Phyoe Thaung
Sep 21, 2026
Gym Class Heroes reached across more than two decades of music at Arizona Financial Theatre, mixing familiar favorites with a look at where the project is heading next.
Gym Class Heroes brought the Back to Basics Tour to Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix on September 18, returning with a set that pulled from different points across a catalog stretching back more than two decades.
That catalog has never fit neatly into one genre. Hip-hop has always been at the center, but pop hooks, rock instrumentation, and a live band have given Gym Class Heroes a sound that sits somewhere between several scenes. That mix remained intact in Phoenix, where older songs shared the set with the project’s newest material.
At the center of the performance was Travie McCoy, who spent much of the night moving between songs and conversations with the crowd. His humor carried into those exchanges, but there were also more personal moments as he spoke openly between songs and regularly turned the attention back toward the audience.
There was plenty of history for the Phoenix crowd to respond to. Early tracks like “Papercuts” and “Taxi Driver” reached back to the band's first years, while “Cookie Jar” and “Cupid’s Chokehold” brought the room into more familiar territory. The latter remains one of Gym Class Heroes’ most recognizable songs, and its chorus required little help from McCoy as voices across Arizona Financial Theatre filled in the words.
The set also made room for McCoy's solo catalog. “Billionaire” brought another immediate sing-along, with the 2010 hit fitting comfortably between the Gym Class Heroes songs surrounding it.
But the set wasn't built entirely around looking backward.
“Universal Language,” the first new Gym Class Heroes single in years, arrived alongside songs fans have known for much longer. Rather than separating the new material into its own moment, its placement within the set put it directly in conversation with the band's earlier work.
The newer material didn't feel disconnected from what came before it. Rap, melody, and live instrumentation were still at the center, even as the writing came from a different point in McCoy's life.
That balance carried into McCoy's performance. He could joke with the room between songs before moving into something considerably more personal, a contrast that has long been present in Gym Class Heroes' music.
The live instrumentation was just as important. Guitar, bass, and drums gave the songs more room onstage, keeping the performance rooted in the band-driven sound that has separated Gym Class Heroes from many of the hip-hop and pop acts they came up alongside.
By the time “Stereo Hearts” arrived, Arizona Financial Theatre was back in full sing-along mode. It was the kind of song that needed little introduction, with the opening lines enough to get the crowd involved.
More than anything, the Phoenix stop caught Gym Class Heroes at an interesting point. Songs from different eras of the catalog now sit alongside new music, giving the Back to Basics Tour plenty of history without making the show entirely about the past.