America Rocks Arizona

by Kevin Wierzbicki

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America - Sept. 20, 2025 - Mesa Arts Center, Mesa AZ

Classic rock band America brought their Encore Tour to metropolitan Phoenix for a show in the Ikeda Theater at Mesa Arts Center and they played all their hits and favorites along with numerous deep cuts. Originally a trio consisting of Gerry Beckley, Dan Peek and Dewey Bunnell, today Bunnell fronts the band as Beckley, still a member of the band, has retired from touring and Peek passed away in 2011. Bunnell was assisted by a crack band consisting of Andy Barr on vocals, keys and guitar, Steve Fekete on vocals, keys and guitar, Richard Campbell on bass and vocals ad Ryland Steen on drums and vocals. For a band that's known as a soft rock outfit, America proved they can rock pretty hard when they want to, and on this evening Barr and Fekete on guitars were a big part of that.

The show began with a couple of hits from the softer side of America's repertoire, the acoustic guitar-powered "Tin Man" and their cover of Russ Ballard's "You Can Do Magic." While Bunnell handled most of the lead vocals throughout the set, he handed that chore off to various band members on occasion and Steen took the mic for the bouncy "Don't Cross the River." Barr, who essentially is the replacement for Beckley, stepped out front with some hot guitar riffing on "Riverside," a cut from the band's 1972 self-titled debut record. Two more cuts from America followed, the melancholy "I Need You" and "Here" which while mellow at the beginning and end has an explosive raucous midsection. Longtime favorite "Ventura Highway" from the Homecoming album had fans singing along and moving to the groove. After playing "Ride On," where Barr moved to keyboards, Bunnell proclaimed "They're not oldies; they're classic rock!" An awesome take on "Cornwall Blank" dripped with psychedelia as trippy graphics were shown on the big behind-the-stage video screen and that song segued into "Hollywood" where the video presentation appropriately changed to visions of Tinseltown, loaded with stars, shots of the famous Hollywood sign and a quick look at America's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The set's middle included "The Border," "Wind Wave," the driving "Green Monkey" where Bunnell, Barr and Fekete all played screaming electric guitars, and "Old Man Took" and "Daisy Jane," two songs that Bunnell pointed out were produced by famed Beatles producer George Martin (Martin produced seven America albums all total.) After playing impressive covers of the Mamas & the Papas' big hit "California Dreamin'" and the Neil Young chestnut "Cinnamon Girl" the guys played a couple of songs written by Peek, "Everyone I Meet is From California" and the big hit "Lonely People" where actual vocals from Peek featured at song's end thanks to the magic of audio/video synchronization. The bleak Vietnam War song "Sandman" and "Sister Golden Hair," with its joyful, singalong inspiring sound, closed the show. The guys came back to encore on one song with Bunnell proclaiming "We forgot one that we know you're all waiting to hear!" After joking that the song was "Muskrat Love" of course the band played "Horse with No Name."

On this night to reminisce America demonstrated not only that their decades-old hits have aged well but also that they can still rock with the best of them. America remains on tour through mid-November and all tour dates can be viewed here.

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