Ed Masley

The Republic | azcentral.com

The streets of downtown Phoenix were a sea of possibilities as ticketholders made their way from stage to stage for Viva PHX, a festival launched in 2014 that’s grown from more than 50 bands on 13 stages in its first year to 100 bands on 20 stages Saturday. It also drew its biggest crowd this year – 12,000 people.

Now, a person obviously couldn’t hope to see 100 bands in seven hours, but you’re not supposed to see them all. This is more like a build-your-own-pizza, only in this situation, you’re burning the calories as you race to your next destination, often cutting one set short to make it to another stage on time.

Jeff Rosenstock was not an easy show to leave, but Tommy Stinson was about to start his set with Bash & Pop a few blocks over and I needed time to get there, having gone to college at a time when the Replacements were as pure an expression of what rock and roll was ever meant to be as a person too young to have witnessed the Faces could hope to encounter.

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That Watch It Yourself or WIY aesthetic results in a series of singular, interconnected experiences. If you’re rolling with a group of friends, then you may have a shared experience. But it’s doubtful many other groups of friends had that same shared experience.

I carefully selected 13 sets I felt I had to see going into the weekend, allowing for time to get from stage to stage. And the only one I missed was Temples. L.A. punk legends X started late, which meant that even after bailing early on their set to get to Girl Talk’s Comerica Theatre performance, I’d have had a hard time making it to Valley Bar for Temples – who, it turns out, went on early, making it impossible.

MRCH

My night started with local synth-pop duo MRCH at the Orpheum Theatre, rocking the lobby with a set that got off to a promising start with a haunting performance of “Glitter McQueen,” their latest video.

They programmed their own backing lights, which definitely added to the overall experience as the duo made their way through such highlights as a song so new it doesn’t have a title and one of their earlier videos, “Spin,” before treating the crowd to a spirited cover of “Heart of Glass” by Blondie.

Mickey Pangburn is a captivating presence on synth and guitar, her ethereal vocals sounding right at home supported by a bed of synths, while Jesse Pangburn's snare work made a solid case for synth-pop artists working with live drummers over drum machines.

Injury Reserve

From there, I headed over to a stage set up on Central Avenue at Cityscape for local hip-heroes Injury Reserve, who had a large crowd at the foot of the stage going wild for an explosive set that featured several of their biggest hits – yes, hits, as in videos thousands of people have seen – from one of last year’s more inspired hip-hop albums, "Floss."

They opened hard with an electrifying version of “Oh S—t!!!” and brought things to an overheated climax with “S on Ya Chest,” “Eeny Meeny Miny Moe” and a triumphant “All This Money.”

Jeff Rosenstock

I had to keep my time at Jeff Rosenstock's set to three songs, but at least he made it hard to walk away from his performance outside Crescent Ballroom.

The bandleader wisely eased into the set with the opening track on last year’s “WORRY.,” “We Begged 2 Explode,” which starts off all wistful and quiet before, well, exploding. And that dynamic shift was even more effective live, Rosenstock begging for someone to “save me from all these magic moments I've forgotten.”

He stayed with “WORRY.” for an urgent “Wave Goodnight to Me” that found him holding his guitar out to the fans down front to have their way with it, and “Festival Song” before I had to leave for Bash & Pop. By then, I'd seen enough to know I need to be there next time he's in town.

Bash & Pop

I got to the Masonic Temple in time for the first song of Bash & Pop’s set (because priorities). But they ended that first song abruptly when something went wrong with the sound, returning to the stage when the problem was fixed with the raucous, post-Replacements rock and roll of “Not This Time,” the opening track on this year’s brilliant “Anything Could Happen."

Stinson was in great voice, fronting a raucous ensemble that found him trading off solos with fellow guitarist Steve Selvidge of Hold Steady fame, at times recalling Johnny Thunders with his scrappy post-Chuck Berry leads.

Among the highlights of their set were “On the Rocks,” “Bad News,” the honky-tonk drinking song “Zero to Stupid,” a breakneck version of “Unf—k You,” “Anything Could Happen” and a spirited cover of the early Who song “The Kids Are Alright," which they rocked with a reckless abandon the early Who would clearly have admired.

What made it especially satisfying for me, as a longtime fan of the Replacements, is the way it spoke to everything that made me love his former band despite the fact that Stinson was never their primary writer or singer. No set made me happier to be alive at Viva PHX.

