No shortage of hot venues in Arizona
Lisa Kane
The Phoenix music scene has a wide variety of venues promoting local bands, featuring tours and hosting an array of experimental musicians.Venues around the valley include larger, stadium-like places like Dodge Theater or the Cricket Wireless Pavilion where names such as Coldplay and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers play.
In Tempe, close to both Arizona State University and Mesa Community College, venues like the Marquee theatre and the Clubhouse appeal to local bands and college students.
The Clubhouse, located at 1320 E. Broadway Rd, has a 600 person capacity and features the best in local, regional and touring bands.
The club has been there for more than four years, hosting shows for all ages, 18 and over and 21 and over shows nightly.
“We support nearly any and all bands that just want to get out there and play for an audience, you know, start their own fan base,” said Clubhouse employee Nick Watherly.
“I’ve seen local bands like Dear and the Headlights or The Maine’s fan bases soar just by rallying local support at shows where we only charge $5 to $10 dollars to get in,” he said.
“Some of my favorite bigger acts that have graced our stage would definitely have to be The Presidents of the United States of America, Aesop Rock, Citizen Cope, Gavin Rossdale from Bush, Matisyahu and even The Format,” he added.
The Clubhouse hosts shows every night of the week, and besides great music, they have a full service kitchen .
Located at 730 N. Mill in Tempe, the Marquee is just down the street from Arizona State and downtown Tempe and hosts a variety of feature tours along with some local music.
Unlike the Clubhouse, the Marquee hosts a more popular music scene.
Stephen Harford, a security guard who works weekend shows at the Marquee, loves his job because of the names he gets to see.
“Over the next couple of months, Wu-Tang Clan will be playing here, Pepper, Badfish, and Jimmy Eat World, just to name a few,” he said.
“We do support local bands also. They usually open for the more well-known acts. On December 2,, Fall of Troy played a show and local bands Warship and Black Houses opened for them,” said Harford.
The music scene in Phoenix is generally suited toward the college-age group and has a few jazz and blues clubs like the Rhythm Room for blues, The Big Bang for a piano duet or even the Trunk Space in West Phoenix for the more independent music lovers.
