The first record store I worked in (and eventually co-owned for a time) was located on a dead-end side street in a nondescript beige building with no signage. It was down a poorly lit hallway and inside a converted 90-square-foot bathroom. A CD hung from the still-protruding showerhead. Random promo…
When is a new band not such a new band? Well, in the case of incendiary hardcore revivalists OFF!, it certainly makes a difference that two of the members have known each other for nire than 30 years. Bassist Steve McDonald first met singer Keith Morris when he was in…
There’s something in Chvrches frontwoman Lauren Mayberry’s voice — the way it floats just above the bass and synthesizers, its so-slight-you’ll-almost-miss-it Scottish lilt — that makes it always a little disarming when she drops an F-bomb. “So easy I bleed out / What the fuck were you thinking? / We…
For hipster types, the fixation with Yacht Rock a few years back was one of those trendy things that quickly sailed into the sunset. For local selector DJ Organic, however, spinning up the sometimes-cheesy soft rock, easy listening, and album-oriented hits of the late ’70s and early ’80s was more…
Thursday 17 Arizona Event Center: Foam ‘n’ Glow Party (EDM) AZ/88: Black Out Thursdays with Josh 1 (soulful house, lounge) Baja Joe’s: Latin Live Thursdays with DJ Chop (Top 40, Latin) Bar Smith: Ladies Night with DJ AL3, & DJ Fantastico (hip-hop, EDM, trap, Latin) Bobby Q’s: All Star Thursdays…
Thousands of fans packed a sold-out Comerica Theatre in downtown Phoenix Tuesday night to catch a rare performance from singer Elizabeth Grant, a.k.a. Lana Del Rey, in between her Coachella stops. With no opening act, Del Rey hit the stage around 8:30, with opener “Cola.” Sporting jean shorts, U.S. Postal…
Foster the People Marquee Theatre 4/15/14 It’s official: Foster the People is now, well, for the people. Gone are the days of the band’s crowds being elitist and hip, and now we enter the age when 40-somethings know more words to Foster the People songs than you do. This is…
It is every artist’s goal to be the next new thing — clichéd as it is, any creative will eventually admit this desire. Few can make one radical thing while even fewer continue to deliver intriguing material. Phantogram, the electronic psych-pop duo from upstate New York, fall into the latter…
Perhaps you’ve heard about all of the crazy sponsorships celebrities are getting to simply show up to Coachella and wear clothes. Glee actress Lea Michele is said to receive $20,000 from Lacoste to wear the French fashion label’s clothes, while Spring Breakers star Vanessa Hudgens is getting paid $15,000 by McDonald’s to…
Timothy NorrisCoachella’s first weekend was amazing this year! Except when it wasn’t. Here are the parts of the festival that rubbed us the wrong way. Saturday Night dust storm (above) Conditions may not have been as bad as they were during last year’s Red Hot Chili Peppers set, but Saturday…
As Bombay Bicycle Club singer Jack Steadman walked up to the microphone in the middle of the band’s show, he lifted his hands above his head. The sound of a church organ filled the crowded Crescent Ballroom as his bandmates slowly worked toward the finale of the title track of…
Max Cavalera is a tough guy to pin down. Once he gets going, there really is no stopping the dreadlocked metal innovator from Brazil, no matter what the subject or the task at hand. This is both great about Cavalera and a challenge. He is driven, and his worldwide success…
Colin Young-Wolff So many Coachella-goers spend months before the festival working on their tans, their outfits, their figures, and their breezy poses. There’s a real glut of fabulousness, we have to say, both among those in attendance at the Polo Grounds and the parties surrounding the festival. Here are the…
Ever since sunshine acid saturated Woodstock back in 1969, music festivals and recreational pharmaceuticals have gone together. While we applaud those using Coachella as an opportunity to get sober, it’s not for everyone, which is why, below, we’ve recommended a fine list of musical acts and drugs that go together,…
When it comes to categorizing what makes a great heavy metal vocalist, there are a lot of factors that come into play. First off, there’s the matter of subgenres. Mainstream, Swedish, death, black, melodic — as much as I hate to pay attention to this bottomless list, it’s a fact…
From everything we’ve heard, seen, or read over the past few days, the first weekend of Coachella apparently went off quite fantastically (unless you happened to be in Outkast). And if you’re weren’t able to be at the polo grounds in Indio, well…that certainly is a bummer. The good news…
This time of year you should be well within your rights to bitch slap any music fan who spends the weekend whining about how there’s “nothing going on.” Plenty of live music is flowing all over the damn city, at any given time, and the weather is nice, too –…
Joe Diffie, Tyler Farr, Colt Ford, Jason Aldean Country Thunder 2014 4/13/14 As Country Thunder closes out, the tried and true aficionados remain: They’re the groups who’ve done this before, who have more alcoholic stamina than all your friends combined, who will wake up at 5 a.m. on Monday morning…
Did you know that, for some people, Coachella represents a big ol’ Alcoholics Anonymous meeting? Since 2009, New Orleans couple Bob Johnson and Jane Smith (not their real names) have led 12 step meetings on the festival grounds for those who, like themselves, are in recovery. They call their group…
As a dusty wind whipped behind her in hazy stage light, Solange and her ultra-slick backing band brought serious chops and swagger to the polo fields as nighttime fell over Coachella. And then Beyonce showed up on stage, dancing to “Losing You.” It was the first Coachella big celebrity surprise…
Omar “Bombino” Moctar is a Tuareg nomad from Agadez, Niger, and while his music is rooted in the deepest traditions of desert life, Bombino is also deeply indebted to the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton — maybe even Jerry Garcia. I went to the Musical Instrument Museum to…
Mark Chesnutt, Craig Morgan, Miranda Lambert Country Thunder 2014 4/12/14 By day three of Country Thunder, most attendees are in one of two states: You’re either cripplingly hungover and sunburnt, acting as brothers in spirit with those souls at Coachella, or you’ve been saving yourself for the biggest two days…
