Five Marijuana Bashes for 4/20 in Phoenix

In case you haven’t checked the calendar lately, tomorrow’s April 20 (aka “4/20”), which means a hell of a party for any marijuana lover or connoisseur of cannabis culture.This year, 4-20 takes on an added significance — Arizona’s recently enacted medical marijuana law just went into effect, much to the…

Top 5 Things to Do This Weekend

There are roughly 72 hours in every weekend, which tend to fly by faster than you think. So if you want to make the most of your downtime from work, some planning might be in order. In addition to Third Friday, Phoenix Pride, Pat’s Run, and the Maricopa County Fair,…

Dirty Sundays @ Sugar 44

Holding a DJ/dance event at a strip club can be a dicey proposition for a turntable jock. No matter how pimp your talents as a selecta are, patrons are usually in the place for one reason (and it ain’t to hear you mixing it up on the ones and twos)…

Rainbow Fix

It’s been something of a “best of times, worst of times” kinda year for gay rights. While the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was (thankfully) repealed by Congress, small-minded knuckle-draggers and asshat conservatives worked overtime to deny gays, lesbians, and transgendered folks the basic human right of legal marriage. Still,…

The Fast and the Funny

It’s estimated that the human brain takes 400 milliseconds to conjure up new ideas, which means the participants in the Phoenix Improv Festival better think fast if they hope to fill an entire weekend with quality material. Good thing they’ve been practicing, according to executive producer Bill Binder. “The artists…

Puck Off

To quote an old Klingon proverb we once heard, “revenge is a dish best served cold.” Well, it’s plenty chilly on the ice at Jobing.com Arena, 9400 West Maryland Avenue in Glendale, which is where the Phoenix Coyotes hope to dish out some payback against the Detroit Red Wings in…

Club Candids at The Lodge

The bars and nightclubs of Scottsdale can be quite dead on Sunday evenings, as clubgoers usually expended most of their partying energy (not to mention their cash) the night before. Not so at The Lodge, where Sundays always seem to be alive and kicking.While we saw neither hide nor hair…

High-End Beach Club Coming to Scottsdale

Swanky swimming pools are far from a rarity in Scottsdale. In fact, it seems like you can’t swing a bikini without hitting some opulent oasis of cool blue water surrounded by cushy cabanas and bathing beauties. (Heck, they’re even putting pools in the middle of bars these days.) The folks…

Francis Lazaro

FILM/VIDEO Music videos and nightlife videos Francis Lazaro seems genuinely surprised when people give props to his video work. A humble grin typically crosses his moon-shaped face as fans gush about the Filipino filmmaker’s exhilarating and kinetically charged music videos documenting the Valley’s dance music scene. It’s something the 22-year-old…

Red Bull Thre3style

Though it’s been almost a decade since Zach Sciacca put the Valley in his rearview mirror, the artist known as Z-Trip (pictured) still casts a huge shadow over the local scene. There seem to be few DJs in town who aren’t connected to the turntable titan. We’ve lost count of…

B-Boy Battle

Have any extra cardboard lying around? Give a ring to the members of local hip-hop dance collective Dynamic Rockers a ring, since they’re probably gonna need plenty Saturday’s Street Culture Jam dance competition, which takes place at the Party Pit. Breakdancers and b-boys will likely pull off all kinds of…

Renetto-Mario Etsitty

CULINARY Food First Friday is a big night for a lot of Phoenicians, but particularly for Renetto-Mario Etsitty. He welcomes anywhere from 50 to 100 starving artists (as well as musicians, poets, and other creative types) into his historic 1920s-era home in the Garfield neighborhood for an after-hours banquet of…

Red Bull Thre3Style

Though it’s been almost a decade since Zach Sciacca put the Valley in his rearview mirror, the artist known as Z-Trip still casts a huge shadow over the local scene. There are few DJs in this town who aren’t connected to the turntable titan. We’ve personally lost count at the…

Galaxy Fest

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: A Klingon, an Andorian, and a couple of Ferengi walk into a hotel. The setup for the lamest sci-fi joke ever? Nah, it’s merely a sample of the guest star lineup at this weekend’s Official Star Trek Convention at the Sheraton Crescent…

Submit Your Passion to Ignite Phoenix No. 10

A big-time deadline is coming up on April 15, and we’re not talking about the yearly rush to get your taxes off to the IRS. Nope, this is about Ignite Phoenix. Next Friday is the last day to submit your idea to the event’s organizers in hopes of sharing it with…