Want to get in a show this week? There are plenty of concerts and live gigs 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…
The Rebel Set, The Oakland Raiders, Freaks of Nature Rogue Bar 1/24/2014 There were a few lessons to be gleaned from The Rebel Set’s record release show at the Rogue Bar on Friday night. The sound guy, for example, learned in the middle of the second set, that one might…
Skinny Puppy formed in 1982 when cEvin Key, inspired by punk-dance grind of Throbbing Gristle and darker edge of Cabaret Voltaire, left his band Images in Vogue to create music with “big sounds” beyond the current crop of new wave synthesizer-forward bands. Working with singer Nivek Ogre, Skinny Puppy’s industrial…
Something especially insidious will be lurking just beneath downtown Phoenix after darkness falls weekend. But before you ask, it’s not a C.H.U.D., Balrog, or hellspawn. More like a slew of sinister subterranean creatures of a more fetishistic and rivethead bent. Specifically, we’re referring to the throng of pleather-clad freaks and…
On an already long list of distinctions, Skinny Puppy recently added a new line, and not one that makes the pioneering industrial band very proud: the United States government has used the band’s music as a torture device. “We heard through a reliable grapevine that our music was being used…
Here’s the problem: I’d really like to open this Top 5 Must-See Phoenix Shows This Weekend with an animated GIF of Dick Van Dyke and his a cappella group just kind of dancing around and having a good time. But that’s on their official website, and not designated a press…
Though I confess to being an ardent reader of them, I’m resistant to shoveling my year’s listening habits into a year-end list; looking back like that feels like underscoring the records I missed rather than the ones I was spinning endlessly. Beyond that, I find it nothing short of off-putting…
Billy Joel has earned more than a few awards during his lengthy career, including six Grammys, a slew of honorary doctorates, and inclusion in both the Songwriters and Rock and Roll halls of fame. And later this year, the piano-playing superstar can add another prize to his overflowing trophy case:…
Has selfie culture officially gone batshit? Oxford Dictionaries named “selfie” the word of the year in 2013 (it narrowly beat out “twerk” and “binge-watch”) and anyone who goes to concerts sees audience members spending most of the show shooting themselves. Now a marketing firm called 3d Public Relations is asking…
It’s not that I’m not used to Captain Squeegee going out of its way to do something; as lead singer Danny Torgersen’s Facebook friend, I recently watched from a social-media-distance as he attempted to find some non-fluoridated water, which is not something I spend a lot of time worrying about…
In 2011, Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington were on tour in Berlin when, on an off-day, they were too restless to relax. Stationed in a hotel room, Jaar asked Harrington, who was playing guitar in Jaar’s touring band, if he wanted to make some music. Harrington said yes. The duo…
Phil Anselmo has been a pioneering metal vocalist ever since joining Pantera in 1987. Since then, he’s contributed vocals to more than three dozen acts — most notably as the frontman of Down and Superjoint Ritual — and has been involved in twice as many other projects, including voicing Satan…
On an already long list of distinctions, Skinny Puppy recently added a new one, and not one that makes the pioneering industrial band very proud: The U.S. government has used the band’s music as a torture device. “We heard through a reliable grapevine that our music was being used in…
Something especially malevolent will lurk just beneath downtown Phoenix after nightfall this weekend. But before you ask, it’s certainly not a C.H.U.D., Balrog, or hellspawn. It’s slew of sinister subterranean creatures of a more fetishistic and rivethead bent. Specifically, we’re referring to the mass of pleather-clad freaks and geeks who…
Thursday 23 AZ/88: Black Out Thursdays with Josh 1 (soulful house, lounge) Bar Smith: Ladies Night with DJ AL3 (hip-hop, Latin) 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)…
Phil Anselmo has been a pioneering metal vocalist ever since coming on board with Pantera in 1987. Since then, he’s contributed vocals to more than three dozen acts–most notably as the front man of Down and Superjoint Ritual–and has been involved in twice as many other projects, including voicing Satan…
Open Mic with Ryan Sims at Nabers in Chandler Tuesday night gave me so much more than what I was expecting, which I love when it comes to live music. I had the opportunity to listen to and really get to know some amazing local talent. There weren’t too many…
Local vinyl junkies in need of a fix now have a new place to score. Namely, the recently reopened Record Revival. Earlier this month, the LP emporium went from pint-size to supersize after debuting its newer, bigger digs along Osborn Road near Seventh Street, which boasts three rooms’ worth of…
If there’s an answer to that eternal local-music question — who’s the next Phoenix band to break? — it might well be KONGOS. The familial four-piece announced Tuesday that they’ll be appearing at the Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware, along with headliners OutKast, Foo Fighters, and Jack Johnson. “When…
Nick Thorburn calls Islands’ fifth album, Ski Mask, a culmination and summation of everything the band has done. Since the band arrived with Return to the Sea (after the dissolution of The Unicorns), Islands has turned in stylistically varied albums, from explosively poppy to emotionally somber. “Ski Mask is everything…
Notorious B.I.G., ready to die.[In his column Serrano Time, award-winning writer and goofball Shea Serrano writes about his life and times.] I am working on a new book. I cannot say too much about it yet, other than: 1. it’s with the same company that published Bun B’s Rap Coloring…
Glenna JenningsBy Tom Murphy Tristan Shone was a mechanical engineer before he formed Author & Punisher. His first album, 2005’s The Painted Army, hinted at the sound Shone would later hone five years later on Drone Machines in 2010, after having fully integrated various MIDI controller devices that looked like…
