Modified Arts

The art scene in Phoenix appears to have been reduced to an exposition of harsh, primitive desert landscapes. Shrubs and roads bereft of any sign of life. The occasional abstract piece leaving most visitors perplexed. Watch people walk and gawk in circles, declaring how they’d never pay a month’s salary for work they don’t understand.
I don’t always get it, either. And I’ve never felt challenged by work here. I just reminisce on the days when this was a venue and the displays were more accessible. At least it’s still good for conversation, and that can’t be said about every gallery. This place is alright with me.

Love the Modified!
i have been coming here since i was a wee freshman in highschool!
one of my favorite venues in phoenix, gets crowded and loud stinky and awesome in a hurry, or it can be empty pensive and introvertedly artsy! just depends i suppose. I cant wait to be back, check out their events calendar on their website for gallery shows or concerts or film viewings. love you modified see you this friday hopefully?

This place could be really great, but unfortunately as of now it sucks.
First of all, I’ve never been to a concert venue like this with no bar… Call me an alcoholic, but I like my beer in hand when I’m nodding my head to some obscure hipster band I’ve never heard of.
The outside is kind of cool– but the inside is awful! The walls are stark white and look like those cheap walls people use to divide up apartments into more bedrooms. There were no decorations or paintings on the wall when I went even though I thought it was supposed to be some sort of gallery. Maybe I went on a night that they were between showings. The space is small, but if they hired a better interior designer they could have made it work. Unforch, it didn’t. The sound system seemed cheap also.
This place could be great if they just put in a bar, and hired a decorator.

Modified as we know it now is going bye-​bye. The owner, Kimber Lanning, is handing it over to a husband and wife duo, and the venue will be remodeled into a more traditional gallery with some smaller shows catered to progressive and experimental music. Here’s the link to the article about the change…
This is such a bummer since some of my favorite artists have played here. Although there are still some good venues for indie artists, there aren’t a whole lot in the downtown area. I guess all I can do now is hope that someone else will come along and start up a place like Modified.

This place has potential. I would start by instituting a mandatory shower policy for patrons followed by an investment in structural reinforcement of the floor. Felt to me like it consisted of ¾″ plywood. I thought we were going to fall through at one point.
The acoustics need some work, but if you’re looking for some interesting bands playing in a (very) intimate atmosphere and don’t mind a little hipster sweat flying around, I think you’ll like this place. I’m anxious to see what they do for First Friday tomorrow…

Smells like hipster. Which is about 10 times worse than normal BO because the hipsters are too cool to shower more than once a week. Because that would show they cared…
The place does put on some decent shows, they just need to work on sound quality.

Modified is a pseudo-​art gallery slash concert venue in the great art’s district in CenPho. Well worth the cheap price of admission, this little gem hosts great shows in a slightly better than garage atmosphere. Unique, yet somewhat traditional art usually adorns the walls, but must people are here for the music.
Just came from a show here and I must say: I am glad that this place exists where it does and that it does what it does. Too many mid-​level but great bands skip over Phoenix but Modified pulls in a good handful. A lot of the bands that play here would sell somewhat larger venues in other cities, but that gives you the chance to get a little more intimate with some fav artists here in Phx.
Modified could use to knock out the center wall and put the bathroom in one of those «Private» rooms, but the funkiness of the space doesn’t deter from the shows. Keepingoperational costs down keeps ticket prices down and good times keep rolling.
Lost Leaf is seriously a ½ minute walk away, so I recommend just taking breaks between hot and sweaty sets to grab a nice bev there and then return.

wellp, time to get out my rocking chair, reading glasses, and suspenders.
modified was hands-​down the best venue in town back in 2003, when i saw my first show there. black eyes, q and not u, and french toast. one of my favorite shows ever.
i hate to say anything negative about the place, but i think there is one tiny nitpick worth mentioning. since 2003 the venue has changed bookers multiple times. there is still usually some good shows every month, but the shows in general have gotten a little more conventional — for lack of a better word. the local support for shows here used to be a little bit more representative of the pastiche that is phoenix’s rad local music scene: country bands playing with metal bands, joke rap with thrash bands, etc etc.
i think the trunk space is more geared towards that now. modified is still a great place to book/​play/​see a show, though. just don’t hesitate to make suggestions to the volunteer staff who run the sound — sometimes they need a little guidance.
the person who started it, kimber lanning, is a bad ass.
the venue is tiny, like everyone says, but definitely not as tiny as everyone makes it out to be. i’ve been to countless sold-​out shows there, and it definitely feels smaller when it is the summer. but that’s part of what can make a dance party so memorable.

This place probably gets the best lineup of bands in the Valley year-​in and year-​out. Owner Kimber Lanning is such a sweetheart and is constantly fighting to make Phoenix cool. This little shack of a venue (seriously, it fits about 43 people comfortably) has a decent sound system for its size, and a funky interior to boot. It’s all ages all the time, so don’t expect any sip and there’s no BYOB option. This place can be hotter than a sauna in the middle of the summer (I don’t care if there’s a box fan or two) and is usually righteously loud. Whatever you do, skip the bathroom at all costs… run to the Krispy Kreme across the street.

