There are very few performers whose musical and visual qualities have firmly established them atop the Rushmore of Hard Rock, like Heart. Its climb up the majestic mountain of success and enduring relevancy can only be matched by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, The Who, to name a few…
It been a helluva two weeks for the local metal-playing Ned Flanders aficionados in Okilly Dokilly. It’s not too often a band goes viral in the way they have. What started as a joke in line at the grocery store has grown into a worldwide point of interest, and now…
The Slipknot show on Saturday night at Ak-Chin Pavilion was far from your normal metal concert. It was more of a changing of the guard, and there were plenty of underlying themes and realizations to accompany the best heavy show of the summer. Of course there was enough pyro onstage…
Here are our picks for live music this weekend. For more options, visit our comprehensive calendar. Jill Scott – Friday, August 28 – Comerica Theatre R&B artist Jill Scott went from speaking her heartfelt thoughts to singing them, after she was discovered by Questlove from The Roots at a poetry reading…
Kid Rock is getting old. And he seems fully immersed in the phase where he really wants to explore his aging. If there was a pervasive sentiment to Wednesday night’s jam-packed show at Ak-Chin Pavilion, it was the idea that time changes a person. No earth-shattering news there, but at…
The blues has always been about regionalism. While feeling, intent, and themes consistently overlap the form, there’s no denying the particular impact of an artist’s surroundings. Forceful Chicago blues will never be mistaken for gritty Texas blues, just as the breezy West Coast blues style stands alone from the rollin’…
Every Wednesday is Heritage Hump Day! That’s because every Wednesday from now to the end of the year or before someone really big stops us, Heritage Hump Records (a temporary subsidiary of Onus Records) and New Times will be bringing you a limited edition collector’s item of a much beloved Phoenix band that walked…
You can take one look at California band Mystic Braves and see the 1960s oozing from its members — from their shaggy bangs to their fashion sensibilities, which include everything from colorful striped pants to swirly paisley and floral-print shirts. The look is surely what helped inspire their landlord to…
A love letter to pop music was belted from the diaphragms of some seriously talented, fun-loving musicians Tuesday night at Ak-Chin Pavilion. Arizona welcomed America’s sweetheart, the original American Idol, and very pregnant Kelly Clarkson as well as Pentatonix, who won The Sing-Off a cappella competition in 2011 on NBC,…
January marked one of the hardest moments of Luna Aura’s life: the tragic passing of the singer’s 15-year-old brother in an accident at a boys’ camp in northern Arizona. Instead of paying tribute to her sibling mournfully, the 22-year-old pop singer released an upbeat song she says her always-happy brother…
The Musical Instrument Museum announced the first details of its second annual MIMFest today. Ozomatli, Victor Wooten, Martha Redbone, and more will headline the diverse lineup, which will include local bands as well, such as Phoenix Afrobeat Orchestra and the Sugar Thieves. In total, the two-day festival (Saturday, November 7, and…
For all the songs that have been written about the sun and its subsequent sunshine, the star that sustains life on this very planet is finally making its place in the music video industry thanks to Minneapolis indie-ground hip-hop legends Atmosphere. While their single “Sunshine” was released eight years ago, this…
When a band loses its last original member, it’s typically the signal for the remaining members to call it quits. In the case of Yes, which began in 1968, the musical legacy outshines the sums of its parts. Yes is a band that was always destined to continue after Phoenix…
Here are our concert picks for this week. Check out our comprehensive concert calendar for more options. Roar – Crescent Ballroom – Monday, August 24 Changes are incoming for the band New Times awarded Best Local Band in our 2013 Best of Phoenix issue. Longtime bass player Aaron Burke is leaving…
This coming December, the pop-culture personality pageant that is American Idol will begin its long march to the graveyard as it launches its final season, brought on by dwindling ratings and fading interest in the show and its participants. The annual summertime “American Idol Live” concert tour, which used to…
Although there’s plenty of room in the rap universe for love and happiness, angry gangster rap has been a prominent style of hip-hop for well over two decades. Sometimes, it comes off as cheesy and contrived. In other instances, it can be borderline bone-chilling to hear what these rappers have…
“We’re not critiquing against God. We’re critiquing against man. That’s one of the most fundamental differences with the critics… when you start going into the mainstream, there’s a lot of talk about God, and that is not exactly what we’re talking about here.”—Nameless Ghoul, interview with New Times, October 23,…
Metal is a way of life that isn’t suited for the average radio listener. It’s a genre that, more often than not, is in your face and relentlessly assaulting your ear-drums from the beginning of an album to its conclusion. Metal can be violent with its lyrical content and in its live…
Independent artists have it hard. They are not only competing with the pristine sounds of pop radio, they also have to handle burden of supporting a career. It can be a daunting task, especially in the crowded world of hip-hop. Some believe that the culture is dying in a cesspool…
Mitchell Hillman listens to more local music than just about anyone in the Valley. He presents his picks for best new music in his column, Right Hear, Right Now. The Oxford Coma – “When The Levee Breaks” In covering the local beat, I don’t get many opportunities to write about…
Every Wednesday is Heritage Hump Day! That’s because every Wednesday from now to the end of the year or before someone really big stops us, Heritage Hump Records (a temporary subsidiary of Onus Records) and New Times will be bringing you a limited edition collector’s item of a much beloved…
What sort of things is left to be said about a founding member of a band called Slime and the Boobytramps after his untimely death? Raucous stories of house party destruction? Outrageously worded inappropriate jokes meant to offend? Self-described shitty tunes meant to clear the room? Well, yeah, all those…
