At the end of the year, we like to take a look back and think about all the awesome shows we saw throughout the months. But for whatever reason, 2011 seemed to be a year of cancellations — and some pretty huge shows were canceled, at that. So here are the…
As the football weekend wrapped up Monday night, fans had plenty to cheer about. Cheeseheads everywhere breathed a sigh of relief as the Green Bay Packers survived the New York Giants 38-35 to preserve their undefeated season, while the Cardinals shocked the Dallas Cowboys in overtime. Although the Denver Broncos…
Dream Theater at Ikeda at Mesa Arts Center Loyal fans talk about Dream Theater’s live show in hushed, reverential tones. I’d never experienced the band live before last night, but years of hearing fans rave about the prog-rock theatrics of the long-running group set my expectations high. Mesa Arts Center’s…
Dream Theater Ikeda Theater at Mesa Arts Center Sunday, December 4, 2011 Loyal fans talk about Dream Theater’s live show in hushed, reverential tones. I’d never experienced the band live before last night, but years of hearing fans rave about the prog-rock theatrics of the long-running group set my expectations…
Best Beach Wavves Coast House Fossils. There are plenty of “beachy” bands out there, and most of them combine 60’s pop melodies with boatloads of reverb. Tennis plays off the nautical theme — on in name, but in origin: the Colorado husband and wife team were initially inspired by a…
Most break-ups end horribly, and reunions are often just as rocky. Despite the original magic, it’s nearly impossible to recapture the love. But sometimes it’s not so dramatic. Haffo had one of those rare breakups where you actually can still be friends with your ex and it’s not that awkward…
Want to know what new release discs and platters are moving across the Valley at local record stores? We’ve got you covered with another installment of What’s Selling. It wasn’t so long ago that Jimmy Brooks and his best friend Spinner Mason walked the halls of Degrassi High School. In…
Lucky for us locals, we’re blessed with an annual celebration in Tempe Beach Park featuring a performance by Flogging Molly. It’s official: they’re back for some more luck o’ the Irish and another St. Patty’s bash.The rest of this week’s shows after the jump…..
My favorite moment of Herman Cain’s “That’s it, I’m out of here” speech was when quoted Donna Summers’ “Power of One,” a favorite “poem” of us, and coincidentally, the theme from Pokémon 2000. Brad Dwyer features another kids show in this week’s installment of Record Heat, the much-loved Yo Gabba…
Bah! You know, Christmas is all about commercialism and stampeding people for the cheapest television. Just like Jesus wanted. While I always appreciate a good competition, I think this year… this year is a Festivus sort of year. The last thing we want to do is promote any official Festivus jingles,…
Thousands of independent record labels are started each year, some more successful than others. Over the past decade, as major label profits have declined thanks to file sharing and even legal downloading, independent labels have been searching for a new, more effective method to turn a profit. The Valley’s Mike Zimmerlich…
The idea of Scottsdale resident Jerry Lawson, onetime leader of The Persuasions, one of the most prominent a cappella group of ’60s and ’70s, competing on NBC’s a cappella competition The Sing Off seems crazy. But that’s exactly what happened last season, when the popular Nick Lachey-hosted show featured Lawson…
Iron & Wine Crescent Ballroom 12/2/11 How much saxophone is too much saxophone? You might want to ask the young lady who passed out during the extended dub-into-free jazz-psychedelic blues skronk of “Wolves (Song of the Shepherd’s Dog),” the fifth song played by Iron & Wine last night at Crescent…
Well, it’s December, which means you can’t avoid it any longer: it’s time to start Christmas shopping. That’s my plan at least, a desperate attempt to get it done sometime before, oh, December 23, as is my usual scramble. But there’s plenty of music going on, too. After you get…
Drip, drip, drop. There’s nothing quite as soothing as a nice little December shower to cool the senses. Unless of course if you throw in a nice hot cup of coffee and some acoustic musings by Tucson pop rockers, Steff Koeppen and the Articles. Koeppen along with a violinist from…
For the past year, Future Loves Past has been playing around town, rocking the Valley with their ’70s rock-meets-indie sound, but something was missing.They built up a solid fan base, but those fans couldn’t really hear the band outside of local shows. Now, with the release of their first EP,…
You know the drill. Halloween wraps up, holidays come around, you step into a store and KAPOW. Whapped in the face and knocked about the ears by a whole mess of lousy sounds. You’ve just been assaulted by “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” for what you hope is…
If you’ve never heard World Class Thugs’ heady mix of Americana, psychedelia, Kurt Weill and just plain ol’ weird, might I suggest imagining what it might sound like if Scout, Jem and Dill of To Kill a Mockingbird making up songs about the creepy adults of that hot summer, truthful…
Lisa Whealy Whealy is the CEO of Surface to Air Records and owner of Mountain Music Promotions. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? Radio iPod. What’s the first album you bought? Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, Works Volume 2. What’s the…
Ladies and gentlemen, The Blind Boys of Alabama have gone country. Well, kind of. The long running gospel group, which formed at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind way back in 1939, released Take the High Road in April of this year. Featuring Hank Williams Jr., Willie Nelson, The…
The fans who run this Tumblr love the hell out of The Maine. How do I know? They’ve got nearly 950 pages worth of Maine-related material!Everyone seems to love The Maine, which is why we’re giving you more of them, courtesy of The Maine Daily.More on what’s awesome about this…
Do you ever feel like every band has a clothing line? Rock-beats-electro duo Analog Sweat and the Native American clothing company UN3EK SY5TEM are connected (but separate), and the ties connecting the two run deeper than the fact that Tyson “Illfranklyn” Powless is involved in both. The music and the…
