restaurant is hosting an espresso martini competition.

Contestants from local bars will use Dapper & Stout espresso or cold brew to create coffeecentric cocktails for judging.

Tickets include bites, two drink tickets and a front row seat to the competition. This event will benefit Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Dapper & Stout Coffee Company, 100 E. Camelback Road, Suite 150, Phoenix, 6 to 9 p.m., eventbrite.com, $30

includes seared scallop paired with Mannequin Chardonnay; Ora king salmon paired with Slander pinot noir; beef short loin with Abstract red blend; and chocolate silk tart paired with Palermo cabernet sauvignon.

Chart House, 7255 E. McCormick Parkway, Scottsdale, 7 to 10 p.m., eventbrite.com, $130

Agave on the Rocks

St. Patrick’s Day at Luckys

MARCH 17 Toast to the Irish and increase one’s luck this St. Patrick’s Day with a fun bash at Luckys Indoor Outdoor.

Open an hour early, the party kicks off with $5 pints of Guinness and $6 Irish car bombs from 3 to 6 p.m. followed by music from 6 to 10 p.m.

by DJ CLRS. OH Allen the DJ takes over the tunes after 10 p.m. for latenight festivities. MozzArepas will provide arepas from 4 p.m. onward.

This event is 21 and older only.

Luckys Indoor Outdoor, 817 N. Second Street, Phoenix, 3 p.m., luckysphx.com, free admission

Orin Swift and Chart House Wine Dinner

MARCH 24 Orin Swift wines and Chart House unite for a four-course menu that

MARCH 25 Blanco, reposado, añejo and mezcal. Celebrate the agave spirits of the world while enjoying the Chihuly in the Desert exhibit at Desert Botanical Garden. Sip on a complimentary margarita while sampling an array of savory and sweet culinary treats from Valley restaurants and caterers. Stop by the Tequila Sampling Room to taste and learn how Roger Clyne’s awardwinning tequila, Canción, is made.

Desert Botanical Garden, 1201 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix, 6 to 10 p.m., dbg.org, $75-$80

Arizona Wine & Spirits Tasting

MARCH 25 TO MARCH 27 The spring Tempe Festival of the Arts presents an intimate lineup of Arizona wineries and distilleries for tastings and purchases. Patrons can enjoy live music, food and original art while exploring Arizona’s finest wines and spirits. Participating vendors include Adventurous Stills, Alacantra Vineyard & Winery, Desert Diamond Distillery, Desert Rock Winery & Distillery and Four Tails Vineyard.

Tempe Festival of the Arts, 660 S. Mill Avenue, Tempe, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., eventbrite.com, $10-$25

Quark Expeditions has been exploring Greenland, Arctic Norway, the Canadian Arctic and remote Russia for 30 years. Is it time you joined us?

Photograph wildlife: polar bears, whales, muskoxen, reindeer and more

Choose an off-ship adventure option—such as flightseeing, hiking or mountain biking

Voyages start at $11,913 Call one of our Polar Travel Advisors:

1.866.519.7655 24 hours a day Monday to Friday, and Saturday until 4 pm. *Average voyage starting price. Starting price is subject to change.

We reserve the right to change our products’ prices at any time without further notice.

ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

24

CASINOS

PLAY » SPIN » LAUGH » GROOVE » UNWIND » WIN Eli Young Band

CASINO ENTERTAINMENT

CALENDAR

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

Petty and the Heartshakers

7:30 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 4, AND SATURDAY, MARCH 5 Casino Arizona, 524 N. 92nd Street, Scottsdale, tickets start at $15, 480.850.7777, casinoarizona.com

Mogollon

8 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 4 WKP Sports & Entertainment, 10438 Wekopa Way, Fort McDowell, free, 480.789.4957, wekopacasinoresort.com

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

8 P.M. SATURDAY, MARCH 5 Talking Stick Resort, 9800 E. Talking Stick Way, Scottsdale, sold out, 480.850.7777, talkingstickresort.com

December ’63: The Music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons

3 P.M. SUNDAY, MARCH 6 Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino, 5040 Wild Horse Pass Boulevard, Chandler, tickets start at $25, 1.800.946.4452, playatgila.com

Eli Young Band

8 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 11 Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino,

5040 Wild Horse Pass Boulevard, Chandler, tickets start at $35, 1.800.946.4452, playatgila.com

Superhero

8 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 11 WKP Sports & Entertainment, 10438 Wekopa Way, Fort McDowell, free, 480.789.4957, wekopacasinoresort.com

Silhouette

8 P.M. SATURDAY, MARCH 12 WKP Sports & Entertainment, 10438 Wekopa Way, Fort McDowell, free, 480.789.4957, wekopacasinoresort.com

Queen Nation: A Tribute to the Music of Queen

8 P.M. SATURDAY, MARCH 12 Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino, 5040 Wild Horse Pass Boulevard, Chandler, tickets start at $30, 1.800.946.4452, playatgila.com

Tennessee River: Tribute to Alabama

St. Patty’s Day Celebration with Carl Dees Dueling Pianos 4 P.M. THURSDAY, MARCH 17 WKP Sports & Entertainment, 10438 Wekopa Way, Fort McDowell, free, 480.789.4957, wekopacasinoresort.com

LAvation: U2 Tribute

3 P.M. SUNDAY, MARCH 13 Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino, 5040 Wild Horse Pass Boulevard, Chandler, tickets start at $25, 1.800.946.4452, playatgila.com Mogollon

9 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 18, AND SATURDAY, MARCH 19 WKP Sports & Entertainment, 10438 Wekopa Way, Fort McDowell, $30, 480.789.4957, wekopacasinoresort.com

Andrew “Dice” Clay

8 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 18 Talking Stick Resort, 9800 E. Talking Stick Way, Scottsdale, tickets start at $35, 480.850.7777, talkingstickresort.com

Aretha: The Queen of Soul— Tribute to the Life and Music of Aretha Franklin 3 P.M. SUNDAY, MARCH 20 Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino, 5040 Wild Horse Pass Boulevard, Chandler, tickets start at $25, 1.800.946.4452, playatgila.com

Uptown: Motown and Soul for a New Generation

8 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 25 Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino, 5040 Wild Horse Pass Boulevard, Chandler, tickets start at $25, 1.800.946.4452, playatgila.com

Lexi Faust and Andy Margolis 5 P.M., FRIDAY, MARCH 25 WKP Sports & Entertainment, 10438 Wekopa Way, Fort McDowell, free, 480.789.4957, wekopacasinoresort.com

Rockin’ the Paradise: A Tribute to Styx

Bonfire: A Tribute to AC/DC

7:30 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 18, AND SATURDAY, MARCH 19 Casino Arizona, 524 N. 92nd Street, Scottsdale, tickets start at $15, 480.850.7777, casinoarizona.com

7:30 P.M. FRIDAY, MARCH 25, AND SATURDAY, MARCH 26 Casino Arizona, 524 N. 92nd Street, Scottsdale, tickets start at $15, 480.850.7777, casinoarizona.com

The Wailers

Rhythm Edition

8 P.M. SATURDAY, MARCH 19 Talking Stick Resort, 9800 E. Talking Stick Way, Scottsdale, tickets start at $30, 480.850.7777, talkingstickresort.com

8 P.M. SATURDAY, MARCH 26 WKP Sports & Entertainment, 10438 Wekopa Way, Fort McDowell, free, 480.789.4957, wekopacasinoresort.com

WILD TONIC 228 Justin Drive, Cottonwood, AZ 86326 (928) 634-5434

WILDTONIC.com

26

SPORTS

CHEER » HIT » HIKE » LEAD » ROOT » COMPETE

FIERY AMBITION

Rising’s championship aspirations match Luis Seijas’ goals

By Noah Velasco

A

fter a successful tenure across South America, Luis Seijas feels at home with the Phoenix Rising.

The Venezuelan midfielder joined the Rising late in the 2020-21 season to add a veteran presence to one of the United Soccer League’s top teams. The team’s next game is Saturday, March 5, against Tucson.

Soccer has always been part of Seijas’ life. The 35-year-old credits his dad, who brought the game from his Peruvian background to the family’s new life in Venezuela.

