Once a week, Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See the New Times print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…
For the past 14 years, Las Vegas’ Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival has featured some of the biggest names in punk music. Previous lineups mostly comprised Warped Tour veterans that were big in the ’90s — think NOFX, Rancid, Good Riddance, etc. The festival combines that nostalgia factor with…
Yeah, yeah, yeah…we get it. Mondays suck (we’ve read Garfield). But it means the start of a new week, which means a bunch of killer shows in and around Phoenix. And here are a few of the coolest — our top five must-see shows this week…
Although he’s only been working the local DJ circuit for around four years, Tonic Kemestry has had more than his fair share of memorable experiences. The 25-year-old has performed at numerous underground dance affairs, gotten throngs of teenyboppers shaking their groove things with his EDM mixes, and has even had…
Stretch your sea legs and sharpen those soul patches: Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath is hosting the biggest 90’s radio rock revival of all time upon the warm waves of the Atlantic, and even from here I can smell the salty goodness of Clinton-era prosperity. See also: Should We Feel Bad…
Texas-based thrash metallers Warbeast thrive off meat-grinding riffs, jackhammer double bass, a range of lyrical topics, and 180-degree hooks. Made up of veteran rockers that have been creating music for decades –the members’ resumes include Rigor Mortis, Gammacide, and Demonseed– Warbeast formed in 2006, and in 2010 released its debut,…
David Tyda Tyda is the owner of EATERAZ.com, Arizona BBQ Festival and Arizona Taco Festival. He invites you to Flavors of the West Sunday, Feburary 17. For more information, go here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now?…
Curious about what’s going on around town this weekend? Need some suggestions where to rock, dance, or krump in the Valley of the Sun? Don’t fret: These are our Five Shows to See This Weekend…
Castle @ Yucca Tap Room|1/9/13Every journalistic piece has an angle. The last time Castle played here, touring with Portland doom-metallers Witch Mountain, I was so overwhelmed by the riff-saturated environment that the angle for the piece I wrote on that show shifted to the eating habits of the various touring…
Palms, Wiley One, Jared and the Mill, and Sara Robinson and Midnight Special @ Crescent Ballroom|1/9/13South by Southwest, the sort of Mecca of indie music, is kind of a big deal. A good show there can make or break a band, even if the event itself is a tad self-indulgent…
Katie BainThe EDM cruise Holy Ship!! journeyed from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas this past weekend, and we’re still recovering. Here’s our complete coverage. A highlight was an afternoon spent on a pristine private island in the Bahamas for an afternoon of sun, surf, cocktails and the kind of dancing…
Editor’s Note: We’d like to welcome local hip-hop artist and writer Jaron Ikner to Up on the Sun. You’re probably familiar with his Black One project, and now he’s bringing his voice to the music blog here at New Times. Salute! Longevity and consistency are two things that are considered…
A quick question: Is it possible for a rock ‘n’ roll song to feature bells — those chiming, ringing things — without plunging to the depths of saccharine “twee-ness”? We’re not talking booming “For Whom the Bell Tolls”-by-Metallica bells. We’re talking street-performer, Christmas-caroling bells. Is it possible to employ the…
Singer-songwriter and folk troubadour Greg Brown is more than just another guy with a guitar and resonant voice. Brown’s ability to forge a musical style that melds Appalachia, folk, and blues with lyrics that capture the spirit of the land and the people who live and work on it has…
Mergence is one of those Phoenix bands that garners incredible local hype for its talents while simultaneously admitting that such popularity would be considerably less likely in New York or Los Angeles. While the plaudits of the critics generally are a bit over the top, the band really does have…
Carrie Brownstein had a pretty awesome 2012. Her band Wild Flag mounted a successful tour, her IFC comedy series Portlandia won a Peabody and got renewed for a third season, and her voice just appeared in an episode of The Simpsons. We caught up with the Seattle-born multi-hyphenate to chat…
If you aren’t already envious of Matan Zohar, who performs as Mat Zo, you’ve got every right to be nothing but helly jelly. At the tender age of 22, the London-born trance and house producer already has collaborated with Porter Robinson (on last year’s epic progressive track “Easy”) as well…
Editor’s note: In early 2012, our sister paper the Village Voice ran writer Steven Thrasher’s interview with Kronos Quartet violinist David Harrington about the influence of composer Philip Glass. In anticipation of the Quartet’s two-night stand at the Musical Instrument Museum, here is that conversation. In addition to several collaborations…
In his blustery way, Phil Anselmo has embodied everything that is right and wrong with the heavy metal lifestyle. Fronting the legendary Pantera, he raised the bar with one timeless album after another. In Down, he combined soul and sludge. With Superjoint Ritual, he brought forth a mix of hardcore…
Thursday 10 Afterlife: Touch Thursdays (Top 40, electronica, dance) AZ/88: Black Out Thursdays with Josh 1 (soulful house, lounge) Bikini Lounge: DJ Shane Kennedy (juke joint, R&B, French pop, honky tonk) Cadillac Ranch: Thirsty Thursdays with DJ Chris Villa & DJ Kyko (Top 40, hip-hop, house) Dollhouse: Thursdays de Besitos…
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Editor’s Note: In an eerie (and downright unlucky) twist of fate, the freaky folks at Monsterland announced the impending closure of the Mesa spot this afternoon within hours of this blog’s publication. See below for more info. Editor’s Note #2: In an even more bizarre twist, whoever’s in charge decided…
