If nothing else, this week’s slate of concerts in and around Metro Phoenix is what you’d call diverse, or, at the very least, eclectic. How else would you describe a five-day span that feature everything from the indie power-pop of The New Pornographers and the Latin-infused trip-hop of French-Chliean emcee…
Those who showed up early to the Bombay Bicycle Club show in April at Crescent Ballroom were privy to the layered experimental sounds of Winnipeg’s Royal Canoe. The sextet, making its inaugural trip to the Valley, stood like a group of mad scientists over their boards and laptops to create…
Former Guns N’ Roses manager Alan Niven once told me that rock ‘n’ roll is created because people are subconsciously trying to form the perfect family that they didn’t experience as children. As transparent as that may seem, it’s an easy concept to grasp. Heavy metal lyrics celebrate the underdog…
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: KUKQ is dead and its demise is due, in part, to the influence of a bigger and more powerful local alternative radio station. No, this is not a rerun from the mid-1990s. And by the way, we’re referring to both KUKQs –…
After almost two months of speculation, an NFL source confirmed to Billboard today that Katy Perry will be the musical star at the Super Bowl halftime show in Glendale this winter. It had been previously reported that Perry was on a shortlist of stars the National Football League had considered…
If you happen to be a fan of the old Big Bang in Tempe who’s been patiently awaiting the opening of RCK CTY, or just dying of curiosity to see what’s happened to the place, you needn’t wait any longer. The basement-level bar along Mill Avenue quietly made its debut…
In the last five years, French-Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux has risen into the cream of the crop of serious Latin American artists using music to raise social consciousness. Building an audience to unfold social and political discourse demands a certain level of recognition. Some people point to Tijoux’s performance at…
Check out the best options for music this weekend, and browse our comprehensive concert listings for more options…
The blues keep hopping throughout the Valley during the weekdays, thanks to Buzz Fowler. Fowler started blues jam parties at the El Dorado Bar and Grill in Scottsdale on Wednesday nights and the Steel Horse Saloon in Deer Valley on Thursday nights. Now, Stacy’s Smoke House BBQ on Main Street…
“It’s just me and my guitar,” said Kris Kristofferson when I asked him about his upcoming show at Phoenix’s Celebrity Theatre on Tuesday, October 14. Songwriter, actor, Army captain, Golden Gloves boxer, helicopter pilot, football player, Rhodes Scholar, and husband, Kristofferson has done multiple things many of us would be…
I fully expected to hear a night filled with mumbling and complaining. A gin and tonic costs $8 at the Orpheum Theatre, and, after a long, hot summer, I think we all were really excited to go outside, watch some music at Civic Space Park, and actually enjoy ourselves. After…
Steve Wiley is Up on the Sun’s resident Record Store Geek. He shares stories of great music and wacky characters from his continuing 27 years in Valley record stores and the always zany music biz. I’m closing in on a half century of existence — an existence immersed in the…
Now’s the chance to use that old-fashioned monogrammed hanky that’s burning a hole in your dresser drawer or just grab a cheap box of tissues – – whatever suits you best for sopping up tears mixed of both laughter and desolation – – and spend the evening with Puddles Pity…
Popular conjecture claims that Black Joe Lewis started playing guitar simply to annoy his redneck co-worker at an Austin, Texas pawnshop. That’s partially true — he did purchase his first guitar there and played it in his down time — but Lewis, seeing his friends in bands, had elected to…
The burning question has always been: What would Jimi Hendrix be doing now if he were still alive? Shortly before passing away at age 27, Hendrix was considering a move away from rock ‘n’ roll psychedelia to explore aspects of jazz and blues. He’d frequently been jamming with progressive jazz…
You have to earn a Weezer fan’s trust before he shows you his playlists. First, he’ll make sure you aren’t just parroting somebody else’s post-Pinkerton decline narrative. He’ll want to be sure you don’t believe bassist Matt Sharp secretly wrote both of the band’s two classic albums. He’ll need to…
It’s easy to hate on Skrillex or even just razz the dude. Probably since the erstwhile screamo frontman, once known as Sonny Moore, is sui generis and a polarizing figure in electronic dance music who provides critics with plenty of ammunition. For starters, there’s that funky hairstyle (a.k.a. the “Skrillet”)…
It hardly seems that 14 years have passed since Canada’s New Pornographers dropped their debut full-length, Mass Romantic, upon a whole lot of virgin ears. To say that the indie power-pop band’s initial offering was well-received is an understatement. Critics went cuckoo for it, and the recording found its way…
Not often do you see an Australian folk-rock band and a Korean folk band on the same bill. It’s actually very rare you see a Korean folk band at all. While both Boy & Bear and Run River North come from different backgrounds and musical influences, they’re currently touring together…
In 2011, Icelandic musician Bjork took on the ambitious and epic undertaking Biophilia. The multimedia project, which at one time was supposed to include an IMAX film directed by Michel Gondry, was a hybrid between a high-concept album and field trip to the science museum. Its goal was to edify…
What if you could donate to your favorite aspect of heavy metal and receive a private drum lesson with Sacred Reich drummer Greg Hall? Or 25-year-old Metallica shirts that were never even for sale, just given to the crew? Or lunch with Veronica from Benedictum, a recording package at a…
UPDATE, October 7, 1:30 p.m.: We reached Asylum Records owner Scott Robenalt, and have added his perspective at the bottom of the story. Slowly but surely, Tempe’s dying music scene seems to be drifting east. In the latest development, Asylum Records, once a Tempe fixture, has relocated to Mesa in…
