Phoenix, Arizona—Thievery Corporation played at the Van Buren on August 31, 2024, and brought its musical genius to the desert, with Phoenix local Konstadinos “DJ COCOE” Tsimahidis, owner of Grand Avenue Records, warming up the crowd for an hour spinning an eclectic mix of house, dub and EDM music.
Thievery Corporation is often categorized as EDM or chill lounge or dub music, but the reality is that such simple classifications understates the world music influences, the instrumentation and the complex compositions involved in their catalog.
Started in 1995 in Washington, DC at the Eighteenth Street Lounge by Rob Garza and Eric Hilton, the duo experimented with mixing club music, dub, bossa nova, and jazz. They formed their Eighteenth Street Lounge record label in 1996 and began recording, releasing their first two 12-inch records that year. It was their single, “Lebanese Blonde,” released in 1998 and included in their 2000 album, “The Mirror Conspiracy,” that drew the fan base and is still a much-loved favorite today.
The show at the Van Buren kicked off with “Sound the Alarm,” followed by “Mandala,” and immediately guitarist Rob Myers took a seat with his sitar and got the show going. “Lebanese Blonde,” sung by LouLou Ghelichkhani, was next; it’s not often bands will jump in early on a fan favorite, but the crowd definitely responded to the leggy vocalist wooing the crowd with the now-famous sitar riffs accompanying her.
Ghelichkhani exited the stage as elegantly as she entered, and Racquel Jones took over, dressed for business and ready to take the crowd on a different twist, singing “Originality,” a perfect move into the Jamaican reggae tones that Thievery Corporation is so well-known for.
Part of what makes Thievery Corporation so interesting as a concert is they can take you through political rap expressions in songs such as “Letter to the Editor,” “Culture of Fear,” and “Fight to Survive,” and will intermingle these more powerful, statement performances with cooler tempo flavors. Most often, it was Bostonian rapper Mr. Lif wowing the crowd with his fast-paced, in-your-face lyrical erudition of life as a person of color. A highlight of the concert was percussionist Frank Orall stepping out from behind his drum kit and congas to sing “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.”
During the show, Thievery Corporation took a pause to quickly arrange the musicians in a semi-circle, and Ghelichkhani joined them in an acoustic mini-set and sang bossa nova favorite “Meu Nego.” Jones followed up with “Road Block” during the acoustic set, casually seated at front of stage. Adding to the acoustic mini-set was Puma Ptah to take the crowd on another reggae voyage singing the mournful “Richest Man in Babylon.” Finally, Ghelichkhani came back out and closed the acoustic mini-set with “Para Sempre.” A quick stage reset, and Thievery Corporation was back to the more electronic musical arrangements of the evening.
The show in total was 25 songs long; Thievery Corporation doesn’t believe in cheating its fans, and indeed took everyone through their 25-year musical journey. If you’re looking for a concert that has a tremendous return on investment for the price of the ticket, Thievery Corporation doesn’t disappoint.
Thievery Corporation Phoenix, AZ show members:
• Rob Garza – bass, guitar, keyboards, production
• Jeff Franca – drums
• Rob Myers – sitar, guitar
• Frank Orrall – percussion, drums, vocals
• Dan Africano – bass
• Loulou Ghelichkhani—vocals
• Racquel Jones—vocals
• Mr. Lif—vocals
• Puma Ptah—vocals
