With so many good bands taking the stages at nearly 20 venues throughout downtown at Saturday night’s Viva PHX event, I thought I’d have a hard time staying in one place for the whole night, ogling texts and Facebook posts about what I was missing elsewhere. However, once I got…
Looking around at the people at Tempe Beach Park Sunday night, I couldn’t help but giggle to myself the entire night, thinking, “Wow, it looks like a Fall Out Boy concert in here.” I’d never seen the Illinois-based four-piece live before and I’ve never been much of a fan of…
The acts that took the Monroe Street Stage at Viva PHX on Saturday night were absolutely phenomenal, despite a subpar sound crew. It didn’t seem like a single set went off without some sort of glitch, but the performers themselves didn’t let that hurt their swag one bit. Not bad…
Overall, it was a glorious kick off to the Pot Of Gold Music Festival on Friday Night at Tempe Beach Park. With little exception, the afternoon and evening were filled with amazing acts, danceable grooves, and beautiful people. It also certainly helped that the weather was absolutely perfect for an…
A dinner date with Los Angeles/Philadelpia based Rat Fist is a special time. There are no bones about it, both literally and figuratively, as bandleader, guitar player/shouter, and all around nice guy Randy Randall (also of Sub Pop recording artists No Age) is vegan, so we decided on dining at…
No, you can’t see everything you want to at Viva PHX, but you could make a tour of some of the best local live bands if you wanted to make it a hometown event. There are other festivals this weekend not featuring local bands, but this one has a ton…
Downtown Phoenix is going to be more than a little busy this weekend, you might say. More specifically, its sidewalks and even an alley or two are going to be crowded with music fans on Saturday evening, as will 20 different venues scattered throughout a two-mile radius when the second…
“Hold on, I’m buying tequila.” These are the first words that Unwritten Law singer Scott Russo says after answering his phone for a New Times interview. In the background he asks a liquor store clerk for advice on the bottle that offers the best bang for his buck and ultimately…
Viva PHX is back and you’re a year older, 40-somethings. Bolder? Maybe. Clever, definitely, and probably more inclined to party downtown than last year. In fact, it’s obvious the over-40 set is taking back the night, since so many of you are out and about on a regular basis, running…
2014’s winner for Best Festival, Viva PHX is back for round two and this year it is even bigger. Bigger headliners, more touring acts, more local acts, more venues involved, more activated spaces, and lucha libre wrestling. The only thing that Stateside is leaving out is the kitchen sink …..
Tempe Beach Park has hosted major concert fests and outdoor gigs over the last decade — a lot of ’em, in fact. However, few are as high-profile and star-studded as this weekend’s four-day Pot of Gold Music Festival at the park. It’s definitely one the longest, as the springtime music…
By her own admission, the 2015 Bethany Cosentino is far more comfortable in her own skin than the 2009 version. Cosentino, the lead singer and principal songwriter (along with multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno) for Los Angeles indie-pop duo Best Coast, first burst into public consciousness with the unfathomably catchy “Boyfriend,” from…
Viva PHX 2015 offers festival goers 90 bands at 20 different venues for an incredibly reasonable $24 ticket price. For you mathematicians, it works out to an average of 4.5 performers per venue and if you were to catch say, five of them during the course of your night, that’s…
There might be a few concerts happening this weekend. Little things like the 90-band Viva PHX or the headliner-packed Pot of Gold Music Festival. But until then, here are some options to whet your appetite…
Here are our picks for the best concerts in Phoenix this weekend. For more options, visit our comprehensive concert calendar…
In an age when the Internet immediately determines the popularity of an artist, it seems presumptuous to heap the hype on a musician after releasing just one song. After listening to the malaise-filled anthemic “Stuck In The South” by Nashville-based artist Adia Victoria, the song legitimizes the practice of being…
With seemingly every alternative rock band of note reunited to dolefully tour the classics, Los Angeles band Fishbone remains a vital exception to the “play the hits” rule. For 33 years, the group has experimented and evolved, incorporating influences including ska, punk, hardcore, psychedelic rock, soul, funk, reggae, and jazz…
Friday night’s South by South Roosevelt festival in the older neighborhood (older as in less gentrified) went off without a hitch but Saturday night was apparently alright for fighting, as one perturbed neighbor, intent on playing Mr. Wilson to SXSR’s Dennis the Menace, started complaining about the noise to police…
On any given weeknight in Phoenix, at least one band covers Eric Clapton’s “Crossroads” (probably without giving ASCAP a dime). The song is a blues-rock masterpiece, adaptable to the widest range of skill levels, and well known and catchy enough to please even the most mainstream of tastes. Tuesday night…
Viva PHX has announced its schedule, giving a pretty complete picture of who’s going to be playing where during the festival, which will all but dominate downtown Phoenix on Saturday, March 14. Check it out…
Seeing Cursive perform its seminal 2003 record, The Ugly Organ, in its entirety is a dream come true for most fans. The album arguably is the band’s best work (with Domestica coming in a close second), and The Ugly Organ is the last record to feature cellist Gretta Cohn. The…
Hope you enjoyed the wonderful weather this past weekend in the Valley. Here are our concert picks this weekend. Be sure to check out our comprehensive concert listings for more options…