“I was probably 7 or 8. I was on a club, like a social club in my city. It was with my dad, for sure,” Seijas says. “He’s from Peru, so he loves soccer. In Venezuela, at that time, there were not so many kids playing soccer, but because my dad was from Peru, we played a lot with my brothers.”

Playing for various South American clubs, Seijas finds the atmosphere in the United States very different than any sport. Seijas played in Argentina, Colombia and Brazil, among others.

The conditions were often dangerous, and losing games only fueled the fire to the passionate, if not fervid, fan base at times.

“I’ve always been in leagues in other countries where it’s all different kinds of pressures,” Seijas says. “Where they live soccer with so much intensity that sometimes you don’t enjoy your family time, your time with your kids and your normal life. For example, in Colombia, if we lost two games in a week you don’t go out, because people like to let you know that you are doing bad and it’s wrong.

I think it is wrong, because, like I said, we also have families and we also have people around us. We need to have fun and live through it.”

Seijas wanted to escape the stress of South American soccer and play for a top team in the United States. The Phoenix Rising fit the bill. Having his family present was another motivating factor in his decision to come to the Valley.

“My wife and my daughters the last two years, they didn’t go too much to

the stadium, because it was dangerous,” Seijas said. “So, I want to be able to share the last two or three years of my career with my daughters. I want them in the stadium. I want them in the locker room, and here you can do that. That’s why I’m so grateful.”

Since arriving in Phoenix, Seijas and his family have enjoyed their new life.

Compared to the chilly year-round temperatures in Bogota, Colombia, Phoenix’s weather is a dream. Seijas’ wife and two daughters settled into their new apartment and are excited to explore a new city.

“I’m loving Phoenix. My kids are loving it, and my wife is really excited to be here,” Seijas says. “This is our first week of putting together the apartment and getting all the stuff we need. But so far, it’s been amazing.”

After initially settling into a new country, it was time for Seijas to get to work. Fitting into a new team isn’t always easy. It can be difficult for the most talented players to adapt to a different style of play and culture.

For Seijas and the Rising, he credits the team’s humility and diversity as reasons why he acclimated quickly and easily.

“It was really easy because the group is a very humble group. We have one of the best rosters on the team, but they’re really humble and the guys let me in,” Seijas says. “Also, being able to share with Santi (Moar), Jon (Bakero), Arturo (Rodriguez), Ivan (Gutierrez) and the guys who speak Spanish, it made the whole process easier.”

Like other Arizona teams, the Rising is a varied team. The roster consists of players from eight different countries spanning five continents.

Arizona already has a Venezuelan connection with Jose Herrera and David Peralta representing from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Seijas says he knew of the connection beforehand and wants to connect and meet his fellow countrymen.

“I love that. I love that we have Africans, we have Jamaicans, we have Mexicans. I’m the only South American, but we are Latin Americans, we’re the same,” Seijas says. “I love that.

I think it sends a good message for the fans, for the league, for what I think we want the sport to be. The place where no matter where you come from, you can just go have fun and be a part of something.”

The team already has a Wednesday tradition: They go out to get half-priced wings, which he calls a great team bonding activity.

Playing in the midfield, Seijas conducts and orchestrates the team, manipulating his teammates to be in the right positions at the right time. His ability to control the game comes from his impressive experience, a big reason head coach Rick Schantz brought him in late last season.

“Wow, Luis, his experience is unquestioned. Luis has played in stadiums of 50 and 60,000 fans and played in CONMEBOL games,” Schantz says. “He’s a very good pro, works extremely hard and is very gifted technically.”

Schantz compares Seijas to the Rising’s biggest stars in the past, like Didier Drogba and Shaun Wright-Phillips, in terms of status and experience.

As a locker room leader, Seijas imparts lessons and tips to the younger players on the team. Playing everywhere in South America gave him unique experiences

that he shares with his teammates.

His relationship with the young players is strong, as they listen to him.

“Well, I think that the pressure doesn’t come from outside. If you want to grow, the pressure you have to put on yourself.

Just don’t be in your comfort zone,” Seijas says.

“At my age, you start looking at the training sessions and not only focus on you but also try to see around you and see what compliment you can give, maybe ‘do this instead of that’ situation.

I try to pass tips to be better on the field.”

Despite being in his career’s twilight years, Seijas is still motivated to win. This desire to win aligned perfectly with the Phoenix’s culture, making the decision to join the club even easier. “(Winning) is the first thing you hear when you sign from (general manager) Bobby (Dulle) and the owners. There’s a culture over there winning not only at sports, at their business, and they want to pass that to the whole organization,” Seijas says. “So yeah, that’s a very important part of why we train and how we train, and at the end, that’s what drives people to the stadium. If you don’t have a winning team, people are not going to be here.”

THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE MARCH 2022

27

‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’ Liam O’Brien says Coyotes are forming a brotherhood

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

L

iam O’Brien is an enforcer on the Arizona Coyotes, ready for fights and racking up 94 penalty infraction minutes.

He just laughs when asked

about it.

“I think I’m a very competitive person,” the 27-year-old center says.

“I just love to compete. I just love the feeling of playing. It’s a blast, and there’s adrenaline to it. It’s fun — between the guys in the room, the friends you make, people you get to meet, cities you get to travel to and the big game moments.”

A Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, native, O’Brien had a dream of playing hockey since he was 3 years old — and didn’t give it up.

There wasn’t an NHL dream in his hometown, so instead he admired the players of the Halifax Mooseheads, a Canadian major junior ice hockey club in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

“I would go to those games with my old man,” he says. “I looked up to a lot of the junior players, especially from my area.”

In the NHL for eight years, O’Brien had stints with the Washington Capitals and Colorado Avalanche before signing with the Coyotes on July 28, 2021.

“My mom is super proud,” he says.

“They were able to make it to the game there in New York City. It’s nice that

they can come out and watch me live out my dream. For them, that’s all they could have ever asked for. They dedicated a lot of time, bringing me to the rink.

“They did so much for me. All their sacrifices, all the hard work, it all paid off.”

O’Brien — who calls the Coyotes a close-knit, great group of guys — trains during the off season, which is his typical summer routine. He spends most of his summers in Carlsbad, California, and he and his fiancée, Adéla Zahrajová from the Czech Republic, enjoy traveling. Their passport includes stamps from Thailand, Italy, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Greece and “all of Europe.”

On his wish list are Mauritius in East Africa, Madagascar and Peru.

“Traveling is something that we try to do as much as we can,” O’Brien says.

“For hockey, I travel a lot within the United States and Canada. I think it’s important to see other parts of the world and other cultures and whatnot. That’s something we’ve taken the time to do over the last five to six years.

“I feel like we’ve been to a few other spots, too. I just really enjoy seeing the way other people live. I don’t think there’s anything cooler than that. You learn so much.”

He called Italy “amazing,” a place where the food is “ridiculous,” whether it’s a larger restaurant or a hole in the wall. “It’s the best food I’ve ever had.”

O’Brien hopes that the Coyotes’ rebuild will continue to improve.

“They’re building a culture — a strong culture — to win as many games as possible,” O’Brien says.

“We’ve really come together in the last little while, winning games against good hockey team. We’re coming together, and I think it’s the beginning of something special.”

ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

28

FAMILY

FROLIC » DISCOVER » IMAGINE » FAMILY » FUN » CONNECT

PINING FOR CAMP

Arizona summer tradition lives on in Prescott

By Lila Baltman

E

very May, an Arizona tradition continues. Children roll sleeping bags, pack duffel bags and make their way to Friendly Pines Camp in

Prescott.

Located in the cool pine forest of the Bradshaw Mountains, Friendly Pines Camp fills the summer with activities.

Founded in 1941 by Bud and Isabelle Brown and accredited through the American Camp Association, Friendly Pines Camp is the longest-running family-owned summer camp in Arizona.

Designed for ages 6 to 14, this coed sleepaway camp offers more than 30 traditional camp activities, including horseback riding, swimming, ball sports, rock climbing, performing arts, fine arts, pet care, fencing, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, dancing and sewing.

The camp offers one-, two-, four- and six-week sessions.

