Mad for Madeleine

Georgia-born and French-raised Madeleine Peyroux has a voice that could calm crying babies or a venue packed with jazz-hungry fans, but that doesn’t mean she puts on a great show. This is not to suggest that her voice — which has been compared to Billie Holiday’s and interprets and bends…

Scare and Scare Alike

Rarely does a death metal act succeed in spooking a seasoned critic like me, but I have to say there was truly something unsettling about Iwatchedherdie’s The Ill Effects of Hope. Midway through the seven-song disc I just felt vaguely disturbed by the imagery, the haunting keyboards, the crushing guitars,…

Freak Fest

You won’t find any death-defying rides, outrageous animals, or complicated midway games at a monthly Sadisco* affair. Just freaks . . . and plenty of them (like, enough to fill an insane asylum or a sideshow). Be they leather-clad rivetheads, mayhem-craving punks, or gloomy Goth types, the monthly dance parties…

Hang (with) the DJ

Club DJs of the P-Town, we feel your pain. You endlessly work the same local joints week after endless week, slaving over the turntables and beat-matching your brains out for a bunch of selfish and snotty hotties, all the while dreaming of blowing this burg for far-flung destinations and superstardom…

Josh Hamilton

Following the Cactus League game between the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Rangers outfielder and 1999 first overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft will speak up about his struggle with alcohol/crack addiction (which resulted in his temporary ouster from the game) and speak out…

Sarah “The Cheese Lady” Kaufman

The world-renowned fromage sculptress from Wisconsin (naturally) will leave Arizona cheesier than she left it with a humongous “Arizona scene” carved from a big block of chipotle. Fri., March 27, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat., March 28, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 2009…

Sarah “The Cheese Lady” Kaufman

The world-renowned fromage sculptress from Wisconsin (naturally) will leave Arizona cheesier than she left it with a humongous “Arizona scene” carved from a big block of chipotle. Thu., March 26, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 2009…

Dark Sky Telescope Hike

We have some pretty sick fantasies, but none ever centered on staring at the night sky through a telescope. Undaunted punishment gluttons can rendezvous at the secluded Estrella Mountain Regional Park for the Dark Sky Telescope Hike, a 3.7-mile jaunt up the Toothaker Trail that ends at arguably the best…

Elephant Mountain Fortress Hike

Generally speaking, we frown on guided hikes. The Sonoran Desert is not the Louvre, and true hikers hardly need to have someone spell out its (fairly obvious) magnificence. The extraordinary exception is the Elephant Mountain Fortress Hike at Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area. The relatively difficult seven-miler takes participants into…

“Touch the Stars: The NASA Experience”

The touring exhibition features a collection of scaled-to-size spacecraft models, educational presentations by NASA reps, and a self-operated photo kiosk allowing attendees to take pictures of themselves on Mars or the moon. In the North Gymnasium. Fri., March 27, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.; Sat., March 28, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sun., March…

‘Billies of the Bizarre

Rockabilly is a genre known as much for its flamboyant, ‘50s-rooted imagery as it is for its music, so the juxtaposition of rockabilly music and an old-fashioned burlesque show seems like such a natural fit, the only surprise is that nobody thought of it sooner. Big John Bates and the…

Celebrity Fight Night XV

Muhammad Ali is the guest of honor at this year’s fundraiser, hosted by Reba McEntire and also honoring Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, Michael Phelps, Stewart Rahr, and actor Forest Whitaker. Jon Bon Jovi, Charice, and others are scheduled to perform. It’s a mite pricey, but it’s packed to the…

Phoenix Fringe Festival: Moby Dick Tonight

Minnesota-based professional storyteller Loren Niemi wrote and performs this nontraditional whopper of a tale. Fri., March 27, 9:30 p.m.; Sat., March 28, 2 & 7:30 p.m.; Sun., March 29, 4 & 7 p.m., 2009…

Changing Course

Don’t cry for the former Safeway International. The snakebit tourney, which first lost its sponsor and then its five-year home at the Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club, has landed on its FootJoy-clad feet at the City of Phoenix’s newly renovated Papago Golf Course. Round one of the 72-hole, $1.5…

Southwest Military Transport Show

Check out cool old jeeps, trucks, tracked vehicles, and static aircraft, plus uniforms, books, and military collectibles. Sat., March 28, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sun., March 29, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., 2009…

Arty Girl: Wanna be an Architect?

Or, rather, does your kid wanna be an architect?I often think it would have been nice to have a little pressure from the parents when I was a teenager. Instead, they took the “hands off” approach and I was a bit of a free spirit. And, no, “free spirit” is…

Braving Hot Topic’s Twilight Midnight DVD Release Party

Friday night, crazy devoted Twilight fans lined up outside of Hot Topic at the Tempe Marketplace for the exclusive Midnight Release Party, open only to those who pre-ordered a copy of the special 2-Disc Hot Topic edition of the movie. It was packed inside the tiny store as a hundred…

Arty Girl: Remarkable Women at West Valley Art Museum

I realize I recently blogged about West Valley Art Museum but I’m going to do it again today. Hey, it’s not my fault the place is so darn bloggable.And this time around, I want to blog about how they’re celebrating Women’s History Month…you know, since I’m a chick and all.I’m…

Arty Girl: The Panelists at Pravus Gallery

I’ve never been one to go straight to the comics section of the newspaper and I’m certainly not one of those “graphic novel” types, no way. But I’m certainly familiar enough with the genre to appreciate Pravus’s show, “The Panelists”.The show’s been open since February and it features at least…

I Love You, Man Brings Bromance to its Pinnacle

Just as we thought the “bromantic comedy” had overstayed its welcome, the genre reaches its high point with I Love You, Man. The subtext is finally the text — it’s right there in the title. The movie delivers an absolutely complete, fully realized, delightfully novel redo of the hoariest of…