Are Casino Concerts Guaranteed to Suck?

See also: You Ready for the State Fair? A Guide to the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum Schedule (feat. Adam Lambert, Weezer, Jane’s Addiction, and More) See also: Joan Jett @ Talking Stick Resort I’ve always considered casino venues at the bottom of a musician’s career, just above the state fair circuit…

Simon Joyner, The Trunk Space, 7/16/12

Simon Joyner The Trunk Space Monday, July 16, 2012 See also: Songwriter Simon Joyner Chases Ghosts on His Latest Album Here’s why (like myself, a few weeks ago) you probably haven’t heard of Simon Joyner: He’s really not fond of fame. Despite collaborating with The Mountain Goats, impacting Beck in…

Texas Psychedelic Rockers The Young Live Free on Dub Egg

See also: The Young @ Yucca Tap Room The Young (Texas foursome guitarist/vocalist Hans Zimmerman, bassist John Costanzo, guitarist Kyle Edwards, and drummer Ryan Maloney) sneaked into underground pop consciousness with their stunning 2010 release, Voyagers of Legend (Mexican Summer), a breathless burst psychedelia that referenced The Replacements as much…

The Gathering of the Juggalos 2012 Lineup Is Pretty Good. Really!

See also: Soulfly and Fear Factory to Play The Gathering of the Juggalos See also: Seven Awesome Things About The Gathering of the Juggalos 2011 See also: FBI Report Officially Classifies Juggalos a Hybrid Gang; Arizona Boasts “Strong Juggalo Presence” Okay guys, so hear me out. I.C.P.’s The Gathering of…

Green Day’s New Song “Epic as F*ck”? Not Even Close.

See also: Throwback Thursday: Green Day’s Dookie The evolution of Green Day has to be one of the strangest transformations in music history. Over the last 25 years the band has moved from angsty, power-pop tinged punk to politically-charged rock operas to Broadway musicals. So a return to their roots,…

Top Five Must-See Shows This Week

Yeah, yeah, yeah…we get it Mondays suck (we’ve read Garfield). But it means the start of a new week, which means a bunch of killer shows in and around Phoenix. And here are a few of the coolest, our top five must-see shows this week…

Record Heat: Warped by Brad Dwyer

Every Monday morning Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See the New Times print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday. In this week’s Record Heat, Brad Dwyer finds that his record collection…

Tempe Band Vial of Sound Is Obsessed With Analog

Tempe’s Josh Gooday is obsessed: The 29-year-old collects and restores vintage analog synthesizers. “I started going to law school and spending all of my loan money on buying synthesizers, and it just started to get out of control,” Gooday says. The habit eventually gave Gooday and his friends an unlikely…

Five Interesting String Instruments Found Around Town

Sure, strings create intriguing sounds, but sometimes simply the sight of them are enough to induce awe. After coming across an out-of-place full-sized zither that looked like it belonged at the Musical Instrument Museum instead of the thrift store it landed in, we couldn’t help but wonder what other treasures…

Through and Through Gospel Review, Crescent Ballroom, 7/14/12

Through and Through Gospel Review Crescent Ballroom Saturday, July 14, 2012 See also: Download: Gospel Claws’ New Song, “Pale Horse Dry Cleaning” See also: Joel Marquard Fought Cancer and The Indie Community Chips in To Help Him Out Despite Joel Marquard’s adamant assertion that the Americana/roots sounds of his full-blooded…

JJCNV, Trunk Space, 7/14/12

JJCNV Trunk Space Saturday, July 14, 2012 See also: Seriously Joking: Local Punk Trio JJCNV Brings the Noise — And The Knee-length, Airbrushed Boob T-shirts Phoenix trio JJCNV — which used to stand for Janis Joplin Crap N Vomit until the deceased singer’s estate made them stop using her name…

Top Phoenix Music Stories of the Week

The news waits for no one — at least that’s what we read somewhere — so it’s perfectly understandable that you, the reader, might have missed out on a musical tidbit, breaking news about your favorite venue, or one of our rants. So enjoy this digest-style sampling of some of…

Download: New Gospel Claws Song, “Pale Horse Dry Cleaning”

See also: Joel Marquard Fought Cancer and The Indie Community Chips in To Help Him Out In this week’s issue, Anthony Sandoval brings us the story of Gospel Claws/Through and Through Gospel Review songwriter Joel Marquard’s battle with testicular cancer. We’re happy to report that he beat it, and proud…

Vive la France! Five Songs in Celebration of Bastille Day

Joyeux Le Quatorze Juillet, tout le monde! Pardon my Franglish, but it’s Bastille Day tomorrow, so feel free to eat some cake and go raid a prison or something– just leave your guillotine at home. La Fête Nationale celebrates the French Revolution on the anniversary of the storming of the…