American Idol Live! is a testament to how much smaller American Idol gets every year as a cultural institution. Don’t get me wrong — it’s still big. Season 11 winner Phillip Phillips’ debut single is still ubiquitous. But at the show’s peak, being a runner-up was its own way to…
If David Lowery were allowed only one word to describe his punk, Middle Eastern, folk, ska, Slavic, Indian, Spanish, psychedelic, country, rock band Camper Van Beethoven, it would be “weird.” Weird that a band with a catalog of entirely dissimilar albums has survived 30 years. Weird that influences include hippies,…
When Nick Norris and a few other locals launched Hip Hop House last summer, the semi-regular event involved pretty much what its name implied: a rowdy showcase of rap, boom-bap, and urban artistry taking place inside a residence, which in this case was funky domicile/music venue Funny World. Norris, an…
So this one time, my brother left a large tube of salami under our bunk bed — because he likes to hoard food — and totally forgot about it for three weeks, until it started to smell so bad that we almost called the paramedics. We looked down there and…
A few years ago, Kid Rock was at a concert, watching T-shirts sell for $40. He had more reason than most stars to wonder why they were charging so much. He has a T-shirt company of his own, Made in Detroit, and he knows exactly how much it costs to…
Thursday 18 AZ/88: Black Out Thursdays with Josh 1 (soulful house, lounge) Barney’s Boathouse: Thirsty Thursdays with DJ Pulse (Top 40, rock) Bar Smith: Dulce Thursdays with DJ Deuce (hip-hop, Latin) Bikini Lounge: DJ Shane Kennedy (juke joint, R&B, French pop) Bobby Q’s: All-Star Thursdays with DJ Freshmaker, DJ Dark…
You heard about all that #FreeJahar stuff after the Boston Marathon bombings, right? Basically, surviving bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev — thanks to some combination of his floppy boy-band hair and whatever it is that causes women to propose to Scott Peterson in jail — has become a bit of a sex-symbol-slash-online-community,…
There’s no shortage of ways to contribute to efforts benefiting the families of the firefighters killed in Yarnell late last month, but if you were hoping to see Dierks Bentley as part of the arrangement, you’re too late: July 22’s Dierks Bentley Country Cares concert is sold out. The hastily…
Located just an hour and a half north of the valley, Prescott is better known being a premier Christmas getaway than for its artistic community. With a population composed of more retirees than the average small town, it’s safe to assume that its music scene is also a little dated. The introduction of Prescott’s first DIY, nonprofit festival, Whisperfest, is looking to change that for good.
by Alex Distefano Call it what you will — glam metal, hair metal, cock rock, or plain old ’80s metal — but there’s something to be said for a subculture that extended from the late ’70s into the early ’90s that refuses to wash off its makeup and die. Glam…
Much of the conversation about the Baptist Generals’ Jackleg Devotional to the Heart, the 10 years-in-the-waiting follow-up to the Denton, Texas-based band’s Sub Pop debut, No Silver/No Gold, has centered on exactly what singer/songwriter Chris Flemmons was doing during the decade-long stretch of national inactivity. In this week’s issue of…
GOOD, BETTER, BEST … Want to know where to go and what to do in Phoenix? Your essential mobile guide–also known as our Best Of app–just got better…
An inordinate passion for pleasure is the secret of remaining young, or so sayeth Oscar Wilde. His eccentric wit is a perfect fit for L.A.’s Kitten, fronted by the just-barely legal Chloe Chaidez, who co-founded the band when she was just 15. By now, she’s likely tired of hearing how…
The latest way to “shock” music video viewers? Nope, it’s not making gazers feel like they’re tripping out on drugs while they’re watching, a la Miley Cyrus and “We Can’t Stop.” It’s putting not just scantily clad ladies, but fully nude women, all over your video. Yep, that’s a naked…
You missed your chance, over the weekend, to indulge in some multi-band ’60s nostalgia, but tonight, Crescent Ballroom will make up for it by allowing you to resurrect old arguments about whether remaking “Pretty in Pink” was a bad idea (and then, inevitably, whether the end of Pretty in Pink…
At the Happy Together tour, which passed through Talking Stick Resort over the weekend, it’s only natural for a charged-up boomer audience to close its eyes and imagine itself back in the ’60s. But you wonder how many fans closed their eyes, thought they were back home watching a PBS…
Peter MurphyCrescent BallroomSaturday, July 13, 2013 (View the full slideshow.) On Saturday night, goth’s godfather, Peter Murphy, brought his Mr. Moonlight tour to the Crescent Ballroom, celebrating 35 years of Bauhaus, one of the biggest names in early gothic rock. The band formed in ’78 and saw their first breakup…
At age 13, Phil Anselmo dove headfirst into what he knew to be his true calling: heavy metal. “I was playing my first gigs before I was barely a teenager,” says Anselmo. “I’ll put it like this: I used to come home from school and practice Judas Priest’s Unleashed in…
The B-52’s and The Go-Go’sTalking Stick Resort, ScottsdaleJuly 12, 2013 (View the full slideshow. Two of the bigger names in the ’80s New Wave scene packed Talking Stick Resort Friday night as the B-52’s and the Go-Go’s paid a visit to the Scottsdale casino. As expected, there were plenty of…
MelvinsCrescent BallroomJuly 12, 2013 It might be a good idea to take a drive by the Crescent Ballroom this morning and see if that place is still standing. I am pretty sure that the Melvins’ blistering delivery of their noisy, sludge-y, smart, thick, and furious blend of motherfucking ROCK left…
Remember in high school when mom pawned all your old video games ‘cuz you never played them anymore? Then, as soon as you got to college and first felt homesick, you ended up buying a used SNES and had to start your cartridge collection from scratch? Thanks a lot, mom…
After nearly 30 years, Georgia-based jam band Widespread Panic took a well-deserved and well-earned break from their relentless touring schedule for most of 2012. Luckily for their ever-loving, ever-devoted fanbase, the break only lasted one year, but compared to their usual schedule that must have seemed like a lifetime. The…
