The sinister sound-slinger known as DJ Bl3nd is a major freak. And that’s not a slight by any means. Catch one of his high-energy sets on YouTube or at various EDM events and you’re likely to witness the spazzy selector, who sports a Mohawked mask inspired by Chucky from Child’s…
Thursday 17 AZ/88: Black Out Thursdays with Josh 1 (soulful house, lounge) Barney’s Boathouse: Thirsty Thursdays with DJ Pulse (Top 40, rock) Bar Smith: Thursday Ladies Night with DJ AL3, & DJ NERD (hip-hop, Latin, EDM) Bikini Lounge: DJ Shane Kennedy (juke joint, R&B, French pop) Bobby Q’s: All-Star Thursdays…
It could be the relatively short notice or the confusing name — I would not have pegged him as a jazz artist, personally — but it’s happening, universe: The Robin Thicke Controversy Machine is coming to Ahwatukee, as one of the headlining acts of the Arizona Jazz Festival. It may…
The music is like Bad Religion meets Meat Loaf … the musical. The persona is somewhere between The Joker and Max Sterner. Travis James, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for Travis James and The Acrimonious Assembly of Arsonists, has been a lightning rod for controversy since he set one of…
Six LPs into a decade-long career led by frontman Will Sheff, few bands have produced such consistently excellent output as Okkervil River; to deviate from what’s made them so well-loved (soaring, literate pop, heavy on theatrics and startlingly affecting vocals) for the riskier waters of confessional, first-person songwriting this far…
Some of the circumstances behind the recent death of local singer-songwriter Andrew Duncan Brown were revealed to Up on the Sun within the last hour via his label Smoking Pirate Records. According to an e-mail from the Mesa-based label, the 27-year-old musician was found dead on Sunday floating in the…
The couple, who performed as Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl, died Oct. 14, 2013.
Do you like Steve Earle? Were you able to see Steve Earle and the Dukes last night at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts but for some reason did not attend? If you considered it but decided to spend the night as a couch potato instead, go ahead and cry…
For 40 years–a pop music eternity–the four original Rascals, among the only ’60s bands still with all its original members, have been at war with each other in various combinations. For too long The New Rascals (with Dino Danielli and Gene Cornish) and Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals have toured in competing…
If you watched the Rocky Point Cantina episode of Bar Rescue you may have noticed a lot of weird things about the episode–like how the bar they rescued is now boarded up and closed. Here’s one you might not have caught: Local metal band Killing Spree playing to someone else’s…
Folks can dance their blues away and help the St. Mary’s Food Bank by attending the 12 Hour Blues for Food Benefit Festival October 19 at the El Dorado Bar and Grill in Scottsdale. The festival runs from noon to midnight. There’s no cover charge, but those attending are asked…
A few years back I went to the Polish Oktoberfest Festival at Our Lady of Częstochowa church in north Phoenix. Many Polish and Polish-American bands performed at the event. Most played some classic folk tunes from the various regions of Poland, but at least one played some rock and roll…
For the second time in a row there’s a state fair show among these top five Phoenix shows this week. Please take it as read that its status as a Must See Show is partially but not entirely dependent on buying your favorite fair food in an enormous basket or…
Norteño music pioneer and undisputed “King of the Accordion” Ramon Ayala celebrated his career’s 50th anniversary with an impassioned show Friday night at the Ovations Live Showroom at the Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino. Emotions flared in the quaint theater as the stout Mexican legend moved from greatest hit…
There’s always an odd kind of nervous tension at the beginning of a museum show. The hushed and painfully reverent atmosphere of the museum carries over into the amphitheater. The audience doesn’t know what to do with themselves — museum audiences would applaud a grocery list if you read it…
There’s much sadness and shock in the Valley music scene today due to the sudden and untimely passing of gifted, local singer-songwriter Andrew Duncan Brown over the weekend. He was 27 years old. [Update: His label released a cause of death Tuesday.] News of the local folk guitarist’s death was…
So Dave Mustaine said that he hates to be singled out. Yeah–absolutely despises being the center of attention. One time he was at a Kenny G. concert and the musician asked him to stand up in the crowd because he was going to play at that same venue a couple…
Forget gang and murder references. There is nothing more gangsta than singing about lines in the bathroom, getting high on purple stuff, and trees in your lap — especially when you’re 20 years old. No matter the bleached blonde hair or teddy bears she likes to bring on stage and…
As the leader of his own home-based ministry, Paisley Yankolovich is a mentor to the oppressed, the freaks, the weirdos and even quite a few normal people, never missing an opportunity to tell someone they’re loved for who they are. But Paisley is also an accomplished singer, his records a…
Scottsdale’s Martini Ranch is headed for the last roundup this weekend. As we reported last week, the Old Town concert hall/dance club/drinkery/hangout is gonezo after Sunday night as its owners are closing down the joint for good. Three straight nights of live music are scheduled to transpire, however, before plugs…
Arizona State Fair concerts aren’t like most concerts–and this isn’t even about the average age of the performers involved. They’re different because you can go to them almost by accident. Exhausted your fried food budget? Unwilling or unable to win your sweetheart a gigantic, unlicensed Angry Bird by shooting a…
It’s not easy competing with the fair. For one thing, it has a built-in audience; you can go to a fair concert on a whim, having gone there first to watch a team of expert divers or pig racing or whatever it is people do here in Arizona (I’m extrapolating…