I saw Oh No! Oh My! play here. And Band of Annuals. And Eternal 42.
Maybe Joy Electric. But I can’t be so sure. Once I learned about the «red cup rule» (booze can be brought in as long as it’s in a plastic red cup), all of my experiences at Modified became one long haze of noise and staring intently at paintings and going «I see… yes…very interesting.»
The Modified was like the «seedy bar/​club» cliché in every movie you ever saw. You couldn’t get within ten feet of the building without being pwned in the face with the scent of B.O. and pot. There are homeless people on the patio, lushes on the sidewalk, and a very disinterested door guy who doesn’t even look up from his book to stamp your hand with some socio-​political metaphor.
Amidst all the decay and broken glass there was (and still is, why the fuck do I keep switching tenses?) something really special.
The bands that came (come) aren’t always the biggest and most well known. Because if they were, they’d be playing the Marquee.
But the shows are always worth watching. Even if the bands suck (and trust me, a lot of them do), the energy exchange between them and the crowd is intense.
I’ve seen people go entire shows clapping in rhythm with the songs. I’ve seen people cry. I’ve even people engage in group hugs and collapse to the ground.
…indie kids.
Unlike other venues, people came to the Modified to be seen (or it is scene? Get it? Fuck you).
You never learned their names, but you could spot them in a crowd. Girl with Crazy Hair. Boy Who Wore A Little Too Much Makeup For It To Be «Ironic». Girl That Always Smelled Really Good. Guy Who Always Wanted To Help The Band Move Their Gear.
I often wonder what my «scenester» nickname would be…
Yes, it’s dirty. Yes it’s cramped. And yes, if you try to pee near the dumpster the guy who owns the restaurant next door will yell at you in Chinese.
But after all of Phoenix is gentrified into submission, and all the art galleries and performance venues are bulldozed over to make way for more strip malls and high-​end shopping outlets (with the occasional Starbucks dotted in to «give it culture»), we will have wished we had visited it more often.
Oh well. Maybe the Phoenix Art Museum will put in a performance venue.
«Hello Phoenix! I want to hear all of you singing along on this one! Even you, guy pretending to make sense of that Monet. Alright, let’s go!»

I went here to see Lymbyc System with some friends, and was blown away by their performance. Not knowing much about the band, I was amazed at their arrangements and infusion of eclectic sounds by 2 people. It was a myriad of musical inputs and outputs.
The venue, is alright, I wouldn’t say it’s the best place to see a show, but overall the hole in the wall feeling, is comforting and the crowd mellow ands easy going. It was a young crowd, but when you are at an 18 + show, that should be expected. No booze, but you can «drink» if you bring the booze inside in a plastic cup or bottle, you just have to be discrete about it.
I recommend Modified if you like the PHX art scene. I have realized it is a small scene, as I have been running into people in the same places the last few weeks. the 5^th largest city, with a ensey weensy art scene.
Example: I bought a CD at the show from 2 dudes who were helping the band, I saw these same dudes at Casey Moore’s just a few hours later. I guess a lesson to be learned is if you are going to run in the circles of the Art Scene, try not to get on anyone’s bad side, because you are bound to run into them some where else.

A decent tiny ‘art gallery’ venue that hosts bands during the weekdays and weekends. Arcade Fire played here. So did Matt Pond PA, along with many other ‘obscure’ bands most people have never heard of — let alone had any compulsion to go see.
Place gets crowded and stuffy inside. We’re talking sweat rolling down your temples when you’re just standing around. Perhaps they’ve done something to fix this since I’ve been? I do hope so.
Not my must-​stop destination, but if a band I liked was playing or a group of friends wanted to go check it out, I wouldn’t object.

A great little place to see shows, very small, very intimate, a great setting for seeing a band. If a band you want to see is playing here, be sure to go, it doesn’t get anymore up close and personal than this.
There is no seating or alcohol, so if you don’t mind standing and being sober, it is well worth it.
The art here is some of First Friday’s best, as far as I am concerned, leagues above all the other galleries. Be sure to stop and see the art here if you are out then.

I’ve mostly only been here to see bands, but it’s a decent little venue. They sell snacks and drinks, but no alcohol. The place is kinda dirty and there’s no place to sit — standards of a place like this. Also standard is the fact that the sound is usually kinda crappy. I’ve been going to small shows in the valley for almost 20 years (wow, that hurts to say out loud), and this is as good a place as any other crappy dump I’ve been to. The best thing I can say about it is that it doesn’t smell like piss.
The crowd on any given night can be a little too «look at me» for my taste, but it’s not like you have much choice if your favorite band is playing here. Parking is in a pot hole filled mostly dirt lot, so expect your car to be filthy and if it has been raining, expect mud. With nowhere to sit inside, most people spend half the show out in front sitting on a dirty stoop — everyone smoking.
The people that operate this place are pretty laid back it seems. I think if I was still in a band, I’d book a show here. As far as going to shows here, I’m perhaps getting a little too old to be going to shows at places like this — it’s more for the kids if you ask me… but if a favorite or friend’s band is playing here, count me in.
As for the art — well, that’s all totally subjective. Due to its location, it is a prime setting for a start point or an end point to your First Friday tour.

