Concert season in Arizona continued with a whirlwind sold out show this week for Alexsucks’ Autopilot Tour. The Rebel Lounge was quite literally packed to the rafters with eager fans pressed as close to the intimate stage as possible to really get the full experience with the lineup.
Salt Lake City’s own Dogma Society was up first, lighting the venue in cool blues and greens to set the tone for a resonant and impassioned performance. The group had plenty of fans already in the room and won over the rest on songs like “Places” and “Blind By Your Caress”. Their trajectory has been nothing but upward in the last several years and watching them bolster their own scene while taking their music on the road this spring made for an unforgettable opening set. The band was heartfelt in their gratitude onstage, closing the performance with “See It All”, “Fangs” and a shoutout to the headliner up next.
Alexsucks has perfected the art of intentionally laidback, cool guy rock ‘n’ roll and their growing fanbase is completely onboard. Singer Alex Alvarez strolled onstage- shades firmly in place- and immediately had the room in the palm of his hand. He remarked towards the end of the night that their setlist had so many good songs on it- a recent development, in his words. The audience drank in every note and sang along to every track- “Talk to You” and “6 Pack and Cigarettes” were clear favorites. The band disappeared after the final notes of “Worm in the Sun” but some insistent clamoring from the crowd brought them right back out for a two song encore and a reluctant departure as the fans begged for even more. Alexsucks is certainly connecting strongly with their devoted fanbase and a sold out Phoenix show will absolutely bring them back to a place that loves them so fervently- we hope that means even bigger rooms in the future.
