Boats are backdrops to some great stories, from Jack and Rose’s whirlwind romance in Titanic to The Lonely Island’s adventures with T-Pain in “I’m on a Boat.” Shipwrecks, flippy-floppies, and P. Diddy partying on a yacht may be the first things that come to mind when fancy boats are mentioned,…
Titus Andronicus and Ceremony @ Crescent Ballroom, 11/6/12″Good night, good luck, and four more years!” said Patrick Stickles as he high-fived fans from the stage as Titus Andronicus wrapped up a solid set that ran almost two hours. The night wasn’t as political as it could have been, both bands…
Seattle math rock-meets-electronic indie band Minus the Bear has been going strong for 12 years now, spending most of its time on the road or in the studio. As a testament to how much the band tours, take a look at how many times we’ve reviewed the band over the…
Alanis Morissette @ Comerica Theatre|11/1/12A lot has changed for Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette since the release of her 1995 breakthrough album, Jagged Little Pill. She no longer pens angry songs about the “Mr. Duplicity” who wronged her; she now focuses on her role as a wife and a mother on…
The amount of native Phoenicians who have never seen the Grand Canyon is astonishing, but it doesn’t rival the number of folks who live downtown and know very little about their hood’s history. Marilyn Monroe isn’t just immortalized through a mural on Indian School Road, she also walked past the…
Oh, Alanis, you sure have mellowed out. Seventeen years ago, you released Jagged Little Pill, one of the most commercially successful albums of the ’90s. Those vindictive songs about heartbreak (“You Oughta Know”) were balanced by the Taoist outlooks (“Hand in My Pocket”) and not-so-ironic situations (“Ironic”). It was an…
Happy Halloween, everyone! On behalf of everyone at Up on the Sun, I hope you find a cool concert or party to go to tonight, and thoroughly encourage you to party a little too hard. Halloween is a blast–as a kid, neighbors handed out free candy because you dressed up…
Last week, a couple of so-called indie bands released music videos that featured quirky blonde actresses. Michelle Williams traveled to Niagara Falls Wild Nothing’s “Paradise” and The Girl Next Door Elisha Cuthbert imagines herself in a movie in The Gaslight Anthem’s video for “Here Comes My Man.” Both of these…
The reports of the romance’s death have been greatly exaggerated. That’s what we’re taking away from the video for “Dream Girl,” from Phoenix’s Treasure Mammal. A standout song from his excellent Checkognize, the track has a silky, ’90s R&B groove and characteristically outlandish lyrics from songwriter Abelardo Gil III. The…
Tucson’s horror film and surf music-loving psychobilly outfit Mission Creeps don’t shy away from the macabre– which is why the group joined the Southern Arizona Ghost and Paranormal Society to spend the night at The Oliver House, where there have been 28 known deaths, making it one of the most…
We know there’s tons of Halloween parties happening this weekend, with a little something for everyone going down. If you’re spending the whole weekend at home noshing on Halloween candy and watching zombie movies, you’re doing it wrong. But for fans seeking punk thrills, the Yucca Tap Room is the…
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas–even though Halloween is still just around the corner. As grocery stores begin to stock their Christmas crap decorations, the last show announcements of the year trickle in. Historically, the line up for Alice Cooper’s Christmas Pudding gets announced every October, and while…
One man band basement recordings continue to grow in popularity. Due to its minimalist approach, songwriting is key. Perfume Genius, the moniker of Mike Hadreas records songs about homophobia, pedophilia, and suicide that are strangely warm and therapeutic. We caught up with Hadreas to discuss having a video pulled from…
Two seems to be the perfect number when it comes to experimental rock music: Death From Above 1979, Lightning Bolt, Japandroids, and No Age manage to make a lot of noise for two-person bands, and Hella is no exception. Local metal/post hardcore duo Partners in Crime follows this tradition by…
As much as First Fridays can be a pain to navigate, we can’t deny that we love walking around the city when there’s so much to see and do in one evening. Lucky for art lovers and people-watchers, too, the Grand Avenue Festival presents yet another opportunity to explore and…
Mesa reggae/punk outfitAuthority Zero has come a long way in the past decade. 2002 marked the release of the band’s first full-length album, A Passage in Time, and the start of a relentless tour schedule. The band went from playing free, intimate shows at Zia Records to a few years…
Violinist Lindsey Stirling has a little something for everyone, primarily mixing classical and electronic music together. She became a YouTube sensation thanks to her innovative covers. She even wore elf ears in her Zelda suite. Her music videos are just as beautiful as her music, traveling to locales like New…
Rick Santorum said that sex between married couples (you have to be married to have sex, silly) should only be for procreation. The politician has fathered eight children, which means that if the poor sap practices what he preaches, he probably hasn’t done the nasty much more than eight times…
In the past, most of downtown Phoenix’s opportunities for fun were limited to concert venues or clubs on Washington. Cityscape changed all of that by adding an array of restaurant and shopping options, and plenty of features that make it a stand out location. Nestled in the same complex as…
The Black Keys @ US Airways|10/9/12The Black Keys have come a long way since their last performance in Phoenix a year and a half ago. They released a new album, El Camino, played prime time slots at Coachella two years in a row, and performed at a much larger venue…
It’s been a long road for Gossip Girl, from the teenage backstabbing and juicy gossip in the first seasons to the characters heading off to college, flirting with the rich and powerful, and being at the root of public scandals. The show’s sixth and final season premiered last night, and…
Soul legends Ike & Tina Turner were renowned for their personal lives as much as their music career. In songs like “Should’a Treated Me Right” and “A Fool in Love,” you can’t help but cheer Tina on. In spite of the couple’s strife, they were responsible for some great songwriting…
