One beef you can’t have with this place is that there aren’t eclectic things going on. If you think the opposite, then, well, you need to get out more (and we don’t mean flying to NYC for “culture”). Take Club Red, for example. The spot at 2155 East University Drive…

Maybe the “What Do You Really Want for Xxxmas?” show is taking over for the defunct Bad Xmas Pageant. Or maybe its entirely new territory. We suspect the latter, especially after rapping with Shadow Smut Show Troupe member Miss Alia, who’s performing something called Coming to Band Practice during the…

We had an epiphany the other day: modern music that’s heavy on the woe-is-me whine or anything that’s cute is, well, not good. Agent Ribbons, who are like a rocking, what-the-crap-are-you-looking-at version of Vermillion Lies, is pretty much the opposite of these things. The band’s sound is firmly rooted in…

Now that the BCS is in its annual process of fouling up college football, there’s a March Madness-esque series coming to town that will kick our college-basketball taste buds into high gear. Inspired by the decade-strong ACC/Big Ten challenge, the Pac-10/Big 12 Hardwood Series takes flight for the third year,…

Imagine you’re a newbie art critic, strolling around downtown years ago to check out the scene. You pop into a few spots and view the work, which seems pretty good, but you don’t get too much insight from the artist, who pretends you’re invisible while scanning the pages of a…

Win or lose, there are some folks who will be way more affected by the outcome of the ASU vs. UofA football game than the fans. Namely, the Sun Devil seniors, who will be playing, for the final time, in the maroon and gold. That includes DE Dexter Davis, WR…

Do you wonder what planet you came from because you appreciate the heck out of Roscoe Mitchell’s Sound? Are you generally a low-key cat except for when you flip anytime you hear a prepared piano? Do you scour Italian and German Web sites for original-edition ESP and FMP Records? Then…

Phoenix, are you ready for this? Or will your panties get all in a wad while watching Salome, the Richard Strauss classic presented by Arizona Opera, in which a naked whore tongues the severed head of John the Baptist? Well, if not, then you should go anyway, because this is…

Since money is tight, it’s a good thing the entry fee to Ford Ironman Arizona costs $550-plus, or else we would win the thing. Swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112, and running 26.2? So easy. We wouldn’t even have to train, and may have gone out drinking the night before. Yeah…

It’s just a matter of time before former President George W. Bush and his dunderheaded capers are immortalized in song. For now, we’ll enjoy Nixon in China, which sonically chronicles America’s favorite screwball of the 1970s. The Phoenix Symphony presents John Adams’ unbeatable work recalling Nixon’s 1972 dealings with China’s…

Hey, hipsters. We hear you’re now on some ancient hip-hop kick and are out at Tempe’s Gracie’s Thrift digging through the boxes of cassette tapes trying to score some Kurtis Blow and The Sugar Hill Gang. Well, we’re a little hesitant to share this with you, but if you really…

For future reference, the ASU Football team might want to think about scheduling a bit differently. Sandwiched between last week’s home tussle against nationally ranked Cal and a road visit to perennial Pac-10 power Oregon is tonight’s game against the USC Trojans. Yep, those forever Top 10-ranked Men of Troy,…

Luis Daniel Gutierrez went through a lot this summer. For one, he’s a starving artist just trying to make ends meet. But that’s no biggie considering that his sister was murdered a few months back. Instead of harping on the tough times, he decided to lighten things up a bit…

Ah, the beauty of college football. Before the start of the 2009 season, there was a noticeable difference between the Arizona State Sun Devils and the California Golden Bears. In the eyes of preseason pundits, ASU equaled mediocre to bad while many figured that Cal could usurp USC’s seven-year reign…