Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers are scheduled to perform this afternoon at the “Destination Tempe” celebration at the Tempe Transportation Center.”I hear the train a-comin’/It’s rolling round the bend” — Johnny Cash Plenty of partying is planned for today’s long-awaited debut of the Valley Metro Light Rail system, with fetes…
Dame with Tailbone by Rinke.Okay, enough about downtown Phoenix. While I sure appreciate all the art options in that area, I’ve been blogging a liiiittle too much about it lately. So here’s a blog about someplace else…the land of milk and honey, Scottsdale.(That last sentence works better if you whisper…
Editor’s note/correction: The original version of this review incorrectly attributed statements made in a letter to the editor (“Feedback,” February 14, 2008) to Bob Adams, a Phoenix artist who designed one of the light rail installations. The Bob Adams who wrote the letter is not, in fact, Bob Adams the…
Walt Kowalski growls a lot — a dyspeptic rumble that wells up from deep inside his belly when he catches sight of his midriff-baring teenage granddaughter text-messaging her way through her grandmother’s funeral, or when his good-for-nothing son and daughter-in-law suggest that he sell his house in a gang-infested corner…
Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg — a lot of name for a lot of guy. Born into aristocracy in 1907, he was a soldier by the age of 19 — and, by most accounts, a warrior with the soul of a poet (he was especially smitten with the…
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is certainly curious — a modest F. Scott Fitzgerald story, about a man born in the twilight of life and gradually regressing toward dawn, that has been adapted into a two-ton, Oscar-season white elephant. Directed by David Fincher from a screenplay by Eric Roth,…
About a hundred years ago, when I was just out of short pants, I worked for a company called Associated Distributors. It’s a Phoenix-based business, owned by Leonard and Angela Singer, that distributes recorded music; when I went to work for Associated in 1980, that music came in vinyl, cassette,…
Like Doubt, Stephen Daldry’s The Reader is low-budget, high-profile, and beamed straight at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Category of High Moral Tone. Only in this case, the stakes are way higher and the attitude muted to a fault. Based on a partly autobiographical novel by Bernhard…
Is it over yet? Can we look? Don’t know about y’all, but we’re more than ready to put the titanic clusterfuck that was 2008 behind us. Frankly, we’re hoping to forget the past 365-odd days (with the exception of November 4, natch) and welcome 2009 with open arms and more…
We were hanging out at the Trunk Space a few weeks back, listening to an awesome local noise artist, one that we once saw contact mic and rip up a cassette tape at the Grand Avenue venue. Following that set, a crazy, tribal drum-circle band with a vocalist who yelled…
If you asked Mr. Claus for a holiday-themed rave this year, you got it, thanks to the Mary X-Mas Superfest. The folks behind one of AZ’s longest-running dance parties have been hard at work creating the ultimate extravaganza featuring go-go dancers, falling snow, laser lights, and a metric ton of…
Choosing a New Year’s Eve party is not unlike purchasing a prime piece of real estate. Location, location, location. And you won’t find a more desirable destination than the W Scottsdale, the angular, glass-and-steel boutique hotel located a precious-stone’s-throw away from the Scottsdale Waterfront and nightclub districts. Let’s compare those…
Dancers from the ABC hit scheduled to appear include Marlee Matlin and Fabian Sanchez (pictured), Lance Bass, Maurice Greene, Toni Braxton, Mark Ballas, Derek Hough, Kym Johnson, Alec Mazo, Cheryl Burke, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Edyta Sliwinska, Lacey Schwimmer, and Karina Smirnoff. Sun., Dec. 28, 7:30 p.m., 2008…
The celebration of the Valley’s new light-rail line includes lives music by Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers (pictured), an Urban Experience Tent, a farmer’s market, a “Dig Through Time” archaeology display of items found during the construction of the new Trans Center, a kid zone, and more. Sat., Dec. 27,…
It’s finally happened: At the cost of a measly billion bucks and change, Phoenix has grown-up, state-of-the-art public transportation — the kind with public art at its stops and those funny little seats that disappear when you’re not sitting on them. We’ve got light rail, and no one, least of…
The East Valley city celebrates the opening of its one mile of track with this event, which features live music by Rock Lobster, The Chadwicks, and Grand Funk Railroad (pictured), a classic-car show, a Kids Zone, and more. Sat., Dec. 27, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., 2008…
We have some pretty sick fantasies, but none ever centered on staring at the night sky through a telescope, especially when it’s freezing out. Undaunted hat- and scarf-wearers and general-punishment gluttons can rendezvous at the secluded Estrella Mountain Regional Park on Friday, December 26, for the Dark Sky Telescope Hike,…
During a typical workday, you write 50 e-mails, upload photos to Facebook, and text-message about weekend plans, all while downloading music. Then, at home, you blog on WordPress about an iChat you had with your brother as the TiVo blasts. Basically, what we’re trying to say is that we apparently…
Arizona Theatre Company unveils its musical homage to peace, love, understanding, and weed. The price includes a pre-show cocktail reception and a champagne toast during intermission. Wed., Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m., 2008…
Who doesn’t love a good portrait? The Two Fridas. Warhol’s Marilyn series. Jennifer Aniston’s nude GQ cover. Tempe artist Clay Elliott specialized in portraits until a few years ago, when a European vacation shifted his focus away from flesh. “I was attracted to the monuments and statues of Spain,” he…
The Big 12 and Big Ten go head-to-head in this intriguing matchup between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Wed., Dec. 31, 4 p.m., 2008…
After enjoying both critical and commercial success for a decade, most comics would be content to pull back a little, put less pressure on themselves, and generally mellow out. Then there’s Lewis Black. The über -intelligent Daily Show ranter may have made the rounds of all the requisite late-night talk…
