Since the appearance of Janet Jackson’s nipple in 2004, the Super Bowl halftime show has taken it easy with a steady stream of harmless acts, ranging from the rarely controversial Paul McCartney to the hyperactive, now-hiatused Black Eyed Peas. You can’t blame them. After millions of children saw their first star-studded…
Frank Turner has been enjoying unexpected success as a solo folk/punk musician after the demise his hardcore band, Million Dead. Turner has garnered an international fanbase over the past few years, touring relentlessly with bands like Social Distortion, Flogging Molly, and The Gaslight Anthem. His hard work is paying off–most…
Wacky local duo Andrew Jackson Jihad has a whole lot of awesomeness to offer on their Tumblr. AJJ is currently on tour with Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls and Into It. Over It.The band has just released their new album, Knife Man, about three weeks ago. It’s full of…
It’s been almost a month since Kinch made its latest record, The Incandenza, available to stream online. On Thursday, October 13, they’ll be celebrating the official album release with a performance at the Rhythm Room with Let Down Right and Yellow Minute. Andrew Junker took time from the highway to…
This weekend is looking pretty packed. In addition to the New Times Best of Phoenix A’Fare, there’s a ton happening around the Valley, including shows from Tim Minchin, the Red Light Disco party, Avenged Sevenfold, New Found Glory, Star Slinger, Wayne Static, and more. Oh, and that giant music festival…
It’s been a really great week for Black Star fans — and I’m one of them. Black Star, the 1998 collaboration between Mos Def and Talib Kweli is one of my favorite hip-hop albums. The duo performed “Fix Up,” produced by the nearly always awesome Madlib, on The Colbert Report,…
Dearspeak is celebrating the release of their new EP, Oh For Freedom by inviting you to join them for a biographical night of music and art. We talked to lead vocalist Ree Boado earlier this year about her solo work, but right now she’s concentrating on making music with Dearspeak and she’s having…
Andrea Beesley-Brown Beesley-Brown is the owner/operator of The Royale Mesa’s newest independently owned microcinema. I’ve also done shows in the Valley for the past 5 years under the moniker of the Midnite Movie Mamacita. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would…
One of Scottsdale’s more notorious dance joints has changed its name…again. Club Trinity is now known as Oceans Seven Nightclub, the latest identity of a nightspot that undergone more than a few transformations in the past decade.Back in the day, the property was known as hip-hop nightspot CBNC. Then it…
One of the preeminent rock bands of the 1980s finally has gotten the rock-doc treatment, and local fans of The Replacements will get a chance to see it at 7:30 p.m. today at the Phoenix Art Museum, 1625 North Central Avenue. Color Me Obsessed is self-admitted Replacements fanboy Gorman Bechard’s…
If you’re a Static-X enthusiast, then you’ll probably like Pighammer, the new album from Wayne Static. Actually, when Wayne Static founded Static-X, his original vision was the concept of Pighammer–more electronic and industrial, not based on live performance. Imagine plenty of the evil disco, compressed guitars and hazy vocals, smothered…
Don’t call it a solo album — that’s what Joel Marquard of Gospel Claws says about The Through and Through Gospel Review, a new record of 12 traditional style gospel songs he recorded mostly alone, save for a few contributions from members of Where Dead Voices Gather, Dear and the…
As you already know by now Hank Williams Jr. and ESPN have officially parted ways. For 20 years Williams’ song, “All My Friends” has opened “Monday Night Football” games. However, after comparing President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler, Williams has belted out his last, ‘Are you ready for some football?”…
October is a great time of year for a few different reasons. You’ve got the Arizona State Fair, Oktoberfest, the weather starts to get nice outside, and most importantly, it’s now Octobeard. For those not familiar with Octobeard it’s defined by urbandictionary.com as: A celebration of facial hair, whereby men…
Whatever your stance on Arizona’s music scene, you probably have an opinion or two on the matter. Some of the more opinionated people happen to be local musicians. Anamieke Quinn is one such person who has surveyed the Valley’s landscape only to find it leaves much to be desired. Quinn…
It’s impossible to not hate almost everything about Twilight. The books changed what “vampire” means to an entire generation. Now, it’s less about being an undead monster than it is about misunderstood hunks with sparkly pale skin. Then, the movies went on to solidify the idea that as long as a…
Whoever decided to do an outdoor show at Sail Inn on Friday night was certainly a brave person. Until around 10 p.m. the Fall Frenzy on Tempe Town Lake could clearly be heard. Fortunately, the lineup that night were poised perfectly to take on such a challenge and the background…
Tim Minchin is a rather humble lad. Despite having millions of fans in his homeland of the UK, Australia, and here in the states (not to mention awards up the ying-yang) the 35-year-old piano-playing comedian and musician remains pretty modest about his success.”I’m lucky to be doing what I’m doing,”…
Gang Gang Dance, Prince RamaCrescent BallroomWednesday, October 5, 2011Last night was weird. Really weird — but it wasn’t a bum-pissing-on-the-light-rail kinda weird. It was an interesting sense of “exciting confusion” weird. On screen psychedelic videos accentuated by dim red and blue lighting set the tone for what was an evocative,…
Incubus Comerica Theatre October 5, 2011 For some fans an Incubus show may be all about hearing their favorite band’s heavier tracks from back in the day, but for others it’s about enjoying the band’s entire collection. While the new album If Not Now, When? sounds sort of like a…
Get ready for our very own Coachella this weekend. Well — not really. As Christina Caldwell’s feature explains, Apache Lake Music Festival isn’t quite the same thing as that fest, but it does feature over 30 of Arizona’s best bands in a remote setting. We’ve also got shorter features on…
This week, New Times ran a list in our print publication highlighting some of the most interesting posts published at Up On The Sun over the past week. Here are links to those posts. What records upcoming records are we most excited to hear? What will the debut record from…
