10cc Live at Phoenix's Celebrity Theater

Show Lineup: 10cc, opened by Max Gomez

Genre(s): Rock/Pop

Venue: The Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, AZ

Date: August 31st, 2025

Description: 10cc played a show at the legendary Celebrity Theater, and I was absolutely blown away. Not only were they amazing, but so was the venue itself and their opener, Max Gomez.

Last week, I had the absolute pleasure of seeing a few living legends. The band 10cc is well known for their songs "I’m Not In Love" and "The Things We Do For Love", but they are SO much more than that, and this concert really proved that to me. I went in only knowing a few songs outside of their biggest hits, and I left honestly loving every single song they played.

First off, let me start with the venue. I have to be honest and say that I had never heard of the Celebrity Theater before I bought the tickets to the show, but it was genuinely the coolest place I have ever seen a performance at. It is packed from wall to wall with historic pieces, and there are pictures galore from performances of almost every person you could ever imagine, from David Bowie to Lil’ Wayne. The most notable of these for me was Engelbert Humperdinck because that is my GOAT. Anyways, all of these pieces were downstairs in this beautiful lounge where they had live camera feeds of the stage, so if you really wanted to, you could watch the show from the bar. Also, unfortunately for us, they weren’t using this feature for our concert, but the stage actually rotates around in the center of the venue, which I thought was really cool, and I had never heard of anything quite like it.

After I finished gushing over all of the amazing artifacts in the lounge, we took our seats, and the show eventually started. First, they auctioned off a couple of signed guitars for charity (which was really fun to watch, to be honest), and then out came Max Gomez. Usually, I am not too big a fan of openers (sorry), and I just want to get on with the main act, but luckily, this was not even CLOSE to being the case for this show. He began to sing, and I was absolutely entranced. Every song he did was acoustic, and he sang alone, only accompanied by the stomping of his boots or a harmonica. To me, he had a similar sound to Bob Dylan (and when he pulled the harmonica out, he REALLY sounded like him), but also had more of a country twang in his voice. Also, in between songs, he did a really great job of storytelling and prepping us for the next song he was going to sing. Overall, he was a really beautiful singer and songwriter, and if you’re interested, I recommend "Roses On The Moon" because that was my favorite song of his that he sang.

Max Gomez

Now, for the main act. I knew I was going to have a fun time at this concert, because, duh, it’s a concert, and duh, it’s 10cc, but I was actively laughing for like 80% of it. These guys were so funny and theatrical despite their older ages (besides one of the lead singers who was younger since he joined later). They did little bits of choreographed knee kicks or acting like they were fighting, and it was so silly and fun. I didn’t really know what to expect going in, but they really surpassed my hopes.

As for the music, obviously, it was incredible. This tour is their “greatest hits” tour, so every single song was great, and they played all of my favorites. One of the most notable songs for me was "Dreadlock Holiday" because all of the older ladies in the crowd were up and dancing for that one. It makes me smile even now because it was just such a fun environment, and you could really tell that everyone was enjoying themselves. They eventually played "The Things We Do For Love" and I distinctly remember them saying, “This one needs no introduction,” and boy, were they right, because everyone was HOWLING (me included) when the song began. All of their voices sounded as good live as they did on the recordings, which I thought was quite remarkable based on how long it had been since they recorded the songs, and I was especially impressed when they played "I’m Not In Love". This song was like a spiritual

10cc's lead vocalists

experience. I was so locked in on the stage. The younger member of the band took the lead for the most part, but the rest of the band was going STRONG on the vocals, and I literally felt like I was floating. It was one of the greatest live songs I have ever experienced.

The band eventually left the stage, and I turned to my friend and said something along the lines of, “Aw man, they didn’t play 'Rubber Bullets'” because that’s one of my favorite songs of theirs. Then, lo and behold, they return to the stage and sing their absolute classic of a song "Donna" in a sort of barbershop quartet style. I can remember this performance so clearly in my mind because they made it really funny and were bobbing up and down the whole time and “bullying” one of the members. Also, to finish out the song, their drummer, who doesn’t do vocals, came to the front and sang the lowest note I have ever heard come from a human. But finally, they did a little outro and said how this would be their last song of the night, and then BAM, they start playing "Rubber Bullets". Naturally, I go crazy, and everyone is dancing in their seats because it’s just such a fun song, and really a great one to end on. The song concludes, they take their final bows, and we honestly left as fast as possible because the theater was freezing cold, but we took in the remaining sights on our way out.

All in all, this concert was such an incredible experience and I had the time of my life. My friend and I left as fans of many more songs than when we went in, and also as fans of Max Gomez. (I am honestly still in awe of him while writing this.) If you ever have the chance of seeing either 10cc or Max Gomez live, TAKE THAT CHANCE. Also, if you don’t know where 10cc got their name, you should look that up because that’s a fun fact, and I don’t think I can say it on here. Anyways, I am eternally grateful for this amazing experience and to my lovely friend for going with me as last minute plans.

Madisen Hively

9/7/202