Akron/FamilyRhythm RoomMonday April 4, 2011Akron/Family is not from Akron, Ohio.I just wanted to clear that up right up top since I am, in fact, from Akron, Ohio while the proggy/jammy/folky/experimental indie band that awed a crowd at Rhythm Room is from Brooklyn/Portland/an energy vortex near the North American continental pole…
Pinky Tuscadero’s WhiteKnuckle AssFuckYucca Tap RoomSaturday, April 2, 2011There are two schools of thought when it comes to band reunion shows:1. “Man, they’re time is past. They broke up and should stay that way.”2. “Awesome. They’re coming back to fuck shit up one more time. Righteous.”Given a choice betwixt these…
Wolfgang Gartner Marquee Theatre April 2, 2011 Wolfgang Gartner (a.k.a. Joey Youngman) took an interest to electronic music at an early age. Gartner taught himself how to DJ by making remixes with a recorder and tape deck when he was only 12 years old. In 2007, he began producing house…
The Pink Floyd Experience at Comerica Theatre Last Night It used to be that tribute acts were typically seen in casino showrooms. Lately, it seems that if you’re a good enough tribute act, you can bring in good audiences at concert halls. Already this year we’ve seen a orchestral version…
The Pink Floyd ExperienceComerica TheatreMarch 26, 2011 It used to be that tribute acts were typically seen in casino showrooms. Lately, it seems that if you’re a good enough tribute act, you can bring in good audiences at concert halls. Already this year we’ve seen a orchestral version of Led…
Lady GagaMay 26, 2011US Airways CenterFor fans who were seeing Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball a second time last night, they definitely got a little something new.She closed out the show with a “Born This Way” performance reminiscent of her spot on the Grammys. She also performed a stripped-down version of…
The Baseball ProjectMartini RanchFriday, March 25There’s really no better tune to sum up The Baseball Project’s set than their opening one, “All Future and No Past.” In its 3-odd minutes, the tune encapsulates everything that makes the band so great, the opening day optimism that makes eager fans believe that…
Girl TalkMarquee Theatre in TempeWednesday, March 23, 2011You know that moment at a Pixies show when the first wooooo-ewwww of “Where Is My Mind?” kicks in and the old grungers in the crowd go crazy? Or that instant where the tween girls with Miley Cyrus posters on their walls hear…
Davila 666Yucca Tap RoomTuesday, March 22One of the great things about rock & roll is its lack of language barrier. I don’t need to speak any of the many languages of Nigeria to know that the Nigeria 70 comps rule — don’t need to learn Japanese in order to turn…
South by Stateside Day 2Sail InnMarch 21, 2011 Last week, roughly 35,000 music lovers, journalists and industry types made their way down to Austin for a week’s worth of music and cheap booze. Fortunately for everyone who didn’t get to go to SxSW, a handful of bands who performed there…
It’s a real shame that Mother Nature didn’t see if fit to cooperate with Stateside Presents’ plans for South By Stateside: Day 2, the annual Phoenix run off of indie-bands on their way to the West Coast from Austin’s South by Southwest Festival. The nine band bill was divided pretty…
Broloaf at Yucca Tap Room Last Night The idea of a three-year-old local band playing their 19th show last night is a little ridiculous, but Broloaf isn’t the type of band that can churn out one show per week. The amount of planning and money that goes into each performance…
Paul Thorn, a native of Tupelo, Mississippi, learned most of what he needs to know in life from his preacher father and pimp uncle. Thorn’s ninth album, Pimps and Preachers, is all about the light and dark parts of life he learned about from these individuals.After a brief boxing career,…
Asking Alexandria is a British metalcore band that incorporates elements of dance into its breakdowns. Lead guitarist Ben Bruce grew up in Dubai and moved to England to form Asking Alexandria in 2008. The band has been building an international fanbase since they moved to the United States two years…
It was only because we both left his show early and in a huff that I got to shake hands with Tyler the Creator, the most interesting man in Austin this week. In case you’re not following South by Southwest buzz closely, Tyler is the face of the festival’s most-hyped act, LA-based…
Broloaf Yucca Tap Room Saturday, March 19 The idea of a three-year-old local band playing their 19th show last night is a little ridiculous, but Broloaf isn’t the type of band that can churn out one show per week. The amount of planning and money that goes into each performance…
People are already lined up waiting to get into Kanye West’s hyped-up show at South By Southwest.Only 1,000 people will get into the super-exclusive show, which is why the line formed at 6 a.m. along West Street in Austin.There’s not much to look at — the line is by an…
A day ago, I told you what happened at the panel discussion The Sound Strike hosted at South By Southwest. The group, which is organizing a boycott of Arizona because the state’s legislature passed a draconian anti-immigrant law called SB 1070, which was blocked by courts and will likely never go into…
Debilitating earthquakes. Aftershocks. Tsunamis that swept away entire towns and destroyed countless agricultural fields. Thousands of dead and missing. All of this occurred after musicians and organizers for South by Southwest’s Japan Nite, an annual showcase of Japanese bands, boarded Austin-bound planes. Now thousands of miles away from one of…
Flogging MollyTempe Beach ParkThursday, March 17With all of indie folks invading Austin to schmooze and snap photos at SxSW, the rest of us were left with what’s become a Tempe St. Patrick’s Day tradition: watching Flogging Molly at Tempe Beach Park.The band has been a staple each year, with this…
The Sound Strike plans to evolve from a full-on boycott of Arizona to an organization promoting “human rights zones” where musicians opposing the state’s radical immigration policies only do business with its like-minded promoters and venues.Or so the group’s organizers told a crowd of upset Arizonans — all of whom stated their…
You’d never know it to read any sort of music journalism this week, but everyone on earth has not converged on Austin, Texas for South By Southwest. Not quite, anyway.Knowing this, local indie rock band Kinch hired a videographer to shoot their shows on Wednesday. Because they’re ambitious guys not waiting…
