It’s not easy competing with the fair. For one thing, it has a built-in audience; you can go to a fair concert on a whim, having gone there first to watch a team of expert divers or pig racing or whatever it is people do here in Arizona (I’m extrapolating…
I’m going to be totally honest with you, here: I love state fairs, but I’m mostly in it for the lemon shake-ups. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy the concerts–it’s just that I only enjoy them after I’ve eaten a lot of unconventionally fried food and then spun it…
Lots of music fans have a cult-favorite band, and lots of those cult members certainly believe they’d spend 30 years of their life, on and off, trying to get them back together. E Street Band guitarist and Rascals fan Steven Van Zandt was part of an even smaller subset–a fan…
ZZ Top formed in 1969, a rough and tumble blues band forming amongst the gritty backdrop of Houston’s oil greed and NASA’s continuing space race. But it was the summer of 1974 in the community of Friendswood–a small town then, a thriving Houston suburb now–that my curiosity with ZZ Top…
Depeche Mode (See the complete slideshow)Ak-Chin PavilionOctober 8, 2013 Synth-Pop legends Depeche Mode paid a visit to Ak-Chin Pavilion last night to a sea of fans that ranged anywhere from early 20s fans to 40-year-olds who brought their children. While most bands lose steam as they get older, Depeche Mode…
It wasn’t just Depeche Mode that brought their road show to the Phoenix area last night – – though you’d never have known it by the seemingly endless amounts of pictures and videos that were flooding Facebook all night. Downtown’s Crescent Ballroom featured another prolific band formed in early ’80s…
There are very few legitimate extreme metal festivals in the United States; typically fans have to head overseas to events like England’s Damnation Festival, Netherland’s Eindhoven Metal Meeting, or France’s Hellfest to get their fix. However, in the past couple years we’ve slowly gained some speed. Maryland’s Death Fest has…
Is it a little surprising to see Keith Urban and Depeche Mode headlining the same venues in the United States in 2013? Well, yes. Is it a pleasant surprise? Well, also yes, even though parking is somewhat less than ideal. (View our complete concert calendar here.)…
By Jeff Moses Judging by the main event Saturday at Pub Rock Live, Phoenix Ska Punk Bowling was a smashing success. It seems as though the entire ska punk community came out to support Andrew Jones and his crazy dream of putting Phoenix on the map as a punk rock…
Booker T.MIM Music TheaterOctober 3, 2013 Heading to the Musical Instrument Museum to see Booker T. Jones, I–and probably many other concert goers–expected a soul revival. Instead, the sold-out audience was treated to a rock and roll show. To be fair, the bulk of the nearly two-hour long concert from…
Look, this could go either way: It could be that all the broken, empty-hearted Breaking Bad fans who’ve spent a month of weekends in their houses, talking about Breaking Bad with each other, decide to get some fresh air and see a show, and you’ll be able to see some…
We Got Power, the fanzine, grew out of a desire to document the Reagan-era ’80s hardcore punk scene as it was taking off in Southern California. Amy Young, the drummer of the now-defunct She*Riffs and of the garage-pop band French Girls (and a sometimes-New-Times contributor), brought the We Got Power…
by Amanda Ventura John Mayer (See the complete slideshow here) Ak-Chin Pavilion October 2, 2013 Say what you need to say about John Mayer. You just don’t know the goodness of his music until you’ve heard him blowing his songs wide open with guitar solos and those special deviations and…
Savages Crescent Ballroom October 1, 2013 If you name your band Savages, you’d better be damn ferocious and feral. I suppose you could go the irony route and be real timid and wimpy, akin to when a giant, burly ax murderer’s name turns out to be Tiny. Me, I prefer…
Bigger, louder, deeper and weirder, the second album from Youth Lagoon is the sort of follow-up that exceeds its predecessor in every way. Boise’s Trevor Powers, 24, toys with expectations – both his own and those from the indie rock world that was watching his development closely – on…
Every so often The Maine comes to town playing a slightly larger venue than it did the time before. Their goal, so far as I can tell, is to take advantage of this until, having played U.S. Airways Center and University of Phoenix Stadium in short order, local government is…
Keith UrbanAk-Chin PavilionSunday, September 29 One way to reverse engineer the perfect American Idol judge would be to just go to concerts until you find a bunch of people who used to watch American Idol clapping and having a good time at one. I like to think that’s how they…
Vampire Weekend Comerica Theatre Friday, September 27, 2013 Last night’s show was just about everything a Friday night show should be: Vampire Weekend was on point and performed a great selection of songs that didn’t neglect its debut album. The crowd was into it–if the majority of the seated area…
If you didn’t happen to be in Casa Grande when Jimmy Eat World played this show, back in May, you may find it more convenient to head out to Tucson for a show from this year’s Readers’ Choice for Best Local Band. If you weren’t really into “The Middle,” for…
Head to the Plaza Mayor in the heart of Madrid and walk a few steps from the center square down one of the cobblestoned streets. Peek into Tablao Flamenco Arco de Cuchillleros, one of the city’s premiere flamenco spots. The tables in the intimate venue are filled with tourists, sipping…
Title Fight, Balance and Composure, Cruel Hand, Slingshot DakotaNile Theater, MesaMonday, September 23 I hesitate to use the word “emo” because of its semantics. For a lot of people, it means a specific time and place — D.C. in the ’80s, the Midwest in the ’90s — and use of…
The nights in Phoenix are rapidly going from unbearable to beautiful, which is exactly why we’re suggesting you spend a couple of nights this week inside a stuffy venue where someone will be playing music under weird, artificial lights. Think about how nice it’ll be to walk out into the…
