On a sweltering Sunday night in early May, a young-skewing crowd of roughly 50 black-clad hardcore fans packed around the tiny stage in the sweaty basement of the Nile Theater in Mesa. The main attraction of the evening was Georgia screamo band Circle Takes the Square, but this crowd was…
Whether it’s through his digital design work or his post-rock music outfit, A Cloud for Climbing (AC4C), Brock Lefferts has one goal in mind: “organically distorting what is perfect.” In AC4C, Lefferts flies solo, using audio software Ableton Live to manufacture loops and beats for him to play alongside on…
Bandleader Sergio Mendoza was born in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, but crossed the U.S./Mexico border to the American side of the city (in Arizona) when he was 8 years old. He moved north to Tucson at 18. He formed Sergio Mendoza y la Orkesta in 2009, banding together a group of…
Summer is only in its infancy and we’re already more than eager for its end. Not only because we won’t be sweating it out in a pizza oven writ large, but also because there are a few big outdoor concerts scheduled to take place, the most prominent of which was…
#477130465 / gettyimages.com Record Store Day has come and gone. By all accounts, it went well and my indie record store geek brethren was elated. Beautiful. See also: 10 Best Record Stores in Metro Phoenix However, as I suggested in my last column, to really appreciate record stores, you can’t…
Michele Chinichian knows a thing or three about throwing a boffo birthday bash. For proof, look no further than the magically delicious affair she threw in honor of her own b-day in January, which overflowed with unicorns, balloons, rainbow-colored party favors, and other playful revelry. Chinichian, who performs as DJ…
Gone (hopefully) are the days when underground rockers like Kathleen Hanna, Exene Cervenka, Kim Deal, and Kim Gordon needed to prove themselves as musicians. It’s no longer about women in rock; it’s just about women making good rock. Oh, and having a damn good time doing it. It’s one of…
Last time MarchFourth Marching Band graced Phoenix was in 2012 at Crescent Ballroom — and it went through hell to get there. The Portland band’s tour bus — carrying a troupe of about 30 performers — broke down just as it rolled into town. Midway through a sweaty show for…
You could say Andrew Jackson Jihad — once an acoustic folk punk duo now a five-piece rock ‘n’ roll machine — is going places. After five studio albums, two tours with Frank Turner (including a stint in Europe), sharing stages with Against Me! and Future of the Left, plus an…
Courtesy Flickr user Casey Hugelfink We all know it, but it’s time to show it. Urban Outfitters is a creative wasteland, a shortsighted cul-de-sac of trends and trash culture bent for capital gain — one large, unthinking slab of cultural masturbation. But, by and large, it’s a beast we feed…
Paul McCartney announced new dates for his Out There tour, and guess what? Phoenix is one of them. The former Beatle will play US Airways Center on August 12. Tickets go on sale Monday, May 5, at 10 a.m. and can be purchased through Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and the box…
It’s going to be a big weekend for DJ McBoy — and a very “electric” one at that. The 21-year-old is scheduled to perform at tonight’s Summer Electric party over at the Arizona Event Center in Mesa, followed by a gig on the local stage during the first day of…
Creatures of habit are often seen as boring, but that isn’t the case with Blue Öyster Cult. The band has made a career out of a particular routine: forging new paths and experimenting with the unknown. Since their self-titled debut album in 1972, the band has sold more than 24…
Dandys rule, okay? They have never not ruled, they still rule, and I suspect they always will. Turning 20 years old, Portland’s premier rock band, the Dandy Warhols, can claim one of its generation’s most eccentric careers, making the quartet one of the last great rock ‘n’ roll acts in…
Plenty of bands profess bizarre origins, but few are quite as violent as Samuel L Cool J. According to the Phoenix-based group, lead vocalist Haendel Balzora and rhythm guitarist Joel Marquard teamed up after assassinating each other’s respective gang leaders, “Bernardo” and “Tony.” Instead of the electric chair, an extremely…
Few people in popular music today are as prolific as Robert Pollard. Pollard is best known as the leader of the influential indie rock band Guided by Voices, a low-fi legend whose albums are densely packed with pocket-size exercises in hooky rock magic, and he’s also released a steady stream…
Summer in the Phoenix Valley doesn’t wait for any official proclamation — it just comes on hard in early May. With that in mind, the Musical Instrument Museum’s summer concert series officially begins May 1. “We get some of the greatest [musicians in the world] here,” MIM music director Lowell…
Record Store Day is tomorrow. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when my editor said, “Hey, maybe you can write something about Record Store Day.” Makes sense. I do write under the moniker Record Store Geek. It’s just that my editor has only asked me for one specific column in…
Sorry to harsh your mellow, stoners, but we’ve got some bad news. If you were planning to attend the three-day Arizona 420 Festival this weekend at the Crowne Plaza Hotel — including seeing Fishbone or any of the four dozen other acts booked to play the event — said plans…
Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to…
Since Chromeo’s formation almost a decade ago, the band has become a leader in dance music with its innovative, modern take on funk. Most notably, the group’s third album, 2010’s Business Casual, released hits like “Hot Mess” and “Don’t Turn the Lights On.” Chromeo’s fourth studio album, White Women, is…
The first record store I worked in (and eventually co-owned for a time) was located on a dead-end side street in a nondescript beige building with no signage. It was down a poorly lit hallway and inside a converted 90-square-foot bathroom. A CD hung from the still-protruding showerhead. Random promo…
