Zedd September 21, 2013 Madison Events Center With a hectic security system, oversized VIP section and timing being completely off, the music was the only thing that shined Saturday night. Taking the light rail to the show was an interesting start to the night, but hell, why not, right? Getting…
No Age returns to Phoenix tomorrow night in support of the band’s third full length album, An Object (fourth if you count compilation album Weirdo Rippers.) The band is all about reinvention, whether it’s singer/drummer Dean Spunt learning how to play his drums while recording the band’s first material, or…
Two phrases that Franco Gagliano tends to say a lot nowadays are “I don’t want to offend anyone” and “I’m not gonna lie to you.” When Franco ruled supreme as owner of The Mason Jar, one of Phoenix’s longest-enduring rock clubs from the early ’80s into the early Aughts, you…
Multiple big EDM shows and a gig at the Mason Jar(!) await you in today’s Must-See Phoenix Shows This Weekend. That seems like enough for us, but if you’re looking for even more options, check out our complete, sortable concert calendar. We won’t be offended…
Local bass-and-drums duo Scattered Melodies loves helping locals so much the project wrote a song called “Community Service” with collaborator Ruca. Appropriately they’ll be playing it with Ruca frontwoman Haley Griagaitis during their Back-to-School Book Drive this Saturday, September 21 at Gilbert’s Bergies Coffee Roast House. “The song was inspired…
We Got Power began life as a fanzine started by Dave Markey and Jordan Schwartz in the early ’80s as the hardcore punk scene was taking off in Southern California. The book features essays by many of the pioneers from that time who we now recognize as members of Black…
On his Facebook “About” page his education reads Università DI Napoli “Federico II.” Under work it reads “Music Production” and that he is the President at “Salf Enploy,” which is how it would sound phonetically when Franco Gagliano says it. When the “Legends of the Mason Jar” show which reunites…
On his recent album, Southeastern, singer/songwriter Jason Isbell writes plaintive ballads about dying cancer patients, tender country soul numbers about the process of recovery, and swampy power-pop about Super 8 ass-whuppings. It’s his fourth solo album since leaving Georgian southern rockers Drive-By Truckers, a group he departed in 2007, following…
My flight landed in Phoenix late Monday night, and I’m still adjusting. It hasn’t fully sunk in yet that I just saw The Replacements and The Pixies back to back. The Broadways reunion really happened. Debbie Harry is super adorable in person. My feet are still throbbing, and I’m pretty…
OK, so I don’t know much about The Zombies. Like, at all. For years, I thought their number one sizzling summer hit “Time of the Season” was actually Marvin Gaye. Give me a pass on that one, the English rock band were clearly trying to crimp his style far more