In a time that calls for revival in Phoenix’s DIY music scene, four months after the close of The Trunk Space’s Grand Avenue location, a creative collaboration of innovators is giving a large-scale taste of the future of local punk culture.
Semi-Social is one of the best ideas ever conjured by the local music community. The collective is made up of seven locals, including former organizers of Tempe DIY space Parliament. The eclectic culture it creates is the combination of the openness of The Trunk Space, the fast-paced atmosphere of a music festival and the close-knit community of a house show. To top it all off, it has everyone going to church.
While Semi-Social was established in March, the group was offered space at Grace Lutheran Church for the first time to allow its Sept. 24 show — dubbed its second season premiere — to come to life. This was the result of a partnership between The Trunk Space owner Steph Carrico and local musician Robbie Pfeffer, one of the organizers behind Semi-Social. Despite the collective’s initial wariness, the church became a perfect event space.
“The people here are super friendly, super community-oriented,” said Maggie Spear, a member of Semi-Social. “When I first came here, I was a little bit skeptical because I wasn’t sure how a community art space would translate into being at a church, but everyone here is so supportive and friendly. If we could do Semi-Social events here all the time, I think we definitely would.”
Related: Deconstructed: The Trunk Space
For the most recent show, the church location allowed the group to take advantage of its theme of ‘light’ with a red room, blue room and a glowing outdoor performance space. Overall, it has opened up more opportunities for Semi-Social to achieve its larger-than-average shows for the community.
“When we did Parliament, we were doing small shows every night of the week,” Spear said. “With Semi-Social, we wanted to push our efforts into something a bit more grandiose. Bigger events, eight bands, a couple stages — we try to make them big, bimonthly events.”
While Semi-Social events are big — drawing nearly 90 community members on Sept. 24 — everything else is heavily local, including the bands.
“There’s a few that are just coming onto the scene, so it’s cool to be able to be a part of that, watching the new bands be introduced,” said Haylee Hughes, a member of the collective.
The bands, unsurprisingly, were a major factor in the eccentricity of Saturday’s event.
Kicking off the show was Phantom Party, one of the best small-scale local bands I’ve discovered in recent months, thanks to Semi-Social. The trio simply calls their music “indie from the desert,” but whimsical tunes on sand hills are far from what you should expect. As the band began its set in the dimly lit red room, surf rock melodies quickly gave way to hard punk screams and the light, danceable tunes of “Twenty” — each song bringing totally unique compositions, high energy and great lyrics.
The event also introduced the hard rock and grungy punk of Wax Castle, Red Tank! and Twin Ponies in the contrastingly serene appearance of the blue room, while calm indie tunes reverberated from the church courtyard.
The most eclectic of the bunch performed in the relatively small red room, like Phantom Party, but nothing could keep them at the front of the room.
Audience members joined Confetti Club — disguised as a prom dress-clad Batman and a pants-less Robin — in an electronic set that kept the audience dancing in a beautifully crazed mess. True to their band name, the duo threw confetti into the audience, along with bubbles, before ending with their version of “Lovefool” by The Cardigans.
As always, Treasure MammaL was an experience to watch. I could describe their church-themed performance as the purest sight I’ve ever seen, as the group welcomed attendees to church, performed beside an inflatable snowman and joined hands together for a song sung to the tune of “My Heart Will Go On.” However, I could describe the set more accurately as an addicting sin in itself, filled with the chaos of conga lines, crowd surfing, gauntlets and an erotic leotard.
At some point in Treasure MammaL’s set, the spirit of Barack Obama was called for. An audience member’s shirt came off, or maybe it was already off. Either way, this set was the perfect demonstration of Semi-Social as one of the brightest lights of hopefulness for Phoenix’s diverse, welcoming community of local music, in recent months.
This eccentric scene was what Spear said allowed her to gain a sense of herself and her community.
“That was one of the biggest things that started our whole group,” Hughes said. “We just wanted to give people a place where they could jump in.”
With past themes having incorporated tin foil hats and bringing the outdoors into The Trunk Space, everyone should attend the October episode with only one question: how much crazier can it get?
Contact the columnist at Emily.Liu@asu.edu.
