Play Ball With A ’90s And 2000s Team-Up: Innings Festival 2025

The crack of a bat. A distinctive thwack of ball meeting glove.

Various musical acts blasting through the open air.

These are the sounds of baseball returning to the desert, but also the return of the annual Innings Fest Tempe music festival. A two-day affair full of the loud powerful musical acts, baseball activities & legends, and plenty of food and drinks.

Entranced by the meeting of baseball and music last year, it was an easy call to return to Tempe. This time to really take in the whole experience, by attending both days of the annual event. Maybe next year, I’ll be able to stay long enough to throw in the extra weekend as well, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

This year’s festival was headlined by Fall Out Boy and The Killers on Friday and Saturday respectively. Filling out the list of acts were the likes of Incubus, The Black Keys, Slightly Stoopid, The All-American Rejects, Neon Trees, Beck, Gary Clark Jr, Boyz II Men, Grace Bowers & The Hodge Podge, and many more.

The baseball side of things saw the return of speed pitching and batting cages as well as entertainment in the form of Off The Mound featuring Ryan Dempster. Major League Baseball related figures included legends like Chili Davis, Jake Peavy, Evan Longoria, Jim Abbott, Vince Coleman, Ben Zobrist, Brett Butler, Junior Spivey, and ESPN’s Jessica Mendoza.

Fans were able to meet and greet with these legends while partaking in things like baseball trivia. Various members of the musical acts graced the stage to chat with Dempster, giving the Left Field stage area a very interesting and cool vibe.

Friday offered a greatly packed space as people filled the paths, politely making room for one another. Finding the best ways to partake of the festival atmosphere while camping out comfortably for their prefered acts.

Showmanship was on full display as various band figures let loose interacting with the crowd in hilarious, flirtatious, and sometimes humorously self-deprecating ways. Each of the acts felt very thematically linked and complementary in their styles. From the sounds of Neon Trees all the way to the fireworks and fire heavy discography spanning mega show put on Fall Out Boy.

Crowds stood shoulder to shoulder taking in the almost sexual energy released by All-American Rejects as they serenaded us with:

• Dirty Little Secret
• Fallin’ Apart
• My Paper Heart
• One More Sad Song
• I Wanna
• Sweat
• Sandbox
• Fast and Slow
• Swing, Sing
• It Ends Tonight
• Move Along
• Gives You Hell

All of that carried over into Incubus and The Black Keys performances. Culminating with the spectacular finale set from Fall Out Boys taking us through the years:

• Chicago Is So Two Years Ago
• Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy
• Sugar, We’re Going Down
• Dance, Dance
• A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More “Touch Me”
• Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying
• This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race
• Thriller
• Bang The Doldrums
• Thnks fr th Mmrs
• Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes
• I Don’t Care
• The Phoenix
• My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)
• Uma Thurman
• The Kids Aren’t Alright
• Immortals
• The Last of the Real Ones
• Golden
• What A Catch, Donnie
• So Much (for) Stardust
• Love From The Other Side
• Fake Out
• Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet
• Centuries
• Saturday

Speaking of Saturday, it was a much more chill affair.

While the crowds were still plentiful, there was a calmer atmosphere with more space to navigate and take in the festival. Themes wise there was a more hodge podge feeling (fitting since there was a band with that actual name). Offering more eclectic mixtures of music such as the more funkish sounds of Grace Bowers & the aforementioned Hodge Podge to the soulful ballads and cover song featuring set of Boyz II Men.

Evening saw the crowds pick up a bit as Beck took the stage continuing the eclectic vibes and memorable songs:

• Devil’s Haircut
• Mixed Bizness
• The New Pollution
• Que Onda Guero
• Nicotine & Gravy
• Wow
• Debra
• Gamma Ray
• Girl
• Go It Alone
• Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime
• Soul Of A Man
• Lost Cause
• Dreams
• Sexx Laws
• Loser
• E-Pro
• One Foot In the Grave
• Where It’s At

Concluding with a memorable finale from The Killers, which included one fan living out a dream. Taking the stage to play the drums during a song all because they caught sight of his birthday sign and wish.

They played a wide list of their hits including:

• Centerfield
• Brightside
• Spaceman
• The Way It Was
• Smile Like You Mean It
• Shot At The Night
• Running Towards A Place
• Somebody Told Me
• For Reasons Unknown (With fan Christian on drums)
• A Dustland Fairytale
• Runaways
• Read My Mind
• Caution
• All These Things I’ve Done
• Human (Encore)
• When You Were Young (Encore)