Kesha at Marquee Theatre Last Night

Kesha July 22, 2010 Marquee TheatreThe janitors at Marquee Theatre have quite the task ahead of them after Kesha’s first concert in Arizona. The 23-year-old inspired the vast majority of women in the audience to slather on glitter (much of which ended up on the Marquee floor), she shot out…

The Gaslight Anthem at Marquee Theatre on 7/20/2010

You should be proud, New Jersey. Your garden state is more than reality TV show guidos and guidettes, big hair, fist-pumping and GTL (gym, tan, laundry). You guys know how to rock. New Jersey has spawned legendary rock bands like Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen.Oh, and the Gaslight Anthem, heavily…

Robert Plant at the Dodge Theatre on 7/20

I’ve always made it a policy to not get down on old folks, particularly when it comes to not having the same energy or disposition as youngsters. I reminded myself that if I lived through my youth, I too one day would wind up “old.” I realized early on that…

Grateful Thursdays at 910 Live

This is part of a series of reviews of bands who play weekly at local bars. The show: Grateful Thursdays at 910 Live. The look: A strip club next to a U-Haul that has been taken over by hippies.The smell: Men’s cologne, da club, and patchouli.The taste: Clove cigarettes.Three words/phrases…

Smashingsun Pumpkinups at Marquee Theatre on 7/17/2010

Weird story: So last night I went to Marquee Theatre to see standard-bearing folk-punk band Against Me!, who just put out their second-consecutive awesome album, White Crosses.Unfortunately, the ticket line was about 100 yards long, stretching from the front doors of the theater to the bus stop on Mill Avenue…

Badness at Char’s Has the Blues

This is part of a series of reviews of bands who play weekly at local bars. The show: Badness at Char’s Has the Blues. The look: Small, old-school blues dive, lit by red Christmas lights. The smell: Wood and the street. The taste: Sweet. In an old, sweaty kind of…

Leon Russell at The Rhythm Room on 7/6/10

“In all the times he’s played here, I think he’s said maybe three words to me,” Bob Corritore, proprietor of the Rhythm Room mused last night about Leon Russell, who literally rolled into the Phoenix blues bar last night (Russell piloted a Rascal Scooter off the tour bus) to deliver…

Cheap Trick at Talking Stick Resort on 7/3/10

Cheap Trick in a casino ballroom: Better than at a zoo, but not as good as at the fair. I’ve seen these dinosaurs about eight times since 1992, in all sorts of venues (including, yes, the Milwaukee Zoo), and Saturday night’s venue, Talking Stick Resort, was pretty terrible. I was hoping…

“Shawn Anderson Unplugged” Celebrates Local Music Photog’s Work

Shawn Anderson has quickly become one of the best concert photographers in town.So it’s totally fitting that Anderson, who shoots concert photos for local music blog Electric Mustache — and, full disclosure, sometimes for us — gets the gallery treatment tonight. The show is 7-10 p.m. at SuTRA Midtown Yoga…

Shapiro at Yucca Tap Room on 7/29/2010

The plan was to write a good old fashioned concert review of Shapiro’s show at Yucca Tap Room last night.But sometimes promoters have babies — congrats to Ami Johnson and Matthew Reveles by the way — and can’t make all the normal arrangements for a touring act coming through on…

Blitzen Trapper at The Clubhouse on 6/28/10

It’s been my experience that many times fans of a particular band tend to have a propensity to take after the band that they love. Whether it’s their general attitude, the way they dress, the way fans (particularly male fans) subconsciously copy the hairstyle of the lead singer, or even…

Damien Jurado at The Rhythm Room on 6/28/10

“Feeling the west coast pull. One week left of tour,” Damien Jurado wearily tweeted on the 27th, and pulling into the Rhythm Room’s parking lot, I witnessed the singer/songwriter sprawled out on the hot pavement behind his van — a clear sign that the road was taking its toll.But despite…

Stan Sorenson Trio at Sacred Grounds

This is part of a series of reviews of bands who play weekly at local bars. The show: Stan Sorenson Trio at Sacred Grounds in Scottsdale. The look: Your standard church social hall. The smell: Coffee. If my olfactory sense serves me correctly, a dark roast. The taste: Church cookies…

Erykah Badu at Marquee Theatre on 6/23/2010

On paper having Erykah Badu and Janelle Monáe on the same tour is an interesting pairing. On the one hand you have Badu, the experienced neo-soul songstress who has been making hits since the late ’90s. On the other hand you have Monáe, the up and comer who has managed…

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes at Clubhouse Music Venue

“This place is crazy,” the tour manager tells me on the phone, and, indeed, the Clubhouse in Tempe is crazy-packed for Tuesday’s sold-out performance by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. Before the opening act – Dawes, a folk-rock foursome that reminds me strongly, and pleasantly, of Wilco – finishes…