On Saturday, April 19, the Sedona Teen Center provides Sedona’s youth with a hardcore rock concert.

Phoenix-based band Defy Tomorrow will hit the stage at 8 p.m. and play a concert aimed at Sedona’s teens — only those age 18 and younger will be admitted.

The Sedona Teen Center is located at 480 Posse Ground Road, West Sedona.

 Defy Tomorrow is headlined by lead vocalist Marissa Mishelle and rhythm guitarist and backup vocalist Mike Oliver.

Mishelle appeared on MTV at age 16 and her debut solo release aired on MTV, MTV Overdrive and Music Nation.

“I’ve always loved rock,” she said. “It’s a good complement. It was a really good mix.”

Originally from California, Oliver moved to Phoenix seven years ago. He began playing music around age 14 and formed the band ColdFusion, which has played previous shows at the teen center.

ColdFusion was featured on HBO’s premiere episode of “Dane Cook’s Tourgasm,” a touring comedy show documentary.

ColdFusion toured with Van’s Warped Tour, Nintendo Fusion Tour, Taste of Chaos and an international tour in Japan. They also appeared alongside Nickelback, Killswitch Engage, Fallout Boy, The Used and Staind.

Oliver and Mishelle write the songs together, generally with Oliver first playing guitar riffs or a melody while Mishelle writes down lyrics, then they lay down tracks.

The coalescence creates a hearty rock core with driving rhythms as a distinctly female vocal register floats above, contrasting the masculine angst teeming below.

Oliver gives the lower registers embodiment when his voice,  singing backup vocals, rises to complement or contrast with Mishelle’s.

Tickets are $5 for members of the teen center, $7 for nonmembers. Proceeds benefit the Sedona Teen Center.

Defy Tomorrow is currently booked for nine gigs on this year’s Van’s Warped Tour, the first of which kicks off on Wednesday, June 25.

The band will also be on MTV this summer, although they can’t release specific details due to their contract.

“We’re hoping to bring freaking rock ’n’ roll and smash some heads out,” Oliver said.

“We want to reach out to them, have them feel the music and have a totally awesome time,” Mishelle said.

For more information, call the teen center at 203-9919.

Christopher Fox Graham

Larson Newspapers