Jim Louvau

Ratt and Dokken - Celebrity Theatre - 5/9/2013

Ratt and Dokken (view the full slideshow.)Celebrity TheatreMay 9, 2013 The '80s paid a visit to the Celebrity Theatre Thursday night, when hair metal rockers Dokken and Ratt hit the Valley for a night full of Aquanet-infused anthems. Dokken might be one of the most underrated '80s bands still stand ... More >>

UFIESTA - Quail Run Park - 5/4/2013

UFIESTA (view the full slideshow here.)Quail Run Park, MesaMay 4, 2013 When I arrived at KUPD's UFIESTA, Saturday afternoon, a 50-something blond with blue-tipped hair was stumbling out of the Powerman 5000 mosh pit, wide-eyed, yelling about her head getting stomped in but refusing medical attentio ... More >>

Paramore - Comerica Theatre - April 29, 2013

ParamoreComerica TheatreApril 29, 2013 After losing two founding members, Paramore made a show of their new self-confidence last night at Comerica Theatre, standing in front of a giant backdrop displaying nothing but three marks. It's been almost three years since Paramore last hit up the Valley, b ... More >>

Mindless Self Indulgence, Marquee Theatre, 3/29/13

Mindless Self Indulgence @ Marquee Theatre|3/29/13Mindless Self Indulgence is truly an enigma, an exception to the rule, or "ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife." They band's so original that you can't place a tag on them or put them in a genre. The band paid a visit to the Marquee Thea ... More >>

10 Things We Learned at McDowell Mountain Music Festival 2013

This weekend McDowell Mountain Music Festival celebrated its 10-year anniversary in style, at a new primo location of Margret T. Hance Park, with good beer from Deschutes, and with awesome bands like The Shins, The Roots, Balkan Beat Box, Les Claypool, and more. You can catch up on our reviews, in ... More >>

Rampage Fest ft. Nü Sensae, White Lung, Allah-Las, and More, Sail Inn

Rampage Fest, ft. Dune Rats, Wax Idols, Nü Sensae, Allah-Las, and More @ Sail Inn|3/8/13The platter of varying delights that is Rampage Fest, a collection of SxSW-bound bands passing through the desert, offered a taste of beach-crashed pop-punk, sonically loyal garage rock, and blistering hardcore. ... More >>

Top 10 Hard Rock Venues in Phoenix

We're lucky in the Valley of the Sun. There are plenty of hole-in-the-wall venues, which, in most enthusiasts' opinion, are the best places to see a great show. Especially when it comes to hard rock and metal. We're not talking Slayer gigs with $45,000 worth of pyrotechnics, or the kind of places th ... More >>

The Used, Marquee Theatre, 2/24/13

The Used @ Marquee Theatre | 2/24/13 On Sunday night, the Marquee Theatre reverberated with the sound of cheering fans and hardcore screamo tunes on the Take Action Tour, which aims to raise awareness about such issues as teen suicide, bullying, and more (super-badass). The tour this year consists o ... More >>

Steve Aoki, Axis Radius, 2/9/13

Steve Aoki @ Axis Radius|2/9/13If you don't believe in Jesus, alright, but Asian Jesus is real. Steve Aoki, record producer, DJ, and founder Dim Mak Records, graced Scottsdale's Axis/Radius with his presence last night, spreading his music to all and making one amazing mission trip to land more foll ... More >>

Phil Mickelson Won That Golf Tournament Named After the Garbage Company

Despite the high attendance, perhaps one of the least-known facts about the Waste Management Phoenix Open is that Phil Mickelson won the thing.See, the final round on Sundays always encroaches on the pre-Super Bowl activities, and we were wondering the day before if it was possible to get drunk just ... More >>

Top Metal Festivals of 2013

When the lineup for Rock on the Range was announced last week, a flurry of emails between myself and three other of my fellow chick metal journalists/enthusiasts ensued regarding flights, hotels, and tickets. We had all attended the weekend festival together in 2012, and relished the thought of a he ... More >>

