There are names you might expect to read in a review of Jess Williamson’s Native State: Karen Dalton, Joanna Newsome, Devendra Banhart. But Pitchfork’s Lindsay Zoladz struck mighty close to the source when she compared Williamson’s voice to that of a coyote. Though it was clearly intended as an accolade,…
Crush Music Festival Arizona Event Center 2/15/14 Like any good Valentine’s Day date, the crowd at Crush Music Festival on Saturday night was hot, wet, and ready for action. Young ravers, EDM fans, and party monsters packed themselves into a sold-out Arizona Event Center in Mesa for the sixth edition…
Fetish Revolution feat. The Genitorturers Marquee Theatre 2/15/14 Last night, society’s outcasts, kink-cravers, pleather-wearing thrillseekers, and those looking to enjoy some pleasures of the flesh dressed in their finest and freakiest fetishistic wear made their way to the Marquee Theatre in Tempe for the 10th annual Fetish Revolution. This is…
Augustines Crescent Ballroom 2/15/14 You should never mess with a band’s encore. If you do, it might lead to some unexpected consequences, like with what happened at the end of last night’s Augustines show at the end of last night’s Augustines show. As midnight approached at the Crescent Ballroom on…
The Linecutters Long Wong’s 2/14/14 Although its always hard to tell how far any new band will go — and even harder when said band comprises high school juniors — local punkers The Linecutters seem to have it. The Gilbert-based thrash trio have been around only since September, but they…
Panic! at the Disco Marquee Theatre 2/14/14 Brendon Urie probably never thought he’d be the only original member standing from his band Panic! at the Disco, but being the sole survivor didn’t seem to bother him while performing in front of a sold-out crowd at Tempe’s Marquee Theatre Friday night…
St. Valentine’s Day Massacre The Sail Inn 2/14/14 There is a stark contrast between the playing styles of Field Tripp’s Dan Allmond and Brandon Decker. To wit: Decker appears to be a driven perfectionist looking to squeeze every bit of soul out of each note, while Allmond seems content as…
The Lawrence Arms Pub Rock 2/14/14 It’s safe to say that I had a better Valentine’s Day than the majority of the Valley. Unlike most of you, I didn’t have to deal with either setting sky-high expectations for a beau or sulking about being single — I just got to…
Hear that? It’s the clock counting down the hours until your weekend begins and it’s nearing the magic moment known as quitting time. To help the time pass more quickly, you might consider what it is you’ll actually be doing during the next couple days and nights of work-free bliss…
The Toasters Crescent Ballroom 2/12/14 It’s often said that good things come to those who wait. So after a decade of waiting, I finally got a chance Wednesday night to once again catch one of the oldest ska bands in the United States in concert: The Toasters. And despite having…
Bring Me the Horizon Marquee Theatre 2/11/14 British metalcore act Bring Me the Horizon not only sold out Tempe’s Marquee Theatre Tuesday night, but they also blew the roof off the place with a performance that demonstrated why the band is blowing up in the States. The five-piece blasted through…
For Pete Bernhard, one of the guitarists and the primary singer for The Devil Makes Three, the process of creating the band’s most recent album, I’m a Stranger Here, was surprising. It was the first time the trio did not produce the record themselves (country singer Buddy Miller took the…
As a regular solo act at San Tan Flat in Queen Creek, Mike Easterday puts on a country performance that tends to get people out of their seats and onto the dance floor. During his shows, the 27-year-old country musician sings an array of country covers, from Garth Brooks to…
So, how was your weekend? Ours was a pretty busy one as we attended a slew of shows, concerts, and gigs around Metro Phoenix, starting off with George’s Strait’s swan song at US Airways Center on Friday and concluding with White Denim’s well-attended performance last night at the Crescent Ballroom…
White Denim Crescent Ballroom 2/10/14 You could say that White Denim has had a great week. They performed on Conan last Thursday, and then they played two sold-out shows at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. And then they hit Phoenix on a Monday night for a packed concert at Crescent…
What happens when you take 20 well-known (to varying degrees) local musicians, shuffle them around, and give them only 10 hours to start a band? Crescent Ballroom decided to find out, hosting the Phoenix Rock Lottery on Sunday night. Not only was this a pretty damn cool idea, it benefited…
Stone Sour Marquee Theatre 2/9/14 Generally, when singers of huge bands decide to launch side projects or go back to rekindle the rock ‘n’ roll romance of bands they started before hitting the big time, it’s because they don’t like having time off, have material that doesn’t quite fit into…
Want to get in a show this week? There are plenty of concerts over the next five days around Metro Phoenix to choose from, as you can see for yourself by viewing our extensive online concert listings. And we’re fairly certain that there’s something for everyone, regardless of your particular…
Slapshot Yucca Tap Room 2/7/14 As the winds of fate would have it, of all the places for Boston’s Slapshot to land in the Sonoran landscape, the infamous Tempe watering hole Yucca Tap Room is where the Massachusetts straight edge legends returned to the desert last night after a 20-year…
George Strait US Airways Center 2/7/2014 How many songs does an artist have to play to make a great concert? 15? That’s pretty sub-par for a headliner, but some acts skate by on it. 20? There are many renowned tenured musicians who operate at that number. With a reputation in…
If you’ve been waiting for the venue schedules and lineups for the Viva PHX to be announced, said wait is now over. Stateside Presents, which is co-promoting the one-night downtown Phoenix music festival on Friday, March 7, with New Times, released the set times and locations this afternoon. Better start…
When you listen to Mind Over Matter, the new album from Young the Giant, it is impossible not to notice the different energy coursing through the band’s collective vein. With his throaty cries, frontman Sameer Gadhia sounds as if he’s expelling personal demons, and Mind undeniably is more propulsive than…
