Arts & Culture

While Ten Dollar Outfit shies away from the “jam band” label, they are sorta like Phoenix’s own version of Widespread Panic-meets-John Mayer, and singer/guitarist Brian Chartrand even admits, “I don’t like playing or singing a song the same way . . . ever, really.” And TDO really is more of…

To see Matthew Reveles kicking back in his Tempe home, dressed in blue jeans, a T-shirt, and flip-flops, you might get the wrong idea. Reveles’ long, black hair, flowing beard, and wire-rim specs seem to suggest he’s in a neo-jam band on the order of Phish or maybe even drawing…

Not too many local shows sound more fun than this: Some of the Valley’s best Americana, country, and rock singers getting together for a full night of Tom Petty songs at Yucca Tap Room. “Petty Thieves” features our old pal Chris Orf, a New Times freelancer, Jim Bachmann, who wowed…

In the self-descriptive sense, Youth Brigade is no longer a credible name for an iconic punk band that formed in 1980 and toured with Social Distortion during the early Reagan era. Then again, Middle-Age Brigade seems a little neurotic, no? So what to do? Claim philosophical privilege, that’s what. If…

Excerpts from film scores from Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loved Me, and other James Bond films will be performed as the orchestra’s musical tribute to the world’s greatest (fictional) secret agent. Fri., June 5, 8 p.m.; Sat., June 6, 8 p.m., 2009…

In July 2007, Yeah Yeah Yeahs appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, capping the night with “Down Boy,” from their then-current EP, Is Is. “Down Boy” is a dark, sultry song, and the band’s singer, Karen O, swayed in place with odd, theatrical movements, unable to keep a…

The jury is still out on this Fairfax, Virginia-based foursome: Legitimate heirs to Jimmy Eat World and other power-pop chart-toppers, or just another reason to hate the Internet? Because, yes, it was on iTunes that The Friday Night Boys first found appreciative teeny-bopper ears, leading to a one-off gig on…

The difference between a cover band and a tribute band is the difference between a slut and a prostitute — one just plays with all sorts of people’s stuff because it’s fun and they like it. The other plays with particular people’s stuff only because it’s a profession with a…

Who’s your favorite two-piece act? The White Stripes? Mates of State? Local H? Donny and Marie? After this show, it might be the Portland duo Helio Sequence — singer/guitarist/harmonica player Brandon Summers and drummer/keyboardist Benjamin Weikel (late of Modest Mouse, where he spent a year subbing on the skins for…

America hasn’t been particularly good to ska. Indeed, raggae’s dancier, spazzier cousin may have met its Waterloo here back in the late 90s, when No Doubt started channeling Miami Sound Machine and fellow domestic acts like Reel Big Fish proved incapable of sustaining modern ska as a relevant alt-music lifeform…

Fresh on the release of their fourth studio album, New Again, Long Island rockers Taking Back Sunday will roll through the Valley to showcase their eclectic brand of rock, emo, and happy hardcore. There’s no denying the emo-ness of lead singer Adam Lazarra’s vocals — yet that same emo-ness helped…

As much as we love Cave Creek, the northeast Valley burg wouldn’t be the obvious first choice if we were in the market for, say, a mid-century-modern accent for the living room or an atomic-age dinette set for the kitchen. Correction: It would be now, thanks to the town’s new…

When I was young, a drink was just a drink — and the cheaper it was, the better. In those days, the dude who made your drink was a bartender. If you were really desperate (and sometimes I was), you might opt for a frat boy with an empty garbage…

“The cinema is not a slice of life but a piece of cake,” Alfred Hitchcock once said, and if that’s true — and who are we to dispute the Master? — then summertime is when we gorge (unhealthily, most of the time, on ear-splitting smash-’em-ups and nerd-filled sex comedies). This…

It’s with some regret that I recall the people in whose company I learned to drink. Not because they were sodden miscreants, but because our youthful friendships, born during suburban Phoenix summers spent sipping cheap beer and two-dollar wine, didn’t survive into our more sober middle age. I find myself…

It’s way too early on a Sunday morning. I’m lying in bed listening as the iPod magically shuffles to the Stones. “You can’t always get what you want / you can’t always get what you want / But if you try sometimes / you just might find, you get what…

When’s the last time you visited your local library? Thought so. Think of the experience as retro, vintage — okay, as a way to save some cash this summer. And, hey, the A/C’s always cranked. BORROW A TUNE Why not check out your trashy summer poolside reads? Or do away…

PHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY • Chess for children and teens Where: Burton Barr Central Library When: Wednesday, June 10 and 17, July 1 and 8, 3:30-6 p.m. Ages: 5-16 Learn to play chess or improve your game. Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult. • Anime matinee Where: Burton…

You might have noticed that the shabby-chic masses have disappeared from the Bikini Lounge over the past few weekends. Ditto for the coifed scenesters of Homme and the indie kids at Modified Arts. Don’t fear, the hipster rapture hasn’t taken place. It’s just a sign that the swanked-out summertime pool…

Tucson is cool. That’s “cool” in the literal sense — Tucson is a bit higher in elevation than the Valley and tends not to push the mercury level quite as high (it’s generally 5 to 10 degrees cooler) — and in the figurative sense. Home to more than just the…