Why does brilliance so often offer a dichotomy of two contradicting personas? You won’t likely get an answer from Annie Clark, better known as the gentle fierceness behind St. Vincent. She’s keen to keep you at arm’s length, but whether it’s shyness or mania that compels her to shroud her…
When it comes to reggae festivals, the common thread among the bands is usually made out of hemp. However, the acts you’ll see performing Saturday, March 15, at sunny Tempe Beach Park extend far beyond reggae and hip-hop grassroots genre’s status quo. In fact, the four headliners — Rebelution, Atmosphere,…
The folks behind long-running hip-hop affair The Blunt Club are going old school this week — way old school. The turntables inside the Yucca Tap Room, 29 West Southern Avenue in Tempe, will spin things all the way back to the early Aughts on Thursday, March 13, in order to…
Thursday 13 AZ/88: Black Out Thursdays with Josh 1 (soulful house, lounge) Bobby Q’s: All Star Thursdays with DJ Freshmaker, DJ Phlava, DJ Dark Vader, & DJ Skoolboi (hip-hop, Top 40, reggae) Dos Gringos (Scottsdale): DJ Switch (rock, Top 40, remixes) Electric Ballroom: Groove Candy with DJ M2, & DJ…
A hazy night with Hot Rock Supa Joint, Arizona’s premier stoner rap wizard, begins with a hazy idea. Let’s smoke a joint from the Bob Marley bong. A joint bowl! It only works about halfway, so we give up and give my five-foot BuddyBong® a try, so named because it…
The folks behind The Blunt Club are going old school this week edition of the long-running hip-hop affair — way old school. The turntablists inside the Yucca Tap Room will spin things all the way back to the early Aughts on Thursday, March 13, in order to recreate the vibe…
Despite what you may have heard, this weekend’s Liquid Sol Music Festival isn’t just some alt-rock revival of throwback bands. Yes, more than a few favorites from the ’80s (BoDeans, Lovehammers), ’90s (Blind Melon, Fuel), and ’00s (Buckcherry, Train) are on the lineup of the daylong event on Saturday, March…
It’s difficult not to like something called “sunshine reggae” — even for those who aren’t the biggest fans of Marley dreads, Nag Champa and barefoot romps. Iration embodies the description of sunshine reggae perfectly, a mix of dub, reggae and rock, and the band’s live shows pulse with an undeniable…
When childhood friends Marcus Pepperell and John Hamson Jr. formed THUMPERS, they were in need of a musical escape. One dumped, the other fired from his previous band, the London-based duo started putting together songs in pieces, working toward a deeply layered indie-pop that fits somewhere between the Polyphonic Spree…
If ever there were a band to completely play by its own rules, it is Mindless Self Indulgence. Their DIY mentality has allowed them to develop a following and a musical style that singer Jimmy Urine describes as a, “really cool, crazy art project.” The electro punk quartet– featuring vocalist…
Mavis Staples can be found in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s traveling “Women Who Rock” exhibit, currently on display at the Musical Instrument Museum. However, the soul icon, who ironically won a 2012 Grammy Award in the Americana category, easily could fit in several of the loosely genre-demarcated…
Up On the Sun’s resident photographers were plenty busy during Viva PHX this past weekend, as were their camera. While everyone else in attendance at the downtown Phoenix music festival was busy witnessing the performances of the 70 or so bands and artists, our shutterbug staff — including Jim Louvau,…
Minneapolis-bred Atmosphere aptly fits into that “old-school” indie rap category. Since 1989, the group has released six studio albums and 10 extended plays, touched base on some deep societal issues, and has kept a fanbase while consistently evolving; difficult to do during a time like the 90s when musical consistency…
Country music favorites Lady Antebellum have hit the road, again. The trio of Charles Kelley, Hilary Scott, and Dave Haywood, who have been kicking around the country scene since 2006, are relentless travelers who constantly crisscross the U.S. and are currently pounding the pavement on their “Take Me Downtown” tour…
Downtown Phoenix definitely came alive this past weekend. The various sidewalks were packed with people, activity, and — most importantly — the sound of live music wafting from more than a dozen different venues, nightspots, and locations that comprised the Viva PHX music festival on Friday night. Music lovers, scenesters,…
Blues Blast 2014 Margaret T. Hance Park 3/8/14 It might have been a bit warm this past Saturday when the annual Blues Blast went down at Margaret T. Hance Park in Phoenix, but that didn’t keep both local musicians and fans of the genre alike from attending the outdoor music…
After a harrowing accident totaled their van and gear in November, the members of Seattle surf-noir quartet La Luz didn’t just feel lucky to be alive. Singer-guitarist Shana Cleveland says the outpouring of support during the band’s recovery came across as a message that a life in music is where…
Want to get in a show this week? There are plenty of concerts over the next five days around Metro Phoenix to choose from, as you can see for yourself by viewing our extensive online concert listings. And we’re fairly certain that there’s something for everyone, regardless of your particular…
Viva PHX feat. David D’Alessio, Brian Marquis, Dylan Pratt One Coffee Co. 3/7/14 While rock, pop, and hip-hop respectively blared from other Viva PHX venues around downtown Phoenix on Friday night, the scene at One Coffee Co. was a bit more subdued. Folk artists, acoustic guitarists, and troubadours from both…
Although it was definitely one of the more smaller of the outdoor stages at the Viva PHX last night, I’d be willing to bet the PHX Alley Stage offered, by far, the highest energy and most raucous crowd out of the entire music festival. This shouldn’t come as a surprise,…
YACHT, Nite Jewel, Painted Palms, Bogan Via Viva PHX Crescent Ballroom 3/7/14 Let’s just be honest here: Viva PHX, at its very heart, was an attempt to mimic Austin’s South By Southwest. (Even its promoter Charlie Levy essentially admitted as much to us in a recent interview). And that’s not…
PigPen Theatre Co., Prowling Kind, Dry River Yacht Club, & More Hotel San Carlos 3/7/14 True to Hotel San Carlos’ history as a schoolhouse the Viva PHX lineup schooled the audience in the art of drama (and banjos, but we’ll get to that later). There were a few surprises throughout…
