DJ LES735 @ Red Owl

Jean Grae comes across as the kind of lyricist you don’t want to mess with. “You Don’t Like It (So What),” from her forthcoming album, Cake or Death, states it plainly: “I’m like Judy Bloom with uzis.” You wouldn’t expect DJ LES735 (a.k.a. Luis Sias), who will be spinning at…

Black Bottom Lighters @ Marquee Theatre

Just a few weeks ago, Beef Vegan of KWSS 106.7’s The Morning Infidelity asked New Times music editor Jason Woodbury when the Black Bottom Lighters should expect a write-up in our humble alt-weekly. While the band was sitting in the studio. Not that we’re feeling the pressure — the Glendale…

Lil Wayne Postpones Tonight’s Valley Stop

​The concert gods giveth and the concert gods taketh away. Phoenix has been getting a whole lot on the giveth side lately. (Is this punishment for the whole Bon Iver-Fleet Foxes thing?!) The taketh part came with an announcement yesterday afternoon that Lil Wayne postponed his Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion…

Interview with the Vampire: Bryan Lightningrod Speaks, Further Creeps

​Oh, dear god. What have I done?Last week I wrote about my discovery of 37-year-old Chandler “scene” creep Bryan Lightningrod. I mean, “97-year-old vampire from Cairo” Bryan Lightningrod. Whatever. Same difference. The point is, he solicits fan photos, regardless of their nature, and posts them to his Facebook, MySpace, Twitter,…

College Dropouts Re-Enrolls at Same Tempe Location

​It looks like College Dropouts is ready to hit the books — er, bottle — again, just in time for the new ASU semester. The bar, tucked away on College Avenue near Sun Devil Stadium, closed in April when the owner was unable to reach a lease agreement with the building’s…

Lil Wayne

Just last month, Lil Wayne considered retiring from music after he releases his new disc, Tha Carter IV, in August. But if this tour is any indication, Lil Wayne shows no signs of stopping yet. After sobering up and buckling down, Weezy is amidst a full blown nationwide tour, landing…

Diamond Head @ The Clubhouse Music Venue

Music experts have long debated who exactly spawned that loud, angry beast that is heavy metal, but most everyone agrees that Led Zeppelin are the genre’s absentee forefathers. Yeah, go ahead and scrunch your nose, but it’s true in a way: Led Zeppelin, along with Black Sabbath and Deep Purple,…

Michael James @ Axis/Radius

Since fist-pumping his way from his hometown of Miami to making Scottsdale his new scene of choice, Michael James has certainly been a busy dude. He regularly spreads his time between hitting the clubs in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and right here in the Valley, moving between Old Town’s Axis/Radius…

DJ Michael James on the Life of a Wayward DJ

​DJ Michael James is record-hugging transient of sorts. The Cream Stereo Lounge resident DJ divides his time between his home in Scottsdale, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, occasionally venturing off the west coast to perform gigs in his hometown of Miami. All of the traveling hasn’t sucked his energy, though. His…

Boys and Frogs New Video for “Heir to Stares”

​Over the last year, director Daniel Emerson Williams has thrice turned Peoria’s Boys and Frogs into a pack of creepsters. First with “In Dreams” (Seriously, is that dude wearing a bone tie!?), then with the high budget, stalker-filled “Old Tribes.” Just over two months after their last video release, Williams…

Last Night: Death Cab for Cutie at Comerica Theatre

Death Cab for Cutie Comerica Theatre Monday, August 15 There’s always been something I’ve resented about Death Cab for Cutie, but I could never really put a finger on it. Last night’s show at Comerica Theatre defined it perfectly. The band hasn’t been truly “underground” since its earliest days, but…

The Decemberists at Mesa Arts Center With Video, 8/11/11

The DecemberistsMesa Arts CenterThursday, August 11I guess I had The Decemberists pegged wrong. Here’s this insanely popular indie-folk-Americana blended outfit with heavily starched clothing that comes from (where else?) Portland, Oregon. Yes, lead singer and songwriter Colin Meloy has a beard. Yes, they’re touring with a female musician with an…

Seven Nights of DJs and Dancing

THURSDAY 11 27th Avenue Bar: DJ Manage, & DJ Android (Top 40, dance) Afterlife: Thumpin Thurzdays (various) AZ/88: Josh One (rare groove, urban funk) Bar Smith: Splash Thursday (reggae, dancehall, Top 40, house) Bikini Lounge: DJ Shane Kennedy (jazz, blues, country, R&B, rarities, vintage) Blue Martini: Rewind Thursday with DJ…

DJ Jaybird @ The Lost Leaf

Following a 16-year career and four-year album-making process, Los Angeles-based DJ Jaybird’s first full-length record was finally released in March, and it’s all him — sort of. At least that’s the title. It’s All Me features a collection of DJ Jaybird originals and dubstep-ified remixes of high-profile tunes like Cee-Lo…

Days of the New @ Martini Ranch

We’re going to play nice. Days of the New singer Travis Meeks has had it rough over the years. A kidney stone in 1999 led to an addiction to painkillers, which led to cocaine and, finally, meth. He even appeared in 2005 on A&E’s Intervention to document the whole thing…