It’s not like music festivals are a new thing. Woodstock, anyone? In fact, long-running ones, like Coachella, going strong since 1993, have inspired a hearty annual calendar of multi-act, multi-day concert destinations. Whether you want your music delivered via stages at a remote desert site like the aforementioned Coachella or…
Nikki Hill’s secret recipe: Take equal parts revved-up rockabilly punk, AC/DC metal stomp, and scorching modern electric blues, and add overflowing spoonfuls of raw, edgy jump blues, R&B, and soul. Blend on 11. What pours from the speakers is one fiery, passionate soul shouter with plenty of attitude and the…
Cool weather is just around the corner, Phoenix, and with it, the opportunity to actually walk outside. Scottsdale Quarter, the fancy mall up north on Scottsdale Road and Main Street, is preparing for the cool temps by throwing together a weekly concert series starting September 10 and featuring bands that…
The Valley is going to be hesher heaven this week. Thanks to the fact that the annual Psycho Fest took place in Las Vegas this past weekend, a number of participating metal and rock bands (including many of the experimental, psychedelic, stoner, and death variety) are passing through Phoenix in…
This weekend’s slate of big concerts happening around the Valley is downright eclectic, to say the least. It seems an apt description, considering it includes a lingerie rave, a visit from punk icons Face to Face, and a performance by instrumental post-rock act Explosions. And that’s just on Friday.The rest…
Go to enough pop concerts and certain parts of the show will start to annoy you. For instance, pretty much every pop star incorporates the state flag of whatever city they’re in into the set, usually to resounding, pandering applause. They throw unrealistic superlatives to the audience, saying they’re the…
What Coldplay is these days is increasingly rare: A young-ish rock band that inspires a monoculture and plays to adoring crowds in arenas nationwide. To illustrate: Coldplay headlined the Super Bowl halftime show last year, a show where only the least offensive, most broadly popular artists get to perform. It…
Sometimes bands really do get it right with a name that truly reflects the nature of its music. It was a dazzling display of fireworks following the band’s first-ever gig that spawned the name Explosions in the Sky, and for 16 years this all-instrumental Austin, Texas, four-piece has consistently delivered…
Purists scoff. Detractors, whom are often vocal, will tell you that its soul has been lost. Those who are indoctrinated are often divided themselves, gravitating toward certain aspects and shying away from others. Country music has never been more dynamic or divisive, and few artists know this quite like Chase…
The Go-Go’s still have the beat, but the beat will no longer go on: The group is calling it quits after decades together. The group’s sound epitomized the New Wave era of the early ’80s. The Go-Go’s combined ’60s beach music fandom with a spunky punk-rock DIY attitude, created catchy…
Mother Nature tried her best to keep metal fans from catching two of the most prominent acts in the genre Saturday night at Ak-Chin Pavilion as Slipknot and Marilyn Manson rolled through town. After openers Of Mice & Men kicked things off, the Phoenix monsoon took over. Nearly 30 minutes…
Believe it not, but we’re almost done with summer. Yes, we’re well aware that there are still several scorching weeks of loathsome weather ahead, but, for all intents and purposes, there’s light at the end of the tunnel, y’all. If you need something to help make the time between now…
DMX – Friday, August 19 – The PressroomRap superstar DMX has had a bit of a sordid history in the Valley, to say the least. During a six-year stint living in Cave Creek, he was collared eight different times, frequently by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, on such charges as…
If there’s one word to describe the bands taking the stage at Ak-Chin Pavilion this Sunday, it’s “experienced.” The three groups on the Rock Hall Three For All tour — Cheap Trick, Heart, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts — have sold almost 65 million records between them. All told,…
Adele has rescheduled the concert she canceled due to illness. The singer will return to Phoenix for a November 21 concert at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Tickets for the previously scheduled August 17 date will be honored at the new event. Refunds will be available at the point of purchase. …
Julien Baker dreaded telling her parents she’s not going back to school this semester. The singer-songwriter, who released her debut album, Sprained Ankle, last year to great acclaim, encountered the same reaction from her parents as she has throughout her 20 years of life: unconditional support. Baker says, “I think…
I’ll admit to being a bit baffled at times by the magnitude of Adele’s success. She deserves every bit of it, of course, and she’s obviously an amazing singer. But her voice alone doesn’t quite explain the massive level of global adoration she’s experienced. This isn’t a knock on her…
There was actually a little bit of room to breathe at last night’s Guided by Voices show at the Crescent Ballroom. By no means was it a light crowd, just one that allowed for a little wiggle room, along with some personal space between audience members, who were treated to…
The Guns N’ Roses song “It’s So Easy” just might be the most swaggering rock song ever written. Even coming from an era of dick-swinging hyper-masculine rock music, it feels gaudy. The song oozes an easy confidence, an arrogance that can only come when your social capital is in such…
Guided by Voices fans don’t get ruffled by lineup changes. If they did, it would have affected the band’s popularity long ago. Turn up at a GBV show, now or at any point the past couple decades, and the jam-packed rooms are a testament to the fans’ trust in Bob —Robert Pollard, that…
If you haven’t already noticed by now, August has already been a month of great concerts and memorable. However, the best is yet to come. More specifically, some of the biggest concerts of the month will be taking place this coming week, including some long-awaited performances by some quite legendary…
There are a few hallmarks of the Arizona State Fair each year that everyone enjoys, ourselves included. There’s the fried food, of course, as well as fantastic rides, furry creatures, and arguably our favorite part, all the free concerts. As a matter of fact, it’s as much a part of…
