Baseball and Rock N Roll mingled once again at the fifth Innings Festival at Tempe Beach Park (AZ) on February 25th and 26th. This year’s event featured Green Day, Eddie Vedder, Weezer, Marcus Mumford, The Black Crowes, The Revivalists, The Offspring, The Bronson Arroyo Band, Mt. Joy, Head & The Heart, The Pretty Reckless, Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness, Magic City Hippies, The Revivalists, Umphrey’s McGee, Paris Jackson, Heartless Bastards and more. While the headliners were mostly those of the 90s alt-rock type of punk went pop, the lineup was certainly geared for those Generation Xers that spent many a summer at either WARPED or Lollapalooza back in the day. And while Tempe Beach park was certainly packed amongst its two stages, and there was little time between set times to rover from one stage to the next, there were enough positives here that will keep ’em coming back in 2024. Here are some of the big stage winners of the 2023 Innings edition.
Green Day
After witnessing Green Day’s Saturday headlining set at Innings Festival, one would be hard-pressed to determine who was having more fun, the fans or lead singer Billy Joe Armstrong. It seemed as though all 24,000 fans were there to experience the Green Day set. The crowd was chanting for their heroes as they held up multiple posters professing their love for Green Day in a frenzy of anticipation. The set opened with a recorded version of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” and the fans sang along as the song played. Next was followed by a recording of the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop” in which the only “performer” onstage was the Drunk Bunny: a dude in a bunny suit, whose presence has been a part of Green Day concerts for many years.
Armstrong took the stage to begin 90 minutes of a hit-filled spectacle that earned all of the fist-pumping, dancing, and crowd-surfing it could summon. The set began with “American Idiot,” “Holiday,” and “Know Your Enemy,” establishing a high bar the group still managed to capture throughout the show. The only cover song of the night was KISS’ “Rock and Roll All Night.” It would have probably been better to fill the slot with another Green Day hit song. Other than the obligatory shout-out to Phoenix and the surrounding areas, Armstrong kept the chatter to a minimum. The set ended with “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life),” and the best is that the majority of the fans had the time of their life during Green Day’s first show of 2023.
The Black Crowes
Several acts earlier in the day had their merits. The Black Crowes’ lead singer, Chris Robinson, had all the swagger of Mick Jagger as his mic stand barely hit the floor as he made it his instrument of choice throughout the set. Perfecting the lost art of the true lead singer, Robinson’s voice still echoes that of 70s rock legends. Both Chris and Rich Robinson are the only original performers from the 80s in this edition of the band, as rother Rich stood stage left churning out great riffs from his various guitars. Chris’ animation throughout the set was the highlight alongside all the band’s big songs that made an appearance for this festival set: “Twice As Hard, “Thorn In My Pride,” She Talks To Angels,” “Remedy” and of course Otis Redding’s “Hard to Handle.”
The Offspring
The Offspring is probably the longest-running band on the day’s roster going back 39 years. The lineup has changed considerably over the years. They started their set with 1994’s “Come Out and Play” which earned them their first major hit in the 90s. Their hit album Smash propelled punk rock into the mainstream selling over 11 million copies. The Offspring’s influence persists today as shown the enthusiastic crows and much of the alt-punk scene that is still strong in Arizona today. Dexter Holland and Noodles vied for the crowd’s attention as they plowed through many of their hits like “Staring at the Sun,” “Gotta Get Away,” and “Self Esteem.”
Marcus Mumford
Even though Mumford was minus his” sons,” he played acoustic versions of songs that he recorded with Mumford and Sons. Many of the songs by the band were written by Mumford. He has recently released a critically acclaimed solo album entitled Self-Titled. As an introspective album, It includes “Cannibal”, a song Mumford wrote in January 2021 about his personal struggles.
Mumford’s band joined him on stage after the first two acoustic songs. Many of the songs in the set were from his recent album including “Grace” and “Better Off High.” He covered Taylor Swift’s “Cowboy Like Me.” One of the best songs from the new album performed was “Dangerous Game.” It sticks in your mind and witnessing it live seemed to have an energy that elevated it to another plain with Mumford’s piercing voice highlighting the chorus.
Eddie Vedder
Vedder headlined the Innings Festival in 2019. This set had a similar structure as his previous set. Vedder is a baseball fan and had spent time earlier in the day taking the stage with former MLB pitcher, Ryan Dempster. He talked about how much he loves spring training. “It’s such a cool part of the year when all the opportunities are open, everything seems possible, it’s infectious.” It was a full day for the Pearl Jam rocker.
Vedder released a new solo album in 2022, Earthling. However, none of the songs performed in the set were from the album. There were plenty of Pearl Jam songs with a cover of The Beatles’ “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” and Tom Petty’s I Won’t Back Down.”
He brought friends to join him this time, from Josh Klinghoffer, a utility player in Pearl Jam’s touring band since 2021, to a major league baseball star, Bronson Arroyo. It was loose, it was fun, it was freezing.
Vedder had many stories to tell fans during his set. and made jokes with several thousands of fans as if everyone was in his living room. He shared his enthusiasm for the local Musical Instrument Museum particularly the ukulele exhibit
There was plenty of comic relief. After smashing a ukulele Townshend-style because it wasn’t working right, he said, “I might need another one.” Then after having to stop the song he was playing on a second ukulele because he hit a wrong chord, Vedder laughed as he said, “I wanna smash this one, too.” His anecdotes were half the fun and elevated the experience to something more than a headlining festival gig.
The music was great, from opening with “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter a Small Town” through his harmonica-driven “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away.” He closed the set with “Rockin’ in the Free World.”
