The MuseTucked into a strip mall a ways east of Tempe’s beaten path is a charming little alternative to the noisy Mill Avenue chain coffee-house scene. It has all the prerequisites for a good coffee-house experience: lots of parking, plenty of comfortable seating inside and out, and (of course) a wide selection of hot and iced […]
The MuseTucked into a strip mall a ways east of Tempe’s beaten path is a charming little alternative to the noisy Mill Avenue chain coffee-house scene. It has all the prerequisites for a good coffee-house experience: lots of parking, plenty of comfortable seating inside and out, and (of course) a wide selection of hot and iced […]
Zia Record ExchangeSomeday, sometime, somewhere, somebody is going to sell his copy of that album you’ve always wanted, but could never afford at full price. When he does, he’s gonna sell it to Zia, and Zia’s gonna sell it to you, at a big fat discount. This venerable Valley institution has better than a quarter-century of history […]
Zia Record ExchangeSomeday, sometime, somewhere, somebody is going to sell his copy of that album you’ve always wanted, but could never afford at full price. When he does, he’s gonna sell it to Zia, and Zia’s gonna sell it to you, at a big fat discount. This venerable Valley institution has better than a quarter-century of history […]
In Andy Warhol's world, everyone gets 15 minutes of fame. Charles Banaszewski -- friends call him Chuck -- is looking to grab 30, maybe more.Closing the rear hatch of his black Nissan Xterra, he hoists a flapping stack of hand-lettered cardboard signs above his head and leads four other members...
How do you write a eulogy for a building? It's a question that's been asked fairly often in recent months, as we've been forced to mourn the loss of myriad local landmarks and nightspots here in the Valley. One of my long-held suspicions is that most journalists relish the opportunity...
Sandcasting GardenOur earliest memories of late ’60s/early ’70s life in the Valley are not of tubing the Salt River or visiting the Phoenix Zoo, but — well, okay, we admit it — shopping. The best excursions were to the elegant Biltmore Fashion Park, where we recall peeking in the windows at Rosenzweig’s Jewelers and Mills Touche, […]
Sandcasting GardenOur earliest memories of late ’60s/early ’70s life in the Valley are not of tubing the Salt River or visiting the Phoenix Zoo, but — well, okay, we admit it — shopping. The best excursions were to the elegant Biltmore Fashion Park, where we recall peeking in the windows at Rosenzweig’s Jewelers and Mills Touche, […]
When bluegrass combo Busted Heart takes the stage for the first time, the numbers will be staggering: Nine decades of musical experience, dozens of storied bands, tons of tattoos and more old junkie stories than you can shake a needle at.Fronting the new group is local legend, ex-hellraiser and current...
There are ominous rumblings emerging from singer Robin Wilson's much-maligned Gas Giants camp. The latest bit of info more or less confirms long-circulating rumors that the group has all but called it quits. According to Wilson, the band is on an "indefinite hiatus," but it appears that may be an...
Fifteen-year-old Sun Lynn Henage threatened another girl with a butter knife after the girl cut ahead of her in line for the shower at the group home where they both lived. The court sentenced Henage to 90 days at Black Canyon, the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections detention facility for...
Walk around on Mill Avenue, or any other disaffected-youth-magnet sort of locale, and you're bound to see a proliferation of bad tattoos. It's symptomatic of a generation of 20- to 30-year-olds who years ago grew an affection for tattoos as a mark of rebellion and not artistry; scratchwork is omnipresent...
Some say that it really isn't happening, that Less Pain Forever (a.k.a. Lush Budget Presents the Les Payne Product) isn't really leaving Arizona, that all this talk about the duo living, recording and touring for perpetuity in a 1983 Chevrolet Southwind RV is just the latest in a series of...
Utter the words "public access" and you'll probably elicit little more than a comical wince from most people; the very term conjures up images of a wasteland of low- and no-budget television programming. Admittedly, the bulk of public access fare usually falls into two categories: kids-with-cameras goof fests (à la...
Who's on Beck? Spotted at the Jeff Beck show Saturday night at the Web Theatre: Randy Johnson. The Flash knows, because the Flash was sitting right behind the Big Unit, which meant that the Flash had a primo view of Beck's receding hairline, and little else. It stands to reason...
Nearly a decade ago, Phoenix resident Brian Brooks was churning out little Xeroxed coloring books filled with inventive characters, clever phrases and subtle skewerings of pop icons. He put Yoko Ono on a snowplow in suburbia. Paul McCartney peddled frozen entrees at sporting events. One showcased geometrically shaped bugs predisposed...
The citizens' committee to recall Tempe Mayor Neil Giuliano collected almost 5,000 signatures to put Giuliano's name on a September recall ballot. But with three months left to qualify, not a single serious candidate has emerged to challenge the mayor.The most viable potential candidate, activist and two-time (unsuccessful) city council...
The Photo Lady emerges from a corner of the venue dressed all in black. Her salt-and-pepper mane is pulled back into a tail off a softly weathered face. "I gotta fish," she announces, eyes all wide behind buglike specs. The urgency in her voice suggests something big, as if she...
Some claim that the ghost of screen star Clifton Webb communicated that he couldn't bear to abandon his beloved Beverly Hills digs, so he opted to hang around years after he died like the last drunken partygoer. It is said that the spook of workaholic Howard Hughes still goes to...
No birthday party in this town seems to be complete without the tradition of breaking a piñata. And why should it? After all, nothing says "Happy Birthday" better than taking a giant wooden stick and beating the complete crap out of, say, a life-size Barbie or a smiling yellow Picachu...
It's a cold Thursday evening in early February, right in the heart of what's been an unremittingly bleak -- at least by Valley standards -- winter season. As the bark of a dog guarding a nearby scrap yard echoes faintly in the night, I find myself sitting in a car...
The last few months of 2000 have proven fruitful for Valley music. With a series of high-profile CD releases and promising debuts from a number of new bands, the scene seems to have escaped the typical year-end doldrums. But it's also been a bittersweet time, the winter air heavy with...
