The news waits for no one -- at least that's what we read somewhere -- so it's perfectly understandable that our you the reader might have missed out on a musical tidbit, breaking news about your favorite venue, or one of our rants.
So enjoy this digest-style sampling of some of our biggest stories from the week of June 25-30, including closing news about Tempe record emporium Hoodlums and Scottsdale's Pussycat Lounge, our review of Vans Warped Tour 2012, a passionate defense of one of the most indefensible artists on the charts, and the most baffling DJ dossier we've ever published.
Scottsdale's Pussycat Lounge Closes
Scottsdale dance club Pussycat Lounge has apparently used up the last of its nine lives. The notorious Old Town nightspot - the hedonistic den infamous for its mix of drinking, decadence, and superstar DJs - will close tonight after serving the stylish and the skinny for the better part of a decade.
According to sources behind the scenes at PCL, the establishment was purchased by new owners earlier this year and will undergo renovations and become an entirely new club by the end of the year. -- Benjamin Leatherman (Read more about the closure of Pussycat Lounge.)
Warped Tour 2012, Camelback Ranch Baseball Stadium, 6/28/12
Despite my trepidation about being able to handle the heat and a slew of young bands that had little to do with the Warped lineups of my youth, I survived. Another Vans Warped Tour is in the bag.
This was the first year it was held at Camelback Ranch Baseball Stadium in Glendale, and with any luck, it will be the last.
The venue is simply ill-equipped to handle the masses of scantily clad teenagers crammed in to hear their favorite bands. The divided park completely segregated the two main stages from the other five, and the tunnel that led between them was bottlenecked with people on the verge of heat exhaustion. Just how hot was it this year? Well, hot enough for me to volunteer my vital organs after I die in order to score a free T-shirt to wrap around my head. -- Richard Noel (Read our full Vans Warped Tour review.)
Hoodlums Music and Movies in Tempe To Close in August (Temporarily?)
Sad news out of Tempe: Hoodlums Music and Movies is going into "hibernation" on Wednesday, August 15.
It's a curious term, hibernation, but according to the latest newsletter issued by owners Steve Wiley, Kristian Luce, and "the hoodlums at Hoodlums," it's the best way to describe the plan."We're closing our Tempe Square location due to an unsuccessful lease negotiation, and we haven't decided which direction we are going to go," the note reads. "We are weighing options and opportunities. If Hoodlums re-emerges, we hope to have a refreshed outlook on whichever new direction we've decided to take. It will be a hibernation, not a hiatus." -- Jason P. Woodbury (Read more about the future of Hoodlums Music and Movies.)
Fuck You, I Like Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band has announced that they'll be dropping their new album, Away From the World, on September 11. Their highly anticipated follow-up to Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King will feature 11 new tracks.
People aren't shy about hating on DMB, but the band's music isn't just for frat boys and hippies. It's for normal people, too, and it's about more than just mellow vibes and hacky sacks. As a longtime fan, I own multiple t-shirts that I wear proudly. Yes, I get funny looks when I wear them in Arizona, and I don't care. (I don't get those funny looks in my home state.) I've seen the band live on multiple occasions, including their headlining set at Bonnaroo in 2010, and every time I saw them I drove at least two hours (and as much as 16).
Bring it on, readers. I am ready to defend your ridiculously negative quips about why you think DMB sucks. -- Lenni Rosenblum (Read more about why Dave Matthews Band is actually pretty cool -- as opposed to being just the worst.)
Up on the Sun chatted with hipster DJ Craig Citizen about the drawbacks of being, well, a hipster DJ.
UOTS: What are some of the drawbacks of being considered a hipster DJ?
Craig Citizen: I think four years ago there was a lot of benefit to the term and the image. And I guess in a certain way, beyond earning the title and selling our souls to a certain extent to be the title, it was really helpful in identifying what music we were playing to the right audience. Back in the O.G. fauxShow days, or even at Party Foul, we were really representing a crowd of people that felt horrible and ostracized and cast out when they went to any other club in the city. -- Benjamin Leatherman (Read more about the enigmatic life of Citizen, complete with a stabbing and utterly devoid of dubstep.)
