Wednesday night, I watched three sets of fully fleshed-out pop music performed solo, augmented by samplers, laptops, and pedals. It was something that probably couldn’t have happened a century ago and probably has some implications on technological development contributing to an egalitarian artistic landscape but also having some unintended consequences…
The Monkees and the Jonas Brothers are both playing the Valley this week, which is a think piece someone else is going to have to write — only one of them made our list of five Phoenix shows to see this week. Find out which one it is after the…
Fitz and the Tantrums August 4, 2013 Crescent Ballroom Fitz and the Tantrums were the first band I ever reviewed for Up on the Sun, so seeing them Sunday night at Crescent Ballroom was a bit nostalgic. But the “whoa factor” definitely was still there, from their energetic entrance to…
When you’re talking to Random–aka Mega Ran, aka (to Caller ID) Raheem–it’s not hard to detect the former-teacher in his voice. When he’s not rapping about video games or not giving into self-doubt, he’s talking in the methodical, well-practiced way of somebody who spent a lot of weekdays lecturing patiently…
Musician/songwriter Alejandro Escovedo has made a career out of taking chances. His first true band was the San Francisco-based punk outfit The Nuns. Then he joined up with cow-punks Rank & File before forming the country-oriented True Believers with his brothers, eventually hacking out a solo career. His music typically…
Are you on a live album? Not as a performer, I mean — are you background noise for one of your favorite bands? If you haven’t already earned the opportunity to make your friends scrub through 40 minutes of crowd noise to hear you shouting “My wife!!” during between-songs banter,…
Bruno Mars, US Airways Center, July 31, 2013 It’s so cool to see the American dream in action. Last night at US Airways Center, Bruno Mars played to a sold-out crowd at US Airways Center for his Moonshine Jungle Tour. About 20 years ago, he was a child performer in…
Cover songs can be tricky business. Finding one(s) that everyone in a band wants to do and then executing it while attempting to pay proper homage to whoever or whatever reason you wanted to do it in the first place. Doing an entire set of someone else’s music, though –…
Without using a time-turner — and those things are dangerous — it’s impossible to see every show in Phoenix every week. It’s not even possible to see all five shows in this list. But I really don’t think you should resort to time-travel. There’ll be five more must-see shows this…
As much as I embrace the label in a jaded attempt to disarm its pathetic sting, “hipster” doesn’t really describe me. I listen to hundreds of musicians, scattered from every genre you can name (except ska, because fuck ska), but I never choose to like a band because they’re obscure…
The MaineCrescent BallroomJuly 27, 2013 (Check out the complete slideshow for more photos.)Ten years ago, a local band selling out a venue the size of the Crescent as convincingly as The Maine did Saturday would be on its way to a major label deal. The Maine, of course, are now…
On Thursday night at Crescent Ballroom, the vibe was even more feel-good and positive than usual. Sure, it was a roster chock-full of locally loved acts — Flamenco por la Vida, Sara Robinson & The Midnight Special, The Senators, and Dry River Yacht Club — that attracted an impressively large…
It’s not that I’m rooting for The Maine to become nationally famous and then commit some terrible faux pas in Western Europe, but I’m halfway through a “Maine in Spain Fails Softly Something Something” headline that I’d really like to sell to the New York Post. They’ll be back in…
There’s always been a dark edge lurking behind the glittery pop and warm strings of Glen Campbell. Yet, it’s taken an unexpected album, culled from a series of time-killing studio outtakes, to reveal this side of Campbell. See You There, coming August 6 on Surfdog Records, takes more than a…
Rancid Marquee Theatre Wednesday, July 24, 2013 Seeing a 21-year-old punk band is always kind of a crapshoot. Bands like Social Distortion continue to sell out shows year after year, while groups like The Misfits, Dead Kennedys, and certain iterations of Black Flag would be better off hanging it up…
Kid RockAk-Chin PavilionJuly 24, 2013 (View the full slideshow.) Robert Ritchie, better known as Kid Rock, is no longer a kid, but last night at Ak-Chin Pavilion he proved that he could still rock with the best of them with an energetic performance. As the lights went out, Journey’s “Don’t…
We’ve hit an oversaturation point for bands having comeback albums, reunion tours, and any number of other obvious cash-grabs, so it’s hard not to roll your eyes whenever some band from the ’80s, ’90s, or even early Aughts makes that kind of announcement. And it’s true: Some of it’s downright…
I admit it: When I got the chance to talk to Robert Bell — that’s Kool — of Kool & the Gang ahead of tonight’s show at Ak-Chin Pavilion, I couldn’t resist asking the obvious question, much as I usually try to avoid them: Hey, how and why are you…
Glassjaw Rocky Point Cantina, Tempe Tuesday, July 23, 2013 Before Glassjaw took the stage, the atmosphere at Rocky Point Cantina was tense, punctuated by fans shouting things like “where the fuck have you been?” as they stared anxiously at the green room door. Watching the band perform a 90-minute set…
He’s called himself a cowboy, an American badass, and a host of other names over the years, all in his mission to let us know his one unmistakable message: Kid Rock is an outlaw. He’s done his best to cut a wide swath in the music world, making a splash…
Only one of the shows in this week’s Top Five Must-See Phoenix Shows This Week will feed the homeless, but I don’t think you should really hold that against the other four. I guess it’s harder not to hold it against the other four when it’s framed that way. But…
Have you ever played a Final Fantasy game? If you have, you’ll know that many-if-not-all of them involve collecting an arbitrary number of crystals that a megalomaniacal villain is also chasing, so that they won’t fall into the wrong hands and be used to enslave the world or shoot down…