“We’re now seeing a fourth generation of campers,” says Megan May, the camp’s director, who is the greatgranddaughter of the camp’s founders.

“Many of our former campers, who are now the parents and grandparents of current campers, tell us that they love the fact that we’re still teaching the same, classic camp songs and square dances; still cooking Dutch oven biscuits over a campfire; and offering many of the same outdoor sports, activities and camp traditions that they remember doing.”

Friendly Pines Camp is also a place where boys and girls are required to make their own beds every morning and are assigned individual chores to help keep their cabins clean.

Children quickly learn how to share a small, cozy cabin with one bathroom and shower with new kids from around the world.

Parents should know that while many of the camp’s activities and traditions have remained the same over 81 years, all the main buildings and cabins have been remodeled and upgraded. Plus, while many of the same classic camp foods continue to be served, the kitchen staff

accommodates children who are vegan, gluten free and lactose intolerant.

“Our daughter has been going to Friendly Pines for four years now, and we have also attended family camp,” says Allison Frumker of Chandler. “There is so much thought and energy put into every single detail, from registration to pre-camp checklists, activities, food, safety, communications, the entire experience. … As soon as camp is done for the summer, our daughter is already planning for next year.”

Friendly Pines Camp is also looking for counselors, and it has the highest staff salary of any Arizona summer camp. Their camp counselor pay breaks down to $17 per hour, $697 per week, and $6,274 for nine weeks of employment. That includes room and board plus three meals a day.

“Not only will a job at camp keep you gainfully employed, but it will also enrich your life in a variety of ways,” May adds. “Camp counselors have the opportunity to be a positive influence and role model in the lives of children, and they get to experience a great deal of adventure, exercise and nonstop fun in the great outdoors.”

Save the dates 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, March 28: Friendly Pines will host a YouTube Live information night.

7 p.m. Monday, April 25: Inperson roundup at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, 7575 E. Princess Drive, Scottsdale.

Families can learn about the camp program. The first half of the presentation is specifically directed toward new families.

11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 21: Families are invited to visit Friendly Pines Camp in person for camp tours, wagon rides, toasting marshmallows, zip line rides, and drawings for prizes.

A complimentary lunch will be served. Advanced registration is required. For more information, call 928.445.2128 or visit friendlypines.com.

30

MUSIC

LISTEN » JAM » INNOVATE » EVOLVE » ROCK » SING

LIVE MUSIC

CALENDAR

By Connor Dziawura

Injury Reserve

MARCH 1

Janis Ian

Connie Han Trio

Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m., $33.50-$44.50

The Van Buren, 8 p.m., $22-$25

Dirty Red & the Soul Shakers

S.M. Familia

Fit for a King

The Nile, 6 p.m., $22

MARCH 11

Francine Reed

Aquadolls and Sitting On Stacy Valley Bar, 7 p.m., $16-$18

Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents: Songs We Love

The Atomic 44s

The Rhythm Room, 6 p.m., tickets at the door

The Nash, 3 p.m., $14.80-$45

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ Virginia G. Piper Theater, 7:30 p.m., $38-$58

Yucca Tap Room, 8 p.m., free

The Rhythm Room, 8 p.m., $15

ATTLAS

Shady Park, 9 p.m., $20

Monder/Malaby/Rainey

Bandlez and Volt

Old Cross

Elton Dan and the Rocket Band

Musical Instrument Museum, 7:30 p.m., sold out

The Nash, 7:30 p.m., $12.80-$40

Kristin Chenoweth

Yucca Tap Room, 8 p.m., free

Aura, 9 p.m., $25-$35 Mesa Arts Center’s Piper Repertory Theater, 8 p.m., $30

Mesa Arts Center’s Ikeda Theater, 8 p.m., $50-$95

The Sword

Crescent Ballroom, 9 p.m., $25.50-$28

Hippie Sabotage

M3F Fest w/Zhu and Jungle

MARCH 7 Callaway Sisters

Ike Ramalho Brazilian Project

Marca Registrada Metalachi

The English Beat

The Rhythm Room, 8 p.m., tickets at the door

The Mighty Kindread w/Rastafarmers

Fletcher

MARCH 2

No Lungs

Grandson

Ghost and Volbeat

Footprint Center, 7 p.m., $34.50-$94.50

Godspeed You! Black Emperor Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., $32

Gracie Abrams

Valley Bar, 8 p.m., tickets unavailable

Mardi Gras Party hosted by NOLAZ Band

Margaret T. Hance Park, 1:30 p.m., $85-$410 Celebrity Theatre, 8 p.m., $50-$120 The Rhythm Room, 8 p.m., $20 Last Exit Live, 9 p.m., $15

Highlands Church, 7:30 p.m., $35-$72 Marquee Theatre, 7:30 p.m., $23-$53 Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., sold out

The Van Buren, 10 p.m., $29-$33 The Nash, 7:30 p.m., $10.80-$35

J. Worra

Sunbar, 9 p.m., $15

Los Tucanes De Tijuana

Arizona Federal Theatre, 8 p.m., $53.50-$253.50

Marie Osmond

Chandler Center for the Arts’ Mainstage, 7:30 p.m., $72-$102

Cactus Flowers

The Underground, 7 p.m., $10

The Van Buren, 8 p.m., $27-$30

Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra

New Guinea Pigs on the Block

Manchester Orchestra

Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., $15-$20

MARCH 8 ABBA Mania

Oneus

Papa Roach

Shady Park, 9 p.m., $22

Orpheum Theatre - Phoenix, 8 p.m., $12.75-$45.50

Arizona Federal Theatre, 6:50 p.m., $45-$202.50

Terry Steele sings Luther Vandross

Monkey

The Red Pears

The Very Bad Things

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong

Rick Wakeman

MARCH 5

Scary Kids Scaring Kids and D.R.U.G.S.

Body Language Festival

MARCH 9

Yucca Tap Room, 8 p.m., free The Van Buren, 7:30 p.m., sold out

Valley Bar, 8 p.m., $15-$18 Celebrity Theatre, 8 p.m., $35-$245 Marquee Theatre, 6:30 p.m., $23-$43

MARCH 3

SubDocta

Tempe Center for the Arts, 8 p.m., $40 Yucca Tap Room, 9 p.m., free

Groove Session w/Camello Road

Voctave

Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., $20-$23

Yucca Tap Room, 8 p.m., free

Porch Junkies

Joan

M3F Fest w/Leon Bridges and Kaytranada

Margaret T. Hance Park, 1 p.m., $85-$410

The Nile, 7 p.m., $30 The Nash, 7:30 p.m., $6-$21

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ Virginia G. Piper Theater, 8 p.m., $29-$59

MARCH 10 Dabin

Marquee Theatre, 7 p.m., $22.50-$45

The Pawns

Delphine Cortez and Joel Robin

West by Northwest

John Nemeth

Yucca Tap Room, 9 p.m., free

The Rhythm Room, 8 p.m., tickets at the door

The Nash, 7:30 p.m., $10.80-$35

MARCH 4

MARCH 6

The Nash, 4 p.m., free

The Rhythm Room, 8 p.m., $15

Judy Collins

Celebrity Theatre, 7:30 p.m., $24-$54

Ana Gabriel

Bad Bunny

Marc E. Bassy and John K

Body Language Festival

Body Language Festival

Maxo Kream

Gila River Arena, 8 p.m., $59-$400 Fifth Street and Maple Avenue in Downtown Tempe, 2 p.m., $89-$949

D.I.

