Alt-country rockers Limbeck may technically be a Southern California band, but the group has number of ties to Arizona. “Comin’ From Tucson” is about a long drive home after playing a show at Club Congress almost a decade ago, the band is good friends with Reubens Accomplice, who just so…
It’s peculiarly fitting that these two punk trailblazers should arrive in town on the same night, because they’ve been inextricably bound together for more than 35 years since the beginnings of Los Angeles’ punk underground. For one thing, they’ve endured, even though (or perhaps because) their members have solo careers…
Bloc Party @ Marquee Theatre|12/9/12Bloc Party brought a night full of surprises to Tempe — chiefly one that all attendees would be able to get a good night of sleep. Singer Kele Okereke had a bit of a cold, and the show ended at the very un-rock ‘n’ roll hour…
Alice Cooper’s Christmas Pudding: Don Felder, L.A. Guns, Sebastian Bach, John O’Hurley, Murray SawChuck, and Alice Cooper with Johnny Depp @ Comercia Theatre|12/8/12Local shock rock legend and all Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame inductee Alice Cooper hosted his 12th annual Christmas Pudding holiday bash at Comerica Theatre in downtown…
La La Land Music Festival @ Phoenix Convention Center, 12/7/2012Has the current zeitgeist of electronic dance music about to hit its expiration date? It’s a contentious topic that’s been bandied about by DJs, producers, and online music wonks in recent weeks. No less a source than the great godhead himself…
Orgy @ Joe’s Grotto|12/7/12Alt metal band Orgy had its heyday in the late ’90s/early 2000s, but after singer Jay Gordon retooled the lineup last year (Gordon is the only remaining original member) I was curious to see how they would actually fare live. Luckily, what I found at Joe’s Grotto…
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band @ Jobing.com Arena|12/6/12Who is Bruce Springsteen anyway? The street rat poet singing about characters straight out of West Side Story? The balladeer casting American youth in B movie glory, Roy Orbison grandeur, and fleets of fast cars? The protest singer, spitting bile at…
David Bazan Band (with members of Jimmy Eat World) @ Rhythm Room|12/5/12David Bazan’s grandma spent the evening at the merch table. I’m not sure when exactly it struck me, the realization that Bazan’s relentless honesty knows no bounds, and that the man’s grandma must be used to it. Maybe it…
Sufjan Stevens @ the Rialto Theatre in TucsonIt was a night of deliberate holiday kitsch. It was an ugly Christmas sweater gone awry. If someone told me I mistakenly traveled down to Tucson for a Katy Perry Christmas celebration, based on the costumes, blow up unicorns, and giant game show…
Math the Band @ Trunk Space|11/3/12Imagine if that goofy indie rock cred of The Shins and Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, the “Napoleon Dynamites” of music, hadn’t lost so much popularity and had instead evolved, embracing the EDM subculture with sentimental Millenial generation video game samples and more energy than…
World Party @ Crescent Ballroom|12/2/12It was almost with a sigh of relief that Karl Wallinger and World Party began their Crescent Ballroom concert with “Waiting Such A Long Time,” as it has been some years since Wallinger has taken World Party on a large-scale tour. See also: World Party Offers…
People have recognized Danny Marianino — he of the infamous Danzig punching incident and hardcore band North Side Kings — ever since video of the incident hit the Internet. But lately, it’s been a little crazy. While signing my copy of his new book, Don’t Ever Punch a Rockstar: A…
Yeah, yeah, yeah…we get it Mondays suck (we’ve read Garfield). But it means the start of a new week, which means a bunch of killer shows in and around Phoenix. And here are a few of the coolest, our top five must-see shows this week…
Gospel Claws, Sleep Money, Vial of Sound, Knesset, Zero Zero, Me Vale Madre @ Crescent Ballroom|11/30/12 Leave it to Crescent Ballroom to have such a fantastic representation of local acts here in metropolitan Phoenix. Last night may have been an LP release party for Gospel Claws, but the lineup (including…
With a name like Leftover Cuties and a penchant for unabashed use of ukelele, how could the Los Angeles-based quartet of Shirli McAllen, Austin Nicholsen, Stuart Johnson, and Mike Bolger be anything other than adorable? The group’s folksy sound evokes images of happy couples strolling down a boardwalk decades ago…
What does emotional heavy metal sound like? Well, believe it or not, it’s kind of folky, but mainly acoustic. It’s mostly sad, but strangely fanciful and supremely intense. At least that’s how Marivel Luna and Jesse Simms, the duo comprising local outfit, Revizor, describe it. The pair have been quietly…
Lauryn Hill @ Celebrity Theatre|11/28/12″Life out of context is living ungodly,” Ms. Lauryn Hill sings in “Black Rage,” the new song she’s named her 2012 tour after. Built over a jazzy interpolation of the Sound of Music’s “My Favorite Things,” the song is heavy, exploring the brutal and checkered history…
Phoenix rock ‘n’ rollers The Technicolors are into big things: Big guitars. Big drums. Big vocals. Big hair. Big sound. It’s only appropriate then that they would record their debut album, Listener, at Studio at the Farm. The recording house, tucked away on three acres of farmland in nearby Gilbert,…
Whitehorse @ Crescent Ballroom|11/27/12I don’t know any Whitehorse songs, but then again, I don’t know any Whitehorse songs. Allow me to explain. Over the summer, my editor assigned me to cover a sludge metal band from Melbourne, Australia called Whitehorse. As the band name isn’t very creative, it is shared…
Melodic Minnesota punks Off With Their Heads are a busy bunch. The band is currently making the rounds in Canada and down the U.S. west coast after some border crossing issues. “I used to love the marathon touring,” says singer and guitarist Ryan Young, “but I’m a little more into…
Rush @ US Airways Center|11/25/12″We’ve got 6,000 songs to do, so let’s get with it.” Rush bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee might have been joking, but something about his hyperbolic statement, made early in last night’s nearly three-hour set by the legendary prog rock band rang completely true. Most 44-year-old bands are…
Guns N’ Roses @ Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas|11/23/12Let’s face it: The original Guns N’ Roses lineup is never, ever, ever getting back together. It was once again confirmed when lead singer Axl Rose declined induction to the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year. While the glory…
