It’s bad enough to pay full-meal prices for a soda at a concert, but when even the show’s headliner is selling you something, you know you’re being manipulated. Before the popular country artists Lady Antebellum took the stage at Ak-Chin Pavillon on Saturday night, the trio consisting of Hillary Scott,…
Songwriter Dan Stuart has been at it for more than three decades, but his upcoming album, Marlowe’s Revenge, shows he’s still in full possession of his verve, ranking among his finest albums with Green on Red, the band he founded in the early ’80s, which brilliantly straddled the lines between desert rock,…
Concertgoers that are of legal drinking age might want to raise a toast to The Nile Theater the next time they’re at the downtown Mesa venue, since it’s achieved a major milestone recently. And thanks to the nature of said milestone, it oughta be a pretty easy thing to do…
Mitchell Hillman listens to more local music than just about anyone in the Valley. He presents his picks for best new songs in his column, Right Hear, Right Now. Merit – “Take Care” I try to keep pretty close tabs on the bands I enjoy, but somehow, Merit was able…
Controversial, ego-driven, demanding, and at times excessive, Billy Corgan has never ceased to do whatever the hell he wants. Recently, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman publicly lamented the fact that his career-long fans still “live in the past” because they want to hear music from Gish, the band’s 1991 debut album…
Every Wednesday is Heritage Hump Day! That’s because every Wednesday from now to the end of the year or before someone really big stops us, Heritage Hump Records (a temporary subsidiary of Onus Records) and New Times will be bringing you a limited edition collector’s item of a much beloved…
Going to a BroLoaf show is like nothing else you can experience around Phoenix. A BroLoaf show is like a full contact sport, complete with all of the free beer and barbecue you can eat. Really, it’s a win-win for everyone, unless you get pulled over on your way home…
There’s no mistaking the popping horns, staccato guitar licks and gritty lyrics pushing the infectious dance groove that’s the English Beat Now, some 30-plus years after the band’s last proper release (there have been at least a half-dozen hits albums), Here We Go Love is being readied. “I can’t believe…
On one of the last, sickeningly hot days of June, Numb Bats are a little on edge. The punk trio are still deciding on a set list for their gig at the Echo in Los Angeles while also trying to wrap up an EP and prep for an extensive Midwestern…
I have a modest proposal that I doubt many of you will cotton to: It’s time to critically re-evaluate nu metal. You remember nu metal, right? Chugging riffs. Grunted vocals. Big pants. Soul patches. It’s one of the last remaining mutations of rock that no one has bothered to pick…
Here are the best concerts happening in Phoenix this week. For more options, browse our comprehensive concert calendar. Lonna Kelley – Valley Bar – Wednesday, July 8 Kelley surmises that to her, happiness means freedom. Her new EP, Take Me Home Spiderman, is a record about the ideal: freedom from…
The way Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy kept bringing up the heat at the band’s performance at Salt River Fields, you’d think the Deadheads who had descended upon their hometown of Chicago the same night had banished the group to perform outdoors in the sweltering summer heat of Arizona as punishment for…
It seemed like only a few years ago that dance music had a slow, dying pulse in the American scene. Boy, how times have changed. Since 2011, dance music has gone gangbusters with an estimated net worth in the U.S. that’s well into the billions of dollars. Someday, when our…
In June of this year, Robin Wilson of the Gin Blossoms quietly decided it was time to close the doors of Uranus Recording of Tempe, the small studio he’s operated for more than 20 years. In late 1994, the Gin Blossoms moved into the quiet, historical spot along Eighth Street…
Phoenix’s (and quite possibly the world’s) only klezmer funk band, Jerusafunk, is all about firsts in the summer of 2015. Not only will J-Funk put on the first great local show of the summer — along with the Stakes, the Hill in Mind, and Pro Teens on Thursday, July 2,…
Over the past five years, Slayer’s world has been turned inside out. But proudly displaying what they’re made of has always been the band’s strong suit—2015 might just mark one of the most raw, visceral and vulnerable transitions for the band in its 30-plus year career so far. Touring extensively…
To say that Lee Greenwood digs this time of year would be an understatement. Not only does the country crooner and avowed patriot get to show his love for ‘Murica every Fourth of July, he also probably makes mad royalties since his 1984 hit, “God Bless the USA,” tends to…
“I’m starting to get really nervous about the show,” Wilco bassist John Stirratt says from Maine when asked if the band’s booking agent was fired for scheduling an outdoor concert in July in the desert. “We’ve played in some pretty harsh environments, but I’ve had more people ask me about…
Arizona has certainly provided a lot of fodder for cable television comedy shows and comedians over the past few years. In fact, we’ve been the butt of many a well-timed joke over the last decade or so from such Comedy Central yukksters as Daniel Tosh, Dave Attell, and outgoing host of…
Yo, you wanna smoke some weed? Chances are, this is the first thing you’ll hear from HotRock SupaJoint once he walks through the door. This particular Saturday night, he’s crashing through the gates of Chop N Wok, a Chinese takeout bar in North Scottsdale. The instant the tall, gangly rapper…
Kanye West will cap off this year’s Summer Ends Music Festival, when the rapper is scheduled to play Tempe Beach Park on Sunday, September 27. Performing with Ye will be Chance the Rapper, Travis Scott, Vic Mensa, and Kaytranada. The announcement is yet another big get for Lucky Man Concerts…
Let’s face it: As a Valley resident, life as you know it right now is all about seeking refuge in a series of refrigerated boxes until the scorch outside subsides enough to become tolerable. Its a sad state of affairs, frankly, but is just one of the realities of surviving…
