The Top 10 Music Videos of 2010

We’ve nearly got another year in the books, and with a great year came a great collection of fabulous music videos from musicians representing a wide variety of genres. So we’re counting them down, in the far-too-usual fashion.The best part of this year end list?Kanye West is not #1.Crazy, I…

Alice Cooper’s A Taste of Christmas Pudding at Comerica Theatre Last Night

Alice Cooper’s A Taste of Christmas Pudding Comerica Theatre December 18th, 2010 In a lot of ways Alice Cooper’s yearly Christmas Pudding charity concert is like most families Christmas gatherings. Everybody gathers together in one spot and you have to sit through a lot of boring, awkward and downright uncomfortable moments in…

The Maine at Pollack Tempe Cinemas Last Night (VIDEO)

​You would have thought the new Twilight movie was premiering by the looks of Pollack Tempe Cinemas last night, as a line of girl-after-teenage girl winded around the theater. They were actually there to catch a glimpse of the oh-so-dreamy local band The Maine, who also happen to have a…

The Black Keys Coming to Mesa

We’ve got a big show announcement today: The Black Keys are coming to Mesa Ampitheatre on Thursday, April 14.Since I’m also from Akron, Ohio (or a suburb, anyway) I’ve been following their career since they played to half-filled local clubs. (Funny story from my old college newspaper here.)The Keys were…

Noxious Of AZ: The Rapper’s Rapper

Title: The Rapper’s RapperBasics: You Asked For It gets hip hop this time around, compliments of champion of all things Arizona, Noxious of AZ. I will admit that this album — Noxious’ first of two albums released in 2010 — was pretty damn difficult to listen to. The asinine, 8-second…

Wiz Khalifa’s Bitches Love Him in “Black and Yellow”

Dang, it’s sad when a song climbing up the Billboard Hot 100 charts refers to women as hos and bitches. Such is the case with Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow,” which had to be cleaned up extensively for radio play. The original “dirty” version is riddled with n-bombs, as well,…

Mesa Band Makes Ridiculous Offer To “Music Journalist”

Are you an aspiring music critic? If so, Mesa band Trains Eye View has a gig for you! There’s no pay. And, ummm, your work won’t be published anywhere. Oh, also, you’re not really being edited by someone who knows anything about journalism or could serve as a reference in…

Andrew Jackson Jihad – We Didn’t Come Here to Rock

Song: Andrew Jackson Jihad, “We Didn’t Come Here to Rock”Context: Andrew Jackson Jihad plays Trunk Space tonight. This is a great song from a great record, Can’t Maintain. I was hoping for a new record from the folk-punk duo in 2010 but it never materialized. Let’s hope 2011 brings one…

10 of 2010’s Best Indie Songs

​More lists? More lists, indeed. This time around I’m dealing with my ten best (read: favorite) songs from 2010. Pitchfork whittled their own list down to “Round And Round” by Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti and NME went with “Spanish Sahara” by Foals. Both are fine choices, yet (spoiler alert!) only…

50 Cent Sued by Caliber For Copyright Infringement

Part of G-Unit isn’t feeling so hot right now. Rapper and actor 50 Cent is being sued for copyright infringement, according to Billboard.It turns out that rapping about how you’ve got tons of money isn’t always a good thing. Atlanta rapper Caliber is filing a lawsuit against Fitty and the…

From Print: Blogs Teased in Our 12/16 Issue

This week, New Times ran a list in our print publication highlighting some of the most interesting posts published at Up On The Sun over the past week. Here are links to those posts.What was Miley Cyrus smoking out of a bong?What does Insane Clown Posse’s official Christmas card look…

Flier of the Week: Sun Ghost at The Rogue Bar

Is there seriously anything cuter than kittens these days? The Rogue Bar co-owner and talent buyer Lindsay Tripodis went for the jugular with this flier for local rock band Sun Ghost at the Scottsdale venue this Friday, December 17. Not surprisingly, she says her inspiration came from cats, the sun…

Night Ranger @ Comerica Theatre

“Big in Japan” is a punch line to a joke about how bands actually kind of suck, but if you say that sort of thing around Night Ranger, Jack Blades should turn to you and say, “Thank you. We are far more popular in Japan than in the United States,…

Trapt @ The Clubhouse

You may not be familiar with the name, but chances are you’re more familiar with the band Trapt than you realize, especially if you’ve been to the movies in the past seven years. The band’s 2003 single “Headstrong” has been featured on the soundtrack to such cinema classics as Never…

The Judds @ US Airways Center

Imagine for a moment that you are the more talented half of one of the most successful vocal duos in country music history, scoring a multitude of number one singles and winning a shitload of Grammys and CMAs all by the time you are 25. Now imagine that the other…

Infected Mushroom @ Infected Mushroom

Infected Mushroom, an Israeli-based psy-trance group fronted by Amit Duvdevani and Erez Eisen, are nothing if not prolific. Since forming in 1996, they’ve dropped seven albums, appeared on more than three-dozen compilations, and rocked clubs from Moscow to Milan. Their heady mix of trance and phat beats has produced darkly…

Ruckus @ Nile Theater

Things are going to get heavy when hardcore band Ruckus comes to town. The group cites “the pain and sufferings of everyday life” as influences, and they’re bringing their baggage with them from California, with sullenly titled tracks such as “Apocalypse Never,” “Gallows,” and “Fools Die.” Yup, that’s just what…