Email Author Gilbert Garcia

1998 Stories by Gilbert Garcia

• Wang Dang Diva

  published December 31, 1998

  Koko Taylor has a touch of the flu. She assures me she's feeling fine, but earlier in the day she was concerned enough about the possibility of... More >>

• Critical Mass

  published December 24, 1998

  Checking the vital signs for guitar-based rock has long been an ongoing preoccupation for critics. Still, you knew something was a bit different... More >>

• Barrier Rift

  published December 24, 1998

  It's hardly a news flash that all-ages shows are a hassle for clubs in this state. Recent history suggests that local bars strongly associated... More >>

• Recordings

  published December 17, 1998

  Jewel Spirit (Atlantic Records) Jewel Kilcher may have made a mint by marketing guilelessness, but she's a bit savvier than she... More >>

• Mule Train

  published December 17, 1998

  Elvis Costello once sang about a fictional couple who had "songs for every occasion." You could make the case that Jamal Ruhe has bands for every... More >>

• Wild About Harry

  published December 17, 1998

  As the film world's foremost peddler of nostalgia-driven baby-boomer romanticism, Nora Ephron is acutely aware of the crucial role that music... More >>

• Recordings

  published December 10, 1998

  Beck Mutations (DGC Records) When did the release of a new record start to be treated like an election campaign? Consider that... More >>

• Rebel Rouser

  published December 10, 1998

  When John Dixon was a 15-year-old student at Tempe High School in the early '60s, he made pocket money on the weekends by working dances as a... More >>

• Temporarily Permanent

  published December 10, 1998

  Four months ago, Nita Craddock was fed up. After 23 years as the owner of Nita's Hideaway, she was only too glad to sell off the popular Tempe bar... More >>

• Kind of a Drag

  published December 3, 1998

  Okay, so here's a scenario for you: You're minding your own business, gamely trying to do your job, when two hostile skate punks come up and stick... More >>

• For Pete's Sake

  published November 26, 1998

  Not long ago, Pete Forbes was talking to a Nashville rep for Risk Records. The label rep had called Forbes after hearing the Phoenix... More >>

• Second Coming

  published November 19, 1998

  When Sunny Day Real Estate broke up in 1995, it was a respected but obscure indie-rock band. At that stage, the group would have been happy to... More >>

• Final Frame?

  published November 19, 1998

  Tempe Bowl has been a bowling center for nearly four decades. It's only been a music venue for the last year. But with the bowling alley recently... More >>

• Mind Games

  published November 12, 1998

  When the surviving ex-Beatles put together their three-volume Anthology series a few years ago, they faced a daunting artistic challenge. On the... More >>

• House Warming

  published November 5, 1998

  Kevin Newell was irate. Halfway through an emotionally charged zoning administrator hearing to decide the fate of local hip-hop club House... More >>

• Recordings

  published November 5, 1998

  R.E.M. Up (Warner Bros.) There's a moment on R.E.M.'s new album, Up (the band's 13th or 14th release, depending on whether you... More >>

• Recordings

  published October 29, 1998

  Belle and Sebastian The Boy With the Arab Strap (Jeepster/Matador) Goth can be a many-sided gloom. At its silliest, it's too... More >>

• Debbie Does Tempe

  published October 29, 1998

  The theme of the night at Arizona Roadhouse was "In Love with Debbie Gibson." In set-list currency, that translated into each of the night's four... More >>

• Holy Rollers

  published October 22, 1998

  Geoff Brown is a junior-high science teacher. He's also a dedicated Christian. He has short, dark hair and is dressed conservatively in slacks and... More >>

• Problem Children

  published October 22, 1998

  There's a famous old skit on Saturday Night Live in which a series of cheesy spokespeople vied with each other to prove that their brand of jam... More >>

• Recordings

  published October 22, 1998

  Reubens Accomplice "Borders" b/w "O' the Night" (Jerk Records) The four young men who comprise Reubens Accomplice have, over the... More >>

• Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big and Twangy

  published October 15, 1998

  Maybe it was some need to exorcise the past that sent Roger Clyne and P.H. Naffah hiking through the desert this summer. Clyne, the singer... More >>

• Forever Young

  published October 15, 1998

  In the booklet for his 1985 career anthology, Biograph, Bob Dylan mused on the differences between his rapturously received 1974 "comeback" tour... More >>

• Hot Water

  published October 8, 1998

  Anyone shocked by the rampant intrusiveness and utter lack of accountability of Ken Starr and his posse probably has never had a run-in with... More >>

• Recordings

  published October 8, 1998

  PJ Harvey Is This Desire? (Island Records) Because PJ Harvey's music changes so drastically from one album to the next, it's... More >>