If you build a stadium, people will come," says William Garrard, former owner of Coyote Springs Brewing Company. But he adds, "It's a quickie effect." And when Bank One Ballpark opened its roof in downtown Phoenix, people did come -- more than 3.6 million fans in 1998 and 3 million...
The Remains The Remains (180 gram vinyl) (Sundazed) The original Nuggets collection did a lot more than just rescue 27 bands with severely combed bangs from bargain-bin obscurity. It rescued rock 'n' roll itself by simultaneously kick-starting the punk movement while whetting people's appetites for more unsung American garage bands...
Mild, Mild West After an incessantly brutal summer of terminal hipness, the Flash's coolness meter was quavering on the E sign. So the Flash had no choice but to escape for a few days to a very cool place, which turned out to be Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Wyoming is a...
It's easy to be taken aback by the depth of Calexico's The Black Light. In under 60 minutes, the group's auteurs (and erstwhile Giant Sand rhythm section) John Convertino and Joey Burns explore more than a dozen musical idioms and bring those elements to life with the cinematic grandeur of...
Hans Olson has been typecast as a bluesman in his 30 years on the Valley scene, and he wants everyone to know that's not his role. "A bluesman is a guy who lives the blues. I don't live the blues. It's just my favorite kind of music." Despite the disclaimer,...
As front man for the Gin Blossoms, Arizona's most famous rock band, Robin Wilson fulfilled all his adolescent fantasies. For years, he played to sold-out clubs and arenas, earning a wall full of gold and platinum records. He wrote or co-wrote four hit singles and was nominated for a Grammy...
The desert surrounding Jeff Dahl's Cave Creek home is lush, made fragrant and green from recent monsoon thrashings. His neighbors on the next acre, the ones who run a Christian day-care center, have a sprawling ranch with many horses. A guy from Dokken lives just up the road. And there...
"That was fucking insane." When all was said and done at last Wednesday's Buck Owens birthday salute, that succinct verdict from Flathead bassist Kevin Daly was probably the assessment that best captured the tenor of the evening. Standing in a corner and looking resplendent in a Nudie-style suit and silver...
Was it Magnet, Spin or Pulse! that first coined the insidious term "stoner rock" in an effort to describe a new sound emerging from the desert? The sound that's at times lethargic yet prone to getting loud and sonorous at the crack of a high hat. Personally, I'm hoping the...
Look through the north window of Alice Cooper'stown and the message is clear. You're greeted by a life-size cardboard cutout of the king of shock rock in black leather, welcoming you to his nightmare. In front of the cutout, the window sports an orange neon Alice Cooper signature, and directly...
Alice Does Live Here For the record, I would like to comment on your article regarding Alice Cooper'stown ("Go Ask Alice," Gilbert Garcia) in the April 29 issue of New Times. As the founder of Evening Star Productions, and producing concerts here for 25 years, I have been fortunate enough...
thursday may 13 Athens, Georgia-based instrumental-surf-rockabilly-pop-punk blend The Woggles, touring in support of their Telstar Records CD Wailin' With the Woggles, hit the Valley on Thursday, May 13, at Mustang Sally's, 1212 East Apache in Tempe. Doors open at 9 p.m.; the 21-and-over show starts at 10. Erector Set, and...
The most frequently repeated joke about the '60s was that if you could remember it, you weren't there. Along those lines, the morning after the overwhelming spectacle that was the New Times Music Awards Showcase, the hazy cloud of amnesia that fills my head might be my only solid proof...
Alice Cooper'stown, 101 East Jackson, Phoenix, 253-7337. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, Saturday and event nights, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. It's spring, and our senses are awakening after a long winter's hibernation. Watch the blooming wildflowers swaying in the breeze. Sniff...
At this writing, it's still too early to tell whether the new edition of CBS' The Late Late Show, with smart aleck Craig Kilborn replacing schmooze master Tom Snyder, will produce huzzahs, or a nationwide voicing of the question, "I wonder who's on Conan tonight?" If the new host seems...
A year ago, there was no special connection between Marilyn Manson and Courtney Love, unless you count the fact that both were famous for being infamous. They weren't really friends (though Manson has claimed that Love did have a brief, raunchy fling with his guitarist Twiggy Ramirez), and their musical...
You may be right. I may be crazy for even getting upset about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, like the guy who bolts out of his easy chair to protest the implausibility of a MacGiver episode. It's a dumb idea to begin with, turning rock 'n' roll into...
thursday march 11 For the second year in a row, the Phoenix Art and Antique Show offers a staggering array of bric-a-brac, objets, macguffins and other assorted knickknacks from 43 galleries around the U.S. and Europe, which are exhibited and sold for the benefit of Phoenix Art Museum. The goodies...
Friday night downtown, between the decades-old warehouses and America West Arena, where old trolley tracks remain visible under streets paved over years ago, the dust and car exhaust blended with pithy scents of perfume and floated on a warm December breeze. Like carnival barkers, the lanky parking-space hawkers with chutzpah...
When the Rolling Stones staged the first genuine rock 'n' roll circus in 1968, they distributed gold-embossed metallic tickets to their fan-club members and lucky NME readers, fed them, gave them 20 hours of music, clowns and amusements and then arranged for buses to take everybody home. All free o'...
December at night around here, where the houses have wheels and the cars do not, the magical sparkle of Christmas lights blends with the beer. Tin sides of trailers reflect cheerful glimpses of green and red and a boozy jangle of sleigh bells promises childhood dreams like hope and Santa...
When John Dixon was a 15-year-old student at Tempe High School in the early '60s, he made pocket money on the weekends by working dances as a DJ. Dixon and two friends had formed a company called Have Records Will Spin, and true to their word, they spun 45s at...
