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Thursday, December 1st, 2022
Crescent Ballroom
$51,000 fundraised, a new record for Phoenix!

Overall Winner: Fuelit of May, Potenza, Baran & Gillespie

Judges’ Choice Award: Retro-Active of General Dynamics Mission Systems; Fennemore Craig; Potomac Legal Group

What an INCREDIBLE night! The Third Annual Law Rocks Phoenix was last Thursday night, marking the final stop on our 2023 Tour. Five bands of legal rock stars put on an amazing show at this special event benefiting Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Teen Centers. The evening raised over $51,000, breaking the previous fundraising record for Phoenix.

The event was hosted once again by Mark Devine of 100.7 KSLX. Mark fueled the audience for a great show, encouraging fans to donate and helping to keep funds coming in through the night.

The Hoodlums of Fennemore; First Cup opened the night with an impressive cover of "American Pie" and brought the holiday spirit with their version of "All I Want For Christmas". The band was comprised of two parents and their children aging from 6 to 12. The audience was blown away at their musical talent at such a young age.

Next up was psych 101 of Miller Kory Rowe; Evans Dukarich. One of our veteran bands, they once again showed off their songwriting skills with a captivating set of psychedelic originals that had the audience grooving along and an energetic cover of "Psycho Killer" that had the crowd on their feet.

Returning Champions Retro-Active of General Dynamics Mission Systems; Fennemore; and Potomac Law Group played songs from various genres. From a brilliant cover of "Under Pressure" to a song by Dua Lipa, the audience was dancing the whole set. The highlight was their cover of "Bad News", a tribute to our Rock Judge, Josh Kennedy and his band The Black Moods.

Fuelit of May, Potenza, Baran & Gillespie made their Law Rocks debut with an energetic set of 70s and 80s rock, including songs by AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top and even a soulful cover of " Whipping Post" by the Allman Brothers.

The night ended with another newcomer, Probustus of Evans Dukarich. With pop-punk covers of Foo Fighters, Blues Traveler, Pat Benatar and more, they were a superb punctuation to the night.

An excellent night of talent with some extraordinary fundraising efforts! The Rock Panel of Judges did not have an easy job. The Panel included Ed Masley, AZ Republic music critic, Judge Orest Jejna, musician and Judge for the City of Scottsdale, and Josh Kennedy, vocalist/guitarist of The Black Moods with bassist Jordan Hoffman and drummer Chico Diaz also in attendance.

The competition was tight, but in an exciting twist, Fuelit of May, Potenza, Baran & Gillespie, P.C. took home the overall win at their Law Rocks debut! The competition for Judges’ Choice was incredibly close, but reigning champs Retro-Active of General Dynamics, Fennemore and Potomac Law Group, PLLC took home the award!

A special thank you to our host, our Rock Panel of Judges and to all the talented bands and their fans for making this an epic show. And finally, thank you to our generous sponsors General Dynamics Mission Systems, LKGLOBAL, LawPay, Secretariat, Fennemore, Evans Dukarich LLP, May, Potenza, Baran & Gillespie, P.C., and Griffin Group International, Reporters and Captioners and Ogletree Deakins!

Thanks for everything, Phoenix! See you next year…

Please consider making a contribution to support Law Rocks World Tour and ensure we keep rocking the globe for years to come!

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Featured

Fuelit

Featuring legal talent from May, Potenza, Baran & Gillespie

Fuelit is a six-piece classic rock band that’s been playing together in one form or another for more than 25 years, mostly at biker venues and charity gigs. In our day jobs we are an engineer, a couple of IT professionals, a piano restorer and a lawyer. Oh and then there's Slick, our bass player. He's just professionally cool.

The Hoodlums

Featuring legal talent from Fennemore; First Cup

The Hoodlums are a five-piece family band with four musically talented people and a momager relegated to the cow bell. Lailah, the drummer, is 7 years old and the heartbeat of the band. Henry, 11, is the lead singer and lead guitarist. Ellora, 12, is on keys and the band’s stylist. Nicolle, age not disclosed, is a business lawyer and co-founder of My First Nest Egg, a company dedicated to teaching children financial literacy. Sean, a litigator and water lawyer at Fennemore, Arizona’s oldest law firm, has passed his musical talent and love for 80’s rock to his children. Despite his skills of persuasion, Sean’s children vetoed his requests for self-indulgent guitar solos. The Hoodlums are thrilled to support Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Teen Centers with the hope that every kid will have the opportunity to learn and play music.

Probustus

Featuring legal talent from Evans Dukarich

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Unless you called Probustus. Then it would smell exactly like a group of dads from Tempe who like to jam on weekends. We want to be rockstars but, you know, we have lives. Michael practices law and plays lead guitar. Andy is a teacher who also happens to sing and play guitar. Paul is a renaissance man who has been credited as a pilot, teacher, and drummer. Little is known of Alex’s past. Maybe he’s the result of top-secret government experiments. Or maybe he’s just a good dude with a penchant for playing bass and gardening.

psych 101

Featuring legal talent from Miller Kory Rowe; Evans Dukarich

Modern rock band psych 101 is composed of attorneys Jeff Miller (vocals, guitars) and Steve Evans (bass, vocals), architect George Catone (guitar, vocals), and Bob Bunger (drums). All of their songs are original compositions and can be found on the band’s CDs, “Attachment Disorder” and “Bipolar.” The band’s first CD was reviewed in The New Times and described as “danceable dirges” featuring “psychedelic burnout guitar, goth-bop beats [and] snaky bass.” The band was also asked to contribute its song “Wonderland” to The New Times’ annual “Best Of” issue.

