When we first saw a club night called Inferno, we thought perhaps our nightlife columnists Kreme and Jett were moonlighting on us, perhaps hosting a lesbian all-you-can-eat buffet dance party. But damn, no such luck. Instead, Inferno (at Anderson’s Fifth Estate on Friday nights) is a backwash of underground ’80s…
Like most of my hedonistic ilk, I was giddy with anticipation six weeks ago as the new, later last call time of 2 a.m. approached at the end of August. Who’s going to complain about having an extra hour out at the bars, an extra hour to hit up the…
Hipster street hustlers are secretly celebrating the impending visit of the Nova Scotian ratfish, a.k.a. Richard Terfly, a.k.a. Buck 65, this Sunday, October 17, at the P.I. in Tempe. (A “ratfish” is born a Pisces in the year of the rat, if you don’t know). Buck 65 hit the scene…
It’s a beautiful fall evening, twilight at my house in downtown Tempe, mild temperatures at last, the scent of blooming night jasmine floating through my open windows. Across the street, a gaggle of my skateboarder friends are on their front porch drinking Budweiser and smoking cigarettes. Later on, another friend…
Slithering around and wiggling in shiny shirts to house music is all right, and bouncing up and down in your Sean John gear to remixes of Fat Joe’s “Lean Back” isn’t a bad way to kill an evening, but sometimes you just need to push the envelope and spazz the…
The lines are just beginning to be drawn at the Battle of the DJs spin-off competition at Flip Flops in Tempe (216 and 222 East University). This Saturday night, October 2, marks another installment of the first-round eliminations, and next Saturday will be the last chance for you to put…
Hirsute anti-fashionista DJ Stefascope is back on the scene for the first time in years, hosting his own night, Mopery at the Sail Inn in Tempe (26 South Farmer Avenue). Stefascope is one-half of the Cute Lil DJs (complementing My Friend Andy, who calls Portland home now), the duo that…
I’m damn close to drawing blood from chewing on my lips, and my hands are shaking from a combination of shitty hotel coffee and simmering rage. No, I’m not at an AA meeting — but I will soon be driven to drink. I’m sitting in on the second meeting of…
This Thursday night, September 9, Arizona music historian and classic vinyl king Johnny D, a.k.a. John Dixon, was supposed to man the tables at the Blunt Club at the P.I. in Tempe, alongside fellow crate-diggers ChaseOne and Smite. Unfortunately, Johnny D is instead recovering from a recent heart bypass surgery,…
A sea of lighters in the air is probably exactly what Camel cigarettes would like to see at its Roaring 2000’s Speakeasy Tour, which stops in Phoenix for “Your Password Is Your Key” on Sunday, September 5. Chicago house legend Bad Boy Bill will be dropping wax alongside acts like…
My friend John has recently been tinkering with activism: When he’s bored at work, he’s been duplicating Kyle Goen’s infamous poster with a picture of President Bush that says “Elect a Madman, You Get Madness” and local artist Scott McKenzie’s Bush “i lied” stickers onto copy machine sticker paper, as…
Former Phoenician homeboy DJ Z-Trip’s long-awaited debut CD, tentatively titled Shifting Gears, may not be dropping until spring of next year, but that doesn’t mean he’s being quiet in the meantime. Z-Trip hits town with the Projekt Revolution tour this Wednesday, September 1, once again along for the ride with…
Looking for a good time this weekend? For a smorgasbord of eclectic dance ferocity, check out the impressively titled diverCITY (City Sounds: Let the Music Move You) party happening on Friday, August 20, at the Clubhouse in Tempe. DJs Seduce, Phill, Jonny Ocean, and Melissa Laine will be throwing down…
Veteran producer and beatmaker BT (a.k.a. Brian Transeau) won’t be manning the turntables for his upcoming performance at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe on Tuesday, August 17. Instead, for the first time in four years, he will be appearing with a full band to perform the ethereal soundscapes that have…
Perhaps I’m an anomaly (“perhaps,” my ass), but I’ve recently concluded that making romantic-minded mix tapes and CDs is always an uncomfortable, if not completely humiliating, experience. Case in point: Some time ago I was riding in a close female friend’s car, when I noticed that her tape deck was…
On Saturday, July 3, Ed Ryan, the owner of Drop In Skate Shop, was nearly fatally shot during a botched robbery attempt that happened while he was closing up for the night. The assault left Ryan in intensive care (from which he has since recovered) while his pregnant wife Kari…
Local DJs David Epstein and Jonboy, veteran residents at Scottsdale’s Next (7111 East Fifth Avenue), are celebrating the completion of their first demo CD together with a bash in Next’s upstairs lounge on Saturday, August 7. The two DJs, collectively known as 4th Dimension, specialize in a mix they like…
Scary? Not especially. But the remixed, remastered and rereleased six-song disc from Scary Kids (who get their name from an obscure mid-’90s song by math-rock progenitors Cap’n Jazz) definitely has some punch to it. Scary Kids’ three-guitar assault, combined with a sprinkling of synths, is melodically pummeling, yet the songs…
There’ll be a lot of celebrating at Casket Life’s tour kickoff show on Friday, August 6, at Ziggy’s in Tempe — not only is the band headed out for a two-week Southwest/Midwest tour, it’s also become the first group to sign to Stomping Ground Records (www.stompinggroundrecords.com), a new local venture…
Last week, I caught Jimmy Eat World’s “secret” appearance at the Mason Jar with Braid. That night, after the show, I had a dream. I was watching Arizona’s favorite indie rock sons at some imaginary outdoor stadium, in hospitably mild sunshine. Before the boys played, they were ferried through the…
Every day is like Sunday um, I mean, Thursday for Robden Brethauer and DJ Manchester, the impresarios behind Panic!, the long-running weekly Britpop/indie/shoegazer/New Wave night that came to an end in March. This Thursday, July 29, theyre reprising the event at its old home, Andersons Fifth Estate in Scottsdale, with…
TThe small brown vial I’m looking at has a sinister appearance to it, bearing only a white typewritten label identifying the powder inside as 5-MeO-DMT — 5-Methoxy-N,N-Dimethyltryptamine. It came via UPS from an American chemical company to three inner-space explorers I know; now, a couple days later at a house…
