Email Author Christopher O'Connor

2003 Stories by Christopher O'Connor

• Ash Canned

  published December 25, 2003

  Live music in downtown Tempe doesn't get much better than a Phunk Junkeez show at the Bash on Ash. But after one last performance December 27, the... More >>

• Nerd Bands, Unite!

  published December 18, 2003

  The power-pop quartet Weezer has inspired a new generation of unassuming, garage-dwelling would-be rock stars. In fact, members of young Valley... More >>

• Amassing the Particle

  published December 4, 2003

  Much like their ambitious funk workouts that can extend into the wee hours of the morning, the members of Particle take a stream-of-consciousness... More >>

• Make-Believe Michael

  published November 27, 2003

  I've been a huge Michael Jackson fan for most of my life. I mean, you couldn't attend a mostly black elementary school in 1983 and not... More >>

• Shouldering Atllas

  published November 13, 2003

  Atllas is the phantom of the Phoenix hip-hop scene. Even when you can't see him, he's there, like a graffiti bomber taunting a train in the yard... More >>

• Wong Song

  published November 6, 2003

  First, it was closing. Then it wasn't. And now no one is sure what will happen. For 15 years, seven days a week, Long Wong's on Mill has been... More >>

• Various Artists

  published October 30, 2003

  Hip-hop loves Scarface, the Al Pacino flick that just turned 20. Over time, the movie, about a self-made Cuban immigrant drug kingpin, has... More >>

• Substance Abuse

  published October 23, 2003

  Stupidity can't really be called a cultural offense anymore, especially in pop music, where seemingly every successful act now can be evaluated in... More >>

• Summer Hymns

  published October 23, 2003

  It may be no coincidence that Summer Hymns chose Clemency as the title for its latest album. While most people associate the word these... More >>

• Door A-Jar

  published October 16, 2003

  The Mason Jar is a metal club. Can't deny it. The Phoenix institution was a metal club when it opened 25 years ago. It really became one under the... More >>

• The Bled

  published October 16, 2003

  Sticking The Bled with the "hardcore" tag seems unfair. Pass the Flask, the young Tucson quintet's 10-song, 38-minute full-length debut, is... More >>

• Adjusting to Format

  published October 9, 2003

  Phoenix-bred duo The Format won a coveted major-label deal and got to tour on the WB's dime and borrow Guns N' Roses' newest drummer -- on the... More >>

• JS

  published October 2, 2003

  Thirtysomething R&B superstar R. Kelly stands accused of taping himself having sex with underage girls and collecting child pornography. Hard to... More >>

• Twinemen

  published October 2, 2003

  The Boston trio Morphine made a compelling argument for avant-garde minimalism in the '90s. It relied on tenor saxophone, drums and especially... More >>

• Kreator

  published October 2, 2003

  An old roommate once offered a thought: "Dude, is there any popular music from Germany that doesn't suck?!" In thinking about it, he... More >>

• Treasure Crunk

  published September 25, 2003

  For hard-core hip-hop heads and regular patrons of urban clubs throughout the South and West, Jonathan "Lil' Jon" Smith is not a newcomer. The... More >>

• Snatching Tempe

  published September 25, 2003

  The owners of Bandersnatch Brew Pub in Tempe have sold the downtown institution to the owners of Martini Ranch, Scottsdale's upscale version of a... More >>

• Bubba Sparxxx

  published September 25, 2003

  Timbaland and Bubba Sparxxx are the new tag-team champions of rap. With Deliverance, the second Bubba album produced mostly by Tim, they've... More >>

• Walking the Line

  published September 18, 2003

  After several years of tributes and eulogies, with his work in vogue and a video meditation on his aging mesmerizing MTV viewers, Johnny Cash did... More >>

• Glass Ceiling

  published September 18, 2003

  Steve Shelton plays with his cell phone between sips of English tea at the George and Dragon on Central. He checks the blue display screen for his... More >>

• Hard-Core Tune-Up

  published September 11, 2003

  Atreyu is a band of young misfits and slackers from the suburbs of Orange County, California, that's channeled its angst into developing an... More >>

• Magic and Gloss

  published September 11, 2003

  Daniel Lanois, superstar producer and occasional solo artist, took pains in his liner notes to thank all of the musicians who contributed to... More >>

• The Coral

  published September 11, 2003

  The Coral is a talented sextet of kids from Merseyside, England, whose improving songcraft and sense of self-expression threaten to eventually... More >>

• Refried South

  published September 4, 2003

  Steve Trella fields requests for songs by Southern bands like the Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker Band and the Outlaws every... More >>

• Fried Glam

  published August 21, 2003

  is, at the; More >>