Bruce Hornsby has not rested on “The Way It Is.” He probably could — sometimes it seems like he could rest on the hip-hop songs that sample “The Way It Is.” But in the 27 years since his biggest hit came out, he’s been working not just on follow-ups –…
It could be the relatively short notice or the confusing name — I would not have pegged him as a jazz artist, personally — but it’s happening, universe: The Robin Thicke Controversy Machine is coming to Ahwatukee, as one of the headlining acts of the Arizona Jazz Festival. It may…
First, you have to know that Spike TV still exists. Then you’ll have to take my word that one of its reality shows is a Kitchen Nightmares clone called Bar Rescue. Then you’ll have to know that Tempe’s Rocky Point Cantina (subsequently briefly known as Havana Cabana) is the bar…
I’m going to be totally honest with you, here: I love state fairs, but I’m mostly in it for the lemon shake-ups. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy the concerts–it’s just that I only enjoy them after I’ve eaten a lot of unconventionally fried food and then spun it…
Lots of music fans have a cult-favorite band, and lots of those cult members certainly believe they’d spend 30 years of their life, on and off, trying to get them back together. E Street Band guitarist and Rascals fan Steven Van Zandt was part of an even smaller subset–a fan…
I’m going to be totally honest with you here: I love state fairs, but I’m mostly in it for the lemon shake-ups. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy the concerts — it’s just that I enjoy them only after I’ve eaten a lot of unconventionally fried food and then…
Lots of music fans have a cult-favorite band, and lots of those cult members certainly believe they’d spend 30 years of their life, on and off, trying to get them back together. E Street Band guitarist and Rascals fan Steven Van Zandt was part of an even smaller subset —…
You didn’t have to spend a lot of time at beleaguered metal bar Rocky Point Cantina to be interested in the way it went under. Thankfully, you don’t have to be a regular viewer of SpikeTV’s Bar Rescue, either. After looking set to fall off the schedule, Bar Rescue’s trip…
First you have to know that SpikeTV still exists. Then you’ll have to take my word that one of its reality shows is a Kitchen Nightmares clone called Bar Rescue. Then you’ll have to know that Tempe’s Rocky Point Cantina (briefly known as Havana Cabana) is the bar the show…
This is a really obvious, great idea, and I commend whoever came up with it: YouTube, the place where everybody listens to music by default, has announced the first-ever YouTube Music Awards, a 90-minute live stream scheduled for November 3. There are some other cool ideas, too–they’re going to be…
Keith UrbanAk-Chin PavilionSunday, September 29 One way to reverse engineer the perfect American Idol judge would be to just go to concerts until you find a bunch of people who used to watch American Idol clapping and having a good time at one. I like to think that’s how they…
Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington has gotten all the way off the ground, which is a first step that a lot of reconstituted rock bands never quite reach. Diehard STP fans are still mostly nonplussed, but a lot of them are going to the shows anyway; casual fans are…
I’m not here to tell you why or how you should watch your reality singing contests, so I’ll just offer this as a value-neutral option: If you’ve given up on the Cardinals already and are looking for another way to root for Arizona on NBC, this week’s set of auditions…
Phoenix MC Rashenal has been working on the business end of music for a while now, running his own label, Earsweat Records. His new single, “Cash Flow” — the first fruits of a couple years’ writing and recording — is no exception. He’ll likely take the lead on the press…
You might not have been the same kind of nerd as I was. You might, you lucky devil, not have even been a nerd at all. But if you’re wondering why a particular nerd subset is flying its goofy Legend of Zelda hats at half-mast today, wonder no more: Hiroshi…
I don’t think anyone will be shocked by this admission, but I’ll make it: I don’t like Britney Spears or Miley Cyrus very much. (Aside from that Notorious B.I.G. mashup from a few years ago.) They are not really gyrating in my demographic’s direction. But Britney Spears has a new…
Future Loves Past’s debut album, All The Luscious Plants gives “polish” a good name. That’s not the only musical jargon the Tempe natives rehabilitate on All The Luscious Plants, but it’s the first bit of it you’ll have to confront when you listen to it; this is an album that…
Future Loves Past’s debut album gives “polish” a good name. “Disco,” too. That’s not the only musical jargon the Tempe natives rehabilitate on All the Luscious Plants, but they’re the first ones you’ll have to confront when you listen to it. This is a polished, dance-y, slick — that’s another…
fun. Comerica Theatre September 10, 2013 (Complete slideshow here) “We Are Young” may not have even been the second-unlikeliest No. 1 hit of 2012–here in 2013, though, at a safe remove from PSY and Gotye, it’s a little easier to appreciate just how weird it was. With rock in a…
Everything about The Features seems perfectly calibrated to sneak up on you. Their new album–self-titled–is packed with different ideas and sounds, but it’s not a debut; it’s their fourth full-length. They’re still building a national audience, but they’re not new to touring; they were attracting local buzz in their native…
Statistically speaking, you or some iTunes user you know has, ton-i-i-i-i-ight, confirmed that he and someone else are both young and then set the world on fire at least once in the last year. Last year fun., America’s least search-engine-optimizable band, had the biggest rock hit in three or four…
Diehard fans of The Format had a lot of soul-searching to do when fun.–the band formed by erstwhile lead singer Nate Ruess–hit the mainstream with Some Nights. Some of it was about the music, and some of it was about the reaction: What are you supposed to do when somebody…
