A statement by the company announcing the news read: “While we are nearing the return of live music, April 2021 is too soon to hold Phoenix Lights in its true and intended format. Phoenix Lights is an electric experience only possible with the full crowd’s energy and the texture of an explorable festival site. That is how we want Phoenix Lights to be remembered now and for years to come.”
It’s the second time Relentless Beats has postponed the festival. The company, which has staged several socially distanced events like drive-in festivals and “pod concerts” over the past year, also ruled out the possibility of putting on the festival with this format. “It does not make sense for us to transform Phoenix Lights into a drive-in or pod concert experience at this time,” the company’s statement said.
The Wallace and Ladmo Show bandleader Mike Condello, guitarist Glen Buxton, and keyboardist Vince Welnick.
Lawrence Zubia of The Pistoleros in 2017.
Jim Louvau
Gwinn, a local music fan and manager of jazz/funk band Jade Road, told
Phoenix New Times last year he wanted to pay tribute to legendary local musicians based on “the imprint they left on rock music and the hearts of those of us in the Valley who loved them.”
A longtime fan of Zubia, who died last December from pneumonia, Gwinn says the Pistoleros frontman qualifies, as he was “very beloved by the local scene for decades.”