The Menzingers

From there, it was back to the stage outside Crescent to check out the Menzingers. By the time I got there, they were playing “Nice Things” for a crowd whose more enthusiastic members seemed to sing along to every word, especially the rousing chorus of the song that followed, “The Obituaries,” with its vow of “I will f—k this up / I f—king know it.”

Other highlights ranged from “Thick as Thieves,” a riff-heavy rocker from “After the Party,” their latest release; a version of “Good Things” on which the fans took over on lead vocals when the mic stopped working; and the Clash-like “Bad Catholics.”

Blackalicious

With Gift of Gab on the tongue-twisting lyrics and DJ Chief Xcel on the beats and samples, alt-rap duo Blackalicious followed Mystikal on the Cityscape stage with a powerful testament to what set them apart – namely Gift of Gab’s free-flowing lyrical prowess – on highlights including “On Fire Tonight” and the Harry Nilsson-sampling “Blazing Arrow.”

Playboy Manbaby

By now, it wouldn’t be a Viva PHX festival without Playboy Manbaby throwing down at Punk Rock Alley. They drew a huge, enthusiastic crowd, inspiring the most intense moshing I’ve seen a long time. Highlights included “I Love Myself,” where Robbie Pfeffer's chorus hook was offset by his bandmates singing "Na-na-na-na narcissist," “Bored, Broke and Sober” and the set-closing triumph of “You Can Be a Fascist, Too.”

As intense a reaction as Playboy Manbaby earned at their release show last month at the Trunk Space, this was even more insane, from the moshing to the people screaming "I am right / I am correct" on the call-and-response at the end of "You Can Be a Fascist, Too."

Assuming they can translate that excitement on the road, which there's no reason to believe they can't, they should be blowing up before the year is out – especially given the strength of their latest (and greatest) release, “Don’t Let It Be.”

X

I managed to squeeze in a few songs at Masonic Temple with X, the L.A. punk legends whose seminal early recordings imagined a world where punk was just the latest form of rockabilly. Exene Cervenka was rocking a T-shirt by one of the Valley’s finest purveyors of all things punk, Scorpion Vs. Tarantula, as she led her bandmates in raucous renditions of “In This House That I Call Home” and “Some Other Time.”

Girl Talk

I'm sure they played a lot of other songs I love but by then, it was off to Comerica Theatre for Girl Talk, who drew a huge, enthusiastic crowd, some in the traditional locations where one might expect to find an audience but plenty of others surrounding the DJ on stage for the duration of his set.

He kept the party going with one mash-up after another, at one point setting up an awe-inspiring dialogue between General Public, who asked “Where is the tenderness?,” and Fat Joe and friends, who were bragging their way through the lyrics of “All the Way Up.”

The stage was flanked by an inflatable G on one side, inflatable T on the other, while video images filled the screens behind him and confetti rained down on the crowd. Best moment: Pilot’s “Magic” reinvented for the dancefloor with a throbbing house beat for a moment that truly was magic.

Murs

It was after midnight by the time Murs hit the stage at Monarch Theatre, rocking a hoodie he soon removed to reveal a sleeveless Power Rangers T-shirt. He's a charismatic figure who knows exactly how to work a crowd, bringing a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey on stage and dialing up his own tracks while working his way through such spirited highlights as "Lookin' Fly," an endearingly lecherous "Bad Man!," an impassioned "Fornever," a cover of Common's "I Used to Love H.E.R." and "Silly Girl."

Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra

Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra brought the stage at Second Avenue to a joyous conclusion with a powerful if all-too-brief performance. After setting the tone with a heavy-grooving instrumental, the players were joined by their vocalists, led as always by the charismatic presence of Camille Sledge, who reminded fans they they are "one of us" and "we are here to get healed" as her bandmates conjured the hypnotic groove of "Come With Us" behind her.

They ended the set with a song Sledge introduced as "our inauguration release," "Payaso," their leader of rituals smiling as she said, "I see you, clown-faced man." Calling out a character Sledge described as "a reality TV show star," the song captures PAO at their most overtly political. And there seemed to be a bit more urgency to the version they played Saturday than on the studio recording (which is plenty urgent in its own right).

Like Playboy Manbaby, PAO have become a Viva PHX institution for reasons that couldn't have been more obvious watching their set.

