By Jonathan McNamara The Nintendo Experience Mobile Tour I want to be the kind of Nintendo fan that happily shrieks at the chance to play mini games. I wish that I didn’t mind waiting three months between releases for another game worth playing. I’d like to embrace casual gaming as…
If you’re not attuned to such things, you might be surprised to know how big a niche there is for bands interested in playing covers of classic Nintendo game soundtracks in today’s geek-friendly world. At comic, gaming, and computing conventions bands like The Advantage and Phoenix’s own Minibosses can draw pretty well covering classic Castlevania songs. As any bar band will tell you though, doing originals is always harder, which is why sBACH played to a crowd of about 30 Saturday night at Modified Arts.
By Jonathan McNamara See more shots from the Minus The Bear concert in our slide show. As an experiment before the show last night, I typed “Minus The Bear” into Pandora to see what I would get. I heard several tracks from Highly Refined Pirates paired with bands like Bloc…
By John Dickerson See more shots in our Ben Folds slide show. Ben Folds may be 42 years old, but his songs still bring out the white college kid/yuppie demographic like a liquidation sale at Urban Outfitters. Said white folk arrived at Gammage Theater in droves last night, donning fedoras,…
It’s always amazing to me how long a massively huge album can reverberate, even if it’s not terribly influential or the subject of any significant critical acclaim. Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill – the tenth biggest selling album of all time and either the biggest or second biggest selling album of the 90s, depending on which numbers you use – still has some sway with people of a certain age, as was on display at Dodge Theatre last night.
By Martin Cizmar Electric Six singer Dick Valentine is your pathetic uncle, and last night he showed up at The Clubhouse in fine form: buzzed, doling out insults and begging for cash. For those of you interested in making a full accounting, Valentine does not like John McCain, Gin Blossoms,…
By John Dickerson Suburbanites unite. Grab your iPods, and sport your American Apparel/Urban Outfitter goodies, because Ben Folds is coming to town. Yes it’s true. And anyone who was ever anyone will be there on at Gammage in Tempe on Tuesday. Would you believe Ben Folds turned 42 this year?…
By Jonathan McNamara Star Wars invades MS Walk on the Wild Side Costumed storm troopers direct from Star Wars’ joined forces with the Ghostbusters in a charity walk to find a cure for MS on Saturday, November 8, 2008. Concert Review: Elf Power and Vic Chesnutt at Modified on Nov…
By Jonathan McNamara “When you go to a free show, you get what you pay for,” lead singer Tony Sly mumbled to a frenzied crowd of half-drunk punk enthusiasts at Yucca Tap Room, “a band that’s been drinking since five.” Sly was honest on all counts, but he neglected to…
See more Elf Power shots in our slideshow. By Martin Cizmar There’s a shortage of music for the contented. Not the ecstatically happy or the introspective, mind you, but for those who are simply satisfied with life for a moment. That’s why it was such a joy to see Elf…
By Martin Cizmar The Yucca Tap Room’s no cover policy has always served me well, usually by getting a bunch of cheap friends to see a cool local band without bitching about their $5. Occasionally, though, things really get interesting, as a national act comes in to play a free…
It’d be hard to pinpoint exactly when Woody Guthrie joined Iggy Pop, Wayne Kramer and Johnny Cash as a proto punk demigod. Somewhere along the line, he seems to have slipped in there though, at least for certain segments of the punk world. The Revival Tour, which stopped in Tempe last night, is probably the best evidence you’ll find to that effect.
By Martin Cizmar
If you want to judge a concert based on how far back the crowd is dancing – and I think it’s a pretty fair way to do it – it would be hard to top The Faint’s show Saturday. Feet weren’t just moving in the first few rows, or in the main clump in front of the stage at the spacious Marquee, they were sliding around all the way back by the soundboard, where some dude in a day-glow hat had his own little rave and where a girl in a gray dress indiscreetly scanned every guy around her in search of a suitable dance partner then, coming up empty, switched to a new spot.
By Jonathan McNamara The Stiletto Formal at the Clubhouse Phoenix-based The Stiletto Formal played at a CD release party Friday, October 24 in support of their full-length debut Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta! at the Clubhouse in Tempe. It was, indeed, a fiesta. Read: this Up on the Sun The Stiletto…
By Sarah Ventre Truckers on Speed don’t mess around and you sure as hell wouldn’t want to mess around with them. When they throw a CD release party it’s one intense event. By the time the Truckers took the stage at Clubhouse Music, local bands Two Spot Gobi, Plowed Under,…
By Benjamin Leatherman The indie pop-rockers of Hooves perform at AZ Rocks the Hope. Better than: Hanging out at a McCain fundraiser. For some reason, I thought the AZ Rocks the Hope event on Saturday, October 25, in downtown Phoenix was going to be a gigantic rally for presidential front-runner…
By Yvonne Zusel
When you see an electric cello leaning against a chair during sound check at a rock show, you know you’re not in for…well, a typical rock show.
By Michael Lopez
Taking the stage in his Army of Darkness t-shirt accompanied by Zombie Nation’s hit “Kernkraft 400,” (as heard in many sports arenas) Illinois’ own MC Chris welcomed the flood of cheers from his loyal, nerdy fan base. Chris Ward IV knew just how to get them riled up for his entrance, showing his favorite clips from Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2 before he took the stage. I knew going into this concert I would encounter a lot of sci-fi themed fanboy antics, so having “Bruce Campbell” (the star of the Evil Dead series) act as the buffer between opener Totally Michael and MC Chris made all the sense in the world.
By Jonathan McNamara Something amazing happened at Clubhouse Music last night. In the old tales of concert-going I’ve heard of this mysterious phenomnenon called “interaction,” but it wasn’t until a group of Japanese musicians in orange jump suits with rectangular sunglasses took the stage at the Clubhouse that I witnessed…
By Martin Cizmar
As promised, we’ve got a link to New Times Staff Writer, and former Music Editor, Niki D’Andrea’s review of last night’s Metallica show for Spin.com.
By Martin Cizmar
It’s not often that a band’s only top 10 hit is the low point at a concert – let alone by a band that’s been around 25 plus years and released 40 plus singles – but that’s exactly what happened Tuesday night in Glendale.
By Jonathan McNamara Weezer at The Arizona State Fair Music Editor Martin Cizmar admits that he’s been neglecting his old friend Rivers Cuomo. Streetlight Manifesto at The Venue of Scottsdale Streetlight Manifesto filled The Venue of Scottsdale with a skank-tastic Ska frenzy on Friday, October 17, 2008. Friday Night Out…