Retro-Active

Featuring legal talent from General Dynamics Mission Systems, Fennemore, Potomac Law Group

Devon Engel – bass

Sean Hood – guitar

Mike Rissman – keyboards

Chuck Leyva – drums

Christi Sartin – vocals

Dave Cass - vocals

Retro-Active is a high energy rock & roll cover band playing in the Valley since 2006. Featuring dynamic male and female vocals (and three Valley lawyers!) Retro-Active set lists are full of the songs that make you jump out of your seat to dance and sing along. From Adele to Zeppelin, Journey to Van Halen, Guns n Roses to Velvet Revolver, Boston to Kansas and Toto, Styx to Stones, the Black Crowes to the White Stripes, Aerosmith to Jet, Blue Oyster Cult to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Heart to Paramore, Alien Ant Farm to Michael Jackson, the Cult to Kravitz, Boston to Bon Jovi, Jefferson Starship to Foreigner, Elle King to Prince, Scandal to Dramarama, Petty to Mellencamp, AC/DC to U2, The Killers to The Knack, Florence + The Machine to No Doubt, Def Leppard to Foo Fighters, Rihanna to Rage Against the Machine, Grace Potter to Greta Van Fleet, Ratt to the Doobie Brothers…you get the picture…

Law Rocks Phoenix is a special event benefiting Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Teen Centers. The Rock Teen Center inspires teens (12-20) to grow through music, dance and art. They provide vocational training in sound and recording, lighting and staging, video production, as well as a computer lab and a cool, supervised facility for the teens to engage with their peers. In a time where public schools are cutting funding for empowering programs like music, dance and art, The Rock cultivates a love of the arts to inspire and challenge teens to embrace artistic excellence and reach their full potential.

Featured

Host - Mark Devine

Aside from co-hosting 100.7 KSLX’s “Mark & NeanderPaul” show, Mark Devine is a husband of 35 years and a father of 2. Arizonans remember him as the host of the “Tim & Mark” show for 16 years on 93.3 KDKB. After KDKB, Mark started and ran a real estate business for a decade before deciding to return to radio. He’s still a licensed real estate sales person, a former realty office owner, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and guitarist.

Rock Judge - Josh Kennedy

Josh Kennedy is the guitarist and vocalist for THE BLACK MOODS, a Tempe-based trio who play raw, amplified rock & roll that's both contemporary and climactic. The group released their third album INTO THE NIGHT earlier this year produced by Grammy Award nominee Johnny "K" Karkazis (Disturbed, 3 Doors Down) and have been seen on touring across the country with the likes of The Doors’ Robby Krieger, Shinedown, Jane’s Addiction, Whitesnake, Collective Soul, The Dead Daisies, The Gin Blossoms, Candlebox and Royal Bliss in addition to appearing on festival stages including Aftershock.

THE BLACK MOODS have garnered strong hometown support including cover features from Entertainer! Magazine (February 2022) and Phoenix New Times (May 2020) in addition to appearances on local tv stations including AZFamily (CBS5) and Arizona PBS as well as recently performing the half-time show for the NBA’s Phoenix Suns semi-finals game. They have also been showcased in national outlets with live session performances, features and reviews from the likes of Guitar World, Spin, Paste Magazine, Loudwire, American Songwriter, All Access, Classic Rock, Substream, Metal Edge and many more.

Stream/download INTO THE NIGHT via: https://orcd.co/tbmintothenight.

Find THE BLACK MOODS online: FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | WEBSITE

Rock Judge - Ed Masley

Ed Masley has been a professional music critic since 1989, initially based in Pittsburgh. He’s been covering the music scene in metro Phoenix for the Arizona Republic and its website, azcentral.com, since 2007. He’s also freelanced for several national publications, including Alternative Press and No Depression, as well as alternative weeklies such as Phoenix New Times and LA Weekly. Ed is also a musician with several well-regarded albums of original material by his bands the Breakup Society and the Frampton Brothers.

Rock Judge - Judge Orest Jejna

Orest has been a judge in the City of Scottsdale for the past 21 years. The Court handles primarily misdemeanor cases of every category. Prior to taking the bench, Orest had a criminal defense practice that took him all over the country. While criminal law was his primary area of practice , Orest’s real passion is the protection of International Human Rights and most recently assisting Ukraine in the defense of its country. He graduated from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York and attended law school at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.

The love of rock and roll came at an early age when Orest took up the guitar during the British invasion involving the Beatles, Rolling Stones , The Who and others. As the world of rock and roll developed, Orest’s interests in musical genre went from the southern rock of the Marshall Tucker Band, the Allman Brothers to the sounds of Crosby , Stills, Nash and Young and the Doobie Brothers. There isn’t a rock and roll sound or style that isn’t appreciated by Orest. The most gratifying part of music is playing it. Orest continues to play with setting up jam sessions with local musicians and lawyers who play in local bands. The best part of the sessions is playing whatever everyone is in the mood for without having to worry about an audience.