It saddens us to report this, but Tempe music venue The Sets has gone belly up after five years. As in closed. Finito. The big goodbye. The multi-room bar and nightclub shut its doors permanently on Sunday night following a local battle of the bands showcase. But as startled as…
The music world was stunned and saddened by the tragic and untimely passing of DJ AM (a.k.a. Adam Goldstein), who was found dead in his NYC apartment this past Friday. It’s been reported that the 36-year-old superstar was the victim of an apparent accidental drug overdose. The shockwaves from Goldstein’s…
In 2001, Wegner launched a class dedicated to the ins and outs of the DJ biz over at Scottsdale Community College, the first of its kind in the Valley (which got some ink in the pages of the Wall Street Journal). It’s since expanded to three separate courses that cover…
Welcome back from your summertime hiatus. Your absence was particularly missed by local bar and club owners, as was your supply of disposable income. A few things are different since you squeaked through final exams in May. The light rail started running until last call, which means you can have…
Filmed and edited by local lensman Giulio Sciorio (who’s photog work has been featured in New Times over the past few years), the three-minute video is for the single “Gravity” and is a vibrant nighttime tour of some of the cooler/funkier parts of downtown Phoenix. Oren and Carnegie hop onboard…
Rumors have been swirling about the Interweb over the past few days that Chad Qualls might soon find himself hurling the ball for another team, especially after the Arizona Diamondbacks closer was placed on waivers earlier this week. But whatever luster the right-hander has earned this season (23 saves, 3.73…
Phoenix has been good to DJ Emile. Throughout a big chunk of the ’90s, the outspoken mixmaster amassed some hefty fame and fortune as one-third of the PHX’s notorious turntablism triumvirate, the Bombshelter DJs. Together with Z-Trip and Radar, the trio rocked many an underground party while working the wheels…
As the terrifying titan known as the Undertaker walked through clouds of smoke during last night’s WWE Smackdown tapings at U.S. Airways Center, thousands of raucous wrestling fans held up their cell phones like Zippos at an arena rock show to pierce the darkness with glowing points of light. That’s…
While this will undoubtedly cause a certain amount of disgust to our readership, World Wrestling Entertainment’s visit to the Valley last night had much in common with many of the concerts we’ve reviewed on this blog: blaring rock music, bad makeup jobs, spandex tights, and plenty of pyrotechnics. The U.S…
Are you willing to cram into a smallish watering hole to watch notorious country crooner David Allan Coe offend and enthrall? Let’s hope so, as Coe has rescheduled his recently canceled gig for Sunday, September 13, for Last Exit Bar & Grill in Tempe. Local roots-rockers hashKnife Outfit and Chip…
Bad Boy Bill, DJ Skribble, Adam Goldstein, Scotty Boy, Steve Aoki, and Q-Bert. What do all these cats have in common? They’re some of the best DJs and turntablists that our country has to offer. And every last one of them were soundly defeated by Z-Trip to become “America’s Best…
Things just keep on rollin’ for Vince Payne (a.k.a. Maja). If you didn’t catch Lauren Gilger’s recent post on Chow Bella, the local geek-friendly hip-hop lyricist (who I wrote about back in 2007) was tapped by McDonald’s to spit some rhymes for some TV and radio ads touting their summertime drink…
If you were one of the jilted music fans who got burned when Bob Dylan wimped out of his scheduled outdoor performance a couple weeks back, the folk rock legend has a way to make it up to you: He’s putting on a free show…sorta. Dylan is set to perform…
Hard Luck got his ticket punched during the third inning when his first pitch to four-time All-Star infielder Chase Utley became a two-run homer. His nightmare continued in the fifth as Jimmy Rollins smacked a line-drive double and Shane Victorino hit a grounder single before watching Ryan Howard clear the bases from…
If ever there were a theme song for Scottsdale’s current nightlife situation, it would undeniably be David Bowie’s 1971 hit “Changes.” Especially since Old Town’s scene has been in major flux this summer. Renowned establishments like Sugar Daddy’s and Mickey’s Hangover have blinked out of existence and weeklies like House 7340…
For Valley pro-wrestling fanatics, March 28 can’t get here quick enough. That red-letter date is when next year’s WrestleMania XVII comes to town, and the pay-per-view extravaganza (dubbed the “Super Bowl of wrestling”) promises to be one hell of a party. For grappling groupies, it’ll be like Woodstock, Christmas, and…
[jump] The circumstances behind the cancellation are somewhat murky. We spoke with the folks at Venue of Scottsdale, who told us they had contract negotiation issues with Coe’s people and were unable to come to an agreement. The show was supposedly moving to Last Exit Bar & Grill in Tempe, but…
When the 34-year-old drops his tracks, it isn’t happening inside some bourgie-looking DJ booth at an Old Town Scottsdale club like Martini Ranch or Axis/Radius for a couple thousand peeps. Nope, his chosen venue is a wee bit larger. Namely, Chase Field in downtown Phoenix, where an average of 25,000…
That nutty naturalist Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “All good things are cheap.” Frankly, we couldn’t agree with the Walden author more, especially since our weekend roundup if chock full of events and gigs that are both boffo and bargain minded. There’s hip-hop shows, industrial rock blowouts, and even some…
The force is quite strong with DJ Dark Vader. While he doesn’t wield a lightsaber or bomb around in a TIE Fighter (at least, not that we’re aware of), the renowned mixmaster has spent the past few months making the East Valley a little bit more irie with his weekly…
After getting battered about by Arizona over the past two weeks both at home and on the road, the New York Mets dished out a little comeuppance by defeating the D-Backs, 6-4, this afternoon at Chase Field. Led by the surprisingly sturdy pitching of lefty Oliver Perez (who’s had a…
If nothing else, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ disastrous 2009 season will be remembered for the number of breakout stars it’s helped to spawn. From mustachioed pitcher Clay Zavada to walking tattoo canvas Ryan Roberts, the burgeoning ball-playing talents of this year’s crop of Baby Backs have helped provide a reason to…
