Y’all remember the “Free Tibet” movement? Back in the late ’90s, it was the counterculture cause célèbre, on the lips of every hippie and alt-rocker from Burning Man to the East Village. But now it’s 2004, and while hipsters have focused their ineffectual efforts toward more trendy causes, his holiness…
Coming up with an original band name is hard without a thesaurus and some psychedelic drugs. So when we heard that Asylum Street Spankers were coming to the Valley, we couldn’t resist asking about the band’s moniker. The story goes something like this: Ten years ago, the band played some…
TUE 12/14 From what you’ve come to expect from emo groups, Novi Split — which visits Modified Arts, 407 East Roosevelt, on Tuesday, December 14 — fills the void in the way only the sensitive side of post-punk can. Offering sound design that is as adverse to “over-production” as slugs…
THU 2 Sorry to bear the bad news, ladies, but the catty confines of Paco Paco, 3045 North 16th Street, will be reserved exclusively for men on Thursday, December 2, as the Valley’s “hottest” gay Latin dance club puts aside its usual drag and trannie show in favor of the…
The Czech drama Zelary brings to mind Bertolt Brecht’s pointed observation that “war is like love; it always finds a way.” In this instance, war creates the atmosphere in which an unlikely love flourishes, then overwhelms that love. Only a fool would try to improve on Brecht, but after absorbing…
Sat 12/4 When y’all are ready to wade through them thar beer cans and lawn appliances that ain’t worked fer years, park yer double-wide at the Pumphouse II, 4132 East McDowell, for the Miss Trailer 2005 Pageant and Trailer Trash Party on Saturday, December 4. They’ll have all the PBR…
Ah, downtown Phoenix. Home to Bank One Ballpark, the famous Luhrs Building, that stunningly awful Patriots Park. It’s a tangle of high- and low-rise construction that has — dare I say it? — risen from the ashes of its former run-down self, reborn as a burgeoning almost-metropolis that might someday…
I saw Arizona Theatre Company’s production of Anna in the Tropics with a second-weekend audience, having missed its opening night. Second-weekenders are a tough crowd, harder to entertain; first-nighters are there as much for the schmoozing as for what’s up on stage. And so the warm reception given by these…
Has anyone but me noticed that Arizona Jewish Theatre Company never produces plays or musicals that depict Jews as whiny cheapskates? And that the Black Theatre Troupe never presents shows in which people of color are portrayed as lazy, shiftless field hands? Fortunately for fans of pitiless stereotyping, there’s the…
Mike Nichols’ new film Closer is a boiling pot of lust, mistrust and double-dealing that might well be taken for outright soap opera — or, in quite a few places, soft-core porn — were it not for the sophisticated gleam of its well-heeled London desperadoes and the vicious dazzle of…
It’s the biopic of the year: Christian Bale is cadaverous industrial rocker Trent Reznor, prone to temper tantrums, brooding, inhabiting colorless environments, and keeping your parents awake all night as he fronts the heavy band known as Nine Inch Nails. Oh, wait . . . that’s not quite right. Christian…
Ebenezer Scrooge might be the quintessential poster boy for a bad holiday attitude, but he didn’t have to fist-fight a soccer mom the day after Thanksgiving for the last limited-edition Bratz doll at Wal-Mart. And Scrooge didn’t have to buy glow-in-the-dark mistletoe nipple clamps for a gag gift party. In…
In 1976, Mark Mothersbaugh and his Devo bandmates slept in an Econoline van, drafting eccentric lyrics about the de-evolution of humans. Today, Mothersbaugh dines with Hollywood’s elite, enjoys a successful music career — and crafts eccentric works of art that decry the de-evolution of humans. Some things never change for…
Sat 12/4 Athletes of the Valley are probably used to navigating hazardous mountain terrain or dusty mountain trails, but could they manage climbing a 12-foot-high ramp covered with Crisco? Such obstacles await at the Phoenix Urban Adventure Race on Saturday, December 4, where — in addition to almost 25 miles…
12/3-12/5 Since ASU’s put the clamp-down on fraternity partying, Sun Devil brothers must find other outlets to express themselves. For example, the ninth annual Pharaoh Step Classic Stepshow, which takes place on Saturday, December 4, at the South Mountain High School Amphitheatre, 5401 South Seventh Street. Witness the Mu Eta…
Wed 12/8 There comes a time in every rocker’s life when he grows weary of performing that signature hit, night after night. Even the metalheads of KISS are bound to stop wanting to rock ‘n’ roll all night (and party every day). Not Dick Dale. “The King of Surf Guitar,”…
THU 25 Maybe we’ve lost too many of our own brain cells along the way, but we were under the impression that spliffs and phatties were followed by the munchies. On Thursday, November 25, the before-and-after scenario is flipped, when Dumperfoo’s Blunt Club at the Priceless Inn, 5014 South Price…
Camille Messina, 24, fashion designer, filmmaker, singer and hairdresser, lives with three roommates, four pets and one creepy mannequin in a quaint Tempe condo. Favorite art form: I don’t know. Fashion comes the easiest. If I haven’t done that in a long time, it makes me feel better. Music is…
The most shocking thing about Kinsey, the first film from writer-director Bill Condon since 1998’s Gods and Monsters, is how shocking it actually is. Within the confines of a standard biopic (A Beautiful Dirty Mind, you might call it), Condon refuses to play it straight — which is only appropriate,…
11/29-11/30 Marketing jingles, every sports franchise has got one. With the Suns, it’s “Working hard, playing harder.” Feh. The D-Backs? They dared ask “Is it a part of you?” Hardly. Arizona Gay Volleyball’s war cry? “Balls, Sand, and Sweat.” Now that’s a slogan. Not only is it laced with double…
Sun 11/28 There once was a time when silly things like the time of year and the weather announced the beginning of ski season. That was until 1949, the year Warren Miller released his first ski-related epic. In the more than half a century since, his work has served as…
Being thankful isn’t enough. We — every one of us fortunate enough to be alive during this scary, exciting time — want dessert besides. We want this Thanksgiving to be about pie, not about gratitude for our diminished waistlines. It’s been more than a year since low-carb guru Robert Atkins…
