The first ever Mesa Music Festival could be called an interesting mess, at best. I must admit, I didn’t have high hopes for the festival. Early on, many folks in the music community were upset that it seemed like a pay-to-play event, since it required a $30 application fee and the…
Comerica Theatre’s loading dock is a mildly steep, ceiling-less tunnel underground. While it could feel oppressively narrow, it floods cheerily with sunlight during the day. Even with the light, it’s at best a garage at the bottom of a concrete hill. This space is usually occupied by roadies unpacking a…
Here are our picks for best concerts in Phoenix this week. For more options, check out our comprehensive concert calendar. Collective Soul – Monday, November 16 – Marquee Theatre Ed Roland’s dedication to music has been the sole driving force behind Collective Soul’s continued relevance in the music industry. Formed…
Beck, Animal Collective, and more will play the 2016 McDowell Mountain Music Festival, organizers announced this weekend. The festival, scheduled to take play in Phoenix March 11-13, 2016, will bring musicians representing many genres. Last year’s festival featured Widespread Panic, Thievery Corporation, Passion Pit, Portugal. The Man, and more. Here’s…
This weekend is certainly a good one to be outdoors. Not only will there be plenty of sunshine and pleasant temperatures around the Valley to encourage folks to leave their respective domiciles for some fresh air, but also a number of local festivals happening this weekend. And many of these…
Tool posted a cryptic Facebook post last night, and all signs seem to point to a new Tool tour coming in January 2016. The announcement comes just weeks after Tool played its only tour date in 2015 at the Monster Mash festival on Halloween at Tempe Beach Park. The concert…
Whether you’re a Belieber or a Behater, there’s nothing you can do. Justin Bieber in coming to Phoenix. Bieber — who two years ago pissed into a mop bucket outside a New York City club and then acted like he did the restaurant a favor — will play a concert…
Taylor Upsahl has been surrounded by music since she was in the womb. The 16-year-old Phoenix singer-songwriter grew up with bands, as her father, Mike Upsahl, has played in Valley groups since the ’90s. There was always a rotating cast of professional musicians going in and out of the family’s…
There were times when Sara Taylor felt like crying. The lead singer of the Canadian dark wave band The Birthday Massacre was overwhelmed by the level of intimacy she experienced with the donors to the band’s crowdfunding of its 2014 album, Superstition. Through Skype, Taylor (who is known as Chibi)…
“Hello you fucked up Phoenix maniacs that we’ve come to know and love! How are you?” bellowed Exodus vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza, surveying the crowd clustered in front of the stage. He shaded his eyes from the harsh green lighting and squinted. I followed his gaze to the back of…
In the past year and a half, Phoenix rapper Bag of Tricks Cat has gone on national and international tours opening for nerdcore heavyweight Mega Ran, with whom he dropped a split EP. He also recruited Bazaar of platinum-selling hip-hop group D12 to appear on his track “Never Sober.” A…
Even after all rock singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge has accomplished as a legendary rock singer-songwriter, there are still music critics who claim her trademark raspy vocals can go from passionate to histrionic when she really gets going. Truth is when you have that much passion and belief in who you are,…
Looking for a memorable show to see over the next few nights? Consider any of the following eight options, which comprise our concert picks for this week. If you’re looking for even more live music in and around the Valley, be sure to check out our comprehensive Phoenix concert calendar…
Phoenix is truly rich with music festivals these days. Not just the enormous festivals with nationally known headliners and $116 tickets, either — Phoenix has music festivals dedicated to local artists, single-day, South by Southwest-like affairs, festivals for every major drinking holiday of the year, and even festivals that are…
Got any big plans for the weekend? There’s definitely a lot going on music-wise, including the final concerts of this year’s Arizona State Fair, the annual MIMFest at the Musical Instrument Museum, and all the live performances happening on street corners and inside gallery’s at tonight’s First Friday along Roosevelt…
“My name is Juan Manuel Chavez, better known as Bebi. I’m 19 and I play the cello.” Chavez is speaking Spanish in the trailer for Landfill Harmonic. He hoists his “cello,” a colorful instrument fashioned out of an oil drum and kitchen accessories salvaged from the Paraguayan landfill he grow…
Alan Parsons Live Project — the latest incarnation and live version of the Alan Parsons Project — announced today it will play Celebrity Theatre on Friday, March 25. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, November 13, at the Celebrity Theatre box office or website. “We’ve established the…
It seems as though there are only two seasons in the Valley — hot and not hot. And as you’re undoubtedly aware, particularly this week, we’re firmly in the midst of the latter. However, that only extends to the weather only, because we’re also in the midst of one of…
If there is one thing that Phoenix-based folk artist Daryl Scherrer knows about, it’s heartbreak. Whether performing his solo acoustic stuff as “The Voice Who Lost Its Man” or playing with either of his bands, The Blood Feud Family Singers and Monster May I, the central theme to any Daryl…
Around the back of Tempe’s Cartel Coffee Lab, just after 8 one night, the members of Chandler’s Draa sit in a perfectly lined formation along the farthest perimeter of the alley, looking like they just got shot down by their prom dates. That wouldn’t seem too farfetched considering the fact…
It’s hard not to think HEALTH is more mechanized than Kraftwerk ever could have dreamed. The Los Angeles quartet teethed itself on the abrasive thrash of New York noise rock bands but committed to harmonic balance with trademark melodic synth licks and singer Jake Duzsik’s distant, unaffected voice. With a…
The last band with pure exuberance and panache to hit the scene and remind everyone what rock and roll was about in the first place—raw edge and rebellion with a don’t give a shit attitude—was The Strokes. Now, The Struts invade the U.S., blending hard rock’s stomp, glam’s over the…
