Huge and old-timey show announcement today: The Decemberists will play Mesa Arts Center on August 11.The date comes at the end of the Portland indie-folk act’s extended summer tour, which is in support of their January record, The King Is Dead. No support for this date announced yet but other…
Song: The New Pornographers, “Your Hands (Together)”Context: The New Pornographers will play Marquee Theatre tonight. New Pornographers – (Your Hands Together) by Perriquin79…
Christwire has issued a hilarious warning about Coachella titled “Coachella is a Festival of Disease and Sin. Your Children Most Likely Will Die.”The satirical site — that means it’s not real, folks — begins by describing the California festival as “a concert event for neo hippies, naked beer drinkers and drug addicts. Each year…
Mack DuncanThe improviser, filmmaker, puppeteer, teacher, co-founder of The Torch Theatre and creator of the web series Vincent and Me helped organize the Phoenix Improv Festival this weekend at the Herberger Theater. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right…
Is Weezy sober as good as the Weezy who was getting blazed and freestyling about Al Sharpon in a 9 minute song? Now that Lil Wayne is out of jail and on probation he’s supposed to stay straight, which is bound to have an impact on his work. So is…
Tom Hanks has big plans to move American Idiot into movie theaters, according to Consequence of Sound.Considering that Hanks and the guys of Green Day are involved in the film, there’s little doubt that it’ll bring a lot of people into theaters. Plus, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong is…
Score one for Zack de la Rocha, Javier Gonzalez and the Sound Strike.Steve Earle has bowed to intense pressure from organizers of a boycott of Arizona related to an immigration law that will never take effect, postponing his upcoming Arizona show indefinitely.In a statement, Earle says he was “under the…
Song: The Stone Foxes, “I Killed Robert Johnson” Context: San Francisco’s Stone Foxes have been impressing us for awhile. Glad to see them back in town tonight opening for The Black Keys. I Killed Robert Johnson by The Stone Foxes…
It’s not often an NBA star can be described as “the short one” in a group photo, but check out this picture of Phoenix Suns star Steve Nash meeting Canadian indie rock outfit Arcade Fire before their show at Comerica Theatre last night.Yup, Nash is the short one on the…
Lil Wayne emerged from Rikers Island late last year. Now, owing to the terms of his probation, he must lay off drugs and liquor for three years or else return to prison. By all accounts, he’s kept kosher. For the man who once composed a love song to his purple…
There is life after American Idol — even if you finish in 12th place amid whispers that you’ve spent time bumping and grinding at a gay strip club. Or so it appears for David Hernandez, the Valley native living in Los Angeles who was a seventh-season contestant. Hernandez has returned…
This week, New Times ran a list in our print publication highlighting some of the most interesting posts published at Up On The Sun over the past week.Here are links to those posts. What happens when a Rebecca Black fan lash out at a New Times blogger? What’s the real…
Song:Local Natives, “Shape Shifter”Context: Local Natives who are actually natives of Los Angeles, will open for Arcade Fire tonight. Here’s one of the better tracks from their Gorilla Manor record, which you can stream in its entirety here. Shape Shifter by Local Natives by infectiousmusicuk…
Music photography can often be a static thing. You’ve no doubt seen the promo shots: bands scowling, arms crossed in front of a brick wall, that one guy staring away from the camera in a real meaningful way. But occasionally something happens in the middle between the visual and the…
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Song: Arcade Fire, “Sprawl II” (Mountains Beyond Mountains – Tommie Sunshine’s Quaalude Mix)Context: Arcade Fire. Comerica Theatre. Tomorrow. Arcade Fire – Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) [Tommie Sunshine’s Quaalude Edit] by tommiesunshine…
The Sound Strike has hit a rough patch.Yesterday, a federal appeals court again blocked SB 1070, which you can read all about on our Feathered Bastard blog, meaning the extremist Arizona immigration law will likely never take effect. That’s great news for people who support the state’s migrant community, but…
Were you at the big Soundwave Music Festival at Big Surf this weekend?If so, check out our photos here. While you’re browsing through those photos maybe play a little Where’s Waldo with the face of Up On The Sun cartoonist Robbie Pfeffer.Pfeffer hadn’t been to a rave in several years,…
Lady Gaga fell off of her piano at her Houston show on April 8 but continued to sing throughout the fall as though it didn’t even happen, according to Billboard.Gaga straddled her burning piano mid-song during the Born This Way track “You and I,” lost her balance, hit her knees…
The last time we caught up with the Meat Puppets it was mostly to talk about the ‘Arizona scene’ after a rough week at Austin’s South by Southwest music conference.Regrettably, I didn’t even mention the band’s new record Lollipop in that piece. But, yes, the Puppets put out a brand…
Leading the way, then, for today’s new releases is Nine Types of Light, the fourth album from Brooklyn indie rockers TV on the Radio. The band has been cursed with the Midas Touch since their debut album as seemingly everything they produce instantly turns to gold. 2006’s Return To Cookie…
RAC (Remix Artist Collective) are playing Bar Smith on May 6. Not familiar with RAC? Well you’re certainly familiar with the artists they’ve remixed — U2, Radiohead, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, John Lennon, The Shins, and Pink Floyd, among a ton of others.The Collective is pretty populist, tackling indie acts like…
