Alas, the lowly AIDS play. Originally built in the face of a crisis, AIDS plays have lingered as a subgenre of theater, one that has withered as science and society have found ways to address the crisis. There are notable exceptions: Angels in America, of course; and Larry Kramer’s The…
Usually, I’d be the first guy to argue that books are not punk rock. They have weight, they have those things called “words” in them, and they require attention. Kinda like kids or pets. And what fun is that when, in the almighty words of the Dwarves, all any of…
THU 24 You do the math: If a one-man art exhibition featuring the work of local architect/painter Eddie Dominguez raises $5,000 for Body Positive (as Dominguez’s BP benefit show did last year), how much bank should roll in with two artists on the bill? “$10,000 would be wonderful!” says Body…
Thursday 24 Acme Roadhouse: College Night with DJ J. Alan (Top 40) Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: DJ Suzy (hip-hop, dance) Anderson’s Fifth Estate: Area 51 with AKA (gothic, industrial) Axis/Radius: DJ MCB (hip-hop, dance) AZ 88: DJ P-Body (all genres) Big Fish Pub: Reggae Thursdays with Selector J-Cut & DJ Blackstar…
Jon Rauhouse is one of the Valley’s wonders, a local pedal steel player who spends much of his time recording and touring with some of the best-known cutting-edge country talent in America — artists like Neko Case, Kelly Hogan, Sally Timms, Jon Langford, and the Grievous Angels. If you like…
His acoustic melodies and sweet songs come straight from the heart, but do not label Perry Allen emo; he simply won’t have it. Instead, the 16-year-old musician, who plays the piano, guitar and banjo, would rather have his music called “honest,” since the majority of his songs reflect experiences of…
Phoenix’s other gift to theatrical rock, the Tubes, challenged Alice Cooper’s supremacy with their similarly decadent front man Fee Waybill as Quay Lewd. Where Coop would camp it up with a boa constrictor, Quay Lewd would settle for a feathered boa — and more high heels than a random shelf…
Few bands take up as much space on MySpace.com as Sunrise Elementary. The Glendale “pop/synth/piano/rock” quintet lists more than 130 bands as “influences,” from the audible (Reggie and the Full Effect, Hello Goodbye, The Postal Service, The Ataris) to the abstract (Dido, James Taylor, Vivaldi, REO Speedwagon). Sunrise Elementary’s litany…
1. Green Day, American Idiot (Warner Bros.) 2. Bright Eyes, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning (Saddle Creek) 3. Postal Service, Give Up (Sub Pop) 4. Muse, Absolution (Warner Bros.) 5. Bright Eyes, Digital Ash in a Digital Urn (Saddle Creek) 6. The Game, The Documentary (Aftermath) 7. Goldfinger, Disconnection Notice…
Where do underage pirates go when they’re thirsty? To the soda barrr! Or at least that is where Jake Slider and Jason “Ace” McClellan hope underage music lovers will go if they’re thirsting for local music. The co-owners of Neckbeard’s Soda Bar have laid anchor in Tempe and hope their…
Burn to Shine is the kind of medium-rare concept you hatch at 4 a.m. with your best friend — except that Brendan Canty actually has resources and connections. Thus, the former bassist for the seemingly defunct Fugazi has created a video artifact in which eight bands play one song each…
The Hacienda Brothers are scheduled to perform on
Tuesday, March 1, at the Rhythm Room.
Much Ado About Joe We’re the ones who pay: John Dougherty’s article (“Recall Joe!” February 10) should form the foundation of a well-deserved recall movement, but I’d like to add two points: When he first ran for office, Joe Arpaio campaigned on the concept that his tough-on-crime policies would reduce…
What’s up with all the freakin’ rain in this town? Sure, I’ll be singin’ another tune come August, but I didn’t move to the middle of the desert to live in Seattle south. Now I know why everyone in the Pacific Northwest does heroin. Damn, if I have to spend…
Might there be some redemption for what I like to call the swill on and around Mill? As I mentioned in my recent write-up of Mucho Gusto Taqueria and Mexican Bistro, just west of Mill Avenue on University Drive (“Taste Magnet,” January 20), Mill Avenue generally holds as much fascination…
According to the Internet site TV Tome, more people between the ages of 6 and 30 have heard of Gilligan, that eternal television castaway, than Theodore Roosevelt, John Glenn, or Mary Magdalene. More people have seen an episode of Gilligan’s Island than watched the first astronaut landing on the moon…
THU 2/17 Something fishy this way comes, when the Tuna Helpers flop onto the stage at the Emerald Lounge, 1514 North Seventh Avenue on Thursday, February 17. The female trio call themselves a “pop-goth, performance art, puppet-wielding band,” and intersperse their own songs with performances by homemade puppets, some of…
MON 2/21 The words of American soldiers in Iraq are officially “Rated R” by the Motion Picture Association of America. Michael Tucker’s appealing that rating, because he feels his documentary Gunner Palace, about the U.S. Army’s 2/3 Field Artillery unit housed in Uday Hussein’s former Azimiya Palace, needs to be…
SAT 2/19 It’s been said that the hardest thing to do in sports is hit a baseball. Those selling that tired line, however, are most certainly blocking out painful childhood Wiffle memories. Making contact with a perforated ball possessed of the ability to move up, down, and sideways seemingly all…
2/17-2/20 If you think all black movies have to include the words “phat,” “dope” or “fly” in the dialogue, prepare to be schooled at the Arizona Black Film Showcase, which runs from Thursday, February 17, through Sunday, February 20, at South Mountain Community College, 7050 South 24th Street. “This event…
What’s the worst way to begin an interview with Paula Poundstone? “Uh, well, how about, ‘Got any TV coming up?’ Yeah, that’s a bad way,” Poundstone says, as a matter of fact. “People have a tendency to belittle [me]. You know, like, ‘Got anything that really impresses me?'” No belittling…
The Sea Inside, the new right-to-die drama from Spanish director Alejandro Amenábar (The Others), is a flawed film worth seeing. Based on Letters From Hell, a book by quadriplegic Ramón Sampedro about his 30-year quest to kill himself, the movie favors the emotional over the legal, foregrounding Sampedro’s relationships with…