Pub Rock Live, 7:30 p.m., $15-$20

Dirty Honey and Mammoth WVH Marquee Theatre, 8 p.m., $26.50-$50

Glass Animals

Arizona Federal Theatre, 7:30 p.m., sold out

Musical Instrument Museum, 7:30 p.m., $44.50-$59.50

Superstition Jazz Orchestra

Delphine Cortez and Joel Robin

Planck

Stacey Kent

Electric Feels

Last Exit Live, 9 p.m., $12-$15

Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., $27-$40

Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., $20-$25

MARCH 12

Bob Dylan

Enjambre

Shawn James

Mayhem

Marquee Theatre, 9:30 p.m., $17

The Nash, 4 p.m., free

Last Exit Live, 9 p.m., $10-$15

DROELOE

The Alpine Camp and Xtra Ticket Arizona Federal Theatre, 8 p.m., $49.50-$430

The Hot Sardines

The Resinators and Perfect by Tomorrow

Stoner

Shady Park, 9 p.m., $25

Last Exit Live, 8:30 p.m., $10

Marquee Theatre, 8 p.m., $23-$58

Marquee Theatre, 7:30 p.m., $55-$100

Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., $33.50-$54.50

Fifth Street and Maple Avenue in Downtown Tempe, 2 p.m., $89-$949

Action Bronson and Earl Sweatshirt Marquee Theatre, 6 p.m., $60-$80

Yucca Tap Room, 8 p.m., free

Yucca Tap Room, 9 p.m., free

Footprint Center, 7 p.m., $625-$1,495 Fifth Street and Maple Avenue in Downtown Tempe, 2 p.m., $89-$949

Charles Lewis Quintet plus Alice Tatum

The Van Buren, 8 p.m., $27.50-$125 Crescent Ballroom, 7 p.m., $25-$30

Miloš

Musical Instrument Museum, 7:30 p.m., $38.50-$49.50

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ Stage 2, 2 p.m., $24-$28

Omnium Gatherum

Cordae

Ponderosa Grove

The Van Buren, 8 p.m., $27.50-$89

The Nile, 6 p.m., $20-$22 Tempe Center for the Arts, 7:30 p.m., $5-$15

Pub Rock Live, 7 p.m., $18

1788-L

Sunbar, 9 p.m., $17

The Darkness

Marquee Theatre, 8 p.m., $30.50-$50

Joseph

Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., $28-$40

Josiel Perez’s MambAZ All-Stars The Nash, 7:30 p.m., $12.80-$40

Kaleo

The Van Buren, 7 p.m., sold out

Oddity Paradox

Pub Rock Live, 7 p.m., $10-$12

Perfect Sense

Yucca Tap Room, 8 p.m., free

Ritt Momney

Valley Bar, 7:30 p.m., $20-$23

Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers Mesa Amphitheatre, 7:30 p.m., $42-$63

Sam Divine

Shady Park, 9 p.m., $23

Scattered Melodies, Metropolis Man and the Deadbeat Cousins

The Rhythm Room, 8 p.m., tickets at the door

Socks in the Frying Pan

Musical Instrument Museum, 7:30 p.m., $33.50-$44.50

THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE MARCH 2022

MARCH 13 Avi Avital and Brooklyn Rider

Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m., $54.50-$74.50

Dave Hause

The Rhythm Room, 8 p.m., $20-$23

Gentlemen of Jazz: Tribute to Erroll Garner

The Nash, 3 p.m., $8.80-$30

Jam Session: Raul Yañez

The Nash, 6 p.m., $5-$10, or free for instrumentalists and vocalists who sit in

Lido Pimienta

Crescent Ballroom, 8:30 p.m., $20-$23

Like Moths to Flames and Polaris The Nile, 6 p.m., $18

Luna Li

Valley Bar, 8 p.m., $17-$20

Plague Years and Somnuri

The Underground, 7 p.m., $12-$14

Solardo

Shady Park, 3 p.m., $23.75

Tones and I

The Van Buren, 8 p.m., $32.50

Wonderful Crazy Night: A New Elton John Tribute

Chandler Center for the Arts’ Mainstage, 3 p.m., $24-$38

MARCH 14 Cannibal Corpse

The Van Buren, 7 p.m., $29-$32

DeVotchKa

Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m., $33.50-$44.50

Imagine Dragons

Footprint Center, 7 p.m., $350-$425

Paul Anka Sings Sinatra

Highlands Church, 7:30 p.m., $49-$111

Sasquatch

Yucca Tap Room, 7 p.m., $12-$15

MARCH 15

K.Flay

Greg Gutfeld

Pink Martini

Masters of Hawaiian Music featuring George Kahumoku Jr., Jeff Peterson and Sonny Lim

José González

Susto

Joywave

Tinsley Ellis

Paper Foxes, Animal Sun, Turn Zero and Faun Flora

MARCH 23

The Van Buren, 8 p.m., $25-$28

Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m., $38.50-$49.50

Paul Anka Sings Sinatra

Highlands Church, 7:30 p.m., $49-$111

Sevendust

Marquee Theatre, 7 p.m., $25-$60

MARCH 17 Ice Nine Kills, Motionless in White and Black Veil Brides Mesa Amphitheatre, 5:30 p.m., $45-$49

Taj Mahal w/Jontavious Willis Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m., $74.50-$95.50

Todrick Hall

The Van Buren, 8 p.m., $30-$129

Y&T

Indigenous Enterprise

Desert Roots Craft Beer & Music Festival w/Cypress Hill, Common Kings, Katastro, Fortunate Youth, Arise Roots, Bikini Trill and The Irie

Joe Kaplow

Scarizona Scaregrounds, 1 p.m., $39-$150, or free admission for kids 12 and younger

Dua Lipa

Crescent Ballroom, 7 p.m., $27

MARCH 18

Yucca Tap Room, 6 p.m., free

The 1-800

Yucca Tap Room, 9 p.m., free

Angela Aguilar

Arizona Federal Theatre, 8 p.m., $69-$603.50

Blues Blast Pre-Party Dave Riley Birthday Celebration The Rhythm Room, 8 p.m., $12

Dennis Rowland and Diana Lee: Motown & More!

The Nash, 7:30 p.m., $12.80-$40

Gang of Four

Last Exit Live, 8:30 p.m., $25-$27

Elvis Cortez Felly

Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., $20-$139

LP Giobbi

Shady Park, 3 p.m., $24

The Marshall Tucker Band

Celebrity Theatre, 7:30 p.m., $40-$100

Matt Vandal

The Rhythm Room, 6 p.m., $8

Michael Feinstein: Get Happy!

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ Virginia G. Piper Theater, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., $79-$109

Jam Session: Mike Ozuna

Tempe Center for the Arts, 7:30 p.m., $5-$15 Yucca Tap Room, 8 p.m., free

London Wainwright III

Musical Instrument Museum, 7:30 p.m., $38.50-$44.50

Surfbort

Valley Bar, 8 p.m., $13-$15

MARCH 25 Alan Lewine’s AZXtet

The Nash, 7:30 p.m., $10.80-$35

Austin Burke

Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., $17-$20

Benny the Butcher

The Nile, 8 p.m., $30-$135

Dubbest

Last Exit Live, 9 p.m., $12-$15

From Ashes to New

Marquee Theatre, 7 p.m., $17

The Grinns

Valley Bar, 7 p.m., $13-$15

John 00 Fleming

Shady Park, 9 p.m., $18.50

The Knocks

The Nash, 6 p.m., $5-$10, or free for instrumentalists and vocalists who sit in

LSDREAM

Lil Texas

Orgy

Pub Rock Live, 7 p.m., $20-$23

MercyMe

Peach Pit and Haley Blais

The Sugar Thieves

Portrayal of Guilt

Uptown — Motown & Soul for a “New Generation”

