As a deejay, Austin Head knows how to work a crowd. It takes finesse, and it takes being in touch. Those skills are coming in handy for the entertainer/LGBT advocate: He recently announced that he is running for a seat on Phoenix’s District 4 city council. It’s a very different…
Marco TorresWill I die getting the best Facebook photo, like, ever you guys?Editor: We have so many questions here in Austin. Here are 50 of them. 1. Will I like the pedicab costumed as The Hulk if he gets angry? 2. Are we all really just in New York? 3…
Photos by Craig HlavatyWell, you actually are missing really good pizza.Awwwww, I know it is a shame you aren’t here with us at SXSW in Austin. I can only imagine the aching and longing in your heart for walking aimlessly and standing in long lines for no reason, and sweating…
Unlike many New Wave acts, Depeche Mode has managed to withstand the ravages of time — more or less. See also: -Depeche Mode Is Coming to Phoenix; Shadowplay to Pay Tribute This Weekend…
Tucson-based singer/songwriter Marianne Dissard didn’t set out to make a dark album when she teamed with bandleader/arranger Sergio Mendoza to craft her new record, The Cat. Not Me, but looking back, she’s not surprised. When she returned to Tucson after touring in Berlin last year, she was “spiritually and emotionally…
There’s certainly no dearth of hangouts in the Valley where cowboys, cowgirls, or anyone else sporting a western shirt can down something tall and strong, get in some two-stepping action, or just hear some ol’ fashioned daggum country music, pardner. Off the top of our heads, we can name close…
With his 12th solo album set for release, it’s as good a time as any to revisit the question: Who is Bob Schneider? It’s not an easy question to answer, however. Though Schneider has carved out his own unique niche as an artist, he’s always been difficult to define, straddling genres, finding a bit…
What’s up with Eric Clapton in 2013? A glance at the past reveals the future. Clapton came to prominence in the mid-1960s British blues scene and quickly became a god. He took psychedelic music to new heights with Cream and Blind Faith, then managed to issue some of his best…
Mod Sun — Dylan Smith to his mom — is happy. We’re talking the kind of abnormally smiley and positive guy-you-want-to-punch-in-the-head-on-a-bad-day kinda happy. But on an average day, there’s no doubt the dude’s high energy and organic optimism can be downright infectious. Which is precisely why the 25-year-old stoner MC began making music he describes…
You’ve got to give mad props to a band that supports its frontman even after the group disintegrates. Such is the case with Chris Wallace, former singer of the now-defunct The White Tie Affair, who has found more mainstream success on his own than his band ever did. While TWTA…
It’s been a good year for Tempe spazz-funk weirdos Playboy Manbaby, which in that time has morphed from an art-punk joke into something more concrete. “We’re actually a band,” singer Robbie Pfeffer says incredulously. “We practice and make new songs and show up to the shows relatively on time. Nobody’s…
Unlike many New Wave acts, Depeche Mode has managed to withstand the ravages of time — more or less. Despite all the personal drama that’s afflicted the members of the iconic British synthpop ensemble — ranging from drug addiction to near-fatal health issues — the band and its moody, electronica-laden…
Every year, Flogging Molly storms into Tempe for St. Patrick’s Day, performing to a sea of drunken revelers primed to let loose to the sounds of the band’s Celtic punk. Flogging Molly never fails to bring a lineup of party-minded bands with them, and this year is no different: The…
Locating the root of singer/guitarist Matt Costa’s passion for folk music means returning to the scene of a most gruesome injury. At age 18, the Orange County-bred Costa was a skateboarder on the verge of going pro. Then, during one skating session, he botched the landing of a staircase jump,…
Thursday 14 Afterlife: Touch Thursdays with DJ Tsunami, DJ Michael Ryan, & DJ Matt Fox (Top 40, EDM) AZ/88: Black Out Thursdays with Josh 1 (soulful house, lounge) Bikini Lounge: DJ Shane Kennedy (juke joint, R&B, French pop) Bobby Q’s: Black and Green Party with DJ Freshmaker, DJ Phlava, DJ…
“I don’t feel at all that we have made it in the bluegrass world. We exist on the fringe at best,” Yonder Mountain String Band bassist Ben Kaufmann lamented back in 2003. “The bluegrass music we are writing is different than the other bluegrass music that is out there. I…
For Christ’s sake, don’t break any of these commandments this year.You’re going to South by Southwest, right? Or you’re already there? One of those things is bound to be true. Well, we here at DC9 have got some advice for you, and we’ve managed to format it all into the…
Local bands and musicians of a Celtic bent have plenty of reasons for their Irish eyes to be smiling right now, as this weekend is pretty much the biggest of the entire calendar year. St. Pat’s lands on a Sunday this year, which means three straight days of partying and…
If Primus bassist Les Claypool had a bumper sticker on his car, it most likely would read: “I’d rather be fishing.” As much as Claypool likes to create strange and esoteric music, he also loves heading out on the water and zoning out. See also: -Les Claypool’s Duo de Twang…
Did you read Monday’s Onion story “SXSW as Cool and as Real as It Gets, Reports Marketing Associate?” Once again, the satirical site takes aim and takes down its target. South by Southwest mania is upon us, and chances are your social-media channels are already being inundated with dispatches from…
It’s a ways off, but electronic pioneers Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, and Andy Fletcher — collectively known as Depeche Mode — are coming to Phoenix. The band will end its U.S. tour at Desert Sky Pavilion (because, hallelujah, the owners of the venue got as sick of saying “Ashley Furniture…
Green Day @ Marquee Theatre| 3/11/13Phoenix is pretty damn lucky. We’re one of three cities to host Green Day’s intimate “warmup” tour on the band’s way to South by Southwest. It’s a rare treat to see a band that came up in the clubs before graduating to arenas pack a…
