On Thursday night at Crescent Ballroom, the vibe was even more feel-good and positive than usual. Sure, it was a roster chock-full of locally loved acts — Flamenco por la Vida, Sara Robinson & The Midnight Special, The Senators, and Dry River Yacht Club — that attracted an impressively large…
It’s not that I’m rooting for The Maine to become nationally famous and then commit some terrible faux pas in Western Europe, but I’m halfway through a “Maine in Spain Fails Softly Something Something” headline that I’d really like to sell to the New York Post. They’ll be back in…
There’s always been a dark edge lurking behind the glittery pop and warm strings of Glen Campbell. Yet, it’s taken an unexpected album, culled from a series of time-killing studio outtakes, to reveal this side of Campbell. See You There, coming August 6 on Surfdog Records, takes more than a…
Rancid Marquee Theatre Wednesday, July 24, 2013 Seeing a 21-year-old punk band is always kind of a crapshoot. Bands like Social Distortion continue to sell out shows year after year, while groups like The Misfits, Dead Kennedys, and certain iterations of Black Flag would be better off hanging it up…
Kid RockAk-Chin PavilionJuly 24, 2013 (View the full slideshow.) Robert Ritchie, better known as Kid Rock, is no longer a kid, but last night at Ak-Chin Pavilion he proved that he could still rock with the best of them with an energetic performance. As the lights went out, Journey’s “Don’t…
We’ve hit an oversaturation point for bands having comeback albums, reunion tours, and any number of other obvious cash-grabs, so it’s hard not to roll your eyes whenever some band from the ’80s, ’90s, or even early Aughts makes that kind of announcement. And it’s true: Some of it’s downright…
I admit it: When I got the chance to talk to Robert Bell — that’s Kool — of Kool & the Gang ahead of tonight’s show at Ak-Chin Pavilion, I couldn’t resist asking the obvious question, much as I usually try to avoid them: Hey, how and why are you…
Glassjaw Rocky Point Cantina, Tempe Tuesday, July 23, 2013 Before Glassjaw took the stage, the atmosphere at Rocky Point Cantina was tense, punctuated by fans shouting things like “where the fuck have you been?” as they stared anxiously at the green room door. Watching the band perform a 90-minute set…
He’s called himself a cowboy, an American badass, and a host of other names over the years, all in his mission to let us know his one unmistakable message: Kid Rock is an outlaw. He’s done his best to cut a wide swath in the music world, making a splash…
Only one of the shows in this week’s Top Five Must-See Phoenix Shows This Week will feed the homeless, but I don’t think you should really hold that against the other four. I guess it’s harder not to hold it against the other four when it’s framed that way. But…
Have you ever played a Final Fantasy game? If you have, you’ll know that many-if-not-all of them involve collecting an arbitrary number of crystals that a megalomaniacal villain is also chasing, so that they won’t fall into the wrong hands and be used to enslave the world or shoot down…
You missed your chance, over the weekend, to indulge in some multi-band ’60s nostalgia, but tonight, Crescent Ballroom will make up for it by allowing you to resurrect old arguments about whether remaking “Pretty in Pink” was a bad idea (and then, inevitably, whether the end of Pretty in Pink…
At the Happy Together tour, which passed through Talking Stick Resort over the weekend, it’s only natural for a charged-up boomer audience to close its eyes and imagine itself back in the ’60s. But you wonder how many fans closed their eyes, thought they were back home watching a PBS…
Peter MurphyCrescent BallroomSaturday, July 13, 2013 (View the full slideshow.) On Saturday night, goth’s godfather, Peter Murphy, brought his Mr. Moonlight tour to the Crescent Ballroom, celebrating 35 years of Bauhaus, one of the biggest names in early gothic rock. The band formed in ’78 and saw their first breakup…
The B-52’s and The Go-Go’sTalking Stick Resort, ScottsdaleJuly 12, 2013 (View the full slideshow. Two of the bigger names in the ’80s New Wave scene packed Talking Stick Resort Friday night as the B-52’s and the Go-Go’s paid a visit to the Scottsdale casino. As expected, there were plenty of…
MelvinsCrescent BallroomJuly 12, 2013 It might be a good idea to take a drive by the Crescent Ballroom this morning and see if that place is still standing. I am pretty sure that the Melvins’ blistering delivery of their noisy, sludge-y, smart, thick, and furious blend of motherfucking ROCK left…
Black Flag Club Red Thursday, July 11, 2013 The idea of Black Flag coming to town works in principle. Seeing the remnants of an iconic punk band that hasn’t performed in Phoenix in decades sounds good in theory, but the reality is that Black Flag has gone through so many…
Nostalgia acts are heartier than the rest of us. Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé booked themselves all the way into December, when Phoenicians will once again gloat about the weather; everywhere else across the music-act spectrum, things seem to be slowing down, hibernating. But if you’re into campy, accomplished new wave,…
by Chaz Kangas Everybody’s favorite boy band template New Kids on the Block have been taking the stage all summer for their tour with 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men. (They’re coming to Jobing.com Arena on Sunday, July 14.) While most of our New Kids memories could be attributed to…
The B-52s’ funky, flirty and groovalicious party sound is as unmistakable today as it was when the band formed unexpectedly in 1976 after founding members Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Keith Strickland, and Cindy and Ricky Wilson downed a flaming volcano drink at an Athens, Georgia restaurant. “We never planned on…
If you’ve been following the hugely popular video-game music scene over the past few years, you’ve no doubt known what a chiptune is. If you have, and you have any self-respect, you won’t admit it. If you’re a normal adult, meanwhile, you have no idea what I’m talking about. Allow…
Spend some time with the guys from Slightly Stoopid, and you’re bound to walk away with a fascination for the band’s business model and a new cologne — of the skunk variety. For almost 15 years the members of Slightly Stoopid have made music together, and somehow they’ve perfected one…
