The month of March has been rife with big concerts and unforgettable performances. And one of the more memorable moments thus far was when the Samantha Fish Band played her first-ever show in Phoenix while headlining Blues Blast 2014. The 25-year-old blues wunderkind, who hails from Kansas City, Missouri, is…
Lady Antebellum Ak-Chin Pavilion 3/22/14 The weather was perfect Saturday night for Lady Antebellum’s first outdoor concert of the year at Ak-Chin Pavilion as they provided a fun and energetic performance the crowd will not soon forget. And it also included a few surprises. Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave…
Justin Moody, Corey R-J, A Cloud For Climbing, & Old Hours Axiom 3/22/14 Peoria is not the first suburb that comes to mind when Phoenicians think live music — hell, it’s not even likely to be the fourth or fifth suburb for that matter. However, nestled behind a string of…
Califone, Destruction Unit, Cherie Cherie, Los Puchos The Icehouse 3/21/14 Wooden Indian didn’t merely put on a concert Friday night at the Icehouse — they created an experience, transforming the cavernous downtown Phoenix arts venue into an otherworldly sonic happening. And the evening was every bit as epic as Wooden…
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings Heritage Square 3/21/14 Whatever it was that you did yesterday that left you feeling awesome — no matter how cool it was — then good for you. But Sharon Jones still kicked your ass. Hell, like one of her Dap-Kings said when he was introducing…
When Beef Vegan and the other cats from KWSS’ The Morning Infidelity take over The Sail Inn for their annaul Phochella fest in mid-April, it will be something of a bittersweet celebration. Besides commemorating the sixth year of Vegan hosting the popular morning radio show and toasting KWSS’ fervent fanbase,…
The headliners at each year’s McDowell Mountain Music Festival have always been a little hard to classify or pigeonhole into a certain genre, much like the annual three-day event itself. Ditto for singer/songwriter Dwight Yoakam, who ostensibly can be classified as country-rock, but doesn’t easily fit easily into either category…
Unlike soccer and vuvuzelas, guitars and baseball don’t necessarily go together. But when you’re talking about two institutions as American as the Fender Stratocaster and Major League Baseball, the alignment seems a little more warranted. Such is the case with the new MLB-approved line of Fender Strats that the company…
A few weeks ago, I wrote a cheery little ditty titled Five Things I Hate About Music. In case you somehow haven’t read it (that was a joke, although I do seem to have a few deeply disturbed readers), one of the five was Obvious Songs. While expanding on said…
Hear that? It’s the clock counting down the hours until your weekend begins and it’s nearing the magic moment known as quitting time. To help the time pass more quickly, you might consider what it is you’ll actually be doing during the next couple days and nights of work-free bliss…
Even with a storied career spanning more than five decades already firmly implanted in the American pop culture landscape, country music legend Kenny Rogers is still breaking new ground, furthering his achievements, and streamlining his talents. In 2013 alone, Rogers found himself accepting the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, earning…
Toadies, Supersuckers, BattleMe Crescent Ballroom 3/19/14 A seriously epic show went down Wednesday night at Crescent Ballroom, courtesy of Toadies and friends. It was the first show of the alt-rock band’s current tour, which is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its kick-ass debut album, Rubberneck, and includes two Northwest-by-way-of-the-Southwest bands,…
Anyone who may have been there on the last night of business of a Tempe venue will tell you it’s a lot like the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. Nita’s Hideaway, Long Wong’s, 6 East, Hollywood Alley — none of these beloved nightspots went down without a fight. In some…
My friend Mary, a poetry scholar, e-mailed me last month. “Cher is kicking off her new concert tour in Phoenix,” Mary wrote. “Are you going?” “The Cher I would like to see in concert doesn’t exist anymore,” I reminded Mary, who publishes an online zine called Cher Scholar, which uses…
Sharon Jones is one tough woman. A former corrections officer and Wells Fargo security guard who once was told she was “too black, too fat, too short” to make it as the classic soul singer she’s become, Jones recently overcame the toughest battle of her life: beating pancreatic cancer. The…
Anyone who may have been there on the last night of business of a Tempe venue will tell you it’s a lot like the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. Nita’s Hideaway, Long Wong’s, 6 East, Hollywood Alley — none of these beloved nightspots went down without a fight. In some…
Thursday 20 AZ/88: Black Out Thursdays with Josh 1 (soulful house, lounge) Bobby Q’s: All Star Thursdays with DJ Freshmaker, DJ Phlava, DJ Dark Vader, & DJ Skoolboi (hip-hop, Top 40, reggae) Dos Gringos (Scottsdale): DJ Switch (rock, Top 40, remixes) Electric Ballroom: Groove Candy with DJ M2, & DJ…
If you’re familiar with the superb discography of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, it goes without saying that the nine talented musicians backing up the golden-voiced songstress are vastly steeped in the realms of R&B, soul, and funk. Depending on whom you ask, possessing immense knowledge of various genres is…
St. Vincent & Noveller Orpheum Theatre 3/18/14 Downtown Phoenix’s Orpheum Theatre is kind of a surreal place, as the stunning concert hall blends both the past and present in grand fashion. And St. Vincent deserved to perform at no other venue in town, as her show on Tuesday evening was…
Whatever dust songwriter Tim Rutili, who records and performs as Califone, got on his shoes when recording parts of his 2013 album, Stitches, in Tempe and Phoenix appears to have stuck. On Friday, March 21, he’ll join forces with psychedelic Phoenix outfit Wooden Indian for a mini-festival at the Icehouse…
Taking Back Sunday and The Used Marquee Theatre 3/18/14 A 20-something screamo fan’s dream lineup became a reality Tuesday night at the Marquee Theatre as Taking Back Sunday and The Used had fans packed into the Tempe concert hall. Both bands have seen their fair share of mainstream success in…
Bird and Tex are perhaps the only individuals who can offer a firsthand comparison between sharing the stage with both Insane Clown Posse and Toby Keith in the same year. Together, the California-based outlaw musicians make up the hybrid country/hip-hop duo Moonshine Bandits, and in the land of the ‘Shiners,…
