Giant Sand, Rhythm Room, 7/26/12

Giant Sand Rhythm Room Thursday, July 26 See also: Howe Gelb on Giant Giant Sand, and How an Acid Trip and Roman Polanski Birthed Tucson’s Music Scene By Mike Cryer “And here I am, the center of all beauty!” — Frank O’Hara This is how emotion and melancholy gets played…

Boom Chick, Rogue Bar, 7/26/12

Boom Chick The Rogue Bar Thursday, July 26, 2012 See also: Q&A: Frank Hoier And Moselle Spiller Of Boom Chick On Touring, Honoring The Blues, And Nirvana About a week and a half ago, my dad opened a show at the Rogue Bar. When he, my mother, and I arrived…

Tonsil Yeti, Rockbar Inc., 7/26/12

Tonsil Yeti Rockbar, Inc. Thursday, July 26, 2012 See also: Tonsil Yeti is In it To Win It, Dude A year ago, I got some scratchy, unlabeled demos in the mail from a band called Tonsil Yeti. I was confused, both by the band name and the untitled tracks, but…

Gathering of the Juggalos or S.S. Coachella? We Break Out the Scorecard

See also: S.S. Coachella Cruise Lineup Announced Featuring Pulp, Girl Talk, Z-Trip, and More See also: Z-Trip Talks Growing Up in Phoenix, Johhny D., Crate-Digging, Mexican Food, Smite, and More See also: The Gathering of the Juggalos 2012 Lineup Is Pretty Good. Really! See also: FBI Report Officially Classifies Juggalos…

Scott Weiland, Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill, 7/22/12

Scott Weiland Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill in Mesa Sunday, July 22 “Cocaine’s a hell of a drug,” commented one of my friends watching Scott Weiland strut around on stage in his jerky, velociraptor/ballet dancer-style last night at Toby Keith’s I Love this Bar and Grill…

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…

Sharon Needles, Phoenix Place Hotel and Suites, 7/21/12

Sharon Needles The Phoenix Place Hotel & Suites Saturday, July 21, 2012 “If you’re sick of the Republican, Democratic, or Independent parties, vote for the ‘Wig party’…” Sharon Needles, the most recent winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race, is well-known for being the voice of underdogs. Growing up in a small…

Talib Kweli, Club Red, 7/21/12

Talib Kweli Club Red Saturday, July 21 There is only one word to properly describe Talib Kweli’s performance at Club Red in Tempe: endurance. Those who crammed into the club had to handle less than ideal weather conditions, soaring humidity in the venue, and ongoing technical difficulties…

El Komander, Celebrity Theatre, 7/21/12

El Komander Celebrity Theatre Saturday, July 21, 2012 See also: Narcocorridista El Komander To Bring the Sound of the Drug War to Phoenix See also: José “El Pelón” Ávila Blames New Times for Canceled Show I would have really liked to chat with popular Mexican corridista El Komander before his…

Kongos at Crescent Ballroom, 7/20/12

Kongos Crescent Ballroom Friday, July 20, 2012 See also: Kongos Are Huge in South Africa — Is Phoenix Next? See also: Kongos on the Cutting Room Floor See also: Take Cover: The Rolling Blackouts Cover the Kongos So it looks like not even the transplanted Phoenix-via-South Africa rock ‘n’ roll…

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…

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…

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…

Extra Life, Trunk Space, 7/10/12

Extra Life, James Fella, Death House, Barren Nieces Trunk Space Tuesday, July 10 Few bands can pull off genre-bending and blending without sounding contrived, but New York based group Extra Life does it easily with virtuosic precision and genuine finesse. In support of a new album entitled Dream Seeds, released…