Hawaii-bred reggae rock group Iration take change in stride. Each of their albums explores a different side of their musical influences–ranging from drummer Joseph Pickens’ love for Lamb of God to lead vocalist/guitarist Micah Pueschel’s penchant for the Beatles–while keeping their roots in traditional reggae. Earlier this year in April,…
Neko CaseOrpheum TheaterSeptember 12, 2013 Had she not mentioned it, you probably never would have known that Neko Case was suffering from an annoying head cold at her nearly sold-out show last night at Phoenix’s lovely Orpheum Theater. Her sickness showed no intentions of betrayal to her glorious voice as…
Future Loves Past’s debut album, All The Luscious Plants gives “polish” a good name. That’s not the only musical jargon the Tempe natives rehabilitate on All The Luscious Plants, but it’s the first bit of it you’ll have to confront when you listen to it; this is an album that…
Two very different festivals this weekend: One, Desert Uprising, will fill Ak-Chin Pavilion with metalheads and hard rock fans for acts like Alice in Chians, Jane’s Addiction, and Avenged Sevenfold. Lushfest, the other, will fill The Sail Inn with local music fans ready to see Future Loves Past perform its…
A band that repeats “you will always be a loser” toward the end of a five minute song may be a little discouraging, but the put downs are worth it. Titus Andronicus finishes its magnum opus “No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future” by singing “you will always be…
Mickey Avalon is constantly loaded. He’s loaded with clever rhymes and catchy hooks, played by DJs to writhing Hollywood club kids who don’t understand that half of the dark memories Mickey shares are actual experiences. When he started out around 2004, he was loaded with the burden of family members…
fun. Comerica Theatre September 10, 2013 (Complete slideshow here) “We Are Young” may not have even been the second-unlikeliest No. 1 hit of 2012–here in 2013, though, at a safe remove from PSY and Gotye, it’s a little easier to appreciate just how weird it was. With rock in a…
Finnish rock band HIM is known for causing a lot of weird controversy. First, a lot of people get angsty when it comes time to define their sound–the band has been categorized as everything from slow alt-rock to melodic metal to gothic metal. But they’ve been around since 1991, and…
Everything about The Features seems perfectly calibrated to sneak up on you. Their new album–self-titled–is packed with different ideas and sounds, but it’s not a debut; it’s their fourth full-length. They’re still building a national audience, but they’re not new to touring; they were attracting local buzz in their native…
ZZ Ward has been turning heads nonstop with her soulful performances for the last year and a half. After crisscrossing North America on multiple tours and playing at SXSW the past two years, the buzz has been building for this singer-songwriter whose sound is a potent mash-up of rock, soul,…
Statistically speaking, you or some iTunes user you know has, ton-i-i-i-i-ight, confirmed that he and someone else are both young and then set the world on fire at least once in the last year. Last year fun., America’s least search-engine-optimizable band, had the biggest rock hit in three or four…
fun., your best bet at a dose of The Format methadone, is in town this week. At the same time, Future Loves Past and approximately a million other cool local bands will be performing at Lushfest in Tempe over the weekend. So if you missed your chance to be a…
Diehard fans of The Format had a lot of soul-searching to do when fun.–the band formed by erstwhile lead singer Nate Ruess–hit the mainstream with Some Nights. Some of it was about the music, and some of it was about the reaction: What are you supposed to do when somebody…
I’ve never done anything interesting enough to merit a Kickstarter, but if I ever happen to by accident I could do worse than following the example of Northern Hustle, who’s celebrating their crowdfunding victory with a CD Release show this weekend. That’s just one of the titular must-see Phoenix shows…
Backstreet BoysComerica TheatreSeptember 5, 2013 The Backstreet Boys have been in comeback mode–yes, I know the album’s called Never Gone–for almost 10 years now. I don’t think we spend enough time thinking about how weird that is. When bitter rivals *NSYNC made their comeback at the VMAs recently it was…
Apollo’s Lounge is quickly becoming quite the Phoenix nightlife hotspot. The Hot Pink crew set up shop on Friday nights for RAD, and DJs Roya and Funkfinger take over on the first Saturday of every month for Tongue Tied. Apollo’s is a natural transition for Roya and Funkfinger after participating…
Lil Wayne Celebrity Theatre September 3, 2013 (View the full slideshow.) Few critically acclaimed artists make critics reevaluate that acclaim as frequently as Lil Wayne. Not in the sense that some of his albums are better than others–in the sense that some of his choices are so strange that they…
This week’s Lil Wayne show started out weird–in a smaller venue than you’d expect Lil Wayne to play, with less than a month’s notice, for the benefit of a charity–and it looks like it will finish weird, too: Monday night, with fans lined up outside Celebrity Theatre waiting for the…
Happy Labor Day! We like to spend our Labor Day checking out Lil Wayne charity shows. (Note: That’s not a picture of Lil Wayne.) We don’t know how you like to spend your Labor Day week, which is why we’ve included no fewer than five options for enjoying yourself. If…
Black SabbathUS Airways CenterAugust 30, 2013 (View the complete slideshow.)There were more devil horns on display at Black Sabbath’s concert Friday night than at an ASU football game. That’s not surprising, however, given the band’s affinity for dark lyrics, occult-like imagery and satanic references. What was surprising was the great…
An event called Boob-a-Palooza is bound to turn some heads, because who doesn’t love boobs? Now that I’ve got your attention, you can learn more about The Rhythm Room’s third annual Boob-a-Palooza, an event that’s part fundraiser, and part rockin’ swing dance show. Check out what Mona Watkins, the Rhythm…
If Black Sabbath isn’t quite terrifying anymore, they’ve done a remarkably good job recovering from their lead singer appearing in a goofy MTV reality-sitcom for three years. You’ll be able to see just how well they’ve recovered Friday at US Airways Center. If that’s not your speed, we’ve got four…
