Pregnant M.I.A. Steals the Show at the Grammys

For those of you who tuned into the 51st annual Grammy Awards Sunday night, you were most likely treated to a lamely named performance of the “Rap Pack:” Jay-Z, Kanye West, T.I., and Lil’ Wayne. The four artists gave a dapper performance, no doubt flustering audiences of 40-year-olds in the Midwest…

Setting Chad Kroeger’s Hair On Fire: An Evening with Fucked Up

Toronto punk rock outfit Fucked Up graced the stage Tuesday night at downtown Phoenix art gallery PHiX, bringing with them their subdued, docile tones and serene, lucid vocals. Good one, right? Yeah, I had you going — admit it. Fucked Up absolutely slayed the crowd on Tuesday, a respectable sized…

Katy Perry Is One of the Girls Just as Much as Boys

Katy Perry is hot! Well, she’s cute and she’s hot. This seemed to be the general consensus from the sold-out audience at Tempe’s Marquee Theatre on Tuesday. Perry, who wore a flashy gold dress and looked like she should be adorned on the top of a cake of some sort,…

Super Bowl XLIII, Derby Dames and O.A.R. Over the Weekend

Steelers Win Super Bowl XLIII and Nothing’s Well In Cardinal-Ville At Upper Deck in Scottsdale hundred leave dejected after the Arizona Cardinals lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers on February 1, 2009. Meanwhile Steelers fans raise their terrible towels to the sky. See: a slide show of depressed Cardinals fans and…

Sunday’s Worst Super Bowl Ad

There were some truly awful ads on during yesterday’s insanely competitive Super Bowl. The economy is changing, America is changing, and the past two Super Bowls have been some of the best games in Super Bowl history. I remember watching some Super Bowls that were atrocious, lopsided affairs that were…

Lil Wayne Very Late, Very Predictable at US Airways Center

Things I witnessed while waiting nearly two hours for Lil Wayne to perform at US Airways Center on Wednesday night: An impromptu routine by all of opener T-Pain’s assortment of dancers, including two midgets, a fire-eating contortionist, two dudes with their faces painted like Juggalos and two of (what appeared…

TheDirty.com, Combichrist, Religious Rockers and More Over the Weekend

TheDirty.com’s West Valley InvasionParty crasher Benjamin Leatherman spent Friday, January 24, boozing it up with The Dirty’s Nik Richie at Hurricane Bay in the West Valley before saying hello to Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie at Jilly’s in Chandler…slide show Combichrist at Marquee Theater It’s always tough to watch a band you admire…

Combichrist Shows They’re Aiming for the Mass Market

It’s always tough to watch a band you admire jump the shark. Regardless, it’s pretty common to see bands make creative choices that forever remove them from the realm of the cool and send them hurtling on inescapable trajectories toward gimmicky stagnation or even downright mediocrity.Unlike Happy Days (or even…

Miniature Tigers Yucca Gig a Nice Send-Off for Big Tour

With their star swiftly rising thanks to a slate of dates opening for Ben Folds and a showcase at SxSW, a lot of us showing up at Miniature Tigers’ show at Yucca Tap Room last night kind of thought this could be one the last times we’d see the band…

The Top 10 Reasons to Attend Phoenix Comicon This Weekend

Think comic conventions are only for geeks, nerds, and losers? Well, we may not argue with that, but we will argue that being called a “geek” and a “nerd” are no longer derogatory terms. Those guys who picked on Bill Gates for wearing glasses so thick he could see into the future during the ’70s are now probably the same guys who fix Gates’ plumbing when one of the 18 toilets in his mansion is on the fritz — if they’re lucky.

Fight Club Sadisco, Stone Foxes and More Over the Weekend

Fight Club *Sadisco, Blow By Blow (with Video) On Saturday, January 17, the twisted minds behind the monthly *Sadisco events hosted their annual “Fight Club” themed *Sadisco at J-Heads. The scene was post-industrial-apocalyptic, as revelers meandered around the perimeter of the venue among precarious chain link fences, newspaper trash, and…

Fight Club *Sadisco, Blow By Blow (with Video)

On Saturday, January 17, the twisted minds behind the monthly *Sadisco events hosted their annual “Fight Club” themed *Sadisco at J-Heads. The scene was post-industrial-apocalyptic, as revelers meandered around the perimeter of the venue among precarious chain link fences, newspaper trash, and spray-painted signs that said things like “I am Jack’s inner homosexuality.”

Stone Foxes Sweep On Into Ruby Room

San Francisco by way of Fresno rock newbies Stone Foxes dropped by Phoenix’s Ruby Room Saturday night as part of their Sweep The West Tour. The band is young, fresh and full of talent – not to mention they possess some incredible rock chops. The band can rip it up…

Long Live Logos Charm at Chyro Arts

Sometimes you just need to see a little live music on a Friday night, and without much on the concert schedule this weekend (The Music of Led Zeppelin – A Rock Symphony! Smashmouth!) I found myself at Chyro Arts in Scottsdale to see San Diego’s Long Live Logos. Turns out,…