The Underground, 6 p.m., $17 Sunbar, 9 p.m., $20

Rare Americans

Taj Mahal w/Jontavious Willis Tate McRae

Ty Segall

MARCH 19

Black Violin

The Nile, 7 p.m., $20

Alice Tatum and Charles Lewis

Footprint Center, 7:30 p.m., $64.50-$475

Spirit of the Beehive

MARCH 16

Doyle

The Nash, 3 p.m., $10.80-$35

Tempe Center for the Arts, 7:30 p.m., $5-$15

Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m., $74.50-$95.50

Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., $35

Valley Bar, 8 p.m., $17-$77

Sandra Bassett

mssv, Fat Gray Cat and the Gnomes

Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats

The Showroom at Talking Stick Resort, 8 p.m., $30-$45

Cousin Stizz

MARCH 24

Hunt the Dinosaur

The Underground, 7 p.m., $23

The Wailers

Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., $22-$25

MARCH 20

Marquee Theatre, 8 p.m., $22-$37

Valley Bar, 8 p.m., sold out

Valley Bar, 8 p.m., $15-$17

Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m., $74.50-$95.50

Barns Courtney

Said the Sky

Flogging Molly

The Rhythm Room, 8 p.m., tickets at the door

Taj Mahal w/Jontavious Willis

Marquee Theatre, 8 p.m., $20-$35

Aura, 9 p.m., $17-$27

Yucca Tap Room, 7:30 p.m., $10

Last Exit Live, 8 p.m., $12-$15

Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m., $30.50-$41.50

The Van Buren, 8 p.m., $30-$35

Valley Bar, 8 p.m., $18-$20

Dom Flemons

Marquee Theatre, 7 p.m., $45-$149

The Nile, 8 p.m., $25-$27

Last Exit Live, 8 p.m., $18-$20

The Wild Feathers

Heart Attack Man

Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m., $33.50-$38.50

Orpheum Theatre - Phoenix, 8 p.m., $76-$562

La Casa de Christo, 7:30 p.m., $41-$102

Yungblud

Leif Vollebekk

The Birthday Massacre The Nile, 7 p.m., $25-$119

Arizona Federal Theatre, 8 p.m., $44.50-$69.50

Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., sold out

Belmont

The Underground, 6:30 p.m., $17

Blues Blast After Party w/Johnny Burgin

The Rhythm Room, 8 p.m., $15

The Van Buren, 8 p.m., sold out The Underground, 7 p.m., $15

Taj Mahal w/Jontavious Willis Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m., $74.50-$95.50

MARCH 21 Blackberry Smoke

Marquee Theatre, 8 p.m., $30.50-$58

Bob Moses

The Van Buren, 8 p.m., $30-$33

Leprous

The Nile, 7:30 p.m., $20

31

The Van Buren, 9 p.m., $23-$40 Gila River Arena, 7 p.m., $23.75-$325 The Rhythm Room, 8 p.m., tickets at the door

Gila River Resorts & Casinos - Wild Horse Pass, 8 p.m., $25

MARCH 26 Arcadia Grey

The Underground, 7 p.m., $15

Chrome Rhino, OGG and Japhy’s Descent The Rhythm Room, 8 p.m., tickets at the door

KNIX Barbeque & Beer Festival w/ Lee Brice, Park McCollum, Kameron Marlowe and Jacob Morris

Chuck Redd

Wilderado

Tumbleweed Park, noon, $20-$225

Claire Rosinkranz

Valley Bar, 7 p.m., $22-$25

MARCH 22

Chandler Center for the Arts’ Mainstage, 7:30 p.m., $52-$125

Corb Lund

The Airborne Toxic Event

The Van Buren, 8 p.m., $25-$30

Lucky Dave

Chandler Center for the Arts’ Mainstage, 7 p.m., $58-$88

Doorly and Bontan

Bahamas

Melissa Aldana w/the SCC Jazz Orchestra

Forester

Good Life Festival w/Grand Funk Railroad; Jefferson Starship; Fran Cosmo and Anton Cosmo, formerly of Boston; and Nate Nathan and the Mac Daddy-O’s

Daughtry

Moski

Dorothy

Pioneering Women in Jazz

Mesa Arts Center’s Ikeda Theater, 7:30 p.m., $40-$65

Bridge City Sinners and The Goddamn Gallows The Nile, 7 p.m., $20-$23

Buddy Guy

Valley Bar, 8 p.m., $12-$13

Judas Priest

Arizona Federal Theatre, 7:30 p.m., $58.50-$478.50

The Nash, 7:30 p.m., $14.80-$45

Pub Rock Live, 7 p.m., $18 Shady Park, 9 p.m., $22

Schnepf Farms, 3 p.m., $75-$120

Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., $20-$23

Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., $30-$43 Marquee Theatre, 7:30 p.m., $55-$349 The Nile, 7 p.m., $19.50-$75

Geese

Valley Bar, 8 p.m., $15

Ledisi Sings Nina

The Van Buren, 8 p.m., $27.50-$31 The Nash, 7:30 p.m., $12.80-$40 Sunbar, 9 p.m., $25 Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ Virginia G. Piper Theater, 8 p.m., $36-$48

continued on pg. 32 ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

PUNK IN DRUBLIC

32

UPFRONT | CITY | TRAVEL | ARTS | DINING | BREWS & SPIRITS | CASINOS | SPORTS | FAMILY | MUSIC | NIGHTLIFE | IN CLOSING

The raucous festival is a genuine good time

By Alex Gallagher

C

ameron Collins was drinking beer and listening to punk music when he had an aha moment.

“I’ve always been a NOFX fan, and I was doing beer festivals,” Collins says.

“One night I was sitting in my backyard, having some beers and listening to NOFX, and it hit me that this would be an amazing festival concept.”

Collins then called his good friend, NOFX bassist Michael “Fat Mike” Burkett, to pitch the idea.

“It was Cameron’s vision to do a festival that was the opposite of the Warped Tour and is something for older punk rockers who want to get wasted,” Burkett says. “I love Warped Tour, but I didn’t want to worry about what bands I’m missing, I wanted to feel like I was in a backyard listening to music and drinking a beer.”

Though Burkett scoffed at the idea at first, he later jumped on board. He says “Punk in Drublic” — the name of NOFX’s 1994 album — would be the perfect moniker for the festival.

Punk in Drublic comes to Scarizona Festival Fairgrounds on Saturday, March 19, with headliners NOFX as well as local legends Authority Zero and the Venomous Pinks. Beer and local food trucks will camp out there.

“Punk in Drublic is just a good title because this festival is about drunk punk rockers,” Burkett says with a laugh.

“What could be more fitting?”

Known primarily as a touring punk rock party, Punk in Drublic came into its own last year in Worcester, Massachusetts, according to Burkett.

“Last year felt exactly like what we

continued from pg. 31

had planned,” Burkett says. “It just felt so good to hang out with our bros, and we feel like Punk in Drublic is a real success because it is now exactly what we intended it to be.”

With a successful show in the books, Collins and Burkett are anxious to get their favorite show back on the road and party with their best friends.

“We don’t book anybody who we don’t like to hang out with,” Collins says.

“Everyone on the bill is friends that we would want to hang out with afterward.”

With a lineup of friends stacked on the bill, Burkett had one request for the venues: hold the festival outside.

“I don’t want to play clubs anymore or a big festival,” Burkett says. “I feel (outdoors) provides a safe place for people who want to hang out and have a good time. This tour feels like I’m at home.”

Because of this, Collins says Punk in Drublic feels less like a traditional music festival and more like a genuine good time.

“Everybody leaves Punk in Drublic with their sides hurting from laughing.

They have a great time,” he says. “It’s a comedy show with great music and tons of camaraderie, which makes it unique. There is nothing I do that’s like it, and there will never be anything like Punk in Drublic.”

The atmosphere at Punk in Drublic is so relaxed that Burkett feels less pressure with performing.

“It’s not a grueling tour, and what’s really fun about this is that I’m not trying to impress people as much,” he says. “These are fans, and they’re loaded.

Because we’re the last band, we don’t have to try as hard or be as good,” he adds with a laugh.

Additionally, Burkett admits that his band is rare in that it does not practice and the set list is penned the day prior.

“I write the set list the day before, and we don’t practice, because that would make us predictable,” he says with a smirk. “I will, however, always throw in at least one song that people are not

Lala Lala

MARCH 29

Ricardo Arjona

Valley Bar, 8 p.m., $16-$18

Sarah Jarosz

The Nash, 3 p.m., $10.80-$35

Footprint Center, 8 p.m., $75.99-$445.50

Mel Brown & Friends

Musical Instrument Museum, 7:30 p.m., sold out

Netsky

Senses Fail and We Came As Romans

Special EFX Allstars featuring Chieli Minucci, Karen Briggs, Eric Marienthal, Lao Tizer, Gary Novak and Anthony Crawford

Marquee Theatre, 7:30 p.m., $24-$58

Zeke Beats

Shady Park, 9 p.m., $17

Shady Park, 3 p.m., $25

MARCH 27

Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., $33.50-$49.50

Cry of the Celts

MARCH 28

Mesa Arts Center’s Ikeda Theater, 3 p.m., $16-$25

Del Amitri

Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., $29.50-$45

Going to Memphis Fundraiser

The Rhythm Room, noon, tickets at the door ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

Matthew Whitaker

Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m., $44.50-$54.50

Neil Berg’s 50 Years of Rock & Roll Highlands Church, 7:30 p.m., $39-$76

The Districts

Valley Bar, 8 p.m., $18-$22

Lars Frederiksen

Pub Rock Live, 7 p.m., $20

REZN

Yucca Tap Room, 7:30 p.m., $10

Zakir Hussain: Triveni Trio w/Kala Ramnath and Jayanthi Kumaresh

Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m., $49.50-$69.50

MARCH 30 Bon Iver

Mesa Amphitheatre, 6:30 p.m., $65-$85

Brother Ali

Crescent Ballroom, 8 p.m., $20-$79

familiar with.”

