Highway Hotel Tour
Wax and DJ Hoppa Highway Hotel Tour, The Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix Arizona July 2026
Composite poster by Anjeanette
Tim was one of the first people stage front after the doors opened. He was using a mobility device that night because he had both legs surgically cut open from knee to heel just a few weeks ago! “I missed them last year when they were here, even though I basically just got out of the hospital I wasn’t gonna miss this”
He asked if I wanted to see pictures of the surgical cuts, and of course I did. Medicine is fascinating to me, or maybe I’m just an elder goth. But Tim’s being there really spoke to how fans of Wax and DJ Hoppa feel about the performers. The Crescent Ballroom was packed with family, not biological blood relatives, but lifelong fans supporting an artist they love.
The first act, Intuition, came out to warm everyone up. He writes amazing tracks, some with his young son, but the one that made all of us un-melanonated folks in the crowd stop and laugh had a drop dead hilarious line about white rappers using it to get famous …then becoming country stars. SO TRUE.
Later the audience was in awe when K.A.A.N. was up. His rap name stands for Knowledge Above All Nonsense, andHis rapid fire, hard hitting bars were so articulate.
He rapped distinctly about themes like politics and race, and mental health and they went so hard. It was education in motion. Although everyone was jumping to all of his songs, I feel like when he performed ‘Back To It’ the crowd erupted dancing and throwing shapes! He has a fantastic sounding voice, but his words and the stories he wove with them are powerful. He also brought Arizonas s own Ugly Ass Marley up to share the stage.
Then the lights dimmed and "Two Wheels" started and everyone's energy notched up even higher. No pun intended. Or is it?
Wax is constantly interacting happily with his fans with DJ Hoppa, leaning down to serenade them personally, joking between songs, remembering them from past shows, laughing at inside jokes, even very exclusive bathroom acoustic sets (iykyk). Onstage Hoppa and Wax joked around, having fun with their work in way that included us all.
I froze when Wax came over to ask my name between songs, photographers like to wear all black and strive to be subtle ninjas so we get great shots that feel less scripted or posed, and do not disrupt fans. Within 5 seconds I went from scared to embarrassed.
No no no no he isn’t going to talk to me. Think of something funny. Wait what is my name?
Kinda a Ruby Rocket moment where the mic goes to Corbin Dallas who pauses and delivers his name in monotone. But Wax isn’t just an entertainer, he is a supporter of everyone on and off the stage. He makes sure to make everyone feel appreciated.
Fan Kristin Ortega and her husband Enrique have traveled to go to different Wax concerts. When I complimented her shirt she excitably told me told me how they got it last year in Vegas on the “Lifetime Achievement” tour. Die hard fans and such a pleasure to meet!!
“He is very interactive with everyone who follows him and shows him support. He messages you back if you message him! Which is so cool. And last Christmas he sent me a free vinyl. I was going to pay for it and he said he was sending it to me as a Christmas present.”
Intuition: Instagram
Wax & Hoppa played favorites like ‘Doin Damage’, and the viral ‘Better When You're High’ . He also highlight music from his new album, with songs like Don't Need, with acoustic guitar.
My personal favorites were when he had K.A.A.N. and Inception up again rhyming with him and Hoppa!
Overall I felt like I was in a room with all of my best friends, we just hadn’t all met formally yet. People with arms around each other holding drinks and giant autographed posters singing along. It was such a break from the horrors of the news to laugh and enjoy music and watch a crowd of a variety of ages and races and places smiling to songs they clearly have memorized by heart. The Crescent is not an arena venue, so it always feels like you are in the front row from basically every spot.
The evening ended with DJ Hoppa filming and directing a music video of Wax after he jumped in the crowd. The way these guys delivered this show was so perfect , they made everyone there a part of the story and the music.
K.A.A.N. : Instagram
Ugly Ass Marley:
Phoenix Concert Photographer,
Anjeanette Photography, AZ
www.phoenixconcertphotography.com
