Four local bands will come together Thursday for Blaze Radio’s Kick Ass Spring Concert to help celebrate the end of the semester.
The event focuses on local talent, and allows the station to recognize all of the listeners, staff, and volunteers that have been involved with the Blaze since the beginning of the semester. The event is a tradition for Blaze Radio, Arizona State University’s local station, founded in 1982.
Blaze Radio station manager Sydney Glenn said the concert has been around longer than anyone can remember.
Glenn first became involved with Blaze as a freshman at ASU. She is now a senior, and has watched the station and the spring concert grow and evolve over the past four years.
“If you met us four years ago, you would say, ‘Oh, that is a cool, tiny station,’” Glenn said. At that time, the Blaze was housed on the Tempe campus, and there were only a handful of volunteers.
The station moved to the downtown campus during the 2013 school year. Blaze Radio now has around 300 volunteers, and has grown into one of the largest organizations on campus.
Glenn said the spring concert is a celebratory evening, allowing the station to show their appreciation for all of the staff members, volunteers and listeners that were involved throughout the school year. The event also helps support local talent in the area.
This year’s concert will be held at Last Exit Live, a downtown Phoenix venue that caters to both local and touring bands.
Blaze Radio’s Music Director, Amanda Luberto said she chose Last Exit Live because they support local talent and because the venue holds around 400 people. In 2015, the concert was held at a much larger venue, and Luberto said that a smaller setting provides a better atmosphere for the bands and concertgoers.
While the majority of the events held at Last Exit Live are usually for attendees over the age of 21, the Kick Ass Spring Concert will be all ages. The owner of the venue, Brannon Kleinlein, is an ASU alumnus, and he wanted to be able to accommodate students and support the local radio station.
Moose Titans, one of performing bands, is also familiar with ASU: all four members are students at the university. The band has been together for nearly a year, and Tyler Prime, one of the band members, has been a DJ at the Blaze.
Moose Titans’ performance at the Kick Ass Spring Concert marks their first major show. For all four members, it is “exciting to get out of the garage,” Prime said.
Moose Titans will perform at the patio pre-party at 6 p.m., the start of the event.
During the pre-party, attendees will receive happy hour drink specials at the in-house bar, and free samples will be distributed by Short Leash Hotdogs. Short Leash will also be selling food throughout the evening.
People Who Could Fly will take the main stage at 7 p.m., and Flight of Ryan will perform at 8 p.m. IAMWE, the headlining band, will take the stage at 9 p.m. to close out the night.
Free admission will be provided for the first 100 people, with a $5 admission charge at the door for the rest of the attendees. The event is open to all ages.
Editor’s note: Amanda Luberto and Moose Titan’s member Matthew Barry have written stories for Downtown Devil as contributing reporters. Neither were involved in the reporting or writing of this article.
Contact the reporter at Alyssa.Hesketh@asu.edu.
