With a capacity of more than 18,000, it’s the best place to see the biggest national and international touring acts, from The Eagles and Guns N’ Roses to Twenty One Pilots and The Weeknd. EEEEE Old Town Tavern 7320 East Scottsdale Mall, Scottsdale 480-945-2882 oldtowntavernaz.com We really are #blessed to have so many places in the Valley to get out and see live music, but one of our favorites is a bar that just doesn’t get enough love (in our opin- ion). Old Town Tavern is tucked away in central Scottsdale, and on most nights of the week, you can walk in and catch an in- timate set by some of the city’s best musi- cians. Pistoleros alum Mark Zubia and Gin Blossoms guitarist Jesse Valenzuela are regular performers, as are Corey Gloden of Wyves and local music legend Shawn Johnson. Old Town Tavern’s small interior puts you up close and personal with the musicians, and the bar has a tight-knit community of patrons that will make you feel like one of the gang. Paper Foxes paperfoxesband.com It’s difficult to say that any one band is a city’s greatest musical asset — metro Phoe- nix teems with excellent, multi-genre art- ists. But Paper Foxes represent a choice that also feels properly aligned with Phoe- nix as a rich and vibrant city. Their infec- tious blend of New Wave and disco not only packs shows Valley-wide but exem- plifies the lively and joyous aspects of the local music scene. Sounding a bit like Du- ran Duran and a bit like The Killers, Paper Foxes don’t trade substance for style; rather, the slick synths and angular guitars draw you in so you can get hit with the lyr- ics, which are often about heartbreak, po- litical turmoil, and the like. The band is the best example of the “’80s but make it mod- ern” vibe that a lot of local acts put out these days, and although we’re still wait- ing for a follow-up to their 2019 album, Popular Confessions, we can sustain our- selves by seeing them at venues like The Rebel Lounge and listening to songs like the quasi-title track “Pop Confessions.” Back when the album came out, synth player Patro Gaston told us the song is about “how it feels like the world is nearly going to end, but it’s okay to let go and en- joy life anyway.” Sounds like the perfect music for 2021. EEEEE Violet Choir violetchoir.com Phoenix has no singular defining musical style or sound; you’re just as likely to hear great rock as hip-hop, punk, folk, and elec- tronic music. Violet Choir, which is com- posed of Mickey and Jesse Pangburn of local bands MRCH and The Prowling Kind, fully encapsulates that tradition just a year into its latest configuration. The band expertly marries bits of synth-pop, indie rock, punk, and pop into something that’s both dense emotionally and yet hugely playful. Their February 2021 self-ti- tled EP is sleek and moody, and we’ve lis- tened to it plenty over the past several months when we’re looking for music to accompany a chill evening. It’s their gusto and commitment that has Violet Choir al- ready among the other great bands that have called Phoenix their home. And they formed during a pandemic — imagine what they’ll conceivably accomplish when the world’s not on fire. ROAR twitter.com/roartheband ROAR frontman Owen Evans is some- what soft-spoken in person, but don’t mis- take that for a lack of ambition or artistic confidence. The excellent Diamond De- stroyer of Death, which New Times deemed a standout in the first half of 2021, is a totally sweeping pop record. What makes this 10-track LP so magical isn’t just the gimmicks, like “songs within songs” or some kind of nebulous story or concept. It’s how Evans and his collabora- tors spin in strands of psychedelic, ba- roque, and ’60s pop to make something far more groovy than the sum of its catchy parts. It’s as if Evans himself is captaining an interdimensional tandem bike to take us through the pop sphere, pulling at bits of melody and romantic energies to de- light and amuse along the way. The album itself doesn’t just celebrate the great mu- sic of yesteryear, but tweaks and evolves it in real time to present something that’s otherworldly and beguiling without los- ing any relatability or playfulness. This is 218 BEST OF PHOENIX 2021 | WWW.BESTOFPHOENIX2021.C0M | SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 B ES T AL BU Diamond De M s tr ath o y o er f De ni D B ES T B AN ghtlif e B E S T NEW B A ND B ME US S T HIDD IC V EN G EN EM UE
