Sometimes, it’s the simple ideas that work out the best. For their debut music video for “Speak Now,” pop punk trio Genre turned themselves into video game heroes who take on two of Arizona’s greatest villains — Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Governor Doug Ducey. They also bring many…
Mitchell Hillman listens to more local music than just about anyone in the Valley. He presents his picks for best new music in his column, Right Hear, Right Now. Foresteater – “Very Friendly People” At the start of the year Foresteater dropped its debut single “High and Bright” with a…
I was running a little late, so when I walked into The Lost Leaf to meet up with the members of Goth Brooks, the band had already arrived before me. It didn’t take me very long to recognize them. Seated at a table in the back corner of the bar…
As its name portends, Dirty Disco is what you’d call a messy experience. It’s sort of expected, given that the annual electronic dance music event takes place in the middle of Rawhide’s outdoor rodeo arena and features thousands stomping and strutting around in the dirt while DJs drop high-energy and…
The term “music industry” is an oxymoron if you understand that it’s comprised of suits unsustainably leeching off the creative people behind new sounds. Attempts to monetize self-expression eventually implode when enough money is thrown around, so the “industry” has to constantly replenish itself with what’s true, authentic and ripe…
Maybe three weeks isn’t long enough to really process the loss of a legend like Prince, because it is still more than a little unbelievable that at 57 he is now an artist formerly known as alive. But even in the face of such a tragic loss, the band must…
The first time I remember encountering Ryan Avery was at a birthday party he threw for Andy Kaufman at The Trunk Space a few years back. All the show was, was Avery dressed as Kaufman pressing play on a record player, but it was great. He organized it so there…
New Times’ monthly live reading series Bar Flies is back, this time, with a musical twist. The event happens underground and downtown at Valley Bar, but on occasion it rises above street level. This month is one of those times. The May 27 installment of the wordy shindig is headed…
He doesn’t give a shit if you confuse him with A$AP Rocky, and by some metrics, he’s got a vocabulary more unique than Shakespeare’s. He formed an anti-folk rap group with singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson and wrote a children’s book (that wasn’t kid friendly) with bearded illustrator Jeremy Fish. He’s often…
I can justify paying for an awesome show, but there’s something about having to pay for parking that makes me feel like a sucker. From $10 “special event” parking for otherwise free spots to pricey valets and parking garages — there is another way. Free parking. With a little luck…
The DIY venue Trunk Space, which has set up shop in a quirky, oddly shaped space at 1506 Grand Avenue for 12 years, is hosting its final show this Saturday, May 7. It’s the end of an era for Steph Carrico, who conceived the venue with partner JRC in 2004…
Kanye West has a long and very public history of making rash statements and failing to think through the consequences, but this might take the cake. “My album will never never never be on Apple,” West tweeted the day after the release of The Life of Pablo. “And it will never…
A local rapper and hip-hop impresario is currently in critical condition at a local hospital after being struck by a motorcyclist early this morning in Tempe. Robert Evers, better known by his stage name Bob Domestic, was severely injured when an unknown motorcycle rider hit the performer while he was…
As we predicted last month in the best monthly metal shows, those crazy April metal showers clearly yield May metal — 13 to be exact, aligning perfectly with those Friday the 13th shows as well. And this month’s list of killer shows, combined with the crazy cool weather we’ve been…
The Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) received a video invitation from Phoenix native and legendary shock rocker Alice Cooper. Cooper isn’t bringing ECC leadership to one of his shows or to see him in the studio of his radio program Nights With Alice Cooper. He is inviting attendees at Gather ’16,…
No doubt about it, we suffered two devastating music legend losses in April 2016, but it is heartwarming to know that alarmist podcasts like Infowars and websites Survivopedia.com have found the missing link between Merle Haggard and Prince and united them in death — yes, those geo-engineering chemtrails! “Just to…
When thousands of party fiends, electronic dance music fans, and members of the young-and-beautiful crowd invaded Big Surf this past weekend for Wet Electric, they came dressed for the occasion. After all, the annual EDM festival also serves as the largest pool party in Arizona, which meant that practically everyone…
The recent hiring of Joseph Specter as Arizona Opera’s new general director isn’t the first time in this last year that Phoenix and Austin have shared organizational arts leaders. Last December, the former director of the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Cory Baker, began a VP role at Austin’s…
Paper Foxes – “Indica Feels” For the first time in my recollection, three local bands have come together to put out a three-way split single in anticipation of an upcoming tour together. Paper Foxes is releasing their first song in the year since the release of their debut EP Love…
Being a self-made independent hip-hop artist in 2016 is a daunting task. It can be especially difficult if you are a 28-year-old white Jewish rapper from suburban Pennsylvania. David Burd, aka Lil Dicky, has embraced his differences rather than erase them, and as a result has carved out his own…
Strip joints are very rock ‘n’ roll kind of places. While it seems like hip-hop is largely what blasts from the sound systems at most gentlemen’s clubs in this day and age, there’s a certain seedy, sexy, and debaucherous vibe at such spots that lends itself to the decadence of…
Pool parties have become a major hallmark of the warmer months here in the Valley. So much so that it seems like every weekend during the spring and summer features a stylish poolside bacchanal of drinks, dancing, and DJs happening somewhere in either Phoenix or Scottsdale. And then there’s Wet…
