Got too much free time on your hands after school is over? Nothing soothes the soul in the summertime like live music.
Grab your sunscreen, cameras and tickets, and get ready to rock.
10. Now that “Glee” is all the rage for anyone with free time for television on Tuesday nights, why not join the glee club yourself for a day? Reward yourself for surviving your final exams by going to see “Glee” live in concert on May 15 at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix.
9. For the hippies in the Valley, check out Crosby, Stills and Nash on May 29 at the Dodge Theatre. Quality folk music isn’t just for your parents anymore. If you don’t like the band’s sound, at least go just to see David Crosby’s impressive mustache.
8. Let out your inner punk at The Vans Warped Tour. The tour stops in town on June 29 at Phoenix’s Cricket Wireless Pavilion. It’s tough to turn down an opportunity to see 85 bands for one really low price of about $35. But please, emo boys, skip the eyeliner this year.
7. Check out John Mayer’s show on August 18 at Cricket Wireless Pavilion for the most soulful performance of the summer. In between playing his expected laid-back classics, Mayer keeps his show fresh by breaking out into an occasional bluesy jam session as well. Plus, John’s show is a gig you can go to with the whole family.
6. If there’s one show that will be immeasurably mind blowing this summer, it’s going to be Lady Gaga’s “Monster Ball” on July 31 at the US Airways Center in downtown Phoenix. Her shows are even crazier than her outfits and her performances on a variety of music award shows were just a preview of the magic you’ll witness. Lady Gaga’s shows are always something to talk about for days afterwards.
5. Kings of Leon is coming to Phoenix on July 10 at Cricket Wireless Pavilion. The family band will be playing what could be one of the best alternative shows of the summer. You know their songs “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody,” which were played almost everywhere you went during the fall semester, so just cave in and see Kings of Leon play it live and sing it better than your tone-deaf roommate did.
4. CAKE, one of those great bands that hardly ever tours, is going to be at Tempe’s Marquee Theatre on June 18, so mark your calendars. With an album projected to be released before the end of the year, the band will probably play some new unreleased material that you won’t want to miss.
3. Take a weekend trip to Chicago for Lollapalooza from August 6-8 at Grant Park. If you miss Lady Gaga when she’s in Phoenix, catch her at Lolla, along with Soundgarden, Arcade Fire, Green Day, The Strokes, Matt & Kim, MGMT and plenty of other artists.
2. The seven-concert country mega ticket package at the Cricket Wireless Pavilion that’s offered by Live Nation is one of the best concert bargains around. Ticket packages start at $140 to see Sugarland with Julianne Hough and Vonda Shepherd; Brooks and Dunn with Jason Aldean; Tim McGraw with Lady Antebellum and Love And Theft; the Country Throwdown Tour featuring Montgomery Gentry, Jamey Johnson, Little Big Town, Jack Ingram, Eric Church, Eli Young Band, The Lost Trailers, Heidi Newfield, Ryan Bingham, Jonathan Singleton and the Grove, and Emily West; Toby Keith with special guests that have yet to be announced; Brad Paisley with Darius Rucker; and Rascal Flatts with Kellie Pickler and Chris Young. If you’re a country fan, this is the best deal around, so get in on it before the cheaper packages sell out.
1. Bonnaroo, the king of all concerts, always boasts the most beastly lineup of all American music festivals. Get out of the Valley for the best music event of the summer. From June 10-13, head out to Manchester, Tennessee to experience the best community of music fans in the nation. This year’s unbeatable lineup includes Dave Matthews Band, Kings of Leon (why not see them twice this summer?), Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, Weezer, The Dead Weather, Kid Cudi and The Flaming Lips performing “Dark Side of the Moon,” featuring Stardeath and White Dwarfs. As anyone who has been to the festival before will say, Bonnaroo is an experience and a way of life for the four days of the festival — and there’s no better way to live life than the ‘Roo way.
Reach the reporter at lenni.rosenblum@asu.edu