Burkett isn’t fond of today’s modern punk rock, so he focuses on creating a show that pushes audiences outside of their comfort zone — with a few laughs thrown in.

“These days, punk rock is mostly pop with safe lyrics and safe shows,” he says.

“I’d rather get in trouble, which I do a lot, and put on a show that is punk and makes people a little awkward and makes them laugh. Punk in Drublic is not a business. It’s a party that we throw.

We’ve taken the approach that we’re OK with whatever happens.”

Punk in Drublic WHEN: Noon Saturday, March 19 WHERE: Scarizona Festival Grounds, 1901 N. Alma School Road, Mesa COST: Tickets start at $55 for the 21-and-older show INFO: punkindrublicfest.com Chris Tomlin and United

Footprint Center, 7 p.m., $20-$308.94

Joey Sellers Trio

The Nash, 7:30 p.m., $8.80-$30

Rodney Crowell

Musical Instrument Museum, 7 p.m., sold out

MARCH 31 Cary Morin

Musical Instrument Museum, 7:30 p.m., $23.50-$33.50

Celebrity Stalker

Yucca Tap Room, 8 p.m., free

The Dangerous Summer

Valley Bar, 7:30 p.m., $18-$20

Schaffer the Darklord

Last Exit Live, 8 p.m., $12-$15

GOING BLOODY MAD Yungblud is crazy about THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE MARCH 2022

33

his U.S. fans

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

W

ith his thick makeup, spiked hair a la a 20-something Robert Smith, and gender-bending clothing, musician Yungblud has been called the “ultimate British rock star.”

“It’s gone pretty mental, ain’t it?” asks Yungblud, who was born Dominic Richard Harrison, about the last five years.

“For better or for worse, it’s gone bloody mad. There’s something out there in this country right now with me. I can feel it. There’s an energy. It was different before. It feels more mad.”

Many of the shows on his 2022 tour have sold out, but few tickets remain for his Van Buren gig on Saturday, March 19.

Born in Yorkshire, England, Yungblud is a multi-instrumentalist who picked up a guitar at age 2 and started writing his own songs eight years later.

Following the release of his self-titled EP and his full-length 2018 debut, “21st Century Liability,” Yungblud released “The Underrated Youth” EP in 2019.

Yungblud was crowned MTV Push: Ones to Watch winner at the beginning of 2020, when he was also shortlisted for the BBC Sound of 2020 poll. He won best music video at the NME Awards in February 2020 and best push artist at the 2020 MTV EMAs. His debut full length, “Weird!,” hit stores in December 2020 and went straight to No. 1 on the U.K. Official Album Chart.

In the fall of 2020, he launched The Yungblud Podcast on BBC Sounds, where he discusses topics and issues affecting young people, whether it’s gender, sexuality, identity, money worries, friendships, style or mental health. Yungblud has more than 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify and over 1.4 billion global streams.

Yungblud says he’ll soon add to that by releasing new material.

“Songs are about to start dropping very soon. I hate to sound cliché, but it’s the best music yet,” he says. “It’s so exciting. Nobody has any (expletive) idea that it’s coming.”

He’s pleased that, finally, he gets to hit the stage with songs from “Weird!”

Unable to perform the tracks previously due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Yungblud says they show he was in a “completely different headspace” then.

“Once you start to get a lot bigger, people have a million opinions about you,” he says. “People either love me or really (expletive) hate me. That was very strange to deal with, but I think it’s all just fuel. It’s all about love, man. You know what I mean? I’ve been that way my whole life. I feel just as judged when I got into writing music.”

When he penned the songs for “Weird!” he vowed to “tell the truth and fight for equality.” Yungblud wanted people to feel loved no matter what.

“I ain’t going to do it politely, either,” he says. “All I want to be is a vehicle for people to express themselves. If that’s talking (expletive) or hating on me or expressing themselves, that’s rock ’n’ roll.

“It’s not really that deep. Hate is only

a reflection of the other person. You just have to rock out with them.”

Yungblud takes the haters seriously but engages them, he says. At the end of the conversation, they will either loathe or like him. If they dislike him, they can go on their way.

Yungblud prides himself on his strong work ethic and says it just comes

natural to him. During the COVID-19 lockdown, he became confused, artistically.

“With me, I was on the road all the time,” he says about pre-pandemic jaunts. “I thrive, and I’m best when I’m on the road. It’s that connection with people.

“I don’t like breaks or holidays. They’re boring. I love my work. I love my job.

Honestly, if I go on holiday, within two days, I go nuts.”

Jumping back into touring was the antidote to that.

“I’ve watched British bands come over and they broke it or were broken by it,” Yungblud says. “I really love this country.

I really believe what I have to say could matter to a lot of people out here. I’m excited to just (expletive) bring British rock ’n’ roll to it. Oh, and say hello to the rattlesnakes and lizards and rocks.”

Yungblud w/Palaye Royale WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, March 19 WHERE: The Van Buren, 401 W. Van Buren Street, Phoenix COST: Tickets start at $30 for the 13-and-older show INFO: thevanburenphx.com ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

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UPFRONT | CITY | TRAVEL | ARTS | DINING | BREWS & SPIRITS | CASINOS | SPORTS | FAMILY | MUSIC | NIGHTLIFE | IN CLOSING

RED DIRT ROAD

Last Train to Juarez shares its map to success

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

W

ith a cowboy hat pulled deep to his eyes and a thick beard, Dejan Knezevic fits the red dirt/outlaw country genre well.

He has his fans fooled — and that’s not a bad thing. Born in Chicago, Knezevic was raised by parents from Montenegro and Bosnia. Serbian is his first language. The Serbian coat of arms adorns his hat.

“My family is from former Yugoslavia,” he says. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of an American/Serbian country singer before.

There’s a first for everything, I guess.”

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In late 2018, Knezevic formed Last Train to Juarez, following the lineage of his heroes, Ward Davis, Whitey Morgan, Hank 3 and Jamey Johnson.

They celebrate the release of their debut album, “Some Road,” on Friday, March 18, at Roosters in Mesa.

“It was an awakening, so to speak, for me, and I quickly started discovering a whole genre of country music that spoke to me,” Knezevic says. “It was around this time that I started seriously considering starting a project in the red dirt/outlaw genre of country music.”

Last Train to Juarez is a departure from previous projects, like Pelvic Meatloaf.

“I’ve been in the scene, in metal bands,

for the better part of 30 years,” he says.

“I didn’t grow up on country music. It was the red dirt/new outlaw movement that got my ears and sold me on it. It’s inspired me to go in this direction, to the dismay of a lot of my metalhead brothers.

“I was one of those guys who thought country was basic and boring. I grew up with that mentality. Once I started play it, I found it was way more difficult. It’s been an interesting ride.”

Last Train to Juarez sees Knezevic singing for the first time, something that even surprised his wife of 23 years.

“Sure, I fronted a metal band in the past, but I never really tried singing,” Knezevic says. “What we did back then was death metal and growling, so this whole singing thing was new to me.

I wasn’t confident at all. But what I lacked in confidence, I made up with motivation and perseverance.”

In late 2018, he pulled the trigger and went all in. His first solo performance was at the MetalHeads MC clubhouse.

The gig at the local motorcycle club’s headquarters motivated him to take it to the next level. He placed ads seeking bandmates.

