By Michael Cryer When Paris James took the stage Tuesday night at the Musical Instrument Museum’s “I Am AZ Music” Acoustic Blues show, a collaboration with the Phoenix Blues Society, and bid everyone “good evening,” the audience said “good evening” in turn with a tone that was more “peace be…
It’s hard to figure out exactly what to make of modern country’s flirtations with genres outside Nashville’s rustic confines. Taylor Swift’s Red incorporated an (ever-so-slight) dubstep wobble into her pop-country frame. The Zac Brown Band is covering Metallica live. Former Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker gets as much…
Like most superheroes and supervillians, it’s hard not to take a guess at the true identities of Wisconsin’s pop punk gem, Masked Intruder. After getting a close look at all four members, I can confirm that none of them are Mikey Erg. The verdict’s still out on whether or not…
The soul-rock-blues quartet Vintage Trouble see themselves as not just practitioners of what they call “live-wired, straight-shootin’, dirty-mouthed, pelvis-pushing juke music,” but protectors of a long and fruitful legacy. The band of veteran musicians — Ty Taylor on vocals, Nalle Colt on guitar, Rick Barrio Dill on bass, and Richard…
Although the scribes at DJ Mag won’t be releasing the results of their annual (and oft-debated) Top 100 poll for another couple of months, we’re willing to wager there’s one name that’s guaranteed to be close the top of the list: Hardwell. Bet on it…
It’s not often that band names are as straightforward as Masked Intruder. They wear masks, they claim to be interested in breaking into your house and stealing your VCR, the end. Something like “Earth Crisis”–you’re left wondering what the crisis is, and why they’re named after it. Of course, Lyle…
Tim McGrawSalt River FieldsAugust 10, 2013 Tim McGraw delivered a concert nothing short of excellent Saturday night, when he brought his highly anticipated and publicized Two Lanes of Freedom Tour to Salt River Fields. The country veteran proved he still has what it takes to excite fans with a live…
Tony Martinez took naps in his father’s guitar case when he was a baby. He would cry and cry at his father’s shows, and would only stop when he was put in the guitar case and fall asleep to the sound of the music playing. The first time he recalls…
SebadohCrescent BallroomAugust 9, 2013 There was a lot of love in the air at Crescent Ballroom last night as indie rock legends Sebadoh played their first area show in a while. A lot of the feely-good vibes came as much from the stage as they did from the crowd that…
Typically we just give you a chance, in these weekly previews, to see shows. But something-something-Web-2.0, and now user interaction is important. So go see shows, if you want to be Web 1.0 about it . . . or you can go to Zia and try out to be a…
Forget Japan: Jann Klose is big in Indonesia. The songwriter and guitarist is something of a cult figure there, and he’s still not sure exactly how it happened. “It’s a really weird thing,” he says with a laugh while on the road in New Jersey. “People are still posting this…
Wednesday night, I watched three sets of fully fleshed-out pop music performed solo, augmented by samplers, laptops, and pedals. It was something that probably couldn’t have happened a century ago and probably has some implications on technological development contributing to an egalitarian artistic landscape but also having some unintended consequences…
The Monkees and the Jonas Brothers are both playing the Valley this week, which is a think piece someone else is going to have to write — only one of them made our list of five Phoenix shows to see this week. Find out which one it is after the…
Fitz and the Tantrums August 4, 2013 Crescent Ballroom Fitz and the Tantrums were the first band I ever reviewed for Up on the Sun, so seeing them Sunday night at Crescent Ballroom was a bit nostalgic. But the “whoa factor” definitely was still there, from their energetic entrance to…
When you’re talking to Random–aka Mega Ran, aka (to Caller ID) Raheem–it’s not hard to detect the former-teacher in his voice. When he’s not rapping about video games or not giving into self-doubt, he’s talking in the methodical, well-practiced way of somebody who spent a lot of weekdays lecturing patiently…
Musician/songwriter Alejandro Escovedo has made a career out of taking chances. His first true band was the San Francisco-based punk outfit The Nuns. Then he joined up with cow-punks Rank & File before forming the country-oriented True Believers with his brothers, eventually hacking out a solo career. His music typically…
Are you on a live album? Not as a performer, I mean — are you background noise for one of your favorite bands? If you haven’t already earned the opportunity to make your friends scrub through 40 minutes of crowd noise to hear you shouting “My wife!!” during between-songs banter,…
Bruno Mars, US Airways Center, July 31, 2013 It’s so cool to see the American dream in action. Last night at US Airways Center, Bruno Mars played to a sold-out crowd at US Airways Center for his Moonshine Jungle Tour. About 20 years ago, he was a child performer in…
Cover songs can be tricky business. Finding one(s) that everyone in a band wants to do and then executing it while attempting to pay proper homage to whoever or whatever reason you wanted to do it in the first place. Doing an entire set of someone else’s music, though –…
Without using a time-turner — and those things are dangerous — it’s impossible to see every show in Phoenix every week. It’s not even possible to see all five shows in this list. But I really don’t think you should resort to time-travel. There’ll be five more must-see shows this…
As much as I embrace the label in a jaded attempt to disarm its pathetic sting, “hipster” doesn’t really describe me. I listen to hundreds of musicians, scattered from every genre you can name (except ska, because fuck ska), but I never choose to like a band because they’re obscure…
The MaineCrescent BallroomJuly 27, 2013 (Check out the complete slideshow for more photos.)Ten years ago, a local band selling out a venue the size of the Crescent as convincingly as The Maine did Saturday would be on its way to a major label deal. The Maine, of course, are now…
