At first glance, The Most Serene Repulic and The Grates touring together seems unlikely — even odd. The former is a Toronto-based snapshot of what Arts & Crafts does best: Broken Social Scene’s intricate textures and soundscapes with the personality dynamic of Stars. The latter is a pop-infused fun punk…
Arizona Fall Frenzy started out with the rock lite line-up Friday night at Tempe Beach Park, and, as expected, there were plenty of moms mixed in with the usual 20- and 30-something music fest crowd. It’s hard to believe headliner Rob Thomas, of Matchbox Twenty fame, is now one of the…
He’s the lead singer of twentythree-year-old power pop dream The Posies and rounds out the second-wave Big Star revival. But next Friday, Jon Auer will be all alone at Last Exit in Tempe, showcasing his extensive repertoire of solo work…
At first blush, The Meat Puppets and Dead Confederate, who joined forces for a show at a half-full Marquee Theatre last night, don’t seem to have much in common. Originating two decades and 2,000 miles apart the two twangy alt-rock bands acts do have some small musical similarities, but even…
Twestival Local Phoenix Raises Money for St. Mary’s Food Bank Last night, local twitter-users gathered at the Aloft Hotel in Tempe to socialize, try great food from local businesses as donate money to St. Mary’s Food Bank during Twestival Local Phoenix. Twestival started as a Twitter-based meet-up but has grown…
One song into Richard Cheese’s Saturday show at Celebrity Theatre, I was ready to believe I’d been wrong. Sure, a guy who for nearly a decade has made a living performing sleazy lounge covers of popular songs might seem, at first glance, to be a novelty act with a short…
By Martin Cizmar and Brian Bardwell Sometimes one perspective on a show isn’t enough. So, like we did with Beck and Tool, Up on the Sun is bringing you a point/counterpoint style write-up on last night’s Lynyrd Skynyrd show. Brian Bardwell, who wrote last week’s music feature advancing last night’s…
The Thermals looked so very clean for a group of touring indie punks from Portland. Hopping up to the stage, it was no nonsense, down to the trio’s minimalist wardrobe. The crowd was thrown into a state of euphoria with opener “No Culture Icons,” the proclaimed favorite of the show’s…
The Mars Volta Erase Last Year’s Mistakes Let’s start with some context: The Mars Volta came to Phoenix’s Dodge Theater last October and played a show that was, for lack of a better term, lacking. They played for less than an hour and left many people underwhelmed. It’s unfortunate to…
Kinch’s The Economic Chastisement EP release party back in February was one of the best little concerts I’ve seen this year, so I was pretty stoked about this weekend’s twin parties on behalf of the new EP Collars and Sleeves. I was not disappointed.Starting with a Friday night show on…
Up until the middle of last week, it was hard to say exactly where Brooklyn’s Woods would be performing September 6th. Fliers circulating around town indicated the freak-folkers would be playing venerable Tempe establishment, The Manor. Folks won over by the band’s recent opening spot for Dungen at the Rhythm…
Let’s start with some context: The Mars Volta came to Phoenix’s Dodge Theater last October and played a show that was, for lack of a better term, lacking. They played for less than an hour and left many people underwhelmed. It’s unfortunate to judge the band to that precedent, but…
Night two of “When In AZ” celebrations continued at Modified on Saturday. Seven local outfits, featured on the locals-covering-locals comp, split the bill. Download cards for the compilation flowed freely, as the charge for admission guaranteed each attendee his own free copy.Highlights included performances from Harcuvar, whose engulfing harmonies were…
Between oddballs hocking light sabers, impenetrable Arizona temperatures and grown men playing accordions shirtless, First Fridays is always a little crazy. Friday was par for the course, with the exception of the release of a massive compilation of local bands covering each other. Modified Arts hosted night one of the…
Poison and Def Leppard at Cricket Wireless Pavilion After drawing some fire for making an unfavorable comparison between Green Day and Poison in my review of last Saturday’s show at U.S. Airways Center, I saw a rare chance to subject one of my statements to some scrutiny this Saturday as…
There are probably some people who’d question the credibility of any punk band playing a show staged by a carmaker, especially if that carmaker didn’t just stake out prime product placement, but actually paid for the whole shebang so it could give tickets only to people who test-drove a new…
After seeing both shows within seven days, the results are in: I feel pretty confident saying that, live, Green Day is the poor man’s Poison. (Read what fans had to say here.) Now, before anyone writes this statement off too easily let me point out that I’m on the record…
Football season is only two weeks away, which means you’re either super excited for, or desperately dreading, Frank Caliendo’s impressions. His Madden (above video) is of course the most famous, but the former MadTV personality certainly has plenty more.If you’d like a closer look at the Tempe native’s career will…
While this will undoubtedly cause a certain amount of disgust to our readership, World Wrestling Entertainment’s visit to the Valley last night had much in common with many of the concerts we’ve reviewed on this blog: blaring rock music, bad makeup jobs, spandex tights, and plenty of pyrotechnics. The U.S…
By Becky Bartkowski The most obvious realization when seeing Dungen at The Rhythm Room: These Swedes can kick out serious jams live. Sitting somewhere between pure-Kinks classic rock riffs, the gentle, beaming soundscapes of Sigur Rós and the most American of jazz quartets, this quartet marries some seemingly disparate ideas…
Green Day Brings Classic Rock Feel To U.S. Airways Show I can’t say for sure that Green Day are the only truly great DIY scene punk act to successfully transform themselves into respected classic rockers, though they’ve got to be on a short list…full story See: Green Day in photos…
a) vaguelyorb) obviously and irredeemably pathetic about a 37-year-old man in skinny black jeans. So, yes, Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong immediately looked a little silly strutting on stage at U.S. Airways Center as the piano-driven opening of “21st Century Breakdown,” the title track to his band’s latest record,…
