Credit: Nanette Gonzales “Love Is Strange”By Katie Bain Ladies travel site Misstravel.com recently named named Coachella the number one music festival at which to go on a first date. For so many reasons, this is a terrible idea. Issue number one is that unless you have a day-pass scenario worked…
Phoenix! It’s our top five must-see shows this week…
Black Lips, Destruction Unit, Andrew Jackson Jihad @ Marquee Theatre|4/6/13I do this thing with movies where if it’s a director I like, I refuse to view trailers, read interviews or any news whatsoever related to the film until I’ve seen it in theaters. I did this with No Country for…
Aaron Carter is the younger brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, and he sang some songs in the early 2000s that were fairly big hits: “Crush on You,” “I Want Candy,” “That’s How I Beat Shaq.” Then, you know, he sorta wasn’t super-famous. But there’s a twist to the story…
Hey ya, the weekend is here. So get off the couch and go dancing, Phoenix. Maybe these shows: Our Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix This Weekend…
It’s become a tradition around here. Every week, on Monday — the worst of all days — we bring you our Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix this week. You know, to help make it all bearable. Dig in, kiddos…
Mindless Self Indulgence @ Marquee Theatre|3/29/13Mindless Self Indulgence is truly an enigma, an exception to the rule, or “ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife.” The band’s so original that you can’t place a tag on them or put them in a genre. The band paid a…
Jeff Mangum @ Crescent Ballroom|3/28/13Okay, so it’s announced that Jeff Mangum is coming to town and he has two shows the same night. That means I have to choose. Which one? Which one! Will he play the same songs twice? If so, the second half is bound to suck, right,…
Hey ya, the weekend is here. So get off the couch and get to some shows, Phoenix. Maybe these shows: Our Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix This Weekend…
Are you still sleeping off the hangover you picked up at the 10th annual McDowell Mountain Music Festival? In case you somehow missed it, MMMF 2013 brought some great acts to Phoenix. We’re still tapping our feet every time we hear a song by The Roots or The Shins, and…
Hank Williams III (Hank 3 to those in the know) says Dale Watson is one of his favorite artists — a tried-and-true country artist — and goes so far to shout him out to audiences at virtually every concert. This appeal is easy to understand: Watson is a throwback to…
Billy Bragg @ Crescent Ballroom|3/26/13For his first-ever Phoenix show, Billy Bragg gave his all, of all of his sides — the young punk firebrand, the activist, the lover, the Woody Guthrie acolyte, the folk malcontent, and the Bard of Barking hawking his new album. Though the new record, Tooth &…
Attendees of last weekend’s McDowell Mountain Music Festival at Margaret T. Hance Park found plenty of ways to feel the music during all three days of the event, including those folks of crunchier, groovier, and dread-headed bent. Over the past decade, the springtime concert festival has been a popular destination…
This weekend, McDowell Mountain Music Festival celebrated its 10-year anniversary in style, at a new primo location of Margret T. Hance Park, with good beer from Deschutes, and with awesome bands like The Shins, The Roots, Balkan Beat Box, Les Claypool, and more. You can catch up on our reviews,…
Anthrax @ Marquee Theatre|3/24/13There are few things more exciting than being present for the start of a legendary thrash band’s tour, when they are fresh, energetic, and have a brand-new set list. Metalheads in Tempe had that glorious opportunity Sunday night, when the Metal Alliance Tour came through town on…
Dr. Dog, Les Claypool’s Duo de Twang, and More @ McDowell Mountain Music Festival at Margret T. Hance Park|3/24/13The last day of a music festival is always an exercise in mixed feelings. The majority of the crowd is exhausted, sunburned, and dehydrated, but through it all, watching the headlining band…
It’s become a tradition around here. Every week, on Monday — the worst of all days — we bring you our Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix this week. You know, to help make it all bearable. Dig in, kiddos…
The Roots @ McDowell Mountain Music Festival at Margret T. Hance Park|3/23/13About an hour into their dominating set, the legendary Roots crew pulled out a trick few other bands could get away with: Drummer Questlove and percussionist Frank Knuckles did a drum solo. An extended one. It’s always been my…
It’s gonna be an action-packed weekend for Brannon Kleinlein. The 38-year-old will be busy overseeing the locals-only side stage at the McDowell Mountain Music Festival at Margaret T. Hance Park. It’s certainly a major task that he’ll have to juggle along with this weekend’s debut of his new downtown Phoenix…
The Shins @ McDowell Mountain Music Festival at Margret T. Hance Park|3/22/13It’s been 10 years since McDowell Mountain Music fest got started, and nine since Natalie Portman, as the prototypical “manic pixie dream girl” stated that The Shins would “change your life.” In that time, McDowell Mountain Music fest has…
Mos Def/Yasiin Bey @ Celebrity Theatre|3/21/13It’s clear that Yasiin Bey (a.k.a. Mos Def) is one of the most likable guys in hip-hop history. The 39-year-old rapper is most known for his critically acclaimed album Black on Both Sides, as well as his work with fellow New York MC Talib Kweli…
If the flu virus is a filament-filled spiky sphere, I wonder what the electronic synth bug looks like. By the sounds of things, Charles Barth of two-man group Saddles is the latest in a long line of musicians to be infected by the bug. His recently released single, “The Original”…
