To celebrate the opening weekend of Major League Baseball's spring training, the 7th annual Innings Fest took place 2/21 & 2/22 in toasty Tempe, Arizona.
Fall Out Boy, Incubus, and The Black Keys headlined Friday at Temple Beach Park and The Killers, Beck, Gary Clark Jr. and Boyz II Men entertained the snowbirds on Saturday.
So many throwbacks in this lineup, it would be understandable if some in Gen Z might consider these Oldies. The type of visitors to frequent spring baseball, probably do have a gray hair or two on their head. Thus, the perfect lineup.
To tie in with the baseball theme, the fest also had actual ballplayers chat it up with former Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster who got some inside baseball insights with the likes of Vince Coleman (Mets), Evan Longoria (Rays), Ben Zobrist (Cubs), Chili Davis (Giants), among others.
One of the guests was veteran hurler Jim Abbott, who famously threw a no-hitter in 1993 at Yankee Stadium. No-hitters are rare, but Abbott became the only pitcher to accomplish the feat despite being born without a right hand.
Here's some highlights from the rock show. Lets see if they can compare.
Beck, "Debra"
1999 was a phenomenal year for music. Just look at all these classics that dropped before the millennium: The Slim Shady LP (Eminem) - February 23, 1999; Play (Moby) - May 17, 1999; Millennium (Backstreet Boys) - May 18, 1999; Enema of the State (Blink-182) - June 1, 1999; Supernatural (Santana) - June 15, 1999; Californication (Red Hot Chili Peppers) - June 8, 1999; No Strings Attached (*NSYNC) - March 21, 1999; ...And Out Come the Wolves (Rancid) - August 31, 1999; The Battle of Los Angeles (Rage Against the Machine) - November 2, 1999
But perhaps the best song from 1999 was Beck's cheeky "Debra." Fascinating how 25 years later he was able to freestyle parts of it in a hilarious way for the good people in the desert.
"So listen here," Beck said to the crowd as he told his tale of seduction of a young woman and her sister. "I was in love with this girl, so I thought I would pick her up after she got off work, but I made a little stop on my way to pick her up -- something nice to take care of my girl. You know where I stopped? I stopped at the Bed Bath and Beyond."
The audience laughed and Beck continued to improv.
"And I walked through the door the Bed Bath and Beyond, and I asked the assistant manager. I said, 'Excuse me, can you show me to the Beyond section?'
"And that's where I got some potpourri and some scented candles and some cucumber aloe vera apricot exfoliating cream. I got bath salts for my girl. And I gathered them all up and I put them in a cornucopia, and I stashed it in the back of my hatchback, and I drove down to the shopping mall where she was working, and I waited out front, and she came walking up to me, and I could tell she was tired, because she's been working double shifts all week.
"And I looked deep in her eyes and I said, "lady, step inside my Hyundai. Let me take you up to Scottsdale. Gonna take you for a real good meal.' Talking about chicken shawarma people."
Beck is in NYC next month, then come April he's got two gigs booked at The Royal Albert Hall. Get your tix on Beck's website.
Fall Out Boy, "Sugar, We're Goin Down"
Fall Out Boy is no stranger to playing baseball stadiums, over the years they've rocked Wrigley Field (Chicago, 2018), Comerica Park (Detroit, 2021), Globe Life Field (Arlington, 2021), Historic Crew Stadium (Columbus, 2021), Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles, 2022), and Fenway Park (Boston, 2023).
In huge stadiums no one can really hear you screw up the lyrics. Which is perfect for "Sugar..." because it's a song where the lyrics practically choke themselves as bassist Pete Wentz explained in 2020.
"Back then, though, we fought with each other a lot," Pete said of his fellow FOB members, particularly singer Patrick Stump. "All he cared about was the way the melody sounded and all I cared about was the words, so we really fought over cramming these words in. Our label was like, 'oh my god, this chorus has like, way too many words in it, it’ll never work!'
"There’s no way to cram in 'loaded god complex' and all these lyrics when you’re totally enunciating," Pete continued. "If he was enunciating the way that Brandon Flowers does, it would probably sound crazy. I think that he naturally sang like that anyway, so it really worked out. He wanted to do long, big notes where he’d never fully close his mouth, so it led to this Sia effect. You’re like, 'I don’t really know what he’s saying, but the melody is cool.'”
FOB's next festival is the Tecate Pal Norte, a three-day deal in April where Green Day, Olivia Rodrigo, and Justin Timberlake will also be headlining. In May they play Boston Calling. And July they head to the Twin Cities for the Minnesota Yacht Club Fest. Get tix on their website.
The Killers, "Centerfield"
Speaking of Brandon Flowers, finally a band that understood the assignment!
If you are going to play a baseball-themed fest there are many songs you can learn so you can cover it for the fans. Over the years there has been "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" (Edward Meeker, 1908), "Baseball Boogie" (Woody Guthrie, 1949), "Sweet Caroline" (Neil Diamond, 1969) (adopted by the Boston Red Sox), "Go Cubs Go" (Steve Goodman, 1984), "The Boys of Summer" (Don Henley, 1984), "I Saw It on TV" (John Fogerty, 1985), "Glory Days" (Bruce Springsteen, 1984), and "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" (John Denver, 1974) (adopted by the Colorado Rockies).
But The Killers knocked it out of the park with the title track of Fogerty's Centerfield album which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary. The former Creedence Clearwater Revival singer/songwriter, you may recall, put himself in time out for a decade after his first solo album in 1975.
Fogerty was this masterful force in pop, rock, and protest music who was so frustrated with the music business he hung up his telecaster and refused to participate for such a huge chunk of his creative years: his 30s.
The album and single was a celebration of what he loved besides music: baseball. And The Killers were perfectly correct to live debut their cover of it and lead off he set with the lovable tune.
Brandon and his Vegas pals are no stranger to CCR, they've covered "Bad Moon Rising" 23 times. Apropos as the Oakland A's will soon be relocating to Sin City and all signs point to it being a poor fit as it's way too hot in Vegas, the stadium is too small, and the TV revenues will only be a fraction of what the team was pulling in with the East Bay fans.
Much like FOB, The Killers don't have an awful lot on their dance card. Their next fest is in Memphis in May. Tickets available through their website.
Don't be sad if you missed the first 2025 weekend of the Innings Fest... or if you've never heard of it before. (We can't be blamed as we told you about this cool event last year.)
This weekend there will be The Extra Innings Festival which will be a little more country, a little more folky, an a little more feminine.
Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris, Grace Potter and Megan Moroney will be joined by the Kings of Leon, O.A.R, and many others at the same venue. Get tix while they last.
