What happens when you take 20 well-known (to varying degrees) local musicians, shuffle them around, and give them only 10 hours to start a band? Crescent Ballroom decided to find out, hosting the Phoenix Rock Lottery on Sunday night. Not only was this a pretty damn cool idea, it benefited…
Stone Sour Marquee Theatre 2/9/14 Generally, when singers of huge bands decide to launch side projects or go back to rekindle the rock ‘n’ roll romance of bands they started before hitting the big time, it’s because they don’t like having time off, have material that doesn’t quite fit into…
Confession time: Alice in Wonderland was one of my favorite childhood films. In fact, I had an Alice in Wonderland tea set with cracked cups picturing the White Rabbit and Mad Hatter. Don’t judge me, but it’s one of the one things I’ve managed to keep over the years in…
Want to get in a show this week? There are plenty of concerts over the next five days around Metro Phoenix to choose from, as you can see for yourself by viewing our extensive online concert listings. And we’re fairly certain that there’s something for everyone, regardless of your particular…
mewithoutYou is not a band to be taken lightly, nor is it a band easily defined. And right now, it’s a band that’s happy to be back on the road. Characterized by vocalist Aaron Weiss’ stream-of-consciousness early lyrics, the Philadelphia four-piece is ever an immersive act — few bands can…
Slapshot Yucca Tap Room 2/7/14 As the winds of fate would have it, of all the places for Boston’s Slapshot to land in the Sonoran landscape, the infamous Tempe watering hole Yucca Tap Room is where the Massachusetts straight edge legends returned to the desert last night after a 20-year…
George Strait US Airways Center 2/7/2014 How many songs does an artist have to play to make a great concert? 15? That’s pretty sub-par for a headliner, but some acts skate by on it. 20? There are many renowned tenured musicians who operate at that number. With a reputation in…
If you’ve been waiting for the venue schedules and lineups for the Viva PHX to be announced, said wait is now over. Stateside Presents, which is co-promoting the one-night downtown Phoenix music festival on Friday, March 7, with New Times, released the set times and locations this afternoon. Better start…
For almost a year now, I’ve been writing about music on this blog. Wacky little observations from the viewpoint of a 25-year industry veteran and independent record store owner. Mostly, I ramble poetic (hopefully) about how much I love music. How much it means to me and how it has…
When you listen to Mind Over Matter, the new album from Young the Giant, it is impossible not to notice the different energy coursing through the band’s collective vein. With his throaty cries, frontman Sameer Gadhia sounds as if he’s expelling personal demons, and Mind undeniably is more propulsive than…
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…
Without using too much hyperbole, there is an outstanding number of great concerts happening this month — and they represent a wide variety of genres and styles. The offerings ain’t just indie and alt-folk, but also include upcoming shows by rock royalty (Pixies, Cibo Matto), a king of country (George…
For Rod Piazza, playing the blues isn’t just an ordinary pursuit. The legendary harmonica player considers it to be his life’s calling. “It wasn’t a choice for me. I heard the blues, and it chose me,” he says. “I never looked back.” During his 47-year career in the genre, Piazza,…
Featuring a silhouetted collection of dudes, Mystery Science Theatre 3000-style, in front of videos of white people doing ridiculous, Jackass-style nonsense, Atlanta rapper Rawcus’ “White People Crazy” is the sound of the Internet eating itself alive. Although it remains a little south of viral (still only 253,000 YouTube hits as…
Few bands can straddle the fine line between hard rock and heavy metal — or underground credibility and commercial viability — as well as Stone Sour. The band has released five studio albums, each of which has challenged and exceeded the band’s — and its fans — expectations. Stone Sour…
It’s not experimental prog rock, it’s not self-indulgent noodling instrumentals and it sure as hell isn’t post-rock. What El Ten Eleven does do, however, is maintain their own lane. We meet with the band outside of Tucson’s Club Congress over drinks and dinner, expanding a pre-show meeting into an hour…
Few bands can straddle the fine line between hard rock and heavy metal — or underground credibility and commercial viability — as well as Stone Sour. The band has released five studio albums, each of which has challenged and exceeded the band’s — and its fans’ — expectations. Stone Sour…
Frank Zappa needs no introduction . . . or does he? Though considered one the 20th century’s greatest composers by critics, much of his music, wasn’t accessible to mainstream audiences. Songs like “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” and “Valley Girl,” a duet with daughter Moon Unit, broke through, but only enough…
The Valley’s Latin dance scene could best be described as a melting pot of sound. But while there are dollops of such popular genres as salsa, merengue, bachata, and reggaeton in the mix via the discotecas, more tastemaking Latin-influenced styles such as moombahton and cumbia-crunk also have added distinctive flavors…
Thursday 6 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) Crescent Ballroom: DJ M. Bell (dance) Dos Gringos (Scottsdale): DJ Switch (rock, Top 40, remixes) Fat Tuesday: DJ…
When you listen to Mind Over Matter, the new album from Young the Giant, it is impossible not to notice the different energy coursing through the band’s collective vein. With his throaty cries, frontman Sameer Gadhia sounds as if he’s expelling personal demons, and Mind undeniably is more propulsive than…
Remember your first prom experience? We do, and we’re willing to bet corsages to condoms that it was just as awkward and unfulfilling as ours. So much so that it’s probably something that you’d like to forget. Indeed, lucky are the few who have good memories of this particular adolescent…
