Dear Spence, When your singer, who goes by the name of Daniel David Spence on Facebook, first approached me on Facebook to become my “friend,” I strongly considered accepting his request to friend me. After all, I work in digital marketing as a social media strategist, and I accept everyone…
Twenty-five years ago, the Phoenix hip-hop scene was virtually nonexistent. That’s when Irin Daniels — taking the name IROC — got involved, and since that time, he’s become one of the most respected hip-hop entities in Arizona. If you have had any semblance of a hip-hop career in this state,…
Editor’s Note: It’s not every day that a band capable of filling arenas headlines a gig at the (comparatively) intimate Marquee Theatre. But that’s exactly what’s going down tonight, when the Bieber-bashing, ¡Uno-¡Dos!-¡Tre! -releasing Green Day heads to Tempe for a sold-out show. Critical consensus can be pretty mixed when…
Once a week, Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See New Times’ print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…
Steven “Slippe” Lueder and Jesse Hudson aren’t lacking for ambition. The duo, who come together to create EDM bangers under the name Drunk Dial — are quick to tout what makes their EDM different from most of what’s out there. “The way I like to describe it is like, ‘If…
Chances are, if you’re a weekly reader of Metal Mondays here at Up on the Sun, you don’t think of metalheads as thickheaded, grotesque, and crude Neanderthals. You know metal fans can be smart, erudite, and witty. Still, among the pop masses, there’s a prevailing attitude that metal listeners are…
Holy crap! What a weekend. We had the soggy but stellar Carnaval Eléctrico with Cold War Kids, Hanni El Khatib, Mergence, and more at Crescent Ballroom, the raucous Rampage Fest with Nü Sensae, White Lung, Allah-Las, and more at Sail Inn, and a thoroughly enjoyable but exhausting performance by Matt…
By now, you know the scoop regarding New Times’ Carnaval Eléctrico at Crescent Ballroom: It rained — a lot — but performances by pop princes Diners, the soulful Stan Devereaux and the Funky Suns, hard rockers Mergence, garage kingpin Hanni El Khatib, indie combo Cold War Kids, and more, made…
After nearly a decade, Celtic folk punkers Flogging Molly have become a St. Paddy’s Day staple in Tempe. The band’s anthems — “What’s Left of the Flag,” “Devil’s Dance Floor,” and “Salty Dog” — pull double duty each year at Tempe Beach Park, serving both the energetic moshers and the…
Matt & Kim @ Marquee Theatre|3/9/13I woke up Saturday eager to see Matt and Kim. My boyfriend suggested passing some time by catching a movie. Hell, why not? So, off to Oz the Great and Powerful — fucking worst movie I have ever put money toward. Oh, wait, my boyfriend…
Rampage Fest, ft. Dune Rats, Wax Idols, Nü Sensae, Allah-Las, and More @ Sail Inn|3/8/13The platter of varying delights that is Rampage Fest, a collection of SxSW-bound bands passing through the desert, offered a taste of beach-crashed pop-punk, sonically loyal garage rock, and blistering hardcore. Under normal circumstances, bills like…
Carnaval Eléctrico ft. Cold War Kids, Hanni El Khatib, Mergence, Stan Devereaux & The Funky Suns, Diners, and More @ Crescent Ballroom|3/8/13It’s awesome when everything goes right at a show: great lineup, great venue, and great concept. But, as the crowd at Friday night’s sold-out Carnaval Eléctrico festival proved, sometimes…
Soft Moon @ Crescent Ballroom|3/7/13Funny what stray pills you can uncover in a fit of spring cleaning. This 20 milligram of Adderall. A dented Xanax bar. Where did all these Percocet come from? And what’s this red-brown gelcap floating in my desk drawer? So down it goes. It could be…
What exactly is going on with Rips’ monthly Britpop/’80s/new wave event, Obscura Dance Night? The party’s official Facebook page has vanished, followed by a flurry of subsequent “new” Obscura Facebook pages, which have all since been taken down. An event page for this month’s dance party, which features a live…
Dfactor is always writing new songs and like all pop-infected minds, he’s a sucker for self-deprecation and introspective topics. He’s also highly sensitive to the world around him. So if his new single, “Yes & No Girl,” is any indicator, it looks like Dave is in a pretty good place…
It is a recurring event in my life that whenever I hear a new song by former Tempe, currently Los Angeles-based songwriter Tom Filardo, it becomes my favorite song for a week. The last time this happened was when I saw the music video for “I Don’t Getcha Kid” at…
Chad HorstmanHorstman is the CEO of Yandy.com, an online lingerie and costume retailer.When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? The radio is pretty bad. I usually stream Pandora.What’s the first album you bought? Bon Jovi.What’s the first concert…
We’re just a little bit biased about the best way to spend your weekend here in Phoenix. New Times’ Carnaval Electrico with Cold War Kids, Mergence, Hanni El Khatib, and more, is clearly awesome, but get this: There are other cool things going on around town. No joke. Rampage Fest…
We have the unfortunate task of reporting some tragic news today that’s bound to sadden many. Local DJ and musician Thom Gabaldon, who performed off and on over the years as darksouldealer, passed away early this morning after succumbing to cancer. He was 44 years old. As many of his…
Whirr @ Trunk Space | 3/6/13I don’t want to be a shallow critic, but there’s no denying the Whirr’s firm place in the shoegaze section of the record store. They are knee-deep in the genre tropes: the excessive delay and reverb, the lead guitar doing some twinkly thing while the…
It’s not easy being beautiful. Just ask Zac Pennington, frontman of experimental pop group Parenthetical Girls, whose vocal strains fall halfway between Perfume Genius and Lightspeed Champion, complemented with the baroque pop stylings of Belle and Sebastian. Pennington, known for his gender-neutral lyrics and his Morrissey-borrowed wit, pens some brutally…
When March rolls around, the bum rush of SxSW season is a boon for Phoenix: All the West Coasters streaking toward beer-soaked Austin need gas money to brave the barren west Texas stretch, often resulting in mass pit stops in the desert. Rampage Fest, organized on a spotty year-to-year basis…
