10 Most Criminally Overlooked Rock Deaths of 2015

Although there’s something ghoulish about measuring a year’s passage by how many celebrities we lost to the Reaper, the Academy Awards’ and Grammy Awards’ “In Memorium” montages provide a much-needed public service in the “I didn’t know (insert name/pronoun) died!” department. Because everyone knows celebrities generally die in threes, a…

Chester Bennington Leaves Stone Temple Pilots to Focus on Linkin Park

Chester Bennington will no longer perform as lead singer with Stone Temple Pilots, the band announced today.  Bennington joined Stone Temple Pilots roughly two-and-a-half years ago. In a statement released by the band on its website, Bennington said the split boils down to scheduling.  “The last few years have been…

Reunited King Khan & BBQ on a Mission to Keep Music Nasty

Having smoothed over their explosive 2010 breakup, the duo of King Khan and BBQ locked themselves in a basement early this year and let the spirits get to work. “When we started recording again, in a way it was more fun than we’d ever had,” says Khan. “We were drinking…

LCD Soundsystem Is NOT Reuniting, Label Says

Earlier today, news broke online that LCD Soundsystem would be reuniting in the next year, five years after their much ballyhooed end. Consequence of Sound was first out of the gate with the item, citing “multiple sources” confirming the rumor. Shortly after the post, which was, as you might imagine,…

Summer Ends Music Festival Helps Put Phoenix on the National Concert Map

Through the early 2000s, Phoenix wasn’t much of a music festival city. Outside of Lollapalooza’s initial stop in 1991, significant music festivals were virtually nonexistent in the Valley. Festivals weren’t the monstrous industry they are now, but as the scene began to grow and expand from a few festivals to…

Arguing About Music Is Better Than You Thought

Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. Remember them? Tons of fun but, let’s be honest, super-frustrating, too, as every match, at least at my house, always degenerated into one combatant holding down both buttons and forcing his robot to push out both arms and move forward until one or both little…

In the Whale’s Nate Valdez Has a Job to Die For

Nate Valdez is good with fingers. Take, for example, his care when removing jewelry from them. First he coats a finger with wax. Then he ties a string around its base and wiggles it up slowly behind the ring it’s wearing until the ring slinks off the tip at the…

Motown on Mondays Phoenix Moves to Last Exit Live

Motown on Mondays is on the move. The DJs behind popular dance joint — which focuses on remixes of the Motown hits of yesteryear, as well as old-school soul, funk and disco classics — are planning to pack up their tracks and head across downtown Phoenix from the Crescent Ballroom…

Elton John, Mumford & Sons, Black Keys Headline to Outside Lands

Outside Lands, the San Francisco music festival, released its lineup today, including an impressive group of top-line headliners. Elton John, Mumford & Sons, Black Keys, Kendrick Lamar, Wilco, D’Angelo, and more top the lineup this year, which is heavy on the indie rock. The festival takes place August 7 through…

VEX on Heavy Alternative Art Rock and Villain Recording

Vex is one of those bands that commands attention whenever they hit the stage. Fitting, since their name is the very definition of evoking mystery and discussion. It’s also defined as changing or “shaking up” the arrangement or position of something, and that’s something Vex is all about. The four…