He had a revolving group of musicians until April 2021, when the lineup was solidified as vocalist/acoustic guitarist Knezevic; Mark Tomeo, pedal steel, dobro, backing vocals; bassist Jonathan Candler and lead guitarist Stephen Dietrich. Additionally, fiddler/mandolin player Austin Brooks joins.

DEBUT EP RELEASED In 2021, Last Train to Juarez released its debut EP, “Dirt and Stone,” which was recorded at Villain Recording Studio with Byron Filson engineering and producing. Prior to the album release, the band dropped the singles

“Some Road” and “This Letter.”

“Our music blurs the lines a bit and doesn’t fit neatly into any specific country genre,” he says.

“I’ve heard people refer to us as outlaw, red dirt, biker country and rock or metal country. Ultimately, what is most important to me as an artist is to write and create music that is pure, honest and authentic. Music that comes from the heart and soul, which is why I prefer to

THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE MARCH 2022

stick with originals over cover tunes.

“Granted, we do play cover songs out of necessity, since we are a newer band and don’t have enough original material to cover a four-hour gig, but that is quickly changing as I continue to write new material.”

By the end of this year, Last Train to Juarez will be playing 60% originals and

They’re booked in Rocky Point, Mexico, monthly at Wrecked at the Reef. They’re opening for Josh Morningstar, Dallas Moore, Creed Fisher and Darryl Worley.

Additionally, the band is scheduled to play Too Broke for Sturgis’ annual motorcycle rally later this year, as well as Colorado and the Midwest.

“I chose to pave our own path; however, that has created obstacles, as there are many venues in town that won’t give us the time of day. That’s OK,” he says.

“We’re doing pretty well in spite of that. The fans we are picking up are wholeheartedly embracing what we are doing. I’d rather have 10 people intently watching, listening and appreciating our original songs over a packed room of people singing every word to a Luke Bryan or Florida Georgia Line cover song. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Just not my thing.”

Knezevic says he could pen pop radio songs to “make it big.”

“It ain’t about the destination,” he says.

“It’s about the ride, and so far the ride has been epic.”

fields, creeks and a two-lane highway to find this music.

As he approached, he could see a fair amount of people under a canopy. He was concerned it was a Croatian, Muslim or Serbian party.

“That definitely matters,” he says. “I tucked my Serbian cross inside of my shirt. If they asked, I was going to say I’m American. I saw two Serbian flags, so I took the necklace out of my shirt.”

As he walked up, the crowd formed around him.

“It was 1 a.m. and they were probably thinking, ‘Who the hell is this guy who just walked out of the wood?’” he says with a laugh.

“I speak it fluently, but they could hear the accent. Apparently, it was a big party for two sons who were getting ready to go into the military. The military is obligatory. It was a big celebration with bands, they were roasting pigs, it was incredible. I’m sitting there trying to

35

explain.”

Then, a “little old lady” walked up to him and slapped him after he shared his story of walking through the woods and down the road by the refinery.

“I thought, ‘Great, these people are going to kill me now,’” he recalls. “In Serbian, she says, ‘You (expletive) idiot.

That’s all mined from the war, you moron. Keep him here until it’s daylight.

Feed him well. Show him what an idiot he is. In the morning, they threw me in the car, and every 15 feet there was skull and crossbones on a pole.”

Last Train to Juarez WHEN: 8:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

Friday, March 18 WHERE: Roosters, 3731 E. Main Street, Mesa COST: Free admission INFO: 480.985.4088, roosterscountrybar.net

MUSIC IS IN HIS BLOOD 40% covers on longer gigs.

“I have nothing against cover songs at all,” he says.

“It’s just not what I want to do, and I feel there is plenty of cover and tribute bands in the Valley already. I get my kicks hearing performances by singersongwriters who have stories to tell, and that’s the path I feel is right for me.”

Besides Roosters, Last Train to Juarez has a host of shows scheduled.

Sometimes Knezevic can’t help but be drawn to music. In 2014, he visited Bosnia and, when he arrived, he was wired due to the time zone changed.

From his families’ village, he could hear the faint sounds of music.

“Everyone else was asleep,” he says.

“I put a couple beers in my pockets and hands. I figured there was a party or show going on. You have to remember, we’re in a village, not in a town. I crossed ENTERTAINERMAG.COM

SET FOR FLIGHT

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UPFRONT | CITY | TRAVEL | ARTS | DINING | BREWS & SPIRITS | CASINOS | SPORTS | FAMILY | MUSIC | NIGHTLIFE | IN CLOSING

Ostrich Festival brings family fun, Grammy winners

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

T

he Four Tops’ Duke Fakir is up for any musical adventure, and this March, that includes the Chandler Chamber Ostrich Festival.

“We usually play Phoenix, but anywhere else in Arizona is a good, new adventure,” Fakir says with a laugh.

“We should enjoy the festival.

Anything that’s different than the normal scenery or even makes it a little more exciting for us.”

The Four Tops are among the musical acts at this year’s Chandler Chamber Ostrich Festival, which features national and regional musicians, attractions, more than 50 carnival rides and food vendors. Ostriches will roam freely in a designated area at the festival.

For the first time in 32 years, the festival will take place on two weekends: Friday, March 11, to Sunday, March 13, and Friday, March 17, to Sunday, March 20.

“We are thrilled to bring two weekends of Ostrich Festival family fun to our community so guests will have the opportunity for double the fun,” says Terri Kimble, the Chandler Chamber of Commerce’s chief executive officer and president.

Uncle Kracker

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“We have been working diligently with the city of Chandler and SLE to plan the safest event possible for what is expected to be the best Ostrich Festival ever with our most diverse musical talent lineup to date.”

The Four Tops are co-headlining with fellow Motown legends the Temptations on March 20.

Additional headliners include Grammy award-winning The Band Perry co-headlining with pop star Uncle Kracker (March 11), Grammynominated country act Walker Hayes (March 12), rapper Flo Rida (March 13), the ’80s cover band Spazmatics (March 17), the legendary Beach Boys (March 18) and Grammy-winning R&B star Nelly (March 19).

The 86-year-old Fakir — the lone surviving original Four Tops singer — says he’s slowing down from touring, but he is leaving a legacy with songs like “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” and “Reach Out I’ll Be There.”

“I’m at an age where I’m not going to perform for too much longer,” he says.

“I’m way up there and, at my age, very few people are performing. It’s time for me to ease out of the business and ease out with the wonderful story for the Four Tops.

“Hopefully the younger Tops will keep

Four Tops

this going.”

To keep the Four Tops alive, Fakir is working on a memoir for London’s Omnibus Press as well as a Broadway musical, both of which are called “I’ll Be There.”

“There’s a story about the Tops and a lot of people don’t know the true story,” he says. “It’s very interesting, and it will be in the book that’s coming out in May, too.

“I want them to know how and why we stayed together all these years; how it was and what it took for us to do that.

The life we lived early in our career was very different and very exciting.

When we were young, we all said a book was something we would do together.

Unfortunately, we never did that. I have the honor of telling the story.”

Fakir anticipates the book and the musical will be hits. “I’ll Be There,” the musical, will be ready by the end of the year, although it has not been cast yet.

“I can’t wait for people to read, hear and go through the life of the Four Tops,” he says. “The wonderful part is my career is still going. It’s amazing to me. We have so much fun on stage. The audience makes it fun, too — especially nowadays because they’ve been pent up for so long.”

Country rocker Uncle Kracker — known to his family as Matthew Shafer — wishes he could be in town for Motown night, as he’s from suburban Detroit.

The former Kid Rock DJ anticipated his set will be primarily hits like “Follow Me,” “In a Little While,” “Smile” and his cover of “Drift Away.”

“When I do these things, I try not to get all new stuff on everybody,” he says

with a laugh. “I want to show up and have fun. I want to please them with stuff they’ve heard.

“I want the crowd to participate. After all, everybody needs to help out. If we’re going to be there, we all have to do some lifting.”

Later this year, Shafer will start releasing music again, tunes he recorded during the pandemic-induced break from touring.