CASA Benefit ft. Seas Will Rise, Gay Kiss, and More, Yucca Tap Room, 1/26/13

Seas Will Rise, Gay Kiss, Said Gun, Dead Canyon @ Yucca Tap Room|1/26/12Last night's charity event at the Yucca for CASA, a crisis center focused on the prevention of sexual abuse, went surprisingly well, all things considered. Along with the originally intended charity, the Boys & Girls Club of Ame ... More >>

Iamwe, Crescent Ballroom, 1/19/13

Iamwe @ Crescent Ballroom| 1/19/13We're going to need another venue. Iamwe is a rare exception in indie music. Last night, the local rockers packed Crescent Ballroom to release their album, Run Wild. After touring the East Coast with Anberlin, the boys returned to their hometown to play their fi ... More >>

Five Things to Eat and Drink this Weekend in Metro Phoenix

Looking for something to put in your mouth this weekend? We've got you covered. Check out what's on our plate. See Also: Gilbert Food Truck Court to Re-Launch This Friday, Jan. 18 AZ Cocktail Week Kicks Off Feb. 16: Expect a Carnival, Competition and Seminars. Better Line Up a Designated Driver. Q ... More >>

Down, Marquee Theatre, 1/14/13

Down and Warbeast @ Marquee Theatre|1/14/13So, it turns out there's a reason it's called "stoner metal." I've been to several Down shows before, but two things stuck out at me during last night's Down/Warbeast double-header at Marquee Theatre. My friend (who goes by "Iron Maiden," thank you very mu ... More >>

The 17 Most Anticipated Metal Albums of 2013

I'm almost a little bummed that the world didn't end on December 21. No War of the Worlds or 2012 scenes became a reality, although I was so sure that the only reason gas prices were down was because all the rich people were holed up in their submarines, burrowed into the Alps like a goddamn modern- ... More >>

That Was 2012: Our Year-End Lists

As I type this, it's still 2012, but by the time we hit "publish" it'll be 2013. So I'll turn to the great poet, Kanye West, to sum it all up: "I'm livin' in the future so the presence is my past. My presence is the present, kiss my ass." That was 2012, welcome to 2013 -- here's our end of the year ... More >>

Top Phoenix Music Stories of the Week

The news waits for no one -- at least that's what we read somewhere -- so it's perfectly understandable that 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 f ... More >>

The Sword, Club Red, 12/14/12

The Sword @ Club Red|12/14/12Valley metal heads got one the their last doses of heavy riffs and shredding guitar solos this year when Austin sci-fi enthusiasts The Sword played to a packed house last night at Club Red. By 9:00 -- well before the band were scheduled to perform -- a lengthy line of ... More >>

Top 20 Phoenix Concerts of 2012

2012 isn't even over yet, and we're already feeling sort of nostalgic for it. We saw a lot of great shows this year, so narrowing it down to the most mind-blowing 20 wasn't easy, but it was a lot of fun. Enjoy, our Top 20 Phoenix Concerts of 2012. See also: Top Five 2012 Heavy Releases In Pho ... More >>

Orgy, Joe's Grotto, 12/7/12

Orgy @ Joe's Grotto|12/7/12Alt metal band Orgy had its heyday in the late '90s/early 2000s, but after singer Jay Gordon retooled the lineup last year (Gordon is the only remaining original member) I was curious to see how they would actually fare live. Luckily, what I found at Joe's Grotto on Frid ... More >>

Top Phoenix Music Stories of the Week

The news waits for no one -- at least that's what we read somewhere -- so it's perfectly understandable that 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 f ... More >>

Top Five Phoenix Music Stories of the Week

The news waits for no one -- at least that's what we read somewhere -- so it's perfectly understandable that 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 f ... More >>

Korn Guitarist Munky Discusses Moving Away From Dubstep With Next Record

This past Saturday, Korn crashed through town, performing at the Arizona State Fair. I watched in glee. This is a band that truly contributed to opening the door to metal for me. Before that discovery, I was a sixth grader rocking out to Westside Connection, much to my Backstreet Boy-loving locker p ... More >>

Korn at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 10/27/12

Korn @ Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum | 10/27/12 The Arizona State Fair got its yearly dose of metal when Korn paid a visit to the valley last night at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The nu metal pioneers treated fans of all ages to a career-spanning set consisting of hits, covers, and sta ... More >>

