On a sweltering Friday night in mid-July, an experimental punk band called Janis Joplin Crap N Vomit takes the stage at Club Red in Tempe, looking like a trio of misfit superheroes. Singer and guitarist Dana Stern dons a sailor’s cap and a red, white, and blue face mask that…
The biggest problem with biopics is that the longer and more impressive the career that’s documented, the greater the number of milestone events that need to be crammed into a two-hour storyline. Shwayze does not have that problem. Their exploits unfold on the small screen, where there’s plenty of tape…
THURSDAY 18 Axis/Radius: Red Bull Ladies Night with DJ MCB (hip-hop, rock, Top 40) Bar Smith: Peppermint Lounge with DJ Brazilia, DJ Mara, & guests (electro, funk, ’80s) Bikini Lounge: DJ HFE (rockabilly, surf, jazz, classic country, indie, obscuro) Blooze Bar: DJ El Dedo (rockabilly) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Cash Inn: DJ…
For a guitar player who was behind many of the hits that helped build the successful path forged by Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham has kept an intriguingly low profile on his own, releasing only a handful of solo records over the years — mostly because his individual projects would eventually…
Over the years, categorizers have shoved My Morning Jacket in numerous pigeonholes: jam, Southern rock, Americana, and more. Group leader Jim James doesn’t much like being labeled, though, as Evil Urges, the act’s latest disc, makes clear. The CD begins with the title track, “Touch Me I’m Going to Scream…
Call it an amendment to Godwin’s Law: As reviews of Vampire Weekend’s self-titled disc accumulate, the probability they’ll mention Paul Simon’s Graceland approaches 100 percent. It’s a lazy game of connect the dots, really. Graceland traces an MOR-shattering pilgrimage wherein Simon spent 17 days recording in South Africa, cheesing off…
Throughout its original 15-year run, Alice in Chains regularly alternated electric assaults with acoustic breathers, such as the early-’90s EPs Sap and Jar of Flies. The band’s 1996 episode of MTV Unplugged remains haunting — not least because of the visible toll that drug abuse had taken on singer Layne…
Gourmandizers of punk and rockabilly vinyl would be more than a little jealous at the sight of Nicky Flores’ record collection. Why? Probably because the 29-year-old DJ has some unique and choice wax stacked away in his accumulation of more than 1,500 platters. Like, say, an LP version of the…
By Benjamin Leatherman Sorry local drunks, Valley Metro’s trains are only scheduled to run until midnight. Word just reached us that members of the downtown Phoenix cultural scene will be out in force at tomorrow morning’s meeting of the city council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee in hopes of getting the…
By Jonathan McNamara If you thought the zany antics of JJCNV could be confined to merely a print medium, you were wrong. Now that you’ve read this week’s cover story, experience these crazy kooks for yourself courtesy of a little video action and a “Behind the Cover” slideshow. Catch more…
By Benjamin Leatherman Classes are back in session at ASU, so its only natural that sales have been brisk lately at Tempe’s Zia Records location, 105 West University Drive (or at least that’s what they told us). Here’s a list of their top 10 bestselling albums for the week of…
The Black Crowes show at Mesa Arts Center, postponed yesterday, is now canceled. Refunds are available at the point of purchase.
By Lilia Menconi Find some more in the slideshow. It doesn’t seem like that long ago when we were on our way to a high school dance, blasting the Toadies and ripping out our voice boxes singing, “Do you wanna die?” over and over again. Well, that was a whopping…
If I was Michael Jackson’s uncle, you’d know it. No conversation would go by without me mentioning it. Seriously, I’d have business cards printed up:
Martin Cizmar
Uncle of Michael Jackson
The King of Pop
Maybe you’ve heard of him?
The Black Crowes concert, scheduled to take place at Mesa Arts Center tonight (Tuesday, September 16) has been postponed due to illness. Promoter Live Nation will announce a rescheduled date soon, and tickets for tonight’s concert will be honored for the new date.
Earth Dance 2008 Despite a last minute location change, Earth Dance 2008 blasted DJ-spun, raving goodness till early Sunday morning on September 13 and 14. Read: about Earth Dance 2008. See: a slideshow of photos from Earth Dance 2008. Common at the Marquee Theater Common is about as close to…
By Jonathan McNamara Daniel M. Davis and his family enjoy a three hour commute across the busy Arizona highways each traffic-battling day after car crash-avoiding day. It’s enough to make you go crazy or in Davis’ case, start a Web comic. Daniel M. Davis Monster Commute chronicles the misadventures of…
By Joseph Golfen It’s not often that you get to see a great band from their humble beginnings. But anyone who was at the Modified Arts on Sunday got that chance as local band Miniature Tigers took to the stage, sending wonderful indie rock echoing through the walls of the…
By Yvonne Zusel You would never guess it to witness the ease at which glow sticks flew through the air on Saturday night into Sunday morning, but Earthdance 2008 almost didn’t happen. Originally meant to be held at Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek, the event venue was changed Friday night…
By Martin Cizmar Common is about as close to imageless as you can get in the rap game. He’s got the pretty boy thing going, but he’s not LL Cool J or Nelly. He’s known for smart rhymes, but he’s not Talib Kweli. He’s got live instrumentation, but it’s not…
By Jonathan McNamara According to Carrie Schnepf of Schnepf farms, Saturday’s Earth Dance 2008 has been moved from the Schnepf Farms location where workers have been setting up for the event since this morning to a warehouse on 5th Avenue and Madison (most likely Boo’s warehouse) in Phoenix after the…
By Martin Cizmar Some cool new shows announced this week, including Metallica with Austin’s The Sword and former Pantera frontman Phil Anselmo’s band Down, who will bustle the shit out of your hedgerow. Metallica Tuesday, Oct. 21 Metallica released a new album this week (see earlier blog item) so they’ll…
