The McDowell Mountain Music Festival doesn’t boast an orthodox rock-festival-type lineup, but then, most rock shows don’t give away their dough. The MMMF folks spread the wealth and, more impressive, they do it with style. It’s the exceedingly rare charity event that’s actually cool. Over the course of two days/nights…
Though twins Tegan and Sara Quinn grew up on punk, they’ve demonstrably honed their pop instincts and graduated from folk-tinged New Wave/pop-punk to something more sophisticated over the course of their four albums. Last year’s The Con consolidates the gains made on 2004’s critical breakthrough, So Jealous, with crafted, well-polished…
After more than thirty years of recording and touring, you’d think that these gentlemen would be jaded about making music, but listening to them perform, you realize that nothing could be further from the truth. The iconic group — often regarded by fans as “The Led Zeppelin of jazz” –…
NBA Western Conference Playoffs, Round One, Game Four: San Antonio Spurs at Phoenix Suns. It’s just a game, right? Then how come we’ve aged 10 years since Tim Duncan sank that three-point dagger in our collective chest on April 19? Man, we need a new hobby, which we plan to…
NBA Western Conference Playoffs, Round One, Game Three: San Antonio Spurs at Phoenix Suns. It’s just a game, right? Then how come we’ve aged 10 years since Tim Duncan sank that three-point dagger in our collective chest on April 19? Man, we need a new hobby, which we plan to…
The go-go dude helped to redevelop New York’s SoHo and Miami’s South Beach districts, and he’s also a renowned film producer, with credits ranging from Swimfan to In the Bedroom (starring Marisa Tomei and Sissy Spacek, pictured). He speaks about moving and shaking as a lifestyle choice in conjunction with…
The kickass author of The Brief History of the Dead returns to unveil his new story collection, The View From the Seventh Layer. Mon., April 28, 7 p.m., 2008…
Get up close and personal with NFL Draft Day action at this affair, which features player/cheerleader autograph opportunities and a Kids Zone. Admission is free, but a reserved-seating option is available by calling 602-379-0101. Sat., April 26, 11:45 a.m.-4 p.m., 2008…
Southwest Shakespeare Company goes for a Guinness world record by reading straight through for 24 hours a day for five days. Numerous local thespians and nationally known celebrities are scheduled to pitch in. Thu., April 24; Fri., April 25; Sat., April 26; Sun., April 27; Mon., April 28, 2008…
In her 2005 Queen of the Oddballs, author Hillary Carlip announced that a lifetime of trying on different personas (juggling instructor, actor, singing telegram) had convinced her that being herself was her most fulfilling role. Apparently, she’s changed her mind, at least temporarily. In Carlip’s new à la Cart: The…
If you’re an eBay Power Seller, you hit the Friends of the Phoenix Public Library Book Sale on opening day at stupid o’clock. If you’re just some schmoe-on-the-street who likes cheap shit, we recommend the half-price sale-within-a-sale. Sun., April 27, 12-5 p.m., 2008…
When we told someone we were gonna see Bend It Like Beckham at Phoenix Art Museum, the response was, “Why not just watch it at home with Netflix?” Good point, well-taken, but as with most movie experiences at PAM, it’s the value-adds we dig: free, big screen, with a crowd,…
The smiley face – refreshingly devoid of any Wal-Mart or emoticon association – figures prominently in “Where the Good Thoughts Grow,” an exhibition of new work by Ryan Bubnis. The Portland artist, whose stock is on the rise (it’s easy to see why in this show), uses the image to…
Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! has more cinematic moments than any 50 comparable films – and none is more magnificent than Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman’s soaring take on Elton John’s hoary standard “Your Song.” Who but Luhrmann could take a song with a lyric like Sat on the roof And…
There are all sorts of fun facts in the press material for the 24th annual My Nana’s Salsa Challenge. Like, the Inca created salsa, it sells better than ketchup does in the U.S., it translates to “sauce” in Spanish and Italian, and . . . aw, hell. Enough reading. Give…
Check out this questionable sentence structure from the Tire Pros Monster Truck Nationals online event description: “Get ready for two days of nothing but Trucks, Trucks and more Trucks.” Ah, bad grammar and unneeded capitalization. Reminds us of our kin to the south, whose carbon copies will certainly be at…
To quote F.T. Marinetti’s Futurists Manifesto of 1909, “Standing on the world’s summit, we launch once again our insolent challenge to the stars!” Enter Theatre in My Basement’s XO_tic — a veneration of absurdity by playwright Chris Danowski, who joined forces with ASU’s Eva Hamilton and Louis Farber to create…
Because we’re born-and-bred Phoenicians, we reacted to the Desert Ice Bonspiel similarly to how we did when the Phoenix Coyotes first set up shop here in ’96. It went something like this: Uhhhhhhh . . . WTF? Y’all want to sweep boulders down a giant sheet of ice in this…
Most of us are familiar with the refugee-to-the-U.S. story, but how many have heard of American “refugees” high-tailing it to a Third World country? We hadn’t until checking out The Boys of Baraka, which details how four African-American kids from one of the most violent neighborhoods in Baltimore are sent…
Johnny D, a.k.a. John Dixon, has been archiving Arizona music for nearly 50 years and may well harbor the largest record collection in the Southwest, maybe even in the States. He’s been floating in the Ganges River of soul and R&B since his youth, and has kept alive the names…
If you’ve ever headed down to IKEA for lunch, you’ve probably scarfed down some knackerbrod and a steaming plate of meatballs, but we doubt you’ve encountered anything with the aftertaste of Swedish novelist Håkan Nesser, who’ll read from his bloodcurdling crime thrillers Borkmann’s Point and The Return. The series centers…
Pity us Westerners. For all the culture and entertainment we export (and expect world markets to gobble up), we’re remarkably reluctant to recognize the appeal of artists who’ve touched audiences far bigger than our own. Case in point: Asha Bhosle, the Indian singer who is beloved throughout south Asia and…
