Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix This Weekend

Who’s excited for the Instagram pictures Questlove is going to post of Phoenix this weekend? I sure am. The Roots will be in town on Saturday, March 23, to play as part of McDowell Mountain Music Festival, plus, Questo will be dropping a DJ set at Bar Smith afterward. That’s…

Six Things I Hate About Kenny Rogers

Hate is a strong word, but as a music critic, my musical beliefs and ideals have been forged over many years of writing about, reviewing, and listening to music. I know what I like, what I can tolerate, and what I’d just as soon leave behind forever. Country artist Kenny…

Merchandise, Meat Market Garment Factory, 3/19/13

Merchandise, Body of Light, Audacity, Nü Sensae, Wet Hair @ Meat Market Garment Factory|3/19/13Rampage Fest concluded its two-day run with an after-party that featured a lineup that stacked solidly against that of the actual festival. It was a diverse mixture of bands, which although initially proved overwhelming, became a strong…

Joe Ely, Rhythm Room, 3/19/13

Joe Ely @ Rhythm Room|3/19/13Surprisingly, there were only two cowboy shirts in Rhythm Room last night, that paltry number growing to three once Joe Ely took the stage. Strange for an artist with deep West Texas country roots, but it only serves to highlight Ely’s musical appeal that crosses genre…

Questlove of The Roots Is So Much Better at Instagram Than You

Of all the stupid things we do with our phones, Instagram might be the worst. Not only has the app falsely convinced us all we’re professional photographers, but it’s done something even worse: It’s encouraged our worst vainglorious tendencies. No one is Amaro-toning his or her real life. There are…

The Worst Shows of SXSW 2013

Marco TorresSomebody somewhere really did not want us to see Smashing Pumpkins at SXSW.Security and Cops Gettin’ Wild: Look, I get it. Every drunken dickhead in town “knows someone” or thinks he has pull at the door, but that doesn’t mean the hammer goes down on everyone. I was stopped…

The Best Shows of SXSW 2013

This year, Rocks Off and DC-9 at Night, the music blogs at our sister papers Houston Press and Dallas Observer, teamed up to bring you only the choicest moments from last week’s SXSW madness. Craig HlavatyJohn Fogerty: Creedence Clearwater Revival survivor John Fogerty gets overlooked as a riff-happy rocker, with…

The Most Hardcore Ravers at Ultra (In GIF Form)

Jacob KatelWelcome to RavetopiaBy Jacob Katel Society got the best of ya? Go to Ultra Music Festival and leave the normal world behind. Here, you can feel free to get half-naked, customize your brain, and put some neon in your life. Deep inside the endless well of bass, you just…

Flogging Molly, Tempe Beach Park, 3/17/13

Flogging Molly @ Tempe Beach Park| 3/17/13I could hardly contain my excitement as I boarded the light rail last night. It wasn’t my first time or anything, but I remember how insane last year’s St. Patrick’s Day experience was: Coming home from Seamus McCaffrey’s and making a brief stop at…

Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix This Week

It’s Monday, and that means that the rotting corpse of the weekend has been trampled on and desecrated by another dadgum work week. But never fear — the resistance is growing. You can re-create the carefree feelings of the weekend every night this week by attending our Top Five Must-See…

Ten Raver Tips on How to Dress for Ultra 2013

Photo by Liz TracyBy Liz Tracy They danced. They rolled. They yelled: Glitter! Yes, these are ten talkative fashionistas of Ultra Music Festival 2013. Certainly, there were some better dressed, and others more sensibly garbed. But the following folks found during night one of 2013’s three-day shit fest — they…

10 Dumbest Things Heard at SXSW

Photos by Marco TorresSwag is rampant again at SXSW this year.For every insightful conversation I have heard or had at SXSW over the years, whether it was talking to Matt Pinfield while walking the streets of Austin talking about David Bowie, or telling The Clash’s Mick Jones that he was…

Swedish House Mafia Kicks Off Ultra 2013, “F#$%s Miami in the Pussy”

Photo by George Martinez What’s the most epic come-on in the history of Scandinavian EDM? Duh. “We’re gonna fuck this party in the pussy!,” as uttered by Swedish House Mafia, when Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello, and Axwell were still young, up-and-coming electronic dance music studs. Today, though, the SHM dudes…

50 Important SXSW Questions

Marco TorresWill I die getting the best Facebook photo, like, ever you guys?Editor: We have so many questions here in Austin. Here are 50 of them. 1. Will I like the pedicab costumed as The Hulk if he gets angry? 2. Are we all really just in New York? 3…

The 50 Commandments of SXSW

For Christ’s sake, don’t break any of these commandments this year.You’re going to South by Southwest, right? Or you’re already there? One of those things is bound to be true. Well, we here at DC9 have got some advice for you, and we’ve managed to format it all into the…