Calendar for the week

thursday april 3 “It’s Only Rock and Roll: Rock and Roll Currents in Contemporary Art”: David Rubin, Phoenix Art Museum’s curator of 20th-century art, organized this exhibit, billed as an exploration of “rock as a social force in [contemporary] art” and including pieces by Annie Leibovitz, Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe,…

Calendar for the week

thursday march 27 “It’s Only Rock and Roll: Rock and Roll Currents in Contemporary Art”: David Rubin, Phoenix Art Museum’s curator of 20th-century art, organized this exhibit, billed as an exploration of “rock as a social force in [contemporary] art” and including pieces by Annie Leibovitz, Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe,…

Calendar for the week

thursday march 20 Critters Buggin: Let’s be blunt: New Bohemians, as a concept, warranted maybe five minutes of Andy Warhol’s industry-standard quarter-hour of fame. Still, the musicians who backed up neo-hepkitten Edie Brickell were generally excellent. Two of ’em, drummer Matt Chamberlain and bassist Brad Houser, prove it with this…

Calendar for the week

thursday march 13 Cactus League Baseball: The boys of spring are back for this year’s slate of preseason games, which continues daily, through Friday, March 28, at stadia Valleywide. On Thursday, March 13, the Milwaukee Brewers host the Colorado Rockies at 1:05 p.m., the Chicago Cubs play the Oakland A’s…

Pic Hits for the week

thursday march 6 Cactus League Baseball: The boys of spring are back for this year’s slate of preseason games, which continues daily, through Friday, March 28, at stadia Valleywide. On Thursday, March 6, the Oakland A’s play the Chicago Cubs, the Milwaukee Brewers take on the San Diego Padres, the…

Pic Hits for the week

thursday february 27 Cactus League Baseball: The boys of spring are back for this year’s slate of preseason games, which opens with a couple of charity matches on Thursday, February 27: The Seattle Mariners take on the San Diego Padres in a benefit for the Peoria Diamond Club at 1:05…

Pic Hits for the week

thursday february 20 Beck: No matter who scores the statuettes at the Grammy Awards on Wednesday, February 26–and the Grammys have historically, and notoriously, gone home in the limos of questionable recipients–Beck (real name: Beck Hansen) remains the big winner in the year in rock. It’s fashionable to link that…

Pic Hits for the week

thursday february 13 Big Jack Johnson and the Oilers: Mississippi Delta bluesman Johnson is that rare artist who evokes the musical voices of others without undermining his own. You’ll hear loving references to “Sittin’ on Top of the World” and “Proud Mary” on his new disc, We Got to Stop…

Pic Hits for the week

thursday february 6 “Art on the Edge of Fashion”: Arizona State University Art Museum curator Heather Lineberry organized this exhibit of unwearable wearables–i.e., clothing as metaphorical medium and jumping-off point for an examination of gender issues and “the nature of identity.” The exhibition, which also includes photos, sculpture, and installation…

Pic Hits for the week

thursday january 30 Eugene Chadbourne: “Dr. Chadbourne” is one of the last standing champions of noncommercial alternative music; if gonzo was a sound, it might sound something like his. The absolutely unpredictable and artistically unfettered guitarist has made forays into free jazz, acid rock, avant blues and faux-redneck noise (with…

Pic Hits for the week

thursday january 23 Tricky: The so-called “majesty of trip-hop” is an aural explorer, and he seems to have found the Northwest Passage connecting the strange-bedfellow forms of rap and new age–though not the new age of Windham Hill, not by a long shot. As the London-based musician/producer says, referencing the…

Pic Hits for the week

thursday january 16 Smokin’ Joe Kubek Band featuring Bnois King: A rock-solid blues band; these guys cook. Dual guitarists Kubek and King are the heart and soul, respectively, of the Dallas act, which has been on a steady rise since its 1991 debut for Bullseye/Rounder, Steppin’ Out Texas Style. The…

Kid Pics for the week

dream time MLK Breakfast and “PLAY for Peace”: See Friday in Pic Hits. MLK Reading: Borders Books & Music at 7320 West Bell in Glendale hosts a special kid-targeted presentation of speeches by the late social activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at noon Saturday, January 18. Admission is free;…

Pic Hits for the week

thursday january 9 Swinging on a Star: The Johnny Burke Musical: The late Burke wrote the words to some of our most memorable popular songs–including the title tune, “Pennies From Heaven,” “But Beautiful,” “Moonlight Becomes You” and “Misty”–and most of his career high notes are hit in this Tony-nominated homage…

Kid Pics for the week

good sports “Games and Sports of the Past”: Kids are introduced to turn-of-the-century pastimes like marbles, shuttlecock, cup and ball, and hoop racing at this old-timey event, slated for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, January 11, at Sirrine House Historic Museum, 160 North Center in Mesa. Admission and participation…

Pic Hits for the week

thursday january 2 Swinging on a Star: The Johnny Burke Musical: The late Burke wrote the words to some of our most memorable popular songs–including the title tune, “Pennies From Heaven” and “Misty”–and most of his career high notes are hit in this Tony-nominated homage by writer/director Michael Leeds. Arizona…

Kid Pics for the week

on the stage Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Readings: Cast members from the touring musical (see Thursday in Pic Hits) read from various works at 10:30 a.m. Friday, January 3, at Borders Books & Music at Biltmore Fashion Park, 24th Street and Camelback, Suite 200 (call 957-6660); at 11 a.m…

Pic Hits for the week

thursday december 26 “Converging Cultures: Art and Identity in Spanish America”: The installation at Phoenix Art Museum, 1625 North Central, details the new society that arose in the Americas in the 16th through 18th centuries, a byproduct of the shotgun marriage of European colonialism and native culture engendered by Spain’s…

Kid Pics for the week

good sports Fiesta Bowl National Junior Tennis Championships: United States Tennis Association-ranked players ages 12 to 18 compete in the 24th annual tourney, which has produced big-time competitors like Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Tracy Austin and Michael Chang. Preliminary rounds are scheduled Thursday, December 26; Friday, December 27; Saturday, December…

Kid Pics for the week

’tis the season “Brunch With The Velveteen Rabbit”: Accompanied kids meet and eat with the cast of Childsplay’s “24-carrot” holiday gift to the Valley at this fund raiser. Seatings are scheduled at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, December 21, in the Terrace Dining Room at the Phoenician resort, 6000…

Pic Hits for the week

thursday december 19 Baby, It’s Bright Outside: ZooLights; Fiesta of Light and Downtown Holiday Tree Tour; Ahwatukee-Foothills Festival of Lights: Phoenix Zoo, 455 North Galvin Parkway, in Papago Park, is garbed in its usual Technicolor dreamcoat during the facility’s fifth annual ZooLights display. The fun continues from 6 to 9…

Kid Pics for the week

’tis the season Arizona Snow Day: In conjunction with Tempe’s Fantasy of Lights (see the Events listing), the city hosts this free event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, December 14, at “Plazita de Descanzo,” Sixth Street and Mill. Highlights include a freak fall of 12 tons of snow,…