Ana Popović returns to Phoenix in January, this time at MIM

The blues guitarist's last Phoenix show was at the Rhythm Room in 2024. On Sunday, Jan 17, 2027, she plays the Musical Instrument Museum's 300-seat Music Theater with a newer album behind her.

The last time Ana Popović played Phoenix, it was a Friday night at the Rhythm Room, on Sept 20, 2024. Her next visit moves across town to a very different room: a 300-seat theater inside a museum of musical instruments.

Ana Popović plays the Musical Instrument Museum Music Theater on Sunday, Jan 17, 2027, at 7pm. The show was announced Oct 27, and tickets are sold through MIM's own site. The theater holds 300.

Since that Rhythm Room show she has put out a new record. *Dance To The Rhythm*, on Electric Heel Records, came out on Sept 26, 2025, according to German tour listings for the album's run. She has been touring it since, including a fall 2026 European leg with stops in Dillingen, Germany, on Oct 18 and Mulhouse, France, on Nov 10. By the time she reaches Phoenix the album will have been on the road for more than a year.

Fans who go back further will remember *Trilogy*, the 2016 project that Vintage Guitar described as three thematically linked albums, with 15 of its 23 songs written by Popović in different styles. The guest list Guitar World previewed included Joe Bonamassa, Robert Randolph, Bernard Purdie and Cody Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars.

A guitarist's guitarist, in a room built by people who care about how instruments sound.

The room is the other half of the story. MIM's Music Theater opened in April 2010, designed with acoustics as a priority. According to trade coverage of the build, theater consultants Auerbach Pollock Friedlander worked with RSP Architects and acoustics consultant Shen Milsom Wilke on the layout. The theater now uses an all-Meyer Sound loudspeaker and monitor system. The Rhythm Room is a club. MIM is a seated theater where you'll hear every note of the guitar.

What's changed since 2024: a new album, a European tour and a quieter, seated room. What to expect: a Sunday-evening show with a 7pm start, in a 300-seat theater where nobody is far from the stage. With that few seats, January's show won't last long on sale.

Tickets are on MIM's site at the link above. The museum is worth the trip on its own. With Popović on its stage, it's worth a Sunday.

Sources: ANA POPOVIC Dance To The Rhythm & Special Guests — Tour 2026 (mvp.de) (mvp.de); Ana Popovic — Dance To The Rhythm Tour 2026, Dillingen/Saar (regioactive) (regioactive.de); Ana Popovic at Noumatrouff — JamBase (jambase.com); Ana Popovic — Vintage Guitar (vintageguitar.com); Ana Popovic premieres new song 'She Was a Doorman' — Guitar World (guitarworld.com); About MIM's Music Theater — MIM (mim.org); Auerbach Pollock Friedlander completes work at Musical Instrument Museum — Live Design (livedesignonline.com); Meyer Sound at the Musical Instrument Museum — LSi (lsionline.com); MIM Music Theater tickets (mim.org); JamBase listing (jambase.com)