If you’ve ever doubted Kanye West’s place in the music game consider this: The man is now scrapping with legendary Death Row Records founder Suge Knight. You know, Suge. The guy who broke up N.W.A, dangled Vanilla Ice off a hotel balcony and stole Dr. Dre’s long time lady.Though seemingly…
The future of KJZZ has been a hot topic for a week or so now. The debate started with a Facebook group called “Bring Independent Music to KJZZ” which now racked up 1,000+ fans and continued when the station’s music director, Blaise Lantana, chimed in to defend her jazz-only programming.This…
You can’t listen to more than 30 seconds of Sand Rubies’ 1990 single “We Don’t Do That Anymore” before it become obvious that the Gin Blossoms weren’t the first Arizona band doing the jangle-pop thing.Tucson’s Sand Rubies — originally called The Side Winders before a North Carolina cover band sued…
Remember the good ol’ days, when area indie rock festivals were “Presented by Such-and-Such” or “The Such-and-Such Company’s Festival/Throwdown/Party/Show”? That’s apparently old and busted. The new hotness? Suitefest: Presented by Campus Suites. How’s that for branding, marketing majors? I won’t pretend to understand much about Tempe’s Campus Suites student-oriented housing…
I really should stop beating on the Arizona Republic’s “Reader’s Choice” poll — poorly conceived and executed though it may be. However, a reader just pointed out two other real gems in the “best annual music festival or event” category.Go down this list and pick out which two festivals didn’t…
Longtime PHXmusic.com readers may remember the scandal surrounding the “Best Local Band” category in last year’s Arizona Republic readers’ choice poll. First, the paper put together a terrible list (Asses of Evil?), then it allowed Isle of Essence to dominate the competition, so much so that the band declared themselves…
Tickets for Lady Gaga’s July 31 show at US Airways Center go on sale this Saturday, April 10, at 10 a.m.If you want to see The Monster Ball tour you’d better be at www.LiveNation.com with a credit card in hand at 9:55 a.m. since 16 dates have already sold out.While…
Tempe’s Hoodlums record store and Spraygraphic, an online community of artists and designers founded by two locals present open their latest show “The Lost Album Art” Saturday. The show, the fourth Hoodlums and Spraygraphic have teamed up for, will run for one month. It’s high concept and very cool: Spraygraphic…
Tempe Music Festival was supposed to be this weekend at Tempe Beach Park. That plan was scrapped back in February when organizers decided they needed to take a year off before mustering the resources to host another two-day event.What do we get instead? The finals of the festival’s Garage Band…
Remember the good ol’ days, when area indie rock festivals were “Presented by Such-and-Such” or “The Such-and-Such Company’s Festival/Throwdown/Party/Show”?That’s apparently old and busted. The new hotness? Suitefest: Presented by Campus Suites.How’s that for branding, marketing majors?I won’t pretend to understand much about Tempe’s Campus Suites student-oriented housing. I imagine it…
”Don’t let your mouth write a check that your tail can’t cash” — Bo Diddley, coining an age-old axiom. “Props to [Karnivorous BBQ Team] for having brisket when everyone else was out, even if that intensely-dry brisket tasted a lot like licking a leather purse. We’ve made a little barbecue…
Kinch has always been an ambitious band. Still, I was almost taken aback by the Phoenix piano-pop outfit’s latest project, a remix/b-sides collection called Ziptape.Not only is the music awesome — a live acoustic version of the rare track “Oh Boy” (one of my favorite songs the band has done)…
When the Arizona Republic posted a story on April 1 about CityScape’s adding a giant comedy club, I sorta figured it was an April Fools Day prank. Nope.Stand Up Live, a 17,000-square-foot space with 600 seats, will be located next to Lucky Strike Bowling on the second level of the…
Circus Mexicus just kicked things up a bit.Okay, terrible puns aside, the soccer tournament Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers have scheduled for this year’s big drunken party in Rocky Point seems like a good idea. The World Cup will be going on at the same time, which is what inspired…
I was excited to see an e-mail about the new Against Me! record, due June 8 on Sire. As the band’s publicist says, the record from one of the best live bands I’ve seen in the past year was produced by Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, etc., etc.) so it…
Halocene, a female-fronted Valley pop-rock act I kinda like, is scheduled play at this Saturday’s Phoenix Coyote’s game. The show will be staged just outside the doors of Jobing.com Arena and will run from 5:30 until just before the game begins.I won’t be there, having vowed to not travel to…
There’s an interesting facebook battle shaping up over the future of Phoenix’s NPR affiliate, KJZZ 91.5.The instigator is a guy named Greg Ensell who likes to listen to . . . well, umm, pretty much what I listen to: LCD Soundsystem, Black Keys, Hot Chip, The Unicorns, etc.Ensell is a…
Factory Made Future, our one-stop shop for underground party information, has a cool post about an event going on next weekend at The Quicy. (Conveniently located at “the alley behind rainbow doughnuts.”)”We all know it can get more than a tad bit boring going to the same club every weekend,…
Scottsdale kiddie-poppers The Summer Set are on the cover of the April issue of Alternative Press. The band is playing their asses off on the 25-year-old Cleveland-based magazine’s brutal coast-to-coast tour right now so they earned it. You can also get a free download of their single “Chelsea” here…
It seems Jared Leto’s band isn’t drawing as well as he may have hoped. The band’s April 10 show at Mesa Ampitheatre has been moved to May 16 and scaled back from the larger outdoor setting to the mid-sized Marquee Theatre.Tickets will be honored or refunds are available from the…
Planning to memorialize your love for Circus Mexicus in ink? Better get the official glyph!Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers have issued an “official” version of their “glyph” via their blog.The message that accompanies the image is part intellectual property primer, part vain attempt at quality control:”We know you know that…
I’m one of those people who prides himself on never paying for parking. Toss me anywhere, anytime, and I’ll find a reasonably safe spot to stow my car while I attend to whatever business I’m there for.I’ve paid to park at a non-meter a few times in the years I’ve…
