Caribou at The Clubhouse Last Night

CaribouClubhouse Music VenueOctober 9, 2010Canadian electronic act Caribou is essentially only one person, Dan Snaith. At least in the studio. When Snaith, who I was lucky enough to interview for this week’s print edition hits the road, however, he is joined by bandmates.The question is what they do. How do…

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers at US Airways Center Last Night

Jonathan McNamara​Tom Petty and The HeartbreakersUS Airways CenterOctober 7, 2010Phoenix fans had to wait a few extra weeks to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Once the veteran heartland rocker took the stage, though, they didn’t have to wait for the hits. Petty came out swinging, opening with four of…

Matt and Kim at Clubhouse Music Venue Last Night

​Matt and KimClubhouse Music Venue in TempeOctober 6, 2010Summer seemed to end about 48 hours ago in Phoenix, when golf balls of hail fell from the October sky, finally banishing triple digit temperatures from the Valley for a few months.You’d never know it inside the Clubhouse Music Venue where Brooklyn-based…

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at Rhythm Room Last Night

Jonathan McNamara​Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Rhythm Room October 4, 2010 It’s sort of rare when a mosh pit is possible but not inevitable. You know, when a band could inspire a little knock-push-bounce action but it isn’t necessarily a forgone conclusion.Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, who played Phoenix’s Rhythm…

O.A.R. at the Celebrity Theatre Last Night

O.A.R. The Celebrity Theatre September 28, 2010The Celebrity Theatre’s layout and rotating stage made for a warm performance by veteran jamband O.A.R. that accommodated every seat in the house last night.The design of the venue made the band’s entrance particularly special since fans got to slap hands with the band…

Surfer Blood at Clubhouse Music Venue Last Night

​Surfer BloodThe Clubhouse Music VenueSeptember 27, 2010Maybe you remember ‘the bear thing’ or ‘the wolf thing,’ those peculiar eras when seemingly every hotly-tipped indie band adopted one of those ferocious animals as a component of its name? Of course you do.Probably you’ve noticed we’re currently in the midst of ‘the…

Ratatat at The Venue Scottsdale Last Night

RatatatSeptember 25, 2010The Venue ScottsdaleWhen does an electronic rock concert make a person feel like Danny Glover’s irritable geezer cop in Lethal Weapon? The answer: When the concert in question is Saturday’s all-ages Ratatat show at the Venue of Scottsdale, and the person in question is older than some of…

The Pixies, KISS, and Pool Parties Over the Weekend

Pixies at the Mesa Amphitheatre Last Night To say that the Pixies performance was underwhelming might be a bit too strong. Mostly satisfactory would probably be a more accurate description. That is to say it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t completely blow-you-away-good, either…full story KISS at Cricket Wireless Pavilion You…

Pixies at the Mesa Amphitheatre Last Night

​Pixies September 24th, 2010 Mesa Amphitheater Back in June, when Up on the Sun music editor Martin Cizmar put up a blog post announcing that the Pixies would be playing an upcoming show at the Mesa Amphitheater there was one point in the post that I kept coming back to…

Fall Frenzy in Photos

What a weekend! We’ve already written extensively about the three-day concert event known as Fall Frenzy, but part of the story can only truly be captured through a lens. Before we put our Fall Frenzy coverage to bed, check out the following slideshows direct from each day of the event…

The Dirty Heads and Sublime at Tempe Beach Park Last Night

There was something about reggae riffs and smoking weed that really appealed to yesterday’s Fall Frenzy crowd. In between the harder rockin’ lineups scheduled for Friday and Sunday was a hippie day. California bands The Dirty Heads, Sublime and Weezer had a lot to offer locals who enjoy good jams…

Weezer at Fall Frenzy Last Night

Luke HolwerdaWeezer on stage at Arizona Fall Frenzy.​New York magazine put it best: “There are few things more terrifying to longtime Weezer fans these days than the prospect of a new Weezer album.”That review of the band’s latest album — sarcastically headlined, “Is Hurley Weezer’s Best Album Since Make Believe?”…

The Walkmen at Clubhouse Last Night

The WalkmenSeptember 17, 2010The Clubhouse​Hamilton Leithauser smiled between songs during The Walkmen’s set last night. Those smiles stood in stark contrast to his intensely focused, on-the-brink of-destruction singing and pointed lyrics.It was a businesslike show. There was minimal exchange between singer and audience, with most of the music being presented…

Benefit Show for BORG Drummer Scheduled for This Weekend

Local anti-meth rockers Beyond Our Recognitions of God are playing a benefit/fundraiser show tonight night at UB’s in Mesa for their drummer, Jon Landato, who was stabbed in the neck during an altercation last month following a gig at Goathead Saloon.Landato has made a full recovery, but spent several harrowing…

Paramore at the Dodge Theatre Last Night

Paramore September 15, 2010 Dodge Theatre Hayley Williams is quite the little firecracker.Physically, the Paramore singer sort of looks like a firework, with her bright red hair and ruler-straight body. Personality-wise, she’s a dynamic burst of energy. At her show at the Dodge Theatre last night, she ran around the…