She and him and them and them and him and her and them are playing in Phoenix this week, and all of them are a part of our five must-see Phoenix shows this week. You’re bound to like one of those pronouns, if only you give it a chance…
If you weren’t able to make it to Circus Mexicus earlier this month you’ll have another chance, this week, to catch one of the festival’s best acts, Shurman. Based out of Austin, Shurman spends little time at home–they tour the country relentlessly, spreading their shared love of music to pockets…
Extreme metalheads have at least two festivals on their calendars for this fall. Each promises a collision of heavy metal and horror, and both are looking very exciting. The first is the inaugural Housecore Horror Film Festival on October 24-27 in Austin, hosted by none other than Down/Pantera front man…
If I believed in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an institution or even an argument settler, I would insinuate myself as one of their exhibit planners and make sure there was a “Worst Dads in Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” created every June. Why? Because for…
The Black MoodsRockBar Inc., ScottsdaleJune 15, 2013 Old Town Scottsdale came alive last night when The Black Moods blew the roof off Rockbar. On the street, the usual busy social scene of Scottsdale seemed mellow for a Saturday night. But inside, it was apparent word of mouth had spread, emptying…
Country music queen Jessi Colter is both outspoken and well spoken. The esteemed chanteuse and Arizona native, widely considered to be one of the grand dames of the genre, speaks quite eloquently and loquaciously of both of her storied 43-year career in country music and her many experiences along the…
Kanye West’s new opus Yeezus has leaked, and with it a map of the latest locations where he’ll be projecting his face. Bad news: After getting a “New Slaves” of our very own in the second round of the first set of projections, Phoenix got stiffed for Friday’s festivities. You’ll…
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals Celebrity Theatre (View the full slideshow.) Thursday, June 6, 2013 Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are a band of many talents, combining songs that could have been ’70s rock anthems with Potter’s powerhouse vocals, exuding blues, country, and pop flair. The band’s musical variety attracted…
Local synth-rockers The Holy Coast know something about today’s average music consumer: mainly that they have the attention spans of gnats. The trio comprised of Keith Walker, Brett Davis and Braden McCall recently put on their first live performance and have completed their debut album, but they’re still carefully calculating…
Ronnie Styles hasn’t sported long-ass dreadlocks for years, but he’s still just as big into reggae culture and Rastafarianism as during his kinky-haired days, if not moreso. As such, the 32-year-old busies himself with spinning irie and dub sounds as DJ Jon Dread at The Sail Inn’s Reggae Roots Unwind…
That Tupac hologram probably gave the whole industry a scare, but for the moment it looks like tribute bands are safely ensconced as the only way you’ll be able to see, say, Pantera live. A night of cover bands at the Marquee, don’t-call-it-chillwave at Last Exit Live, the less-wordy parts…
Somewhere outside of Phoenix, in the blistering desert, towering rock and roll legends of the past buried a time capsule containing the key to a long lost sound. Through perseverance, talent and brilliance, The Black Moods from Tempe, AZ seem to have uncovered that capsule and tapped into the secrets…
The Thermals Crescent Ballroom Wednesday, June 12, 2013 If you like The Ramones, you probably would have loved last night’s show. I know that’s a lofty comparison, but Portland DIY pop punk trio The Thermals performed relatively simple but uber-catchy songs that kept the crowd moving throughout its 20 song…
“Free at Dawn,” the opening song of Small Black’s second full-length album, is the sound of a band reclaiming itself at the start of a new day. Gone is much of what characterized the band’s eponymous 2008 EP and 2010 debut album New Chain — the chill synths and preset…
As far as I’m concerned, people who don’t ever listen to albums are music lightweights. By “albums”, I don’t mean actual vinyl records. I couldn’t care less which configuration or delivery method you chose. I mean a specific group of songs in a certain order. As it is, I don’t…
It’s been something like eight years since the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion gave us a full-length musical offering. More than worth the wait, their new release, Meat and Bone, is as dynamic and explosive as any of the trio’s previous recordings. Whether they’re ratcheting up the notch on the tension…
Few metal bands rocked as hard as Pantera, and few of the many tribute bands that try to project their image on stage are up to the task. The biggest Pantera tribute bands are either appreciated or hated, and most of them don’t even merit consideration. On stage, Arizona’s Cowboys…
It wasn’t until Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s seminal work on Paul Simon’s Grammy-winning Graceland that the world truly took notice of the South African a capella group, but the ensemble’s been on a cross-cultural journey from the moment the members came together in the early 1960s. In the years since, they’ve…
If you’re going to be a quasi-one-hit-wonder in the United States — at least as far as Casey Kasem is concerned — you could hardly do better for name recognition than these shrewd Scots, who had the IQ to enshrine forevermore their band’s name in the title of said hit,…
She climbed the entertainment ladder by writing songs for artists like Britney Spears and Flo Rida before releasing her debut album, Animal, in 2010, and its follow-up, Warrior, in 2012. To this day, her party anthem “Tik Tok” is the second-best-selling digital single in history. Her live performances are known…
It could be the dance moves, or the tight pants, or the man-of-the-people lyrics. It could be that video with Courteney Cox in it. Whatever it is, people — ordinary, otherwise law-abiding people — cannot resist rushing the stage at Bruce Springsteen concerts. It’s a phenomenon that’s led journalist and…
It’s been more than a decade since legendary crooner Waylon Jennings shuffled loose the mortal coil and headed for the big honky-tonk in the sky, leaving behind an ample discography of 50-something albums of magnificent down-home material and a heritage as one of country’s bona fide outlaws. According to local…
