I was lucky enough to be invited to the recent Festival of the Fuck Bands, led in a ceremonious fashion by Fucked Up’s very own Father Damian. The festival is a chance for bands worldwide to get together, discuss music and politics, and chat about how awesome they are for…
Believe it or not, P-town peeps, but there are plenty of other events going on this weekend besides that certain championship football game on Sunday afternoon that everyone seems to be all hyped up about. Case in point: SoCal mixmaster J.J. Keo will be staging a boffo birthday bash on…
Prescott has long been a favorite destination for Valley bands hoping to expand their fan base. Over the years, numerous local bands have made the short drive north to entertain central Arizona music fans at Matt’s Saloon, Sundance’s Place, the Bird Cage Saloon and other venerable venues along Prescott’s historic…
Long Beach-bred punk-ska band Sublime was on the verge of becoming a national success when frontman Brad Nowell died of a heroin overdose in 1996, right after work on Sublime’s major-label debut was completed. To help fill the void left by the band, Rhode Island-based quartet Badfish do a very…
It’s not bad enough that frat-rock pioneers Of a Revolution — known worldwide by their cringe-inducing acronym O.A.R. — are descending upon the Valley to appease the willing masses with their divinely bland style of bastardized college rock. No, they feel the need to play at the TPC Scottsdale. Yes:…
Say what you will about pop punk and its mostly lamentable impact on the music landscape (hey, it’s at least partially responsible for giving us emo, right?), but you have to respect a band that has stuck around as long as NOFX has. The San Francisco-by-way-of-L.A. punk band was formed…
One thing is for certain in today’s contemporary country music — you’ll never hear bluegrass deity Dr. Ralph Stanley singing on a Kenny Chesney record. While Chesney’s grasp of country tradition begins with Jimmy Buffett’s 1977 hit “Margaritaville,” fortunately for country purists, there is Josh Turner, who dueted with Stanley…
I was fortunate enough to be in attendance last night at an invite-only preview of The Sail Inn, which is re-opening to the drinking public this weekend after a three year absence from the Tempe music and nightlife scene. It really couldn’t have come at a better time, as I’ve…
Lynyrd Skynyrd pianist Billy Powell died in his home near Jacksonville, Florida last night. He was 56 years old. While an official press statement from the band states “We have no further details,” this article from MTV.com suggests that Powell may have died from a heart attack.
Did you hear that?! Modest Mouse is coming to Tempe on February 25. Like, less than a month from now. And tickets go on sale tomorrow. The Issaquah, Washington six-piece sold out the 5,000-seat Mesa Amphitheatre in May 2007, so these tickets for a room half that size will go…
Do you see anything wrong with this display of Cardinals memorabilia at the front of the Wal-Mart at Country Club and Baseline in Mesa? Yes, that’s right, there’s a bunch of Steelers shit on it. The week before the Super Bowl. In metro Phoenix.Now this is Wal-Mart, so if anyone…
Submissions to our weekly You Asked For It local CD review column come in all kinds of packaging. We’ve received everything from CDRs with the title scrawled on the disc in barely-legible Sharpie to thoughtful, handwritten notes with handmade custom art. We’ve never had anything quite as polished as this…
In anticipation of Queensrÿche’s upcoming new album, we take a look at our picks for the “Top 10 Concept Albums of All-Time,” ordered from least to most outstanding, with apologies to Iron Maiden’s Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and Styx’s Kilroy Was Here for just barely missing the list.
I’ve never been able to pinpoint exactly the reason, but I’ve always had an extreme, visceral dislike of the state of Florida. Maybe it’s the alligators, perhaps it’s the humidity that turns my hair into a giant puff ball, or maybe it’s the fact that my parents forced my brother…
Were you too young to see the final Beatles concert 40 years ago or, perhaps, you simply missed it? It did take place in London, after all. Well, don’t fret. Arizona Beatles tribute band AZ Beats will re-create the legendary band’s final performance, which took place in London on Jan…
Listen up, all you art enthusiasts! Our food and dining blog, Chow Bella, has a new feature you may want to take a gander art. It’s called Art Burn and features the best (and worst) art in Valley eateries. “Every restaurant owner seems to fancy himself (or herself) an art expert these days,…
Hyphy sure has faded quite a bit in popularity over the past couple years (check out this story in our sister publication SF Weekly as to the reasons why). The rambunctious and uptempo Bay Area hip-hop subgenre, which helped introduce “ghost riddin’ the whip” into the national consciousness, blew up…
Think you’re better than some of the colorful people on American Idol or think you’re Arizona’s next Jordin Sparks? Well, you have a shot to prove it next month at Chandler’s Lone Butte Casino. The casino will host “Lone Butte Lucky Break,” the first in a series of televised talent shows,…
Next week is shaping up to be pretty “boss” for fans of Bruce Springsteen (awkward pun very much intended). The Grammy/Oscar/Golden Globe-winning rock ‘n’ roll legend will be performing during halftime of Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday, and tickets for his upcoming worldwide tour go on sale the following morning…
First off this may not be the best Banjo album of 2009, but since it is the only one anyone has heard of I will just go ahead and say it is. And yes it is by the comedian Steve Martin. You can download a free mp3 from The Crow…
As the new year heats up and more new releases come out, it may get more confusing and overwhelming to wade through the many new albums that are released. I am here, however, to take your hand and guide you through the albums that may not get as much press…
If you’re anything like me (and I recognize that most Arizonans–nay, most Americans–are not), you don’t get football.The overall appeal, the rules, the weird players-slapping-each-other-on-the-ass thing–it’s all a bit baffling. But, there are a surprisingly large contingent of us who still attend Super Bowl parties every year for two overwhelming…
