The Ataris Yucca Tap Room Friday, March 16, 2012 Kris Roe’s had a few near-death experiences in Arizona, but he now calls the state home. The rest of the band relocated to Tempe in July and played its first official “local” show last night. Roe has played a couple solo…
So, was last night’s Radiohead show hyped up to be like, the greatest thing, ever? I hate going concerts with any sort of expectations because I usually walk away disappointed. I’ve been a casual fan since I first heard “Fake Plastic Trees” in Clueless, which is pretty funny when you…
There are some weird band names out there, so we let our imaginations go wild to envision what some of these names would literally look like. We chose Radiohead as our jumping off point because love them or hate them, the band is playing at Jobing.com arena tonight, and it’s…
Imagine a woman who can sing opera while juggling six flaming torches blindfolded on a unicycle. Doing all of those things at once may not be possible (or safe), but it would definitely be interesting. Humankind has a unique fascination with strange things. And, with its third Thursday variety show…
Ladies, we need to talk. You need to stop getting into fights at shows. I know lots of dudes like watching girl fights, but I’m going to speak on behalf of the gals: Getting punched in the boob sucks. Unlike guys, we fight dirty. We kick, punch, slap, and scratch…
Country songs don’t come much more iconic than Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart” . It’s been covered countless times by musicians of all genres. Some, like Elvis Presley and Ray Charles do the song justice, while others butcher it — I’m looking at you, LeAnn Rimes. It’s always a challenge…
If Miniature Tigers was ever to have an official “day” in Phoenix, it would be today. The band is playing two shows, one at Crescent Ballroom as part of the Modern Art Records Tour celebrating the release of Mia Pharaoh, and a free in-store performance at Stinkweeds at 5 p.m…
Pixar’s Up taught us some very important life lessons, including that, with enough balloons, you can fly your house to South America and, perhaps more importantly, that giant, flightless birds don’t make good pets. But you won’t need an airborne home to hang out with nine-foot birds when the 24th…
Do you remember the bad old days of MySpace, when bands had the option of listing influences along with their hometown, record label, members, etc.? Yes, MySpace still exists, but we’re talking about the halcyon days, in the midst of its former glories, when clever young bands would write just…
In this week’s issue (on stands tomorrow and online later today) I spoke to Miniature Tigers frontman Charlie Brand about the new album, Mia Pharaoh. Call ’em a “Brooklyn band” if you must, but they’re showing Phoenix plenty of love: There’s that downtown mural, and they’re performing twice tomorrow, once…
The hustle and bustle of Mill Avenue makes it a fun place to be on a Friday night. There are plenty of bars for folks that are dressed to the nines and drenched in perfume and cologne, and countless opportunities to people watch. Rula Bula is located in an interesting…
Toro Y Moi Crescent Ballroom Monday, March 5, 2012 Chillwave/glo-fi/funk/[insert blogger-generated genre here] pioneers Toro Y Moi knows how to get people moving. At last year’s South by Stateside Festival, the band played a short, delayed set thanks to Foster the People’s lengthy set-up time. I wasn’t there, so I…
See also: Fate of the Galaxies Cover The Cure One of the greatest advantages of living in Arizona is the state’s proximity to other cool places: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Mexico are all an afternoon’s drive away. Spend two days on the road (or one if you have multiple…
Atlanta’s O’Brother may seem like a real life version of The Soggy Bottom Boys from O Brother, Where Art Thou? (just Google the band’s name), but name and hometown are the only things the band and film have in common. O’Brother uses three intricate guitars to play a combination of…
The typical film production process is lengthy and challenging. That makes writing, producing, editing, and completing a short in 48 hours nothing short of daunting. This year’s Almost Famous Film Festival pits 66 regional teams against each other. The filmmakers have three guidelines for their short film submissions, apart from…
Albert Manjarrez, manger of The Roxy Lounge is hosting a benefit for his sister on Thursday, March 1.This event features live performances from local acoustic musicians Adam Shero, Angela Ferrari, and Javier Garcia. Amanda Manjarrez was an asymptomatic 26-year-old single mother, unaware she was ill until she tried to write…
Cursive Crescent Ballroom Monday, February 27, 2012 “Whenever I see a band shortly after an album comes out, I hope it’s too soon for them to play new songs live,” a friend yelled to me as Cursive tore into the opening hooks of “This House Alive,” the first track from…
Anyone who’s seen Michelangelo Antonioni’s mysterious thriller L’Avventura knows Italian filmmakers like Antonioni have a knack for visually striking cinema that will leaves you with more questions than answers. St Ranger’s music video for “It’s ‘Appening” is a lot like that. There’s imagery of people swimming around, which is quite…
The Cure is a difficult band to cover. Purists will balk at anyone that can’t sing like Robert Smith, but playing Cure songs with your own style is usually a bad idea (just look at what 311 did to “Love Song”). “There’s no reason to tweak a Cure song. You…
Man Overboard, a Garden State pop punk group, is enjoying a whirlwind career. After touring with New Found Glory last year, the band just wrapped up a series of shows in the UK, and is gearing up for its first American headlining tour. The group has released 50 or 60…
Today is a big day for fans of Las Vegas, punk, and/or bowling. The full lineup for the 14th Annual Punk Rock Bowling and Music Festival will come out sometime today. We’re guessing it’s going to happen in the afternoon since three-day passes go on sale today at 1 p.m…
Within seconds of watching this video, it’s obvious that Boys and Frogs is not performing “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out.” Instead, they play a fuzzy version of Kanye West’s “All Of The Lights,” which transitions into The Smiths classic. “I’m a fan of Kanye and The Smiths…