Madonna, US Airways Center, 10/16/12

Madonna @ US Airways Center| 10/16/12With a long history of being a proven provocateur, it makes sense that Madonna has managed to piss a lot of people off since kicking off her MDNA tour. There was that nip slip in Istanbul, and a reference to our current president as a "black Muslim," so one ha ... More >>

Top Five Phoenix Music Stories of the Week

The news waits for no one -- at least that's what we read somewhere -- so it's perfectly understandable that 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 f ... More >>

Father John Misty, Rhythm Room, 10/10/12

Father John Misty @ Rhythm Room"I want to do what a stripper does, and in another way do what a carnival barker does, or a shaman, some kind of Pentecostal preacher," Josh Tillman, the singer/songwriter known by his alter ego Father John Misty, said when we spoke in advance of his show at Rhythm Roo ... More >>

Zero Zero, Rogue Bar, 10/5/12

Zero Zero Album Release Party @ Rogue Bar | 10/5/12As you might notice by the timing of this posting, I come from that age-old school of being fashionably late. (I try to limit these things to social gatherings, dinner dates and house parties, but every so often the habit bleeds over into work.) I'v ... More >>

Slash, Celebrity Theatre, 9/5/12

See also: Slash Still Has an Appetite for Destruction See also: Buckethead on His Time in Guns 'N' Roses: "No Answer." See also: Guns N' Roses at Comerica Theatre, 12/27/11 See also: Tommy Stinson of Guns N' Roses and The Replacements: "A [Replacements] Reunion Is About As Likely as an Original Guns ... More >>

Tedeschi Trucks Band, B.B. King, Robert Cray, Comerica Theatre, 9/1/12

Tedeshi Trucks Band, B.B. King, Robert Cray @ Comerica Theatre| 9/1/12See also: Derek Trucks Talks Family Life on the Road See also: The full B.B. King SlideshowLet's get something straight: last night's show at Comerica Theatre was not a B.B. King show. It was a Tedeschi Trucks Band concert. B.B. ... More >>

Iron Maiden, Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion, 8/6/12

Iron Maiden Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion Monday, August 6 See the full Iron Maiden @ ASHSP slideshow. See also: Deep Purple Tribute: Iron Maiden, Metallica, More Salute Keyboardist Jon Lord See also: Six Desert Metal Bands You Need to Hear See also: Iron Maiden Put on Awesome Show for the K ... More >>

Top Phoenix Music Stories of the Week

The news waits for no one -- at least that's what we read somewhere -- so it's perfectly understandable that 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 f ... More >>

Kelly Clarkson and The Fray, US Airways Center, 8/1/12 (VIDEO)

Kelly Clarkson and The FrayUS Airways CenterWednesday, August 1, 2012 See also: Pop Isn't Dead, and Here's 7 New Songs That Prove It If there was one thing that was surprising at the Kelly Clarkson show at US Airways Center last night, it wasn't that Clarkson looked smoking hot as she wore a flatt ... More >>

The Attitude's Jim Louvau on Canceled Clubhouse Show with Orgy

The closing of The Clubhouse in Tempe is shaking up the Arizona music scene and forcing two dozen bands to either cancel their shows or find a new venue to perform. Earlier this week, hundreds of people showed up to the Tempe town hall meeting held to address the future implications of the shootin ... More >>

The Attitude Holds Benefit Show...for Themselves?

What is this benefitting exactly?​Seems like Phoenix band The Attitude has found themselves in some controversy recently. The rock band is holding a benefit show on Thursday, February 4, for singer Jim Louvau, per the flier that's displayed on the Clubhouse Music Venue's website ... More >>

Attitude Adjusting

Playing "straight to the middle"

Hot Pink Perdition

The night crew checks out an after-hours hot spot

Hello, Goodbye

Victims in Ecstacy completes its new CD, and breaks up at the same time

Letters 04-13-2000

Driven to Ecstacy

Victims in Ecstacy will do whatever it takes to become stars. They'll even dress like boys.

Kind of a Drag

With Atomic Cafe defunct, Victims In Ecstacy try to establish a new base for their heavy camp