Email Author Brendan Joel Kelley

Awards

• 2006 - Arizona Press Club Awards, published June 16, 2005

  "High Voltage"

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2004 Stories by Brendan Joel Kelley

• His So-Called Good Life

  published June 17, 2004

  Hours before he takes the stage as the headliner of the Plea for Peace tour, Cursive front man Tim Kasher is looking shaggy. His hair's... More >>

• JoJo Flores at Sail Inn

  published June 17, 2004

  The bohemian vibe is always present at the Sail Inn in Tempe, but the producers of this Friday's Buhay party aim to amp it up even higher. Buhay... More >>

• Blood Brothers

  published June 10, 2004

  The three guys performing at the Mason Jar on a spring Friday night have a crowd bunched close to the stage, including a clique of teenage girls... More >>

• Alice in Revolver Land

  published June 3, 2004

  Dear Ms. Cooper, Over the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to listen to your still-young syndicated radio show, Nights With Alice... More >>

• Marques Wyatt

  published June 3, 2004

  Marques Wyatt made a pilgrimage to New York City in 1984 that not only changed his life, but changed West Coast dance music; Wyatt returned with... More >>

• Spun

  published May 27, 2004

  Blink while you're walking down Mill Avenue and you'll probably miss the new Swell Records. Just doors down from Fatburger, with only printed... More >>

• Final Days of Freedom

  published May 27, 2004

  Sorry, candy kids, but time is almost up for frolicking at Freedom in Tempe. The dance club institution is saying goodnight after its final... More >>

• Small Price to Pay

  published May 20, 2004

  For a long time, I didn't patronize the Marquee Theatre in Tempe. Hadn't been there until I was preparing to write this column, and then it was at... More >>

• Hernan Cattaneo at Freedom

  published May 20, 2004

  Tempe's Freedom nightclub has almost run its course -- the dance music mecca closes after a Memorial Day blowout -- but there's still time for a... More >>

• AZPunk.com Featured Band Riot

  published May 13, 2004

  The venerable local nonprofit Web site and message board AZPunk.com just keeps on giving to the local music... More >>

• Electro Ass

  published May 6, 2004

  The last couple weeks have been sheer torture on the ears. See, this coming weekend I'm turning 30, and in an effort to ensure that I'm not... More >>

• Technics/DMC World DJ Championship at the Old Brickhouse Grill

  published May 6, 2004

  Phoenix once again welcomes one of the 20 regional Technics/DMC World DJ Championship rounds, the first stop on the path to the world title for... More >>

• Trash! at the Clubhouse

  published May 6, 2004

  A new monthly Brit Pop/indie/New Wave night, Trash!, debuts this Saturday with a maudlin splash, previewing the new full-length LP by mope master... More >>

• Death of Freedom

  published April 29, 2004

  My job just got infinitely more difficult. See, I just got word that Freedom, the dance-music mecca in Tempe, is closing its doors at the end... More >>

• Old Dog, New Tricks

  published April 22, 2004

  I saw an anomaly at a Phoenix hip-hop show recently -- a 58-year-old guy onstage playing classic funk 45s -- no scratching, no mixing, just one... More >>

• Scream Sequence

  published April 15, 2004

  Ten songs into what was supposed to be a nine-song set, on a lawn between two of Arizona State University's freshman dorms, Greeley Estates singer... More >>

• Old School

  published April 15, 2004

  When I was 17, I worked at a skateboard shop in Anchorage, Alaska, called G&B, the first skate shop in the state. Growing up in Alaska doesn't... More >>

• Curtains

  published April 8, 2004

  Someone tagged the plywood where the mirror used to hang in the men's room at Long Wong's: "Where do we go now? Tempe dies April 3, 2004." ... More >>

• Crunk and Disorderly

  published April 1, 2004

  At this year's South by Southwest music conference, I unexpectedly witnessed the invention of a brand new musical genre -- honkycrunk. I... More >>

• Leggo My Alter Ego

  published March 25, 2004

  Hip-hop has always been populated by eccentrics -- Public Enemy's Flavor Flav, with his nasal voice, oversize clock necklaces and unfortunate... More >>

• Rap Attack

  published March 18, 2004

  What is it about Joe Arpaio? That guy can breathe life into a non-story better than any public relations expert around. More than six weeks... More >>

• Queens of the Damned

  published March 11, 2004

  On a drag queen night at a downtown Phoenix gay-boy watering hole not long ago, four biological females walked in the door, dressed in leather and... More >>

• Islands in the Stream-o

  published February 26, 2004

  Over the last several months, I've noticed an alarming trend. I can't look at TV or the newsstand without seeing the word "emo." Major record... More >>

• Phoenix Falling

  published February 19, 2004

  It's shaping up to be a stellar year to see touring indie acts in metro Phoenix, and it couldn't have happened soon enough for our atrophied live... More >>

• Enter the Machines

  published February 12, 2004

  Ryan Breen is best known locally as the guitarist for Chronic Future, the young, progressive rap-rock band whose first Interscope album is... More >>