So once I filled up my flask of goldschlager last night, I headed off to go see the Besnard Lakes at Modified. It was a typically vacant concert at Modified like most I have been to.
This is partially do to good reason as this place is a terrible venue for a concert. The band and crowd have to be very small to enjoy a concert. The place is extremely small, the stage very low, and every spot in the venue is uncomfortably close and awkward. The band also has to be packing their own equipment because the sound there is terrible.
My worst experience with the sound there was actually a packed beyond capacity night when Clap Your Hands Say Yea and the National came. This was part due to CYHSY being one of the worst live bands in existence, part due to the frontman’s god awful voice, but also heavily due to the house PA that crackled and breaked and blurted unevenly as he belted his patented cat-​in-​a-​meat-​grinder vocals.
But now in the present they are making strides to make this place less of a shithole. They finished giving the outside a slick new look with some corregated metal and some new windows. They are now switching their focus inside which means unfortunately no art right now, which is usually the best thing about going to a show there.
The two house speakers also appear to have been upgraded because the sound for Besnard Lakes (fuckin trippy man) and Starvin Hungry when combined with the bands’ own equipment was great.
The other main issue of course is their complete lack of alcohol. However, I found out in an interview I had at Dial (of all places) that you can bring in your own. The guy I was interviewing with was in a band that played there sometimes and said you can bring in closed cans. (I didn’t get the job by the way, don’t talk about alcohol in an interview kids) Last night I asked a guy who worked there and he said the policy is that they don’t allow you to bring alcohol in, but if they can’t tell its alcohol they won’t care. But now with the Lost Leaf and Roosevelt within walking distance you can always get a fix between sets if you don’t want to bring alcohol there on your own.
This place, like many in Phoenix, reminds me of a great spot in Tucson that somehow the «superior» city managed to royally screw up. In this case its Solar Culture, the Tucson arthouse/​music venue where they freely and openly allow you to bring in alcohol. People go there with backpacks of booze. It’s awesome. It is also much larger and taller with a raised stage and better sound system and way more art.
Modified gets 2 stars as a music venue. 4 stars as an art gallery. Averaged to 3.

A concert venue without booze? How can it be? Those were my thoughts when I went to a local music showcase here a month ago and realized I was going to have to watch a show without my trusty beer in my hand. The horror!
Since they don’t have a bar, the venue attracts that all-​ages crowd, which translates to under 21. I’m not a fan of being packed in with the mini Pete Wentz and Avril Lavigne’s of this world so I was miserable in this small spot.
If you’re underage, you’ll probably dig it here. It is a great place to see the up-​and-​coming indie rock bands. If you’re 21-​or-​over, just be prepared to do this without a drink in hand.
It’s usually packed with a very young crowd and the small venue doesn’t serve any alcohol. A concert veny

My favorite Modified memories:
–Piebald. Super fun!
–The last Suicide Nation show with Jeromes Dream, Usurp Synapse, and Racebannon. Seriously some of the most intense sets ever.
–Love Life and Get Hustle.
–Getting drunk outside while my friend thought he gave a homeless person his car keys in a handful of coins from his pocket. After breaking his passenger window with a brick, he found them in THE GLOVE BOX. Who puts their keys in the glove box?!
–More recently, any time I walk through it now during First Friday to see some (usually) wonderful artwork.
I hope Modified never goes anywhere. I’ve got some iffy memories too that are mostly tied to how sketchy the surrounding neighborhood used to be, but it is incredible to see how much it has come along.

I’ve dropped into Modified Arts a few times and always am impressed.
The first run through was on a First Friday so it was super busy as I had guessed it would be but noticeably different from the other places around it.
It is a coffee bar fully equipped to take on live music acts. I’m not sure what the status is or if they are even pursuing a liquor license, but if they did get one, that would be one more check mark in the «sweet» column.

I like Modified.
The art is usually alright and the venues can be pretty awesome.
One thing I don’t like is how sweaty it gets. It usually smells of Bed Head products and burnt hair because of the little hipster kids. Not a fan of that sent so much.
Modified usually has some good indie bands playing, however Bright Eyes has yet to play there. Aww shucks.

An art/​performance studio AND music venue (All Ages [as they regretfully have no liquor license]) focusing on regional creativity and the occasional national touring act. The interior is beautiful, extremely intimate and the PA/​sound is great. Unfortunately I find the booking to be based around MySpace bands … lots of children (who mostly are friends of the young bands playing) and sadly zero liquor …