Music

If you haven’t kept up with Sammy Hagar since his rockin’ “I Can’t Drive 55” days, you might find yourself alternately shocked, horrified, and amused by Hagar’s recent plunge into country music. Then again, the public had more or less the same reaction in 1985 when Hagar was announced as…

Few American cities have suffered a corporate dicking as thoroughly as Phoenix, what with every one of its stadiums bearing names like U.S. Airways Center, Chase Field, Wells Fargo Arena, Jobing.com Arena, and, though a little outside city limits, our personal favorite, Tim’s Toyota Center. It seems sports teams are…

A decade ago, I used to be big-time into collecting bootleg concert videos of my favorite bands. I’d habitually visit stores like East Side Records in Tempe or Shirts ‘n’ Things in Mesa to scope out their latest tapes, or log onto eBay to buy up shakily-shot VHS vids of groups like the Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid, Dead Kennedys, Nine Inch Nails, and Rage Against the Machine.

Festival spirits will be resurrected and entertainment demons will be exorcised this weekend, as three huge music festivals take place across the state. From Top 40 hip-hop to local jam bands, there’s something for everyone in the ‘Zona — especially for those willing to take a road trip.

Phoenix New Times Clubs Editor Benjamin Leatherman finds more cool and quirky YouTube videos than anyone else I know. He’s responsible for embedding stuff like this intense-looking hamster in the comments on my MySpace page, and also subjects me to things like this twisted Chris Benoit parody on occasion.

The Raconteurs, the much-lauded side project of White Stripes front man Jack White, will be performing at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. tonight — and you can watch the show, live on the Web, at www.NPR.org/music.

Last week, I posted a challenge of sorts to local music artists, specifically, the disgruntled bands who complain that we don’t give press to them. I vowed to review local CDs in the order in which they were received, and to be completely honest about my impressions of the music. I’m still waiting for more Valley bands to send me their CDs for review – particularly the Video Nasties (no, not the British group of the same name, nor the band of the same name from Pennsylvania, but a Mesa band), whose “Dally Dirtnap” sent an e-mail to our editor-in-chief, Rick Barrs, complaining about our recent cover story on Digital Summer He said DS wasn’t cover material, and his band was “much better,” “without even trying.”

As Music Editor at Phoenix New Times, I usually run around town every weekend, going to various events and meeting up with any number of people, sometimes falling into misadventure and often falling into disrepair. My weekend often starts on Thursday and doesn’t end until Monday morning, when I have to drag my ass back to the office and affect some image of wakefulness/awareness. I figured I might as well be as self-indulgent as music critics are now alleged to be – at least those who are still walking the plank. Might as well document these times of my life and simultaneously share my experience of the scene and happenings around P-city, before I am too old to stand in front of another amplifier and dying from some debauchery-rooted disease.

The first New Times Summer of Sound show took place Saturday, May 24, at Exit 7 in Glendale. This was the punk show, and it lived up to its name, as locals Harlequin Babies, Asses of Evil, Dephinger, and Glass Heroes warmed up the stage for the legendary Dickies with spasms, spit, and attitude.

Arch Enemy singer Angela Gossow has fired back at a fan that she feels disrespected her and her webmistress.

Here’s a handful of shows that were just announced this week.

George Michael, touring behind his new double CD collection, Twenty-Five, is scheduled to perform at US Airways Center on Sunday, June 22, and Ticketmaster’s offering $25 “select seat” tickets to his concert. The offer starts at noon on Sunday, May 25, and ends at 1 p.m. on Monday, May 26. (Regular ticket prices for Michael’s show range from $46.75 to $121.25)

By Jonathan McNamara Metal bands In Flames, Children of Bodom, Job For a Cowboy and High on Fire were lead by Megadeth to their inevitable, guitar-screeching end as Gigantour 2008 came to a close. See for yourself in our explosive Gigantour slide show…

Phoenix band Crushed will get some radio play this weekend, as local radio station host Jonathan L at 98 KUPD spins the band’s song “Distance Between Us,” from their album My Machine on his “Lopsided World of L” program. Listen for the song this Saturday, May 24, between 9:50 and 10:05 a.m. Crushed will also be performing live on the “Lopsided World of L” on Sunday, May 25, between 6 and 8 p.m. Out-of-staters can listen online at www.98kupd.com.

If U.K. pop/pipe chanteuse Amy Winehouse was an American pop star living in the States, we’d never hear about Britney Spears. Sure, a sheared Spears might attack the paparazzi with an umbrella, but Winehouse still makes her look like a Disney kid by comparison. Winehouse is arrested/cautioned for suspicion of drug possession and assault so often that we’ve completely lost track of her debauched trajectory down into the dregs. At the very least, she could do with a lower-maintenance hairdo than that damn beehive she’s been sporting for two years. It doesn’t seem to hold up well in the drunk tank.

Every Thursday, we’re going to start posting a “Flier of the Week.” Our first flier comes from a band called the Peeholes. Their name alone would make any flier eye-catching, but the graphic makes this flier even more eye-popping…literally.