Phoenicians looking to take the sadness out of a Saturday night found a cheerful place to land for Ax and the Hatchetmen’s headliner at Crescent Ballroom. The Late Checkout Tour also featured The Rare Occasions for a night of demure booty shaking and sunny Midwest rock ‘n’ roll.
The Rare Occasions are only a couple shows into this run and they provided the perfect opening atmosphere for a rapidly filling room. The Massachusetts trio kept spirits high during their Vampire Weekend-esque set, bantering with each other and the crowd between songs and temporarily declaring the hummingbird as the new state bird of Arizona. The fans ate it up, dancing on command and hyping up the guys for everything from tuning breaks to shredding guitar solos. With so many artists experiencing viral moments on platforms like TikTik, The Rare Occasions had their own with a mid-set jam session to “Notion” that had nearly everyone’s phone in the air to capture the track. The band showed clear and sincere gratitude for their inclusion on this tour and gracefully surrendered the stage for the main event.
The guys of Ax and the Hatchetmen are no strangers to Arizona and Phoenix showed the band plenty of love as they returned to the stage. Frontman Axel Ellis, alongside Salvatore Defilippis, Hunter Olshefke, Phil Pistone, Quinn Dolan and Chaandmon Croft were all smiles, launching into “Stick & Poke” and “Blurry Lights” as the room woke up and got moving. Crescent Ballroom’s intimate space was awash in blinding lights, illuminating every corner of the room to show fans having a blast as the band performed old favorites and plenty of new material from their latest EP.
Truthfully, Ax and the Hatchetmen may just be a generational band- and that realization may not have hit them or their fans yet but observing their seamless musicality, combined with a palpable, genuine love for performing is like a glimpse into a very bright future. An energetic cover of Neon Trees’ “Everybody Talks” was a shot of adrenaline into an already spirited set and the band continued to level up with every chosen song. They even dropped a lovely little Arizona reference on “Flagstaff” as the performance felt more and more like the soundtrack to the perfect roadtrip. They even brought up Hallie Mayes from local group Good Boy Daisy to provide guest vocals on “Prius”, a welcome surprise addition to the set.
As the evening reached its end, the band also covered New Radicals’ classic “You Get What You Give”, another perfect choice for the group’s musical aesthetic. The room screamed along to “Sunscreen” and “Loser” before demanding an encore- one that they were more than happy to give. They returned for “Utah” and “Belt Loops” as a final send off to a city that continues to welcome them back with every new tour announcement.