“I go crazy if I’m not in the studio,” says Shafer, who has kids ranging in age from 1 “and some change” to 22. “I get the itch if I’ve been out of it too long.

I’ll probably do a tour around an actual album release, instead of one-off dates like this. I just can’t wait for this festival.

It will be great to play for families again.”

Chandler Chamber Ostrich Festival WHEN: 2 p.m. to midnight Friday, March 11; 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday, March 12; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday, March 13; 4 to 11 p.m. Thursday, March 17; 2 p.m. to midnight Friday, March 18; 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday, March 19; and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday, March 20 WHERE: Tumbleweed Park, 2250 S. McQueen Road, Chandler COST: Tickets start at $20 for ages 13 and older; start at $15 for children 4 to 12; free for children younger than 4. Chandler residents qualify for free tickets on March 17. See the website for more information.

INFO: ostrichfestival.com

THE ENTERTAINER! MAGAZINE MARCH 2022

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W E N A ’ E C I O ‘V

‘Raise One Up’ with Kameron Marlowe in Chandler

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

T

he KNIX Barbeque & Beer Festival is the perfect gig for country singer Kameron Marlowe. His raucous beer anthem, “Raise One Up,” is a hit when he performs, and barbecue is among his favorite foods.

“I think it’s going to be an awesome show,” he says. “I’m going to try out new songs and the old music we still love to play. We’re excited for some barbecue.”

The North Carolina native was introduced to country fans with the autobiographical, self-penned song “Giving You Up.” Marlowe has gone on to amass more than 153 million career on-demand streams.

Music was innate to Marlowe. He longed to be a musician, but it was in the back of his mind, as he wasn’t sure how to accomplish that.

“I did ‘The Voice’ in 2018, and I met some songwriters out there in Nashville,” he says. “I was going back and forth and realized I really wanted to do that.”

Signed to Columbia Nashville — home to Luke Combs and Maren Morris — he received critical acclaimed before his debut single, “Sober as a Drunk,” was released. He says accolades do not faze him.

“To be honest, I just keep my head away from any of that stuff,” he says. “I just write my music and play the shows.

If they love it, they love it. If they don’t, they don’t. I love being a musician. I’m just going to keep on doing that.

“However, I think it’s because there are so many different genres I pull from, although it’s mostly country. I grew up on a lot of rock and blues music, as well as pop music. There are a lot of different sides to me.”

“Hungover” reflects those influences, while the charming “Tequila Talkin’” is a rollicking song that leans toward country-pop. The song was co-written by Marlowe, Ray Fulcher and Dan Isbell.

“I was pretty new in town,” he says about the songwriting process. “I’ve written a ton of breakup songs. I thought it was time to write something a little different. So, I pulled up a guitar and picked up a groove. We were throwing out different titles. ‘Tequila Talkin’’ is an old Lonestar title. We didn’t want to step on that song in any way.”

Co-writing a song was challenging initially for Marlowe.

“I had written by myself for so long,” he says. “That was a different animal in itself. I had to be vulnerable and be confident. Now I love writing songs with other people.”

With his soaring, emotive vocals and gritty, rock-infused sound, Marlowe calls Brooks & Dunn, George Strait, Travis Tritt and Ray Charles his influences.

Check out his muscular cover of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.”

Last summer, he hit Ak-Chin Pavilion with Brad Paisley and Jimmie Allen.

Marlowe says, for a fledgling act like him, the summer tour proved to be educational.

“One thing I really respected about Brad Paisley and his camp was how they handle all their situations,” says Marlowe, who hails from Kannapolis, North Carolina.

“They’re very professional on the road.

They’re flawless. They take care of all their artists. They’re the nicest people in the world. They’re Johnny-on-the-spot.”

Marlowe is parlaying those experiences into a new project, which he calls “fully me.”

“There are a lot of different styles on the record — everything from traditional-sounding music to a little bit of old-school rock. It’s going to be cool.

I don’t know what to expect yet. It’s still going in the studio.

“Just all of this has been a dream come

true, to be honest. I never would have thought I would be here getting to play music every night.”

KNIX Barbeque & Beer Festival w/Lee Brice, Parker McCollum, Kameron Marlowe and Jacob Morris WHEN: Noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 26 WHERE: Tumbleweed Park, 2250 S. McQueen Road, Chandler COST: $20 general admission in advance, $30 at the door; $225 VIP. Military and first responders get $15 off at the door with ID. Kids 12 and younger are admitted free. Admission does not include food and beverage.

INFO: forty8live.com, chandlerbbq.com

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ROCK WITH HEART

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UPFRONT | CITY | TRAVEL | ARTS | DINING | BREWS & SPIRITS | CASINOS | SPORTS | FAMILY | MUSIC | NIGHTLIFE | IN CLOSING

The Darkness’ new album is a return to form

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

F

rankie Poullain’s life is chaotic.

He just moved from Somerset, England, a favorite among musicians in the west country, back to London.

“It’s that part of the world where Tears for Fears, Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush and those kinds of people lived,” Poullain says via Zoom.

Barely unpacked, Poullain is leaving London again, this time for the United States, where his band, The Darkness, is touring. The jaunt comes to the Marquee Theatre in Tempe on Saturday, March 12.

“It’s been four years now since we played the States,” he says. “Usually, we play every two years. This is the longest time I haven’t been in the states for 20 years. I miss certain things about the states. A lot of people give the States a bad rap. It’s fashionable to do that these days. What I love is the positivity and the pioneering spirit.”

The Darkness — which also includes frontman/guitarist Justin Hawkins, guitarist/producer Dan Hawkins and drummer Rufus Taylor, the son of Queen’s Roger Taylor — released its new album, “Motorheart,” in mid-November.

“Motorheart” is the follow up to “Easter is Cancelled.” “‘Easter is Cancelled,’ by The Darkness standards, was quite introspective and quite involved, almost like a concert,” he says.

“With this one, it’s most of us getting back to what we do best — just rocking out, really.”

“Rocking out” is what The Darkness

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does best. Poullain calls it The Darkness’ heaviest album yet.

“We tend to have little pop moments on our albums,” he says. “This one is the most consistently hard rocking.”

Poullain attributes part of that to Taylor, who’s been with the band for about six years.

“He’s really an important part of the band now,” he says. “We’ve got Rufus Taylor, as well as being a great drummer; he’s also contributing to the creativity of the songwriting. He and Dan really take us down a prog rock. He’s so technically

accomplished.”

That said, Poullain adds “Motorheart” is the “proggest thing we’ve ever done.”

He says he’s pleased that rock critics and some fans acknowledge the musicality of The Darkness.

“They tend to focus on the ‘pantomime’ or theatrical part of us,” Poullain says. “To us, it’s just the garnish. The important thing to us is rocking out, having the chops of a proper rock band.”

At shows like the Marquee gig, Poullain is looking forward to playing the song “It’s Love, Jim.” “That’s a fast-rocking one,” he says.

“Live, when we play it, it gets faster and faster. That song came together really quickly. It’s pretty simple, and it’s really intense. It’s a blast of energy that you need in a live gig. We need a few songs like that to get the mosh pit going.”

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Poullain had a lot of time to consider what the live shows would be like.

“We fly by the seat of our pants,” he says. “You can hear the energy on the record that it’s going to be great when you play it live. We were imaging what the songs would be like live. We were stuck at home like everyone else during the lockdown.”

Poullain and The Darkness are happy with the success they achieved with the likes of their breakthrough hit, the Queen-esque “I Believe in a Thing Called Love.”

“There are some really iconic British artists who didn’t connect with the American audience,” he says. “I suppose one of them would be Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry, maybe his solo stuff.”

Others are The Stereophonics and Robbie Williams.

“You know something? Americans can see through a cabaret performer,” he says about Williams, best known in the United States for his song “Angels.”

“To be a frontman in the United States, you can’t just be an entertainer, you have to have a proper voice, whereas the English like cheeky happy. I think in America you need something more authentic.”

The Darkness w/The Dead Deads WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, March 12 WHERE: Marquee Theatre, 730 N. Mill Avenue, Tempe COST: Tickets start at $30.50 INFO: 480.829.0607, luckymanonline.com

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