You know what sucks the most, as a huge fan of live music, about living in Phoenix? A lot of bands that come through here don’t bring their A-game, and MarchFourth Marching Band contributed to that tradition on Friday night. To be fair, the bands’ hands were tied a bit…
There is no “I” in band, and there is no me either. No matter how stellar one member of a band may be, they still don’t get anywhere without surrounding themselves with equally talented players. That usually means having to mesh two or more big personalities into one cohesive unit…
The lineups for Coachella and Bonnaroo have been released, and they both absolutely suck. Seriously, Coachella is only four hours away and I could probably a finagle a free ticket, and I still won’t go. Shoot, I wouldn’t go if it was in Glendale. Now, some music writers would get…
Some say that Eric Clapton is God. Others say it is Kanye West who is a deity incarnate. Deadheads will clamor on about Jerry Garcia, while hip-hop heads will claim Biggie or Pac. I’m here to tell you they are all wrong; Bob Hoag is God. This became clear at…
The Phoenix Rock Lottery is happening on Saturday, January 17, which means we are only days away from draft day. On Saturday morning, 25 of Phoenix’s finest musicians will convene at Crescent Ballroom and be randomly placed into a five-piece band. Then they will spend the day writing three original…
The biggest impression a band leaves usually comes from the lead singer. After all, we all (well, most of us) speak English, but we don’t all play music. So understanding and connecting with lyrics and the expressive range of the human voice is usually the easiest thing for a musical…
The garage rock wave is definitely coming into Phoenix, as yet another local lo-fi act, Soft Deadlines, prepares to release its new album, Critic, on 56th Street Records. But Soft Deadlines isn’t making the same sound as the Rubber Brother crowd — it brings a more shoegaze feel to its…
Though it may take a bit of digging, Phoenix really does have a wealth of quality local dance nights on both the monthly and weekly level. So with The Blunt Club closing up shop as a weekly stop for not only hip-hop heads but also folks who just like to…
Naked Pizza was the brainchild of eccentric Phoenix-based saxophone player “The Artist Formerly Known as Austin Rickert,” as he requested he be called, and just like Rickert … it was really weird. They were a ska band that would play in crazy costumes looking more like theme camp at Burning…
Phoenix is on the cusp of something great, musically speaking. New festivals are popping up every year with big concepts and bigger headliners. As time progresses and the bands on top of the scene either blow up or fade away, it will be the younger acts out there stepping up…
Young Jeezy’s performance at downtown Phoenix’s The Pressroom Saturday night was absolutely stunning. Almost a decade after his major label debut Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101, the 37-year-old Georgia based rapper with the raspy voice is still one of the most entertaining performers in the game. Jeezy is one…
Phoenix music seems to breed more weird acts than American Horror Story: Freak show, and the Trunk Space very often acts as its circus tent. Things were odd at the Trunk Space for Man-Cat’s album release from the very beginning. Protesters arrived at the venue early and set up life-size…
I’m not a Phoenix guy. I am from the great state of New Jersey, and I have been around the block a little bit, and I must say that Phoenix does weird better. The Pizza Underground came through the Rhythm Room with Har Mar Superstar and Candy Boys on Wednesday…
Whether or not you agree with their political views there is no denying that downtown Phoenix’s original protest band The Haymarket Squares is one of the most distinctly talented groups in town. The all strings quintet make some pretty amazing sounds when they get on stage, or in the studio…
Old white people like the Eagles. That is the biggest takeaway from Wednesday night’s “History of The Eagles” stop at Gila River Arena. That, and history is very easily changed when it needs to be for the sake of some feel-good moments on tour. They also more or less left…
As if the 2,200 person capacity Marquee Theatre wasn’t an intimate enough venue for the Phoenix homecoming of the now-platinum four-piece .KONGOS, the four brothers decided to throw their own little welcome home surprise party at Scottsdale’s Rogue in the early afternoon before their Summer Ends Music Festival set. At…
Phoenix hip-hop duo Shining Soul say Canadian Border Services Agency recently stopped, detained, and heavily questioned them at Montréal-Trudeau International Airport. The duo was trying to get to a concert scheduled as part of its “Hometown Foreigners Tour.” This is the second time the pair — Franco Habre, a.k.a. Bronze…
Fairy Bones frontwoman Chelsey Louise Richard said that every song on the band’s upcoming album, Dramabot, is going to have a video to go with it, and they are starting out with the album’s first single, “Waiting.” The video depicts what is essentially the scariest house party you’ve ever seen…
In May, Phoenix-based hip-hop duo Shining Soul — Franco Habre, a.k.a. Bronze Candidate, and Alex Soto, a.k.a. Liason — made a video for their track “No Mercy,” off their album, released in September 2013. The video mostly is protest footage mixed with clips of the group performing in concert, but…
“I don’t want to talk about music, that’s so boring,” declares Travis James as he sits inside the Neverland House. And the local musician certainly has every right to call the shots, since the curiously named bungalow and DIY performance space in the Garfield Historic District is sort of his…
Colson Miller of the Thin Bloods and Robbie Pfeffer of Playboy Manbaby both describe their bands as more of a live experience than something that oughta be listened to at home. That said, it hasn’t stopped either band from releasing multiple cassettes this year through Rubber Brother Records. While the…
The prominent representation of electronic music in the Valley obviously is the club scene in Scottsdale. The biggest names in electronic dance music play around Old Town every weekend, and thousands of people flock to expensive bars in flashy clothes. The opposite, that is, of what the members of Provisions…
