Oak Creek Music Festival @ Sedona’s Martini Bar

Looking for their place in Sedona culture somewhere between the vortexes and sweat lodges, the spiritual city’s musicians find a way to nestle their love for pan flute into everyday interactions. Need to go to the grocery store? Boom. Pan flutist. Heading out to the bar to have a raucous…

Lukas Nelson @ Celebrity Theatre

It’s not just physical resemblances that bind and reveal family ties. My little brother just got married in a lovely ceremony at the Botanical Gardens, and though we look alike, more than a few people I’d never met before knew I was my brother’s brother just by hearing my voice…

The Henry Clay People @ Crescent Ballroom

This year, bands like Japandroids and JEFF the Brotherhood have offered varied flavors of back-to-basics rock, all of them commendable in their unselfconscious energy. But it comes at a time where some baldly question the relevance of the stadium rock ethos. Frenzied power-chord jammers The Henry Clay People, hailing from…

Talib Kweli @ Club Red

In 1998, pioneering hip-hoppers Mos Def and Talib Kweli teamed up for Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star. Call it conscious rap or backpack rap if you must; we prefer to call it one of the best hip-hop records of the ’90s. In the 14 years since the…

Christopher Lawrence @ Monarch Theatre

With the zeitgeist celebrating any and all things EDM, trance has sort of fallen by the wayside in favor of more fashionable electro-house and dubstep. Europeans still go bonkers for the heart-pounding haywire style, born in German clubs in the early 1990s and championed by Armin van Buuren and Paul…

Club Candids: Bliss/ReBar

Bliss/ReBar is a great place to relax on the patio with a group of friends while people watching and sipping a fruity drink. The bar attracts a diverse, yet friendly crowd of folks who want to hang out, grab a bite, or perhaps dance if the right song is playing…

Are Casino Concerts Guaranteed to Suck?

See also: You Ready for the State Fair? A Guide to the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum Schedule (feat. Adam Lambert, Weezer, Jane’s Addiction, and More) See also: Joan Jett @ Talking Stick Resort I’ve always considered casino venues at the bottom of a musician’s career, just above the state fair circuit…

The Gathering of the Juggalos 2012 Lineup Is Pretty Good. Really!

See also: Soulfly and Fear Factory to Play The Gathering of the Juggalos See also: Seven Awesome Things About The Gathering of the Juggalos 2011 See also: FBI Report Officially Classifies Juggalos a Hybrid Gang; Arizona Boasts “Strong Juggalo Presence” Okay guys, so hear me out. I.C.P.’s The Gathering of…

Tempe Band Vial of Sound Is Obsessed With Analog

Tempe’s Josh Gooday is obsessed: The 29-year-old collects and restores vintage analog synthesizers. “I started going to law school and spending all of my loan money on buying synthesizers, and it just started to get out of control,” Gooday says. The habit eventually gave Gooday and his friends an unlikely…

J-Diggs @ Celebrity Theatre

J-Diggs is paying forward a debt laid on him by close friend Mac Dre, who was shot and killed on a Kansas City highway eight years ago. Born Jamal Diggs in North Vallejo, California, Diggs had success rapping at an early age but deferred to his Crest neighborhood buddy Mac…

The Jacksons @ Comerica Theatre

The Jacksons have a reputation as the most dysfunctional family in pop, but the name of their outing, The Unity Tour, is nothing cheeky or ironic. Except for a 2001 one-off show at Madison Square Garden, “Unity” is their first since 1989. It’s been a rocky road for the brothers:…

Jason Anderson @ Trunk Space

Jason Anderson’s been quiet and he’s been loud, but you would never accuse him of not being earnest. Anderson was attending Clark College in Portland during the mid-’90s when an Elliott Smith performance inspired him to make music. He eventually started noisy, hook-laden twee-tinged rockers Wolf Colonel and released several…

Rebecca and Fiona @ Wild Knight

Swedish EDM duo Rebecca and Fiona are excited about coming to America. Like, really excited. “It’s so fun to come to America, [where EDM] is exploding, where the big audiences are,” says Fiona Fitzpatrick. “Honestly, it’s a bit scary because it’s so out of control. We’re used to playing to…

Doomsday @ Sanctum

Better live it up while you can, because there may be just less than six months left until Armageddon. At least, that’s the belief that all those wacked-out prepper and nutjobs spouting bunk about the end of the Mayan long-count calendar. It makes for riveting late-night radio fodder on Coast…

Flier of the Week: Peachcake

As you might be able to infer from the colorful vikings on the flier, Peachcake is pretty stoked for their upcoming trip to Norway.To spread the love before they get to Europe, they’ll be gigging on Wednesday, July 11, at the Monarch Theatre. Doctor Bones, Paperbird, and Wino Vino will…

Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson to Headline KUPD’s Desert Uprising

See also: We Chat with John Holmberg About “Mom Farts” See also: A Closer Look at KUPD’s MILF Contest Phoenix heavy music fans, prepare to bust out the heavy metal sex playlist and celebrate: KUPD has announced Desert Uprising, a huge, two-day metal festival headed to Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion…

Flier of the Week: The Life Aquatic

Psyko Steve is throwing another wet and wild pool party that is not to be missed. This time it’s going down at The Saguaro in Scottsdale. Taking place on Sunday, July 8, the event will be a great day to wind down your weekend.By the looks of the flier, it’ll be…

The Earps @ Marquee Theatre

Locally, The Earps are a familiar name, but the past couple years, have been something of a transition period for the “whateverbilly” band. Gigs have been somewhat sparse, and the group nearly disbanded after five committed years. “Everything we wanted to do we accomplished,” says guitarist/vocalist Kevin “Hotwheels” McGregor. “We…