“Have you ever been given meditation instructions at a concert before?” the emcee asked as the crowd sat down at Chandler Center for the Arts to witness a benefit concert by Velvet Underground legend Lou Reed, his wife, performance artist Laurie Anderson.We had not, but that quickly changed. It was…
This weekend Tempe Music Fest 2009 united us once again from scattered Valley citizenry to one cohesive force bent on rocking the hell out. This year Fergy and My Chemical Romance got traded in for straight ahead rock-‘n’-rollers Kid Rock and 3 Doors Down with a couple of All-American Rejects…
There’s one word that describes the Calexico concert at Heritage Square last night: Classy. From the tastefully-appointed stage, to the home-made tamales and high-end beer (Tecate and Four Peaks products only; no Bud) to the gorgeous textures of the band’s unique blend of Western and Tejano music and indie rock,…
Celebrity sightings, beautiful weather, an on-site Circle K and a stellar music roster were part of the fun Saturday for the Tempe Music Festival. Our annual fest brought out names such as Frankie Muniz from Malcolm in the Middle, who held hands with his girlfriend most of the afternoon backstage,…
The annual Country Thunder festival at the dusty Canyon Moon Ranch just outside of Florence is country music’s version of a cattle drive, where over four days some of the bigger names in country music are herded on stage to bleat their biggest hits, then lassoed off to make way…
Hey guys, still figuring out liveblogging possibilities from Tempe Music Fest, but if you wanna keep track of the happenings go to twitter.com/NewTimesKelly or (for another hour or so) me at twitter.com/martincizmar. Shiny Toy Guns, our web editor Jonathan McNamara’s personal Beatles, are currently on stage, and Little Stevie from…
I’ve spent the last year telling everyone who’ll listen that Country Thunder is the premier music festival in Arizona. Whether you like country music or not, you should recognize that compared with any other festival in the state Country Thunder’s acts are bigger, the crowd crazier, the part wilder. So…
I’ve never seen Modified Arts as packed as it was last night during Will Oldham’s performance as Bonnie Prince Billy. And it’s no surprise why. More than 60 people jammed into the downtown Phoenix music venue to watch the iconic and enigmatic indie folk hero’s long, powerful concert that lasted…
Maybe it was the bouncing beach balls that reminded me of my first concert experiences (seeing the Kokomo-era Beach Boys) or maybe it was the inclusion of a relatively obscure song by glam-punks D Generation (the band who headlined my first-ever club concert) in the before-set house music, but something about Bruce Springsteen’s show at Jobing.com Arena…
Fall Out Boy kicked off the first date of their Believers Never Die Tour Friday at Mesa Amiptheatre with a nearly 90-minute set that covered all the hits as well as highlights from their latest disc Folie A Deux. Chicago’s fantastic four, dressed sharply in suits, took the stage a…
The All-American Rejects held a super secret show Friday in a warehouse on the northeast corner of McClintock and Broadway. OK, it wasn’t a show as much as a jam session in preparation of Saturday’s Tempe Music Fest but it was pretty damn cool nonetheless. The jam session was so…
It looks like Chez Nous’ closing is going to be pretty permanent. In my blog post from Wednesday, I mentioned how the renowned retro lounge and soul music venue has been closed for several weeks, with no sign of re-opening anytime soon. (And as you can see above, some vandals…
Yes, that’s right, we’ve got another Sun Session for you today! What, you didn’t think we’d just do one this week? This is probably the biggest music weekend of the year in Phoenix!The Sun Session, in case you missed yesterday’s post (featuring Jim Bachmann and Tony Martinez playing Alan Jackson’s…
This week we had the chance to take an up close look at two new art exhibits on display at Perihelion Arts and SMoCA “Aside and Besides” by Mark Maas Mike Maas’ unique blend of vector design with layered, wooden pieces that seem to jump out at you made for…
The Blunt Club boys will offer their first 18-and-older night Thursday, April 2 at Tempe’s Club Red. The Valley’s longstanding hip-hop night, hosted by Bionic Jive’s Emerg McVay, will feature live art, freestyle rhymes and DJ-spun hip-hop jams during the 3rd Annual All-Star Jam which will pit the east against…
As already revealed by Martin Cizmar, this weekend holds a bevy of entertainment for the Valley. Tempe has it’s annual Music Fest and Florence will cast some Country Thunder down upon the masses. If neither of those spark your fancy and you want a fun (and cheap) way to enjoy…
Oh Megan “Joy” Corkery. We hardly knew ye. Wait, scratch that–we actually knew ye really well, and that was the problem. A crazy-ass, cawing milk-it-for-all-it’s-worth single mom whose voice went from interesting to nails on chalkboard within a matter of weeks. Even you, with the exaggerated faces of disappointment you…
A few weeks back, we had a little idea for Up on the Sun: inspired by The Black Cab Sessions and The Peel Sessions we thought it’d be cool to do something similar with Phoenix bands here on Up n the Sun. The Train Tracks, a very cool local site,…
If you’re the type who bitches how nothing ever goes on in Phoenix, please feel free to grab a nice steaming cup of STFU. We’ve been referencing all week long on this very blog about how huge this weekend’s concert line-up is going to be, but “huge” doesn’t even begin…
This weekend is probably the biggest three days of music I can remember in my time in the Valley, with two multi-day festivals (Country Thunder and Tempe Music Fest) along with Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Fall Out Boy, Leonard Cohen, Bonnie Prince Billy and Calexico all coming to town.Think you’ll…
Reached by phone on a recent afternoon in his native Tucson, where he’s enjoying a bit of downtime before his band Calexico heads back out on the road, singer-guitarist Joey Burns is taking a walk with one of his best friends in the world, one he doesn’t get to hang…
“This is the year of the Rejects,” The All-American Rejects lead singer Tyson Ritter declares. “We’re going to conquer the world and this is the record we’re going to do it with.” Ritter is referencing the band’s third album, When the World Comes Down, which was released last year. And…
