The Oak Ridge Boys took their name from a small Tennessee town best known as a base for the Manhattan Project. What started as a gospel quartet evolved into a Grammy award-winning pop country sensation that rode the pop culture wave of southern accents that briefly dominated the terrestrial radio…
Sipping brews at Tempe’s Time Out Lounge, The Whisperlights try to warm up on an especially chilly night in Arizona. On their table sit five paper cutouts, each bearing the face of a band member, artfully taped to wooden dowels. Drummer Wasef El-Kharouf, one of three members of the band…
Holiday spirit is slowly seeping into the Valley’s December’s concert lineup, and add local indie poppers Kinch to the long list of seasonal soirees. Slotted within days of shock-rocker and driving-range master Alice Cooper’s annual Christmas Pudding party at Dodge, the emo pop Winter Wonder Slam at US Airways Center…
Scarf-and-sweatered, I took my place at the very end of a very long line that wrapped around Martini Ranch and down Stetson Drive. For amusement, confused attendees waltzed up and down the line, asking with perplexity, “Is this the will call line?” I gathered that the majority of the Metric…
Before bar-hopping and gallivanting around Phoenix galleries at First Friday, be sure to mark the Downtown Civic Space Park on your map of destinations. Besides offering a golf-course-worthy patch of green, the park has a bevy of First Friday to-do’s. On the live entertainment side: Shoegaze rockers Former Friends of…
Sunday afternoon, Modified filled to capacity for River Jones Music Label’s Final Folk Fest. Seventeen bands and solo artists played to eager audiences, mainly sitting pretzel-legged on the rickety floorboards, hot beverage in hand, while wintery winds sauntered through the old house. This ain’t your grandma’s Woody Guthrie. This is…
1. Leonard Cohen – Live at The Isle of White 19702. Arctic Monkeys – Humbug3. Flight of the Conchords – I Told You I Was Freaky4. Flaming Lips – Embryonic5. Julian Casablancas – Phrazes for the Young6. Grand Archives – Keep in Mind Frankenstein7. Vagina Panther – Vagina Panther8. Lhasa…
Real Estate’s self-titled record snagged one of those coveted Best New Music tags stuck to their debut full-length, an homage to The Shins if depressed and dropping lysergic, with Fruit Bats-style naturalist trimmings. Certainly the press helped, but, after some distinct uncertainty about the band’s impending arrive, Real Estate turned…
College kids and Mill Avenue nutters flock to Zia Tempe for their bountiful, jam-packed selection. They had a big week with Wale topping out their charts, and Nirvana snagging two seats in the top 10. Here’s what has their customers are going gaga.1. Wale – Attention Deficit2. Slayer – World…
Apart from a markedly talented five band bill, the first night of the last Modifest brought Modified Arts owner Kimber Lanning to the event’s forefront. After Treasure Mammal completed an invigorating set, Lanning stepped toward the stage and addressed the crowd. “Music is my number one passion,” Lanning said, while…
Bishop Allen bolstered Modified’s mid-week lineup leading up to the annual, and, very sadly, final Modifest. The Brooklyn-via-Cambridge crew took to the drooping stage, and set up to the barking of exuberant fans, like eager puppies begging for a treat. And the band delivered, but not in the sweet, twee…
The Blaze is, according to our Best of Phoenix issue, the station of choice for those jonesing to hear what’s happening in local music. Here’s the chart documenting what ASU’s Original Alternative played over the past week.1. Fruit Bats – The Ruminant Band2. Arctic Monkeys – Humbug3. Grand Archives -…
Bishop Allen are a prim pop confectionary who churned out their third proper full-length last March titled “Grrr…” The candy-coated tracks are worth the impending toothaches, placing Bishop Allen, named for the street where the founding members lived, in cahoots with fellow saccharine rockers Vampire Weekend, Dirty Projectors and, Phoenix’s…
ASU’s student radio station The Blaze 1330 AM is currently in the midst of their annual Campus Crawl, the station’s fall concert series. The first featured local act, Kirkwood Dellinger, took to the stage north of ASU’s Memorial Union around lunch time Monday. Despite midday temperatures creeping to 90, a…
Here’s what’s been flying off the shelves at Stinkweeds, the local record shop named Phoenix’s “Best Place to Buy CDs.” Let the coolness seep in and discover some fresh albums.Kings Of Convenience – Declaration Of DependenceFlaming Lips – EmbryonicBroadcast & The Focus Group – Investigate Witch Calls Of The Radio…
Arizona music fans have certainly noticed a void in the scene of late. Tempe’s bluesy pop crew Gospel Claws have gone on a hiatus that will extend through the end of 2009.Previously, the band was anticipating the departure of drummer, Scott Hall, who felt that he did not have the…
Third Thursday in Scottsdale proved a massive mish-mash of ages, scenes and reasons for attendance. Matt and Kim played a free gig for FM 103.9’s free concert series, Sean Kingston was at Venue of Scottsdale, plus, there was that whole art walk thing. The Brooklyn-based duo Matt and Kim took…
Yes, The Valley’s ever-fluxing, erm “format modifying,” station FM 103.9, better known as The Edge is still hosting those free Third Thursday concerts that brought acts like MGMT, The Ataris and Alien Ant Farm to the open-air mall Tempe Marketplace. Now a mainstay in Old Town Scottsdale’s Craftsman Court, this…
The Vivs sweet brand of Motown girl group pop shoved through a pure punk filter, a sort of freaked out Bangles sound, blared through Modified Arts last night. Reverb-ed vocals left the Urban Outfitted trio’s harmonies sounding like calls from the bottom of a well, and, humorously, made between song…
For Bloodshot Records’ 15th anniversary, or quinceañera, if you will, they’re throwing themselves a little party. So far, that party has stopped at 10 cities across these United States with plenty of BBQ, booze and tunes to satisfy the most nomadic and hungry of folk punks. At Tempe’s Sail Inn…
If a pig-roastin’ rock show at Tempe’s most legit dive bar is what you’re in the market for, this is it, bro. In the parking lot of the venerable Yucca Tap Room, an entire (presumably, already dead) pig will be sacrificed (ya know, metaphorically speaking) to the party gods. The…
Tool frontman and vino aficionado Maynard James Keenan’s on-the-sly musical endeavor, Puscifer, is set to headline two nights at downtown Phoenix’s Orpheum Theatre this December. Lucky for you, tickets are available this Friday, October 9, at 10 a.m. via Live Nation.Apparently, Keenan leaves behind that dark, brooding, plz-don’t-look-at-me persona he…
