Put down that box of chocolates you bought yourself and pitch those dying flowers that came from your fake boyfriend George Glass. On Valentine's Day comedy troupe Off The Cuff presents a Cupid-hating edition of its regular improv show at Changing Hands. Whether you're single and ready to... More >>

Celebrate Valentine’s Day and 100 years of Arizona history with live music from The Sugar Theives, a performance from swing dancers Savoy Hop Cats, and live painting from Tanina Jackson. More >>

We first got wind of the White Denim with 2007's self-released EP, Let's Talk About It. Its snaky blues rhythms and manic funk drumbeats instantly made White Denim one of the most promising bands that year. They continued that forward momentum with extensive touring, especially in Europe, where... More >>

Having changed its name from Inearthed to a reference to the infamous Lake Bodom murders of 1960, this Finnish band continues to defy easy categorization in any specific subgenre of metal. The band's precision and furiously fast and melodic riffing are clearly influenced by the new wave of... More >>

Hardcore nerds Patton Oswalt and Wil Wheaton aren’t the only celebs to cash in on the geek trend: Hollywood bad boy Vin Diesel hid the name of his Dungeons & Dragons character in his XXX tattoos, while super-hot songstress Katy Perry donned braces and huge glasses for her “Last... More >>

When a piece of art or performance is designated as avant-garde it sometimes translates to out-there, off-putting, or intimidating. (Consider Marcel Duchamp's Fountain or dadaism's abstractions of anything and everything.) But, for Trisha Brown Dance Company, avant-garde means pushing the... More >>

Seemingly the byproduct of regular acid usage and too many Sparks albums, Digital Leather (aka Shawn Foree) has produced a body of experimental New Wave synth-punk as impressive as it is abnormal. After a clutch of sold-out singles and three full-lengths, the prolific Foree has his first proper... More >>

Chris "Mudhead" Reynolds is known for his ephemeral artwork, often concentrated on cultural archetypes and geometric themes in the shapes of mandalas, fractals, and swirly visions. The local artist, who's shown internationally (and once aboard a space shuttle flight) is a new member of the... More >>

The natural affinity between blues and hip hop has been surprisingly neglected—at least outside northern Mississippi and Philadelphia, the latter thanks to a juggernaut named Garrett Dutton. As G. Love, he and his partners in spicy condiments have come up with tasty summits of the rural... More >>

Mayday Parade has spent much of its nascent career associating itself with the contemporary emo scene: The band's been on the Warped Tour, sold CDs out of its van, signed with teen-girl-centric label Fearless Records, and toured with current pop-punk heartthrobs All Time Low. However, with the... More >>

That comedian Kathy Griffin inspires fear in A-list celebrities is no coincidence. Griffin has made a (post-acting) career of poking fun at high profile hot messes such as Lindsay Lohan and Paula Abdul -- not to mention famous folks who take themselves ridiculously seriously, ahem, Ryan... More >>

Arizona has plenty to celebrate: the Centennial, great weather, stunning landscapes, and, beginning Saturday, beer. The 12th Annual Arizona Strong Beer Festival kicks off Arizona Beer Week on from 1 to 5 p.m. February 18 at Steele Indian School Park, 200 East Indian School Road. Style... More >>

Blabbing about your Lenten abstinence of choice might make you a humble braggart, but we heartily endorse letting the tweets and status updates fly with details of all the peccadilloes you pack in pre-Ash Wednesday. Downtown Phoenix Mardi Gras will spur just that by starting the Fat Tuesday... More >>

When you’re trying to move up in the conference standings, it’s nice to be able to personally knock off the team standing directly in your way. The Phoenix Coyotes, who currently sit fourth in the Pacific division, will have that chance when they face their rival Dallas Stars.... More >>

You don't know the meaning of "poignant" until Glen Campbell, sitting two feet from you, starts to sing "Ghost on the Canvas," the title track of his new -- and final -- album. The country great, who's going through the early stages of Alzheimer's, sometimes forgets which family member once... More >>

The Darkness stormed onto the music scene in 2003 with histrionic hair-metal that we'd confidently thought was left behind in the '80s. But the unabashed arena anthems of the English quartet certainly caught the fancy of music fans and critics who wanted to turn back the clocks while they... More >>

The Phoenix Suns are not playoff contenders. This was made obvious last month when Suns center Robin Lopez got himself ejected in the second quarter of a “must-win” game by bumping into an official like a petulant middle schooler. To watch Lopez’s bizarre outburst was to see... More >>

The Sacramento, California, post-hardcore quintet Dance Gavin Dance hasn't had it easy. Since forming in 2005, the band has cycled through a half-dozen ex-members, including a particularly nasty dismissal of first vocalist Jonny Craig in 2007. (Craig, who is currently making a name for himself... More >>

It’s been said about many a band, but I’ll say it again about this one: the Long Beach quartet The Fling—brothers Dustin and Graham Lovelis on guitar and bass, plus guitarist/keyboardist Justin Roeland and drummer Justin Ivey—are a modern day Beatles fan’s dream.... More >>

As camera prices drop and YouTube continues making stars, the definition of filmmaker morphs and evolves. Sure, Ninja Cat isn’t held in the same critical esteem as Holly Golightly’s tabby in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, anyone with a camera phone and an eye for entertainment can... More >>

Remember when ska was crazy popular, oh, about 15 years ago? The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were telling people all about the impressions they got, Reel Big Fish was selling out, and Gwen Stefani was still just a girl. That was the third wave of ska, and longtime ska fans—the ones loved the... More >>

The sometimes hazy, sometimes harrowing electro-R&B act have already played sold-out shows on the East Coast opening for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, garnered positive accolades at CMJ, and placed second in our Picked to Click best-new-bands poll. And though they've released only three songs to... More >>

The Todd Wolfe Band is neither a run-of-the-mill bar band nor a true progressive power trio, but on first encounter, it seems intent on being both. A good portion of the band's recorded catalog is culled from live performances, but it places as much emphasis on precision as it does on... More >>

Though stylistically very different from each other, Stephen Spielberg, Woody Allen, Billy Wilder, and The Coen Brothers are all considered auteurs. But these gents have more in common than mere filmmaking prowess: They share a Jewish heritage. The Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival... More >>

In this digital age, when Facebook’s implementation of its timeline feature is cause for bemoaning, it might be wise to consider that, once up on a time, our life stories weren’t broadcast via broadband. Our correspondence wasn’t delivered with a click, but by horse and... More >>