Good morning, Tempe. Storms are still in the forecast through Thursday afternoon with highs near 100, so the outdoor plans are safest Friday and Saturday.
- 🎸 Two very different Tempe shows this weekend. House of Funk Friday, DEVILDRIVER Sunday.
- 🏹 KUIU picks Tempe Marketplace for its first Arizona store. The hunting-gear brand has never had an AZ location.
- 📚 Therapy dogs, bilingual storytime, and bookbinding at Tempe Public Library. Thursday through Sunday, all free.
- 🚌 EVIT says busing gets better for Tempe Union students. The route problems hit CTE students hardest.
- 🎤 Around the Valley. Three arena and club shows worth the drive Thursday and Friday.
A funk Friday and a metal Sunday
Two Tempe shows this weekend swing about as wide as a weekend gets: R&B and funk Friday night, metal Sunday evening.
Key facts:
The Sunday metal show starts early at 6:30 PM, which matters if the plan includes dinner first. Check the ticket page for the room and doors time before heading out.
What to watch: more August dates are landing, with LUCKI a week out as the ASU calendar restarts.
The weekend
Thursday
Friday
- 📸 School pictures at Tempe High, 7:30 AM in the auditorium. Details.
- 📖 Cuentos Contigo / Stories with You, 10 AM at Tempe Public Library. Bilingual Spanish and English family storytime, built for ages 0 to 5 and caregivers. Details.
- 🧱 Lego Lab: engineering and computer science, 4 PM at Tempe Public Library. LEGO Education SPIKE Essential, ages 6 to 11. Details.
- 🎸 House of Funk plays Tempe, 9 PM. Details.
- 🎶 Tyler Downey at The Way Station. Live music, laid-back set. Details.
Saturday
- ✍️ Author storytime with Jessica Alexander, 11 AM at Tempe Public Library. Erica Maxwell and Jessica A. Alexander wrote Beauty with a Birthmark, told in verse, with Jessica as the main character. All ages. Details.
Sunday
Around Tempe
🏹 KUIU is opening its first Arizona store at Tempe Marketplace. The performance hunting brand has sold direct-to-consumer for most of its run and has no other location in the state. An opening date has not been announced. Details.
🏠 Typical rent in Tempe is about $1,667 a month, down 1% over the past year. Details.
🏦 The new federal housing bill is expected to do little for Valley prices. The Tempe Tribune talked to Marcus & Millichap and Cromford Report analysts about what the legislation actually reaches. Details.
🎮 Pokémon Gen 1 trivia lands at Snakes & Lattes, 20 W 6th St, Tuesday, August 18. Details.
🛍️ Parkside Pop Up Market runs Saturday, August 22 at 1801 S Cutler Dr in south Tempe. Local vendors. Details.
🎓 ASU & Mill Avenue
Campus events, Sun Devil sports, and what's playing down on Mill.
☕ Brick Road Coffee runs a rotating slate of community events, including queer art markets. The shop is one of the few Mill-area rooms programming its own calendar rather than renting out to promoters. Details.
🎤 Tempe Improv books national touring comics most weekends. Full dinner service during shows. Details.
🛹 Street League Skateboarding brings its Tempe Takeover to Mullett Arena on Saturday, August 29, 2:15 PM. The pro skate circuit does not usually stop in Arizona. Details.
From the schools
🚌 The East Valley Institute of Technology says busing will improve for students this year. EVIT superintendent Chad Wilson addressed route and reliability problems that hit Tempe Union and Chandler Unified students shuttling between their home campus and EVIT's career and technical programs. Details.
📸 Tempe High takes school pictures Friday at 7:30 AM in the auditorium. Details.
Around the Valley
A few picks worth leaving Tempe for.
🎸 George Thorogood and The Destroyers, Friday at 8 PM, Gila River Hotels & Casinos Wild Horse Pass in Chandler. Closest of the bunch, about 20 minutes down the 101. Tickets.
🪘 Steel Pulse, Reggae Against Racism Tour, Thursday night at The Van Buren in Phoenix. A Grammy-winning roots reggae band in a 1,900-capacity room. Tickets.
🎤 Meghan Trainor, The Get In Girl Tour, Thursday at Mortgage Matchup Center in downtown Phoenix. Tickets.
🎸 Santana and The Doobie Brothers, Oneness Tour, Friday at Mortgage Matchup Center. Two acts that each headline on their own, on one bill. Tickets.