The Black Keys with Cage The Elephant and Stone Foxes Mesa Amphitheatre Thursday April 14, 2011 The duo is dead. That fact hadn’t occurred to me until about ten songs into The Black Keys set at Mesa Ampitheatre last night when I realized the band had doubled in size after a few songs…
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…
Dirty Beaches is the work of Alex Zhang Hungtai, a 30-year-old born in Taiwan before spending time in Hawaii, San Francisco, New York, China, and, currently, Montreal. To call Dirty Beaches a band would be a misnomer. What Zhang Hungtai does is more akin to performance art, with live performances…
Arcade FireComerica TheatreWednesday April 13, 2011Considering his band hasn’t played a Phoenix show in nearly seven years, Arcade Fire singer Win Butler seems to have a pretty good sense of the place.That connection goes deeper than a few localized references Butler slipped into last night’s show at Comerica Theatre in…
This week’s issue of Phoenix New Times features a preview of Motown Memories, a revue show currently playing at Scottsdale’s Talking Stick Resort that features American Idol alum and Valley native David Hernandez. Check out more from the interview with Hernandez, plus videos from the show, below.New Times: Catch us…
The Beatles’ attack on American charts in the ’60s was only the first incarnation of “The British Invasion.” Like clockwork, at least one British band seemingly every decade manages to become ridiculously popular in the States — even more popular than they are across the pond. The Rolling Stones, Oasis,…
It’s been more than three years since local punk icon Jeff Dahl played his last gig in the Valley, packed up his belongings, and moved to the tropical climes of Hawaii. Dahl hasn’t played a gig since — the small island town he lives in doesn’t have a proper live…
It’s a strange time to be the Black Keys. With their five albums before 2010’s Brothers, they were critical favorites, selling more copies with each release, gaining momentum with the Danger Mouse-produced Attack and Release. When the more soul-influenced Brothers was released last year, it connected with listeners quickly, with…
Orgcore loosely defines a subgenre of punk that draws from alt-country, pop punk, and hardcore, spawned mainly by the tastes of the Punknews.org community. These PBR-drinking, flannel-wearing beardos favor sing-alongs that have the proper balance of melodic beats and gritty vocals. Fake Problems started out as a characteristic orgcore band:…
The idea that a power pop supergroup comprising mostly Canadians unheard of by many people would be wildly successful and one of the most popular indie acts around probably seems absurd. But after nearly 15 years as a band, it’s easy to take The New Pornographers for granted. With four…
Rod Stewart and Stevie Nicks make a pretty good pair for a lot of reasons. For one, both partied incredibly hard in their ’70s heydays, when Stewart fronted The Faces, arguably the finest blues rock band England ever produced, and Nicks singing in Fleetwood Mac, definitely the hardest soft-rock band…
Pinback is the introspective, gloomy brainchild of Rob Crow and Zach Smith, who have roots in a plethora of bands. Their side projects are varied (see doom metal act Goblin Cock), but Pinback, formed in 1998, is the longest-running. That’s not surprising — defined by plucking bass riffs and brooding…
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…
Holding a DJ/dance event at a strip club can be a dicey proposition for a turntable jock. No matter how pimp your talents as a selecta are, patrons are usually in the place for one reason (and it ain’t to hear you mixing it up on the ones and twos)…
THURSDAY 14 Afterlife: Thumpin Thurzdays (various) AZ/88: Josh One (rare groove, urban funk) Bar Smith: Splash Thursday (reggae, dancehall, Top 40, house) Blue Martini: Rewind Thursday with DJ Mendez (various) Bobby Q’s: All-Star Thursdays (hip-hop, Top 40) Chilly Bombers: DJ Medik (Top 40, rock, old school) Cream Stereo Lounge: Bongo…
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…
