Thomas Gold Friday, May 24, 2013 Maya Day & Night Club After a solid day of watching The Walking Dead, thanks to Netflix and various other websites I would prefer not to get in trouble, I found myself at Maya for the first time to see Thomas Gold hit the…
The Lawrence Arms Las Vegas Country Saloon Friday, May 24 While I’m thrilled at the opportunity to see Devo and FLAG live (at Punk Rock Bowling), The Lawrence Arms are the main reason I’m in Las Vegas right now. The gritty Chicago punk band hasn’t performed in Phoenix since a…
Captain Squeegee sounds like a character at Phoenix Comicon, which is convenient but not quite accurate. It’s actually a band at Comicon, with a performance coming up Saturday night at Comikaze. We talked Friday afternoon with lead squeegee Danny Torgersen — just before his appearance on a panel at Comicon…
It’s a recent Friday night and the interior of the TrapZillas house is a busy and chaotic hurricane of noise and activity. As vintage NBA playoff game plays loudly on a gigantic HDTV in the background, at least a half-dozen people are busying themselves with bongs and blowtorches in the…
During the daylight hours this weekend, local artist and music fiend Aaron Moore can be found waltzing through the aisles at Phoenix Comicon and perusing its vast repast of dorky pursuits and offering. After the sun goes down on Saturday night, however, the 33-year-old will become his DJ alter ego…
I’m not sure this is a conventional reason to feel civic pride, but I’m going to put it out there: Phoenix completed Taylor Swift’s Willy Wonka scavenger hunt in two hours flat, with two of eight sets of tickets going out in less than 30 minutes. That’s faster, in my…
Before belting into “Compartir,” Carla Morrison addressed the crowd: “I never thought this was gonna happen. I’m so happy to be playing here tonight. I didn’t grow up here, but I lived here for six years, and I consider this place my hometown, too.”
Firemen are the real heroes. Or maybe teachers — I can never remember. In any case, there will be lots of superheroes in town this weekend for Phoenix Comicon. Some of them will even be local musicians. But if you’re looking for a break from the convention — or just…
I told myself that it wouldn’t matter much, when Tuesday rolled around and I could finally purchase Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories from the record store, that I’d already been streaming the album for a week on iTunes. I think I was wrong…
Last night, the International Swingers rolled into 910 Live in Tempe and blasted out some big hits from rock ‘n’ roll lore, which is apropos, considering the punk supergroup’s stature and history. Sex Pistols/Iggy Pop alumni and bassist Glen Matlock, guitarist/vocalist Gary Twinn of Supernaut fame, and onetime Generation X/Gene…
by Rick Giordano Death has always been one of the most predominant themes in heavy metal music, taking a backseat maybe only to Satanism. Death, disease, murder and chaos have accompanied heavy riffs since Sabbath first began playing them back in ’68. This dark subject matter is part of what…
Let’s face it: Arizona isn’t exactly prime real estate for music festivals. Yes, we have the party-hard atmosphere of Country Thunder and the locally beloved McDowell Mountain Music Fest, the EDM-drenched Soundwave and some killer jazz fests. But our fair desert doesn’t yet have the appeal or pull of such…
Provo, Utah-based Fictionist wants to make your troubles melt away, and the band can do it in any number of ways. Singer Stuart Maxfield channels a slightly less throaty Caleb Followill over crunchy, stratospheric guitars on tracks like “Swept Away” and chilled acoustic moments like “Still Reaching,” and groovy distortion…
Ask him what he wishes someone had told him 30 years ago, when he began his music career, and Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst’s answer might surprise you. “To remain.” Long pause. “Silent.” For a man who once was as much in the public eye for his controversial statements and…
Over the past decade, “hipster” has re-emerged as the insult du jour — an increasingly vague, increasingly common label placed on elitists and enthusiasts of all stripes. No one’s really working to take the word back, but if such a movement existed, !!! would be an ideal torchbearer. This dance-punk…
It is impossible to ignore Taylor Swift, which makes it incredibly easy for music fans to dislike her — people just don’t like to have their attention monopolized, whether they enjoy somebody’s music or not. Her music is explicitly autobiographical, which means that every new song about never getting back…
Jeff Lusby-Breault and Mike Seitz of Enormodome never really thought their collaborations would go past entertaining themselves. The longtime friends — one in Flagstaff and one in Phoenix — took a quick-and-dirty approach when they started writing songs together, and they were surprised to find that their gritty rock songs…
So it’s Memorial Day weekend, which equals three days and four nights devoted to rest, relaxation, and thoughtful reflection, right? Eff that, gramps. More like 72 hours filled with ragers, ravers, and ribald behavior, primarily for those in the coveted 21- to-35 age bracket who are more into EDM than…
It would be overly simplistic to imagine a chasm between the haves and have-nots in today’s psych-rock landscape, even between the ones with huge production values and the ones sticking it out with streamers and bubblegum. The reason: All the best bands these days carry some degree of scrappiness, no…
Like the volumes of Edgar Allan Poe and Allen Ginsberg that inspire Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s dark lyrical oeuvre, Robert Levon Been’s music has often dealt directly with death. So it’s only natural that the band’s latest album, Specter at the Feast, fearlessly approaches the Dark Angel, but this time…
Thursday 23 Afterlife: Touch Thursdays with DJ Tsunami, DJ Michael Ryan, & DJ Matt Fox (Top 40, EDM) AZ/88: Black Out Thursdays with Josh 1 (soulful house, lounge) Barney’s Boathouse: Thirsty Thursdays with DJ Pulse (Top 40, rock) Bikini Lounge: DJ Shane Kennedy (juke joint, R&B, French pop) Bobby Q’s:…
When it comes to music, do kids today have it better or worse than the generations before them? I decided to do some research into the matter. By “research,” I mean I asked my teenagers some questions, and then compared their answers to my opinions. Around here, we call that…
