Email Author Christopher O'Connor

2002 Stories by Christopher O'Connor

• It Ain't Good -- So What?

  published December 26, 2002

  Now is the time when critics grace us with their selections of the year's best music. Heck, we'll be telling you what ruled in 2002 ourselves next... More >>

• Neil Diamond

  published December 26, 2002

  I was raised by parents who loved middle-of-the-road pop. You know, Melissa Manchester, Boz Scaggs, Chicago, Country Joe and the Fish, Don McLean,... More >>

• Nashville Pussy

  published December 26, 2002

  Nashville Pussy named itself after obscene stage banter from a Ted Nugent live record and actually titled an album Let Them Eat Pussy. The... More >>

• Family Jewels

  published December 19, 2002

  Sergio Lombo, suave leader of the 10-piece band Pazport, steps to the mike at Axis/Radius, the pretty-people Scottsdale nightclub where the band... More >>

• Phish

  published December 19, 2002

  The hiatus is over. The world is safe for trampoline high jinks and glowstick wars. The mighty Phish, once burned out and rudderless, has returned... More >>

• Asylum Street Spankers

  published December 19, 2002

  What the hell is it? Does it count as blues? Or country-western? Or perhaps it's all just a put-on? Whatever it is they're really doing, you can't... More >>

• Pam Tillis

  published December 19, 2002

  It ain't easy being a second-generation artist, especially when your father is as colorful, prolific and beloved as Mel Tillis, the longtime... More >>

• Nita's on the Move -- Thankfully

  published December 12, 2002

  The old Nita's Hideaway in Tempe hosts its last show December 15, but lovers of rock's artistic fringe won't weep when its doors close for good --... More >>

• Scarface

  published December 12, 2002

  Nelly may be the multiplatinum superstar of the moment from the so-called Dirty South, but the evocative Scarface is the man truly representing... More >>

• Kool Keith

  published December 12, 2002

  Kool Keith is rap's man of mystery. The near-legendary Brooklyn MC wears personas like jackets, switching from the perverted sex fiend on 1996's... More >>

• Bizarro School Daze

  published December 5, 2002

  "Does anyone have a joke they could tell while we tune?" asks Andy King, the lip-pierced, blond-highlighted guitarist for Tempe punks Slowpoke at... More >>

• Fat Joe

  published December 5, 2002

  The Bronx's favorite boricua Fat Joe finally saw platinum this year after more than a decade of toiling behind his brand of raw hip-hop.... More >>

• Creed

  published December 5, 2002

  Creed doesn't really suck. Yes, they are traveling down a galling road many a Journey and Chicago have traveled before. The right... More >>

• Stepping Darkly Out Front

  published November 28, 2002

  Calvin Johnson is an indie rock legend. Not that casual observers would know it, which is the way the unassuming Johnson seems to prefer it. The... More >>

• Joe Nichols

  published November 28, 2002

  Poignancy, it appears, still has a place on the country music charts. Not the jingoistic type that made anthem-spiked heroes out of Toby Keith... More >>

• Theory of a Deadman

  published November 28, 2002

  Theory of a Deadman revels in the powder-keg dynamics of grunge, continuing the string of admirers that followed Soundgarden and Alice in Chains... More >>

• Analysis: Beck's New Heart

  published November 21, 2002

  Beck Hansen is now a communicator, a breakthrough that has led to the year's most startling music. Beck may not stand as the artist of the... More >>

• Pearl Jam

  published November 21, 2002

  Once upon a time, Pearl Jam seemed to live for a reaction, a trait that catapulted it to the forefront of grunge. The band blazed its brand of... More >>

• Floetry

  published November 14, 2002

  Floetry is the sound of Great Britain trying desperately to grab onto the burgeoning U.S. neo-soul movement. The work of young chanteuses Floacist... More >>

• Entry Level

  published October 31, 2002

  O.A.R., a five-man band from Rockville, Maryland, by way of Columbus, Ohio, is a jam band for the Napster age. The band, which mixes reggae,... More >>

• Peter Gabriel

  published October 17, 2002

  Throughout his solo career, Peter Gabriel has walked a line ably between the accessibility the pop audience demands and the drawn-out artsiness... More >>