Snake! Snake! Snakes!

For my final stop, I hopped in my car to hit Last Exit Live for Snake! Snake! Snakes! It's the one stage on the festival that would be kind of hard to walk to for a set and then get back in time to catch another band, so I was glad to see that Snake! Snake! Snakes! were on too late for that to be an issue.

And they rocked as hard as I have ever seen them rock, with guitarist Dan Tripp dropping to his knees to coax a particularly electrifying solo from his amp on the final outburst of a set whose highlights ranged from "In My Head" to "Numb" (with David Cooper bashing out the most infectious surf beat you could hope to hear and Jonathan Messenger making the most of their catchiest pop hook on vocals), the jagged post-Wire guitar of "Washed Out" and "Mantra," which ended in a total wall of noise, complete with speaker-rattling fuzz bass from Christopher Sanchez.

How did other people feel about the festival? I asked Mayor Greg Stanton and other local music fans to share their favorite Viva PHX memories from 2017 and this is what they had to say.

Mayor Greg Stanton's favorite Viva PHX moments

Mayor Stanton had a blast at Viva PHX. When asked to share his favorite moments, he takes out his phone and shows me all the videos and photos he shared on Twitter.

"I even saw Death Valley Girls at the Pueblo," he says. Then, with a laugh, he adds, "I'm pretty sure it was a fire code violation, but what the hell. Those girls were angry. But they were good."

He's especially proud of the video he shot of Jeff Rosenstock losing his guitar to over-eager fans down front outside the Crescent Ballroom.

"If you look at my video, you'll see it," he says, with a laugh. "He had to grab it back from an audience member in the middle of the show, and I caught it on video. So that was a kind of unique and wonderful moment. The Maine was awesome. They put on one heck of a good show. The Boiler Room was actually the boiler room of the Masonic Temple. Now, how they got a city permit to do that, I don't know. But there was a DJ down there. Summer Cannibals were great. I made it to 10 venues that night. So it was a good workout. I got my exercise in."

David Marquez of Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra

Didn't see all I wanted to but seeing X even for a couple songs in a Masonic Temple seemed totally wrong for all the best reasons. I ran into Steve from Bash and Pop after our set and he talked about how it took him back to the days when you would just rent a hall to get people there in the door to see your music. Tommy Stinson, Rev Heat, and X on the same stage? GTFOOT

Mickey Pangburn of MRCH

We were stoked to see HEALTH, and they sounded good! But I'm too short for such a crowded alley... so we only stuck around for a couple tunes. Joyce Manor was a fun throwback to high school & ignited lots of jumping. Really dug Big Thief! They have super pretty songs & such a great vibe.

Derek Cooper of Genre

My favorite part of HEALTH at Viva was the aesthetic of Punk Rock Alley matching the bands, and that Viva seemed slightly more conscious of distance this year. I didn't have to do nearly as much walking around as the rest of what I wanted to see was at one place. Seemed to me that the lineup was more diverse but more segmented as well.

Mike Dee of French Girls and US Depressed

My picks were Summer Cannibals at Masonic Temple and F--ked Up at Punk Rock Alley. Summer Cannibals were the first of four rockers at Masonic Temple. They mesmerized the crowd with their big guitar sound that drew heavily from mid '90s alt rock. Throw in the engaging vocals and guitar leads of Jessica Boudreax and there was a lot to love! I will say that we liked them enough that we are headed to Tucson to see them again on Sunday with Alison Crutchfield.Fairy Bones Pink Plastic Cups

Jonathan Blinco of Eleven Forties

I think Tommy Stinson losing his cool when the monitors stopped working then the mains. He stopped playing and got off the stage suggesting the sound man should should get his s--t together. Those kind of real emotional outburst from a touring band are rare. That gave me something to always remember.

Nicole Laurenne of Darts

Best part of the night? Being lifted off the ground by my fave band Death Valley Girls after their set at The Pueblo.

Devon Adams, photographer

Local hip-hop trio Injury Reserve opened the Cityscape stage at Viva Phoenix to a healthy crowd who recognized rapper Nathaniel Ritchie (aka Ritchie With A T) as we caught up before the show. Nate is a former high school student of mine when I used to teach AP English. He told me that I made him love to write and ironically he does it now daily as he writes Injury Reserve's music. For me, seeing this band open this show was special.

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Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4495. Twitter.com/EdMasley.