The Valley seems to have finally come into its own within the sphere of hip-hop, with nary a night lacking a jam-packed beats and rhymes expo somewhere in town, and national touring acts hitting metro Phoenix all the time. “We’re putting Arizona on the map,” local promoter Adam “Dumperfoo” Dumper…
Two First Fridays ago, xrayok played in the parking lot outside Fate restaurant, glowing in a blue spotlight and framed by inky black tree branches shaking in the wind. A storm was about an hour away, threatening the party vibe, but the band plugged in anyway, and the irresistible opening…
Jerry Colangelo dreams of winning a trifecta. And he would be well on his way if this town finally gets an NBA championship. He’s already won a World Series championship with the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks. And last week he was bestowed the honor and obligation of bringing back the gold…
When it came to her firstborn son, Barbara Marin wasn’t taking any chances. So when her doctor warned her that putting the boy to sleep on his back was the only way to save him from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Marin listened. At the time, in 1997, the message was…
Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas announced at a press conference yesterday that he would not prosecute three off-duty baggage inspectors from Sky Harbor Airport who held the entire congregation at Immaculate Heart Church hostage at gunpoint. The South Phoenix churchgoers, virtually all Mexicans, were detained May 1 until police officers…
It should be noted that Blue Fur came in as a finalist against winners Downward Dog in a KALT Battle of the Bands, and similarly, this band seems to have a retro ’80s sound — kind of a quirky Lene Lovich/Suzanne Fellini sound. While you’re looking up those faded names…
I must say I had fun listening to this record, but not in the way that its creators may have intended. However much hearing Tori Amos changed singer Julia Bogen’s life (as it says on the band’s official Web site), it’s probably the Y Kant Tori Read era that wielded…
Here’s how our local music scene works: For some inexplicable reason, during the early winter months when we’re enjoying our best climate, not a whole lot goes on musically. Maybe bands are clocking in a lot of time visiting with their snowbird relatives. Then comes spring break, and BOOM! –…
When Adam Levine and his equally apologetic bandmates in Maroon 5 won Best New Artist at the Grammys in February, perhaps they sensed the beginning of their end. Songs About Jane, pleasant but anonymous, had maintained a healthy run on the Billboard charts, throwing out singles you instantly recognized on…
Law and Disorder Quit your day jobs: The Ray Krone story shows what can happen when the law enforcement community gets it in for a guy. The old bird-in-hand philosophy is what I call it (“About Face,” Robert Nelson, April 21). I can’t believe that these four men you mention…
No such thing as bad publicity? Tell that weak sauce to Jodi Upton, owner of the hip-hop club CBNC (short for Coyote Bay Night Club) at Scottsdale’s Papago Plaza, which has been hurtin’ ever since former Arizona State Sun Devils football player Brandon Falkner caught a fatal bullet in the…
Wendy Cashaback is wearing a stiff upper lip these days. She’s also wearing a tiny Danskin dress and flashing a warm smile at everyone who visits her shop, even that creepy guy over by the sex lotions who’s been admiring the fur-lined handcuffs for way too long. When Creepy Guy…
FRI 4/29 Loud-ass guitars dealing out sadistic riffs, flailing hair, sweaty bodies and hands raised and locked in the two-finger devil horn salute can only mean one thing. No, not a night with Beavis and Butt-head, fool. It’s the “AZ Blackend Deth HardKore Fest II” on Friday, April 29, at…
FRI 4/29 Ten years ago, any place on Grand Avenue was rotting somewhere between a crack house and a whorehouse. The downtown pocket’s metamorphosis from seedy street to ultra-hip arts district has been slow but sweet, thanks largely to First Fridays and the community of artists who have moved into…
FRI 4/29 Analyzing Georgie “El Torito” Garcia Jr.’s boxing style can be as perplexing as a politician’s talking points on tax reform — though with more sudden and painful consequences. The heavyweight Garcia, who brings a 5-0 professional record (with four KOs, including three in the first round) to “Fight…
FRI 4/29 Erotic torture, submissive slaves, leather, latex, hot wax to the flesh, and other forms of fetish will arise on “Black Friday,” April 29, at The Sets, 93 East Southern in Tempe. Evoking images fantasized by boys and girls yearning to be bound and gagged, the event, presented by…
You must, we repeat, must go to the Phoenix Art Museum and see the Impressionist paintings on exhibit for just a few more days. We know what you’re thinking. Impressionist paintings are boring, and those oh-so-pretty depictions of bucolic French landscapes are the sort of art swill your grandma would…
It’s a good thing Aaron Coleman is thick-skinned. After all, the 32-year-old tattoo artist’s pugnacious pelt has not only been punished by plenty of pigment, covering his arms, legs and back. But his durable dermis has even withstood all the disdainful dissing both the general public and the art world…
When was the last time you walked out of a theater feeling shell-shocked, saying to anyone who would listen (in language more profane): “Dude, that was some seriously messed-up stuff!” Not your garden-variety messed-up stuff, mind you, like in Saw. Not the messed-up revelations of political docs. We’re talking the…
Agent Fox Mulder, the coolly instinctual sleuth of The X-Files, got pretty good at unraveling paranormal mysteries. If only the actor who played him were as adept at solving the riddle of his movie career. David Duchovny’s new vanity project, House of D, is the tortured tale of a 13-year-old…
Most contemporary thrillers aren’t concerned with moral dilemmas; the emphasis is on action and intrigue. The Israeli film Walk on Water — which, conveniently for American audiences, is primarily in English (the rest is in Hebrew and German with English subtitles) — not only raises questions about right and wrong,…
Author Douglas Adams died at age 49 on May 11, 2001, of a heart attack suffered during a workout at a Santa Barbara, California, gym. His biographer, M.J. Simpson, blamed Adams’ demise in part on his unending battle to get The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on a big screen,…
