Top 5 Must-See Phoenix Shows This Weekend

This set of concert recommendations won’t apply to everyone, because we don’t have one that takes place in an airport on your way back to your parents’ house. But if you’re sticking around, like me, you’ve got some options. Like Up on the Sun on Facebook or follow us on…

Willie Nelson & Family – Celebrity Theatre – 12/18/13

Last night Willie Nelson & Family played to a sold-out crowd at Celebrity Theatre–and it was quite the family affair. Not just because Nelson had about half of his own immediate family members on stage, but because the intimate setting embraced a crowd that was as comfortable with other Willie…

Willie Nelson Remains the Culture’s Favorite Counterculture Hero

Country music legend, activist, author, poet, actor–Willie Nelson fits into any one of these categories. He helped shape outlaw country towards the end of the 1960s, by bringing country artists who felt restricted by the Nashville sound together with “hippie” rock musicians, and his classic, low-key voice, timeless melodies, and…

The People of True Music Festival 2013

It happened. Whatever else you can say about this year’s inaugural True Music Festival in Scottsdale, the ambitious one-day festival went off mostly hitch-free, bringing The Flaming Lips, Wiz Khalifa, and Bassnectar, among others, to town for a very appreciative audience. This is that audience–sweatshirted, in large groups, and, if…

Top 5 Must-See Phoenix Shows This Week

‘Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the venues, most people weren’t really doing all that much. But they were doing something, and here are five shows that will give you something to do whether you’re in the spirit or not. (View our complete concert calendar here.)…

Top 5 Must-See Phoenix Shows This Weekend

It’s a big weekend for shows, to say the least. Or, to rephrase, a weekend that’s filled with big shows. You’ve got the nu-metal gods of Korn headlining KUPD’s holiday show tonight while Snoop Lion Snoop Dogg Nemo Hoes Snoopadelic doing his DJ thing in Scottsdale on Saturday. And, of…

Kanye West – US Airways Center – 12/10/2013

Yeezus. Yeezy. Kanye. Ye. Call him what you will, but if last night is any indication Yeezus will go down as one of the best tours of all time, with or without Grammy nominations. Kanye West made sure to mention that his latest record only received two nominations for a…

Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra – Crescent Ballroom – 12/8/2013

Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra really packed the people in to the partitioned Crescent Ballroom on Sunday night having easily more than 200 people arrive ready to dance for their fifth show ever, and their first since June. The group, which describes itself as a “musical collective,” consists of 14 musicians–and among…

Wolvves – Funny World – 12/6/2013

Aydin Immortal is rock ‘n’ roll, and Wolvves is more fun than any other band in Phoenix. Those are the two most important lessons the 25 to 40 people who showed up to Funny World on First Friday learned when they saw the Phoenix-based skate-punks headline a local house show,…

Top 5 Must-See Phoenix Shows This Week

Last week Phoenicians had a chance to celebrate a not-exactly routine Christmas with Alice Cooper. This week you’ve got Korn. I can’t promise any metal Christmases at all next week, so make of that what you will. (View our complete concert calendar here.)…

Beyonce – US Airways Center – 12/7/2013

BeyonceUS Airways CenterSaturday, December 7 Have you ever met Mrs. Carter? She’s a sweet southern belle with a voice not to be reckoned with. Despite all the glitz and glamour, Mrs. Carter is a badass, sexy woman at heart, one who happened to promise me this: “I’ll be your naughty…

Aaron Lewis: I Feel Like Country Is The Music of Real America

For more than 20 years singer and guitarist Aaron Lewis’ powerful, rolling baritone voice has carried fans on a personal journey into his life through songs of acceptance, consequences, depression, love, and family–both with the alternative metal band Staind and most recently his solo country ballads. Friday night, in the…

Top 5 Must-See Phoenix Shows This Weekend

First they ignore you, then they’re frightened by you, then they’re fond of you, then you create a youth center for at-risk teens.” – Alice Cooper. His annual Christmas Pudding show and more make up this weekend’s 5 must-see Phoenix shows…

Florida Georgia Line: “We Love Each Other Like Brothers”

It’s that time of year again, and with the holidays comes the annual Almost Acoustic Christmas concert at Comerica Theatre on December 5. A staple in the Christmas season, and one of the more buzzed about events among Valley country fans, Almost Acoustic Christmas plans on beefing up the artists…

Justin Timberlake – US Airways Center – 12/2/2013 (PHOTOS)

Justin Timberlake US Airways Center Monday, December 2, 2013 (View the full slideshow.) Pop megastar Justin Timberlake made his eagerly awaited return to Phoenix Monday night and quickly proved why the media has paid obsessive attention to him since his Mickey Mouse Club Days. Over the course of his three-hour…