Nate “Igor” SmithA juggalo photographed on Wednesday, the first day of The Gathering, 2013.At some point in your life, you may find yourself sitting in a minivan in rural Illinois, stressed out as you wear a metal butcher knife pendant around your neck. Your ankles are covered in mysterious goo…
Of all the gimmicky bands out there, Masked Intruder’s premise is pretty rad. This group of masked thugs hails from the oh-so-rough neighborhood of Madison, Wisconsin, and commits unforgivable crimes like suffering from ongoing heartbreak. Like most superheroes, the band members keep their identities secret, hiding behind color-coded ski masks…
Madison, Wisconsin’s pop punk quartet Masked Intruder has been stealing hearts and VCRs across the country this year, and for good reason: The band’s debut full-length sounds a bit like Screeching Weasel and The Ergs!, with a pinch of lovelorn Weezer added for good measure. “ADT Security” seems like the…
Hollywood-based retro-rock outfit Vintage Trouble may only have one studio album, 2012’s The Bomb Shelter Sessions, but the band’s résumé is impressive nonetheless. Vintage Trouble already has opened for The Who, Dave Matthews Band, and Bon Jovi. The band played alongside Kiss’ Paul Stanley at his 60th birthday party, and…
For two months, Tempe-based rockers The Black Moods have been crossing the Midwest and the West Coast on their first extensive tour, promoting their self-titled debut. All the work has paid off — each show bringing a more receptive audience — and by the end of the tour, they’d been…
Last year, Tim McGraw left Curb Records after 20 years to join Big Machine Records. Contract disputes and lawsuits ensued upon the shift, but it seems to have been the right step for one of country’s most consistent stars. Coming just two weeks after his first collaborative album, Tim McGraw…
Although the scribes at DJ Mag won’t be releasing the results of their annual (and oft-debated) Top 100 poll for another couple of months, we’re willing to wager there’s one name that’s guaranteed to be close the top of the list: Hardwell. Bet on it. Life’s been most prosperous for…
A new Lady Gaga song leaked Monday night called “Burqa,” though some blogs suggest it may actually be called “Aura.” (Hypeable did some sleuthing, leading us to believe that it is, in fact, called “Burqa.”) Both Zedd and Calvin Harris are mentioned in Gaga’s “**rq*” tweet from October, prefacing this…
An emergency deployment to Hollywood Alley might have deprived them of sleep and beer money, but it wasn’t about to keep our Club Candids photographers off their usual July beat: Taking pictures of people who would probably have left Phoenix for the summer if it weren’t for the pool parties…
Our intrepid Club Candids team was camped out at Hollywood Alley all last week as the Mesa institution prepared to close its doors just shy of its 25th birthday. The result: Copious material for an upcoming feature, some video, and lots and lots of photos. They were on assignment, technically,…
I used to look forward to the arrival of Shark Week like it was a new Hatebreed album release — amped up and eager for new material and bloodshed. Unfortunately, after a couple years of tuning in, I realized that the masterminds behind the programming didn’t really care to bring…
“I’m just looking for a sign.” Keith Buckley, vocalist for establish metalcore act Every Time I Die, is a composed character, having fronted one of the most beloved metal acts of the past 16 years. He’s conducted symphonies of straight-edge moshers meeting in the pit with hardcore veterans and beer-swilling…
After 25 years of slinging drinks, trashy fun, and rock ‘n’ fucking roll, the party is finally over at Hollywood Alley in Mesa. All the beer and booze has been exhausted, the last song has echoed through its cavernous sticker-covered interior, and the last pizza has been served. We dropped…
The website for Hollywood Alley contains a fairly lengthy rundown of some of the vast array of renowned musicians and bands that have performed at the Mesa rock dive over its 25-year history, and it’s both enormous and impressive. Said list includes name both iconic and influential, ranging from such…
It turns out that Hollywood Alley’s last night wasn’t last night after all. According to the Facebook page of the renowned Mesa rock bar — which was originally scheduled to close on Wednesday night after 25 years in operation — and a few of its employees, the place will remain…
Forming a six-member band without a guitarist is preposterous, but Fitz and the Tantrums make it work. Six is just the right number for the band’s larger-than-life Motown-influenced jams — adding anything else would be overkill. Two vocalists, a saxophone, and a keyboard are just the right mix of tones…
On one side, there are the credentials that mark Daughn Gibson as a country musician — the slightly twanged baritone, the smoky barrooms and long roads that appear in his lyrics, and the years spent working as a trucker before recording his first album. On the other are credentials that…
“Warm” isn’t a word generally applied to Killer Mike or El-P. After all, Run the Jewels — a new album synergizing the veteran rappers — hinges on two MCs who pride themselves on thinking five steps ahead of their opponents and writing punchlines that cut with a butcher’s precision. On…
It’s called the “Good Vibes Summer Tour,” it’s going to feature performances by a band called Rebelution and a guy named Collie Buddz, and Matisyahu’s there. This is a show so perfectly fitted into its niche that it really obviates the need for a preview — either that sounds like…
Every time industrial dance DJs Self.Destrukt and DJ Defense.Mekanizm throw one their monthly ResurrectioN affairs, a few things are guaranteed: The soundtrack will be harsh, the vibe will be debaucherous, and the patrons will be freakishly fun. The latter will be especially true during the Friday, August 2, edition of…
Trevvor Riley is presumably a very busy guy. Not very long ago at all, we were talking about Emby Alexander’s new single, “Drag the Long Way Home,” its Riley-directed video and the caveworms therein. Earlier this month, Vial of Sound got its own precision-creepy treatment, for “The Day We Both…
by Aaron Thompson Hollywood Alley has always been just another bar to me. Since I relocated to the Phoenix area about four months ago, the bar, located in an unassuming strip mall at the Tempe-Mesa border always seemed like a potential suburban gem of hidden filth and rock ‘n’ roll…
