O f the various festivals Phoenix has gained and lost over the years — Lost Lake, Pot of Gold, ZONA, etc. — VIVA PHX was an extra- devastating blow. Even if the fest just ran for a few years (2014 to 2017), it left a most indelible mark. “I’ll always remember living near the OG VIVA, and hearing ‘Baby Got Back’ blasting down the streets,” says Chelsey Louise of Fairy Bones. “It was amazing.” Robbie Pfeffer, frontman of Playboy Manbaby, has slightly wackier recollections. “Honestly, my favorite memory is just walking down the street and encountering luchador wrestling in the middle of the city,” says Pfeffer. “There was a guy who pulled another guy out of the ring and brought him into a porta-potty. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is different than anything else I’ve ever been a part of.’” For Breakup Shoes’ Nick Zawisa, VIVA PHX was a dream — in a few different ways. “I remember the big (2017) highlight for me was seeing Joyce Manor,” says Zawisa. “I’ve always viewed Joyce Manor as just perfect pop-punk. I am pretty sure I went in 2016, but the only band I remember seeing is The Technicolors. So I don’t know if that’s real. But I swear it was in the Masonic Temple.” For Jonathan Saillant, frontman of Pijama Piyama, the fest was a rite of passage. “There was one year that I went unplanned,” he says. “I was not living in Phoenix at the time. No car, and I just caught a ride down for the weekend.” While Tristan Jemsek of Tucson’s Dogbreth never attended, even he’s heard of Playboy Manbaby’s 2017 set from the riotous “Punk Rock Alley” stage. “Yeah, we did it in the alley,” says Pfeffer. “And it’ll be cool to be on a bigger stage. It feels like closing a circle.” Pfeffer’s referring, of course, to the news that VIVA PHX is no longer just a series of beloved memories, but has returned from a seven-year hiatus. The bands mentioned here are among 70 total acts who’ll take to the streets and venues of downtown Phoenix on Saturday, Oct. 19. The resurrected VIVA is the brainchild of Best Life Presents and Live Nation, who opted for the return to coincide with the fest’s 10th anniversary. Blair Brejtfus, a buyer for Live Nation and who helped organize the original VIVA while at Stateside Presents, says the event and name coincide with Phoenix’s sustained arc of development. “When it first came about, it was one of those things, like Crescent Ballroom, that brought people downtown and, for some people, probably their first time experi- encing downtown,” says Brejtfus. “So as it continues to change, we’re hoping to high- light that as well. There’s a big focus on a lot of emerging acts back then, which we’re trying to keep alive, as well as local acts. We’re hoping to recreate this new iteration.” It’s a thought shared by others in the local scene. “What makes VIVA different from other Phoenix-based festivals is the diversity of genres, artists and venues,” says Louise, who also does music PR. “They really utilized a lot of our cool, intimate venues, and that was really cool to see, and sort of transformed downtown Phoenix into the local music mecca it is today.” Given that robust lineage, the first step had to fully connect the new VIVA with the past. Matt Baquet, co-owner of Best Life, made sure to establish VIVA in the very best way possible. “We approached our mentor and buddy Charlie Levy and we’re like, ‘I think we’re going to try to do a new fest in Phoenix, like Best Life Fest or something,’” says Baquet. “And he’s like, ‘No, you should bring back VIVA PHX and I’ll give you the keys because everyone is always asking me.’” It wasn’t just Levy, either, as Baquet calls the process “serendipitous” as they sought out partners and sponsors. “Every person that jumped on connected another person and connected another. It just had this amazing organic snowballing momentum to get off the ground and let us know we were doing the right thing,” says Baquet. So, with all of this, does Brejtfus see this as a new chapter for VIVA, or maybe more of a restart? “I do think it’s VIVA 2.0 in some ways,” he says. “Like, 80 percent of it’s the same, but we have some new focuses on the food that wasn’t quite there before. And a little bit bigger of a street festival portion, and connecting some of the venues and making more of a central hub, where last time there was more of a venue crawl spread out. This time it’s a little bit more centralized.” But this VIVA is still decidedly different, and not just in the planning and layout. Rather, the “new” VIVA is less about rehashing the past but rather doing some- thing that makes sense for the industry in 2024. That begins, perhaps rightly so, with a more eco-friendly approach. “I think it’s just much more sustainable and practical and resourceful to use existing infrastructure,” says Baquet. “This type of model makes it practical that we could actually be a zero-waste event and that we could actually lift up our commu- nity and make an economic impact.” It goes deeper still — these overarching issues of change/growth open up new possibilities. “We’re having an insane industry boom with semiconductors and other important technologies,” says Baquet. “We’re the most moved-to city and state. We are right near the border wall, which is just a whole other conversation. And while all that’s happening in Arizona, what does it mean for the artist subculture and the urban commu- nity? VIVA PHX can be a really great tool and project as we’re getting, what, a million people in the next 10 years?” Change can also be much smaller in scale, like the affordability of The VIVA PHX music festival rises from the ashes. BY CHRIS COPLAN Local psychedelic cumbia band Pijama Piyama is slated for VIVA PHX 2024. (Photo by Jarret) Playboy Manbaby is one of the musical acts scheduled for the return of VIVA PHX in October. (Courtesy of Playboy Manbaby) >> p 20