Huge free music festival returns to metro Phoenix. What to expect
Huge free music festival returns to metro Phoenix. What to expect
Ed Masley, Arizona RepublicTue, October 13, 2026 at 12:01 PM UTC
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Mesa Music Festival returns to downtown Mesa on Thursday, Oct. 15, for three days of free live performances with a headlining set by Christian nu-metal hitmakers P.O.D.
When the festival launched in 2015, with MTV “120 Minutes” host Matt Pinfield as a keynote speaker, the goal was to try and recapture a bit of the magic that had once drawn hardcore music nerds to Austin, Texas, for the annual South by Southwest Music Festival when it was more about discovering new talent than the star-studded extravaganza it has become.
As Mesa Music Festival organizer Joseph “Indian” Antao recalls, “When I first started doing this thing in Mesa, everybody would say, ‘Why Mesa? Why Mesa?’ And I was always like, ‘Why not?’ I saw the vision. Back in 2015, when I first started going down there, it was my idea to make Mesa the next big music city, like Memphis or Nashville. I had that vision and I'm a marketer by trade. So I started coming up with all these ideas.”
Much like South By Southwest, Mesa Music Festival is sprawled across assorted stages within a short walk of each other, which Antao sees as one of the advantages.
“You go into a place, you don't like the band or it's not your thing, you can walk down three doors and go to another place,” he says. “It's a great way to discover new music.”
Mesa Music Festival brings free music to assorted downtown stages
The festival kicks off on Thursday evening with keynote speakers Tyson Ritter of All-American Rejects, who also co-founded PlayHouse.band, a platform bringing live music into intimate, unconventional spaces; Gardner Cole, a songwriter/producer who also played in New Wave hitmakers ABC and A-Ha; and Matt Pinfield.
They’ll speak at Mesa Arts Center.
DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill is also performing at 9 p.m. Thursday at a VIP party at Reverb, 36 S. Robson.
The weekend’s featured artists include Christopher Shayne, Viper Club, Crossing T’s Dotting I’s, Pushing Veronica, Playuh, Moon Fever, Hollywood Yates and Winterhaven. Among the local artists you should take the opportunity to see for free are Carol Pacey & The Honey Shakers, Frequency Principle, The Joeys and The Yod.
“Bands drive 3,000 miles to play it for free,” Antao says. “There must be a reason, right? I always say, ‘A monkey with a wallet could book a band.’ That's not what I want to do. I want to create that community for the musicians. And the most satisfaction I get is when they meet at my event and the next year they're touring together or they're collaborating. That's where the magic lives, you know?”
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'I'm not reinventing the wheel. I just want to create a cool wheel'
You’d be hard pressed to name a larger free music festival that’s focused on emerging artists.
“The best thing about it, as you know, is it's free,” Antao says. “The worst thing about it, it's free. I'm in deep as far as investment in this thing, but I just want to try to make it work. The reason I do it, man, is because there's moments, right? Like when the mayor gave Chester Bennington the keys to the city, and God rest his soul, he turned to me and he goes, ‘Indian, you got to keep doing this.’”
He’d like to make it bigger, but free festivals are hard to grow.
“I need to make it bigger to get more money, but I need to get more money to make it bigger until I hit the tipping point, you know?” Antao says. “My wife's like, ‘What are you doing?’”
The answer is he’s doing it because he’s passionate in his belief that this is an important festival.
“I want to work with people I like and produce something cool,” he says. “So that's the bottom line. I'm not reinventing the wheel. I just want to create a cool wheel, you know what I mean? At the end of the day, man, it's all about the people. I'm a big Clash fan. Joe Strummer was my favorite artist of all time. And in his documentary, he says ‘It's all about the people.’ To this day, that's why I do this.”
Mesa Music Festival
When: Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 15-17.
Where: Downtown Mesa, assorted stages.
Admission: Free.
Details:mesamusicfest.com.
Ed has covered pop music for The Republic since 2007, reviewing festivals and concerts, interviewing legends, covering the local scene and more. He did the same in Pittsburgh for more than a decade. Follow him on X and Instagram @edmasley and on Facebook as Ed Masley. Email him at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Huge free music festival returns to metro Phoenix. What to expect
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