Let’s face it. The fall TV season, especially for network television, has lost a lot of its luster over the last decade. With all of the other options for awesome things to watch on cable channels, Netflix, Hulu, and every other Tom, Dick, and Harry Internet site getting ready to…
Cable television is confounding, for sure, and the inevitable question often arises: “All these channels and nothing to watch? What the ______?” Recently, I was having one of these moments until I stumbled across an interview/live performance show on the Audience Network called Guitar Center Sessions. This one caught my…
It’s odd that people who have never met me want to punch me in the throat. Perhaps it’s akin to what people like Sean Hannity and Joe Arpaio experience on a daily basis, although I would never want to be compared to them. Luckily, I feel safe in saying there…
Typically held in August, the D-Low show is a double-edged sword for many of us. It is both celebration and painful reminder wrapped in a tremendous rock ‘n’ roll show that Dana “D-Low” Wells, son (and stepson) of Gloria and Max Cavalera would have loved. For the uninitiated, Dana was…
I put on The Ramones’ classic 1977 record Rocket To Russia recently in an attempt to join all of my Facebook friends in their collective sadness at the recent death of Tommy (Erdyli) Ramone. I used to love this record, but now, even though I wanted to feel some sense…
Blag Dahlia (birth name: Paul Cafaro) of the Dwarves is looking for women to come to the band’s show tonight at Yucca Tap Room with the Queers, Masked Intruder, and the Atom Age buck-naked and ready for fun. He knows it gets hot in Phoenix, so “Why not be comfortable?”…
Ten years ago, writer Tom Reardon had a front-row seat to see the punch heard ’round the punk world. Reardon was playing bass for Phoenix punk act North Side Kings, which was in Tuba City, Arizona, to open for Danzig, the metal band fronted by former Misfits singer and punk…
Right about now is a great time to saddle up the couch, turn the fan on, and watch some movies. As comedy fans, we remember often being sad about summer because, at one point, Saturday Night Live was actually funny on a consistent basis. When SNL would stop airing new…
What do you say about a performer like Sage Francis? He plays with words? He slays them? He engages his audience using a medium that rarely witnesses such a truly spectacular mastery of the vernacular? His repertoire of rhetoric is frenetic, authentic, and polemic while being transcendent, resplendent, and a…
On June 20, Sage Francis graces Central Phoenix with his uniquely eloquent version of hip-hop. The Providence, Rhode Island, native has a delivery and style that is not for everyone, mind you, but it is certainly compelling enough to make any fan of a cleverly turned phrase sit up and…
True Blood, HBO’s supernatural orgy of ridiculousness, ends its seven-season run this summer. It’s a sad day for fans, of course, but we’d like to think that somewhere supporters of Charlaine Harris (who penned The Southern Vampire Mysteries, or The Sookie Stackhouse Novel, which the show’s based on), are feeling…
For fans of The Turtles, CSN&Y, and Jefferson Airplane/Starship, as well as patrons of Milano’s Music in Mesa, June 7 promises to be, at very least, an opportunity to meet an interesting member of rock ‘n’ roll’s expansive past. Johny Barbata, who played drums for all of the previously mentioned…
It is with heavy heart and fond memories that I write this piece as Louis “Louie” Bocchini, whose Vans California Daze (and the off-shoot, Whatever) were integral parts of the Phoenix punk rock and skateboarding community, died on Saturday, May 17. Many longtime Phoenicians will recognize, at very least, his…
For Floor, Florida’s coolest export since medium-pulp orange juice, the opportunity to be both influential and derivative is a badge of honor the band should wear with pride. The sludgy stoner rock trio has existed for the better part of 22 years now, even though it took years-long hiatuses and…
There are reviews you wish would just write themselves. Peek behind the curtain, if you will, and see my struggle. I really wanted to write an über-positive review of the Black Flag show at Pub Rock on Saturday, May 17. I wanted to write that the punk rock fury I…
Once upon a time, it was a motherfucker. The crowd sat in utter silence, except when prompted to clap or laugh, depending on what the magic man did. And, for all intents and purposes, he was magical. E., the man, the myth, the legend. Mark Oliver Everett (“E” to his…
If there is any such thing as garage rock royalty, Holly Golightly certainly must be a member. Lo-fi before there was such a thing, and cool from the get-go, Ms. Golightly visits Phoenix for the very first time with her backing band, The Brokeoffs (which is really just one guy,…
We should probably just go right ahead and put it out there. We like TV. We like TV a lot, perhaps a little too much at times. But lately, it is getting harder and harder to find a show we want to continue watching after one season. Some of you…
“It’s not my imagination, there’s a gun at my back.” – “Revenge” from Black Flag’s 1980 Jealous Again ep. For fans and non-fans alike, there is no arguing the legacy of Black Flag. Angry, visceral, and a revolving door of singers and rhythm sections, lead guitarist Greg Ginn and the…
Holy punk rock, Batman! So, like many of you — some who have earned it, some who have not — I am not easily impressed these days. Whether you call it “jaded” or “been there, done that,” it really doesn’t matter, as long as you call it like you see…
Valley stoner rap guru Hot Rock Supa Joint took some time out of his busy day to answer some pressing questions in honor of 4/20, which apparently is some sort of weed holiday. You really have to spend some time in HotR ock’s presence to get a true feel for…
Max Cavalera is a tough guy to pin down. Once he gets going, there really is no stopping the dreadlocked metal innovator from Brazil, no matter what the subject or the task at hand. This is both great about Cavalera and a challenge. He is driven, and his worldwide success…
