THU 7/28The Rubber Robot that plays Emerald Lounge this week is not the band by the same name that wears horse-head masks and plays the theremin. Nor are they a soulless, automated device that looks and responds just like a human. “I kind of got Rubber Robot from — well,…
SUN 7/10Ever seen a melodramatic series filled with conniving story lines, sexual innuendos and wanton women who live only for sensuality? Nope, it isn’t Desperate Housewives. It’s Carmen, the 1984 film version of the famed 19th-century Georges Bizet opera. At 2 p.m. Sunday, July 10, the Phoenix Art Museum, 1625…
SUN 7/3The local hip-hop underground goes above ground, as the true record playas of the Valley will turn on their turntablism talents during Reign of the Tech on Sunday, July 3, at the Old Brickhouse Grill, 1 East Jackson. Myriad mixmasters from around the PHX will mass for the 21-and-over…
Ditch the masses on the grasses this Independence Day and revel in your freedom with bouncy swing tempos, jazzy brass instruments, dance-igniting beats, and most importantly, a powerful swamp cooler. On Monday, July 4, several Arizona bands, including Captain Squeegee and the Soap Suds, The Dietrichs, and Tucson’s Kool Shades,…
SAT 6/11Can you imagine a more popular four-hour television show than Univision’s Sábado Gigante? Now, picture a live version of the program that honors the best entertainers in Latino/Latina arts. Saturday, June 11, will be a good night to set the VCR, because the Seventh Annual International Las Palmas de…
SAT 6/11 During opening day for the Mesa Miners, one of eight teams in the brand-spanking-new Golden Baseball League, 3,500 spectators turned prospectors waved makeshift pickaxes made out of foam fingers and aluminum cans to celebrate a historic win. It was mass hysteria! Pure bedlam! Okay, maybe the pickax thing…
FRI 6/3Andrew Lockwood discovered he wasn’t the performer he fancied himself as part of the local bands Velveteen Dream and the Heartgraves. “When the Heartgraves disintegrated, I decided I needed to go in another direction,” Lockwood says, “and to very specifically stop trying to rock. Rocking is for people who…
One does not have to be relegated to an indoor air-conditioned environment to escape the sweltering summer heat. Here are some cold and dark out-of-the-box activities that will get you outdoors and away from that thermostat-controlled milieu. Ice Ice Blocking Need a method for turning the summer into a winter…
SAT 5/28You are an MFA candidate. Tuition is sky-high. A 5,000-word short story is due tomorrow. A stack of rejection letters from highbrow publications is piled on the desk. You marinate in your own filth for days. Your partner hates you. And the frequent diarrhea. Oh, the shitty end. You…
THU 5/12″Clothing, just like your being, has a constant energy flowing around you,” says fashion designer Kenyata Baraka, a.k.a. “Queen Be.” Her imaginative designs fall into the urban clothing style, and each handcrafted piece strives to harness a “continuous energy of peace, power and love that will leave you totally…
SUN 5/8 Willie Nelson’s career has evolved from silky-voiced crooner in the 1960s to pot-smoking hell-raiser in the 1970s and ’80s to critically acclaimed country legend in the aughts. You might figure that’s a semi-natural progression for artists who’ve been around for the span of five decades. But that’s just…
FRI 4/29 Erotic torture, submissive slaves, leather, latex, hot wax to the flesh, and other forms of fetish will arise on “Black Friday,” April 29, at The Sets, 93 East Southern in Tempe. Evoking images fantasized by boys and girls yearning to be bound and gagged, the event, presented by…
SAT 4/23 When it comes to the Tostitos Southwest Salsa Challenge, these chips crunch some high numbers. “We have 63 contestants, and some of them enter more than one salsa,” says Mary Masters, the event organizer. “For each recipe, they have to make 13 gallons of salsa.” That’s more than…
4/14-4/17 It’s been a year since you were laughing your ass off at the quick-witted humor being bandied about at the last Phoenix Improv Fest. And here it is, time for what co-organizer Jose Gonzales calls “the biggest one ever.” And that, comedy hounds, is no jive. The 2005 Fest,…
4/15-4/17 Pompous palates get pleased every year at the Scottsdale Culinary Festival, as foodies from all over gather to indulge in some of the best dishes in the Southwest. But the beauteous buffet isn’t just for epicures, as the Scottsdale Civic Center, 7375 East Second Street, plays host to a…
4/8-4/29 It’s not easy being a queen; just ask Doug Loynd. “There’s pain involved in being in drag,” says the 41-year-old actor. “Makeup takes two hours, breasts are heavy, earrings pinch, and heels hurt.” The transvestite toil is worth it, however, as Loynd has a shot at fame as one…
TUE 4/5 To all the wanna-bes who love sushi and Bruce Lee, but whose best kung fu moves are limited to wax on and wax off, Tokyo Tuesdays are for you. Leave the coveted Enter the Dragon box set at home and karate-chop your way to Ra Sushi Bar Restaurant,…
THU 3/24 Arthur Edwards, the ex-Refreshments’ bassist turned novelist, provides a diversion for summer-scorned Phoenicians in his book Stuck Outside of Phoenix. With triple-digit temperatures quickly approaching our soon-to-be-burning hell, escape sounds like heaven on Earth. Sadly, though, engaged readers who participate in Edwards’ intricate plot will be taken far,…
FRI 3/18 “The Moog,” as it’s known among musical types, is the indispensable electronic synthesizer that has pioneered both mainstream and independent music movements over the past 40 years. It also happens to be one of the most criminally mispronounced names in the history of popular culture (correct pronunciation rhymes…
