This weekend, McDowell Mountain Music Festival celebrated its 10-year anniversary in style, at a new primo location of Margret T. Hance Park, with good beer from Deschutes, and with awesome bands like The Shins, The Roots, Balkan Beat Box, Les Claypool, and more. You can catch up on our reviews,…
Nineties nostalgia — with its grungy flannel shirts, giant Gameboys, and crunchy guitars — is upon us. The next “remember the days” wave will undoubtedly be for the late ’90s/early 2000s, when nu-metal first took hold of the radio dial (it’s held on ever since). So expect Coal Chamber, Sevendust,…
Once a week, Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See New Times’ print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…
Anthrax @ Marquee Theatre|3/24/13There are few things more exciting than being present for the start of a legendary thrash band’s tour, when they are fresh, energetic, and have a brand-new set list. Metalheads in Tempe had that glorious opportunity Sunday night, when the Metal Alliance Tour came through town on…
Dr. Dog, Les Claypool’s Duo de Twang, and More @ McDowell Mountain Music Festival at Margret T. Hance Park|3/24/13The last day of a music festival is always an exercise in mixed feelings. The majority of the crowd is exhausted, sunburned, and dehydrated, but through it all, watching the headlining band…
It’s become a tradition around here. Every week, on Monday — the worst of all days — we bring you our Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix this week. You know, to help make it all bearable. Dig in, kiddos…
From Up on the Sun’s “Fire Marshall Beck” rant in 2007 to praise of his project Staren Black in 2010, the relationship between the New Times and local metal figure Marshall “Fucking” Beck has always been, um, “complicated.” Certain members of the New Times staff — past and present –…
The Roots @ McDowell Mountain Music Festival at Margret T. Hance Park|3/23/13About an hour into their dominating set, the legendary Roots crew pulled out a trick few other bands could get away with: Drummer Questlove and percussionist Frank Knuckles did a drum solo. An extended one. It’s always been my…
It’s gonna be an action-packed weekend for Brannon Kleinlein. The 38-year-old will be busy overseeing the locals-only side stage at the McDowell Mountain Music Festival at Margaret T. Hance Park. It’s certainly a major task that he’ll have to juggle along with this weekend’s debut of his new downtown Phoenix…
The Shins @ McDowell Mountain Music Festival at Margret T. Hance Park|3/22/13It’s been 10 years since McDowell Mountain Music fest got started, and nine since Natalie Portman, as the prototypical “manic pixie dream girl” stated that The Shins would “change your life.” In that time, McDowell Mountain Music fest has…
Lately, we’ve had to report on far too many deaths in the Arizona music scene. But alas, it’s our terrible duty to report that Rick Martinez, better known as DJ Essential, passed away on Thursday, March 21, around 2 p.m. due to complications from cellulitis. Martinez was 43 years old,…
Doug Hopkins Hopkins is the star of the Discovery Channel show, Property Wars. For more information, go here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? Definitely Howard Stern. If I am not listening to Stern, I’m usually listening…
Mos Def/Yasiin Bey @ Celebrity Theatre|3/21/13It’s clear that Yasiin Bey (a.k.a. Mos Def) is one of the most likable guys in hip-hop history. The 39-year-old rapper is most known for his critically acclaimed album Black on Both Sides, as well as his work with fellow New York MC Talib Kweli…
If the flu virus is a filament-filled spiky sphere, I wonder what the electronic synth bug looks like. By the sounds of things, Charles Barth of two-man group Saddles is the latest in a long line of musicians to be infected by the bug. His recently released single, “The Original”…
Who’s excited for the Instagram pictures Questlove is going to post of Phoenix this weekend? I sure am. The Roots will be in town on Saturday, March 23, to play as part of McDowell Mountain Music Festival, plus, Questo will be dropping a DJ set at Bar Smith afterward. That’s…
You can’t go wrong with a healthy dose of Anthrax in the morning. At least, that’s what I thought as I listened to their new EP Anthems, released on Tuesday, March 19. Add that to the fact that these thrash metal legends are coming through town this Sunday on the…
Justin Timberlake’s reunion with music is causing some weird flashbacks and leaving a miserable taste in my mouth. His new album is the pinnacle of mediocrity and exemplifies all that can go wrong when commercialism meets music. “Suit and Tie” makes me want to burn a stack of Esquire magazines…
Update: Tickets are now available from Luckyman Online. Each night will feature two shows from Prince, an early and late show, and tickets are available for $277. Folks, the time has come to purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka. Or, uh, Tempe Tempe Lake.* Because Prince is coming…
Tiger Army has replaced Against Me! on New Times/KUKQ’s recently revived That Damn Show music festival at Mesa Amphitheatre, which includes Bad Religion, Awolnation, The Faint, and more. The news of Against Me! leaving the festival isn’t too surprising, as the band canceled its spring tour with Bad Religion. See…
The record store gods giveth and they taketh away. Over the past six months or so, they’ve imparted another iteration of Eastside Records in Tempe, a mega-sized Zia Records on Camelback, as well as the equally quaint Record Room in Scottsdale, while claiming beloved East Valley shops like Rockzone and…
Pick up a copy of this week’s issue of New Times, and you’ll learn all about Haley Grigaitis, frontwoman for the feel-good, reggae-infused local band Ruca. Though she and her band are climbing the music ranks now, having played the TMI Radio Showcase at South by Southwest last week, she…
Once again, it’s a sort of apprenticeship with Woody Guthrie that’s drawn Billy Bragg into a new realm. Thirty years since his debut, the seven-song Life’s a Riot with Spy Vs Spy, Bragg is back with a new album, Tooth & Nail, out this week on Cooking Vinyl. Bragg calls…
