The essential hardcore sound makes us think of living in New Jersey — kind of like the shirt that says, “New Jersey: Only the strong survive.” But guess what? West Coasters are strong as well. Just ask Seattle’s Champion. Signed to the frequently impressive Bridge Nine Records (Death Before Dishonor,…
Call me the Benedict Arnold of Phoenix boosterism for saying so, but the thought of light rail does not titillate me. Nor does the prospect of ASU Prez Michael Crow spilling more of his Mormon seed money all over downtown. Bioscience Center? Sounds too much like “Biosphere” for me to…
THU 16 There’s a secret cove in Fat Cats, a room like a big cave, covered in mirrors, with disco balls twinkling off the black-and-white art-deco walls and plush black leather seats. The downtown neighborhood biker bar at 915 Grand Avenue is mostly known for its billiards and beer, but…
Thursday 16Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Suzy (hip-hop, dance) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with AKA (gothic, industrial) AZ 88: DJ P-Body (jazz fusion, funk) Draft House: DJ Dave outta NYC (dance) E-Lounge: DJ Domenica (high energy dance) Exit Seven: DJ Martin Soliz (dance) Garcia’s: Latin Dance Night (Spanish rock/pop, reggaeton,…
It’s not exactly party-crashing if you don’t know Chase Stain or the local record label he’s been running for the past decade, but if it makes you feel more punk rock to bilk, then entertain that notion. At this all-ages extravaganza with no cover charge, you can sample a dozen…
High on the list of life’s great mysteries, way up near “Why do we wait until a pig is dead to cure it?” and “Why do women sometimes shave off their eyebrows and then draw them back on?” is this one: “Why does dinner theater always suck so bad?” On…
Slammer Time Below-average Joes: Paul Rubin’s story is hard to believe. No, I guess it really isn’t, in that Steve Cervantes died while in Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s custody (“Assisted Suicide,” June 2). What else is new, right? What I liked about the story is that it portrayed not…
A masterpiece of meat-puppetry, that’s what Jett and I are watching, along with hundreds of other corset-and-chaps-wearin’ sensation seekers as the clock clicks past 10 p.m. or so at The Sets in Tempe. The occasion is the June 4 Arizona Fetish Ball, dubbed the “Fetish Prom” for theme’s sake, and…
SAT 6/18Valley metal band Eroticide believes the fastest way to a woman’s heart is through her ribcage. The band swears that “God made love to kill all of us” in the lyrics to their song “Cyanide Orgasm.” Now Eroticide comes to spew its views while mutilating female mannequins and bludgeoning…
MON 6/20Vince McMahon has no shame. Throughout the existence of World Wrestling Entertainment (and its previous incarnations), the pompous promoter has created controversial characters to draw attention to his brand of sports entertainment. Among the many “heels” (or bad guys) Vinnie Mac has conjured over the years, none has been…
SAT 6/18Elvis. He’s in the building. He’s left the damn building. Oh, it really doesn’t even matter, because fans everywhere still seem to witness and connect with that jumpsuit-wearin’, love-me-tender, peanut-butter-eatin’ crooner on some plane, be it earthly or astral. In fact, he’ll be making an appearance via the body…
WED 6/22Carpetbag Brigade finds fire fascinating, and not in a Beavis-and-Butt-head, preteen-pyro kind of way. The members of the “physical theater company” will emulate the flames of the 2002 fires that ravaged northern Arizona in an acrobatic, stilt-walking production called Mudfire, showing Wednesday, June 22, at the Paper Heart, 750…
Matt Brown’s house is filled with painted doors, boxes of spray paint, secondhand canvases, paintings propped up in corners, and palettes crusted with layers of coagulated colors. He says a lot of cool new Tempe artists drop by just to hang out and paint. “It’s my house, but it’s also…
When he left Mesa Community College for Chicago State back in 1999, Tony Jones knew in his gut that he’d be back in Phoenix as a pro baller. Of course, he hoped he’d be wearing an NBA uniform. But six years later, Jones, a.k.a. “Go Get It,” is playing straight-up…
It won’t ruin anyone’s experience of 3-Iron, the new film by Korean writer/director Kim Ki-duk, to reveal that it closes with a single epigraph: “It’s hard to tell that the world we live in is either reality or a dream.” Presumably, the correct translation would replace “that” with “whether”; even…
For all their exceptionality, there is also a numbing sameness to the movies of Hayao Miyazaki, the revered animator who has bewitched Japanese audiences since the late 1970s and bewildered American ones since 1999, when Princess Mononoke was among the first of his movies to receive significant stateside release. There…
DC Comics has kept its superheroes locked in a fortress of solitude for almost a decade, forcing the likes of Superman and Batman to warm the bench while longtime rival Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man and the Hulk and the X-Men and Blade galloped up and down the playing field. Not counting…
Funky house vets the East Coast Boogiemen won’t be here in full, but you’ll get a half-dose when Ken Christensen hits the Real Bar (formerly P.I./Boston’s) on Friday, June 17, as part of his “Ken You Dig It” tour. Christensen, and ECBM partner Juan Zapata, launched Odds and Ends Records…
There are a lot of ex-smokers in the world, judging by the testimonials on Amazon.com regarding Jesse Sykes’ husky voice (e.g., “makes me want to take up smoking again,” or how about “I found myself reaching for Dunhills that weren’t there”). It’s a wonder the surgeon general didn’t write the…
This is an essential night out for fans of raffish, infectious, congenial and, yes, fun pop music. All the way from Oslo, you’ve got ’60s revivalists The Jessica Fletchers, sounding like some English, phonetically assembled band from Nuggets II, decked out with flutes and strings but still managing to pack…
Aesop Rock’s legendary Greek namesake wrote fables with morals like “A man is known by the company he keeps.” And Aesop the MC (a.k.a. New Yorker Ian Bavitz) has borne out that bit of ancient wisdom: Since 2001’s acclaimed Labor Days, he’s been a mainstay of Def Jux, the underground…
Imagine the Children of the Corn doing acid with the Manson family while jamming out in a mossy pasture. Still here? Then you might be ready for Wooden Wand & The Vanishing Voice. Although they disavow their avant-garde status, their music is most definitely unclassifiable. Formed after the breakup of…
