Local success story Digital Summer has a lot of fans around the Valley and nationwide after touring with hard rock draws like Sevendust, Saliva, and Drowning Pool. I’m not one of those fans; the band plays the kind of crunchy, nu-metal drives me up a wall. But like I said,…
The most common accusation of the Occupy protests has been that those gathered don’t have one main voice; a streamlined, focused goal. It’s a fair criticism, but it’s a little difficult when you’ve been screwed over from every direction to pin down exactly what you want change. At the center of…
Want to know what new release discs and platters are moving across the Valley at local record stores? We’ve got you covered with another installment of What’s Selling. Your friendly neighborhood record shop, Revolver Records, celebrates four years of buying, selling and trading LPs, CDs and DVDs this month. Here’s…
As we announced last week, bearded angel Sam Beam of Iron & Wine will officially be gracing Phoenix with his presence at the beginning of December.Presumably he’ll be performing songs from his latest album, Kiss Each Other Clean, as well as classics from past albums including The Shepherd’s Dog and Our…
Okay, so Crescent Ballroom has been open two full weeks, which is long enough for us to review five shows there, eat one of Chris Bianco’s burritos, and listen as all the “cool kids” started calling the place “Crescent.”Stateside and Crescent owner Charlie Levy has enjoyed the past two weeks,…
48 Hours Festival was insane. Picture this: more than 20 heavy-hitting rock bands, VIP pool cabanas in the middle of a Vegas parking lot, and lounges with such names as Debauchery and the Godfather, moonshine, strippers, and massages, all fenced in at the Luxor Festival Grounds in Las Vegas. After…
Released back in May, Celebration, Florida, by New York band The Felice Brothers, is a confusing record. Take the first track, “Fire at the Pageant,” with its chorus of screaming children, stomping cadence, and menacing, howling vocals. It’s the sound of Americana set loose in the record store overnight, munching…
America’s Got Talent host Nick Cannon, N’Sync singer Chris Kirkpatrick and Beavis and Butt-Head creator, Mike Judge have something in common. Besides making us laugh, they all share a birthday with music celebrities Eminem and Wyclef Jean. That’s right, Slim Shady and the Lead Fugee enter the last year of…
Two of classic country’s baddest bad-boys, Merle “Hag” Haggard and Kris “That Dude From the First Blade Movie” Kristofferson, are headed to Phoenix this week, and they are not performing at a typically “country” place like Toby Keith’s I Love this Bar & Grill. No, the digs will be classier,…
Foo FightersUS Airways CenterOctober 16, 2011 Last night I got my face melted off by one of the greatest acts in present-day rock ‘n’ roll. Everything about the band’s show, from the guitar showdown to their two hour and 45 minute set, proved why the Foos deserve their place on…
Do you ever feel like you’re just not creeped out enough by the local music? Well, Tempe rocksters Tugboat intend to change that. A series of videos promoting their October Long Wong’s at The Firehouse residency shows the band in all of their glory. Their ballsy, ballsy glory. …
Ade KassimErnest Greene of Washed OutWashed OutCrescent BallroomSaturday, October 15, 2011Exactly how much interaction that needs to occur between an artist and audience at a live show? “Chillwave” is generally associated with the idea of bedroom-created, computer pop, with the expectation being that the musician will basically perform straight from…
Greyhound SoulIt’s big music weekend here in Phoenix. We’ve already mentioned the JFA/Father Figures/Asses of Evil/Anarchy Taco party at Hollywood Alley; the chilled-out sounds of Washed Out, Tour de Fat, and Foo Fighters, but each weekend we bring five shows that may have slipped through the cracks, shows you probably…
DJ Name: World Famous Rani “g.”Real name: Rani GharfehGenres spun: House, global soul, afrobeat, ancestral soul, jazz, hip-hop, rap, R&B, funk, worldbeat, disco, indie dance, UK garage and whatever else feels right at the moment.Current residencies: Mabel’s On Main on Friday and Saturday, Retro Hi-Fi [at] Sidebar with fellow residents/co-founders…
Could there be any better Halloween gift than to wander around in Alice Cooper’s brain for an evening, watching him teeter on the edge of sanity, just about to fall off? Proooobably not. That’s why this year, Halloween Horror Nights 2011 at Universal Studios Hollywood will veer from its traditional…
Did you get that memo? Not the one about the TPS report, but the one that says fluorescent hues slowly drain the light out of your eyes and that desk jobs are hazardous to your health. Saddles frontman Charles Barth did not did get that memo, but he was recently…
Over the past couple weeks I interviewed key members of the early ’80s Phoenix skate punk scene. The results, printed in this week’s issue, coincide with this weekend’s JFA 30th Anniversary show at Hollywood Alley. Everyone I spoke to was funny, insightful, and a genuine lifer; people doing it because…
The band’s new album, Vice Verses, recently debuted at number eight on the Billboard charts, and it’s definitely worth a listen even if you abandoned your Switchfoot fandom years ago. Lead singer Jon Foreman spoke to Up On The Sun about life versus death, hiding music for people to find,…
We pretty much crowned Sam Beam, the songwriter who leads Iron & Wine, “King of Octobeard” last week (okay, he came in behind Zakk Wylde, but still). I know a lot of people who thought that Iron & Wine’s last record, Kiss Each Other Clean, was too much of a…
Weiss is a fine art photographer with Candid Landscapes and executive director of No Festival Required Independent Cinema, a four-time Best Of Phoenix winner. Weiss will be doing film programming for Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art’s new SMoCA Lounge in November.When you put your key in the ignition and turn…
In one of my favorite pieces he wrote at New Times, former music editor Martin Cizmar argued that Wilco, one of my favorite bands, was, for all intents and purposes, no different than Dave Matthew Band, a group I don’t like. (Anymore, at least. I was a pretty big fan…
Here at Up On the Sun, we have a whole lot of faith in the local scene. So much so, we try to devote at least 50 percent of our daily blog space to it. We’ve been hyping Stateside’s Crescent Ballroom for the past few months. We’ve even touted it as…
