Curious about what's going on around town this weekend? Need some suggestions where to rock, dance, or krump in the Valley of the Sun?
Don't fret: These are our Five Shows to See This Weekend.
Friday, September 14: Krewella @ Wild Knight
The mission of Chicago-based EDM trio Krewella is quite simple: They want you to lose your shit when listening to their shit. In order to do so, says vocalist/producer Yasmine Yousaf, they've injected their remixes of songs like Knife Party's "Fire Hive" or such original tracks as "Feel Me" and "Killin' It" with unhinged emotion and raw energy, as well as bombastic beats.
"What we've always wanted to do with our music is to evoke this craziness in people and make them go nuts," she says. "And the best way we know how to that is by making the craziest music we can think of, using sounds and lyrics that are really evocative of a certain energy and emotion paired with crazy beats."
Krewella, which also includes Yousaf's older sister Jahan and beatmaker Rainman, also grafts in a certain raw sexiness to its dubstep-heavy electro-house jams, which help them accomplish the goal of "making you wet...one song at a time" that's listed on their Facebook. But whether that means getting sweaty from raging during one of Krewella's club gigs or perhaps another bodily fluid altogether is something we'll leave up to you to decide.
You can do so when the act hits Wild Knight, 4405 North Saddlebag Trail, for this week's episode of Sound Kitchen on Friday, September 14. DJ Tranzit and Brett Ortiz will also perform. -- Benjamin Leatherman
Friday, September 14: OFF! @ Martini Ranch
Anyone who's braved the blitzkrieg that is hardcore supergroup OFF!'s self-titled bruiser, released on Vice Records earlier this year, knows that Keith Morris fits a lot of content into little spaces. Cramming 16 furious songs into just over 15 minutes, Morris and company (Dimitri Coats of Burning Brides, Mario Rubalcaba of Earthless/Rocket from the Crypt/Hot Snakes, and Steven Shane McDonald of Redd Kross) inspire the sort of reckless energy Morris' albums with the Circle Jerks and Black Flag did. Our conversation followed suite -- with Morris getting in as many lyrical jabs and jokes as he could during our half-hour conversation.
The band plays Scottsdale's Martini Ranch, and Morris is unfazed by the idea of performing in the heart of the club district. "If that's the party section, we'll just be bringing our flavor," Morris says, his voice dripping with Californian attitude. "We'll bring our own party favors." It has to be less stressful than his last visit to Arizona, when ¾ of OFF! found itself on the wrong side of an Arizona lawman. Read more about the arrest.-- Jason P. Woodbury
Friday, September 14: Sutekh Hexen, Gog, Lusitania, & Fanapth @ Yucca Tap Room
San Franciscan trio Sutekh Hexen does a neat trick: they lull you into a daze with droning blankets of sound, then unleash a white-noise blast of black metal distortion, effectively caving in your head and jerking you out of that contemplative zone.
They do this, to great success, on "Isvar Savasana," the opening track from their latest, Larvae, released by a small-batch label Handmade Birds in early 2012. But the band shows off its real power with "La Det Bli Lys," a 15-minute orchestra that showcases the band's non-metal influences (Fleetwood Mac, John Fahey), and shows admirable restraint, never breaking into the full-on rager it could, instead dwelling in a subdued pool of crackling fuzz.
Is it metal? Is it "occult experimental" (a term the band uses to describe its sound)? It's hard to say, but it's undoubtedly the work of dedicated craftsmen. -- Jason P. Woodbury
Saturday, September 15: Little Feat @ Talking Stick Resort
Back in 1969, when Little Feat was originally formed by keyboardist Bill Payne and the just-fired Mothers of Invention guitarist Lowell George, 40-year-old bands didn't exist. Yet 43 years later, Little Feat's still cranking out their original brand of southern boogie that merges funk, jazz, blues, gospel, folk, soul, rock and New Orleans' unique rhythmic pulse. Perhaps even more surprising is just how fresh and vibrant the music remains on Rooster Rag, the group's latest effort.
When, at just 34, George died of a heart attack in 1979, the band effectively did as well. But Little Feat's popularity never waned, and the remaining members reformed in 1987, releasing the acclaimed Let It Roll. Though the band experienced some lean times in the 1990s, and juggled a rotating cast of vocalists, the musical turpitude of core (and current) members Payne, Sam Clayton, Paul Barrere, Kenny Gradney, and Fred Tackett (who joined in 1987), plus the recently deceased drummer Richie Hayward, kept the group's decisive groove flowing.
Now it's 2012--the perfect moment for the latest revival as the band's re-energized outlook and vintage sound should remind people why Little Feat formed in the first place: To boogie all night long. -- Glenn BurnSilver
Sunday, September 16: Octopus Nebula @ Sail Inn
Capturing the moments and energy of a psychedelic rock show on an album isn't easy, but Octopus Nebula has managed to do just that on its full-length debut, Through the Next Door. Right from the start, "Robin Your Mind" introduces the band with a deep, ritualistic chant before the truest display of O-Neb's composing and songwriting talent comes through on cuts like "Old School Days," "Octopied" and the title track, which all culminate in jam-satisfying crescendos.
Toward the end of the album, "Asoyo" goes a little heavy on the vocal-distortion effects of a soothing female voice, while "Anahata," the mild-tempered closer, complements the high-energy, fast-paced songs that make up the core of Through the Next Door. -- Britt Chester
