App Pupils

If you’re peeping this from some sort of mobile telecommunications device, you’ll like what you’re about to read. On Saturday, May 16, the good folks of the co-working space and collective known as Gangplank will be holding the first-ever Mobi Festival, a conference for developers of mobile computing and anyone…

Complete Boriqua

The Puerto Rican flag, with its distinctive lone white star, blue triangle, and red stripes, has been popping up more frequently around town. With the infusion of that island flavor into our Southwestern mix, expect the joyful exclamations of “Wepa!” to fly during the third annual Puerto Rican Festival and…

Killah Instinct

Earlier this year, some shamsters put out word that prominent Wu-Fam rapper Killah Priest would make a stop in the Valley, going so far as to politick with locals to set up a show. It was news to Priest’s crew, so the Wu-Tang posse and the Blunt Club crew swiftly…

See Jane Walk

You’re melting in traffic and you know that there must be a better way. There’s just gotta be. Jane Jacobs felt your pain, too, and her ideas will be brought to life with the inaugural Jane’s Walk Phoenix. The Pennsylvania-born urbanist/activist, who died in 2006, wrote The Death and Life…

Black Kids

If their only achievement ends up being hipsters’ awkwardly expressing an affinity for “black kids,” then be ready to hoist the victory banners in celebration. Auspiciously, though, Black Kids have a bit more mettle in their dance-pop mix. Lead singer/guitarist Reggie Youngblood, bassist Owen Holmes, drummer Kevin Show, and Dawn…

To B-Boy or Not to B-Boy

Hip-hop’s been taking existing works and weaving them into new shapes and sounds since DJ Kool Herc extended breaks at South Bronx park jams. Expect a similar energy in this production, which puts a hip-hop spin on Big Willie Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The play is less a swagger-jacking of the classic…

Notes From The Underground

There’s something super-compelling about the feeling of old letters and notes from a lover in your hands. Not so much when you’re clicking around your inbox to find e-mails expressing similar sentiments. The inaugural Underground Publishing Convention celebrates the human connection, spreading the paper love at various venues. ’Zine queen…

Notes From The Underground

There’s something super-compelling about the feeling of old letters and notes from a lover in your hands. Not so much when you’re clicking around your inbox to find e-mails expressing similar sentiments. The inaugural Underground Publishing Convention celebrates the human connection, spreading the paper love at various venues. ’Zine queen…

Circus Maximus

The jackasses of, well, Jackass ushered in an era in which any group of snot-nosed punks with a video camera would crack a skull or take a nut-shot just to entertain us. That was cool for a bit, but somewhere deep inside us was a yearning for a professionally presented…

Mates of State Find Balance with Their Indie-Rock Spirit

Mates of State have been living the indie-rock life for over a decade. The husband and wife duo of Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner spin their sharp songwriting, harmonies, and dexterity with a suite of instruments (including piano, guitar, and drums, as well as Rhodes electric organ and glockenspiel) into…

Club Kismet

We heart Phoenix, but sometimes bouncing from one familiar haunt to the next can feel a bit too much like a routine for our comfort. So it’s serendipitous that a new spot named Bhakti Gardens is opening for business this weekend. Owner Cindy Reshan has been cultivating her labor of…

Trunk Junkies

The years might be creeping up on us, but we still have the youth, fun, and exuberance embodied by the Trunk Space, the art gallery/performance venue that recently turned 5. For a half-decade, co-owners Stephanie Carrico and JRC have kept the good times rolling in downtown Phoenix, drawing on a…

Grayskul

DOOM, Kool Keith, and the various members of the Wu-Tang Clan switch up their aliases as often as their kicks. The members of Seattle’s Grayskul aren’t quite as antsy to quantum-leap into new personas, but they do see the value of rocking specific monikers for distinct purposes. Onry Ozzborn and…

Mirah

Local favorites Andrew Jackson Jihad once asked, “Why doesn’t Mirah come to Phoenix?!” The singer-songwriter (born Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn) has spent the past decade with the Pacific Northwest indie fortress K Records. Whether over the backing of her own acoustic guitar or in collaboration with the likes of Phil…

Mirah meets Modified

Local favorites Andrew Jackson Jihad once asked on their album, Candy Cigarettes & Cap Guns, “Why doesn’t Mirah come to Phoenix?!” The singer-songwriter (born Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn) has spent the past decade with the pacific northwest indie fortress, K Records. Whether over the backing of her own acoustic guitar…

High Jinks

First, February’s Phoenix Idiotarod saw themed shopping carts tearing through downtown. Then, last month’s Brides of March extravaganza let loose bridezillas (both male and female) on a rampage. Now, there’s Fluor-Ascent, an illuminated nighttime hike up Piestewa Peak that will let folks get their shine on. For all of these…

Viscous Circle

Truly great works of art remain embedded in your head long after you’ve seen or experienced them. Mike Neely – curator of and participating artist in the “Sticker Phiends 2” sticker-art show – knows this feeling, because the art he creates as MAD ONE is truly intended to (get ready…

I-Video Killed the TV Stars

Web videos such as “David After the Dentist,” “Kittens Inspired by Kittens”, and “Take On Me (Literally)” are like manna, resulting in mad laughter and everlasting in-jokes. So how does one move beyond the realm of easily forgotten clips and actually forge a career, like the comedians of Human Giant…

Fringe Benefits

You hear the word “theater” and visions of toothless Neil Simon plays and rehashed Broadway musicals start to dance in your head. Not so with the Phoenix Fringe Festival, which is here to kill that noise. The people behind the second annual affair know that to actually strike a nerve,…

DIY Hard with a Vengeance

Enduring the hell of pumping out 50,000 words over 30 days for National Novel Writing Month won’t guarantee you a book deal, nor will putzing around with Garage Band get you signed to a major label. If you take that as an inspiring personal challenge rather than a reason to…

The Toxic Avenger

If you’re suspicious of modern meds, San Francisco’s Andrew Goldfarb has The Slow Poisoner’s Miracle Tonic, which he claims is good for curing cholera, gout, and onanism, among other ailments. Don’t believe him? Then check it out when Goldfarb will be peddling the green fluid and his creepy artwork during…

National Treasure

The allure of the Grand Canyon would definitely be lessened if it had ended up as just another private-property trophy of the rich. Filmmaking rock star Ken Burns knows this, and on Sunday, March 22, he’ll preview and discuss his latest project, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, which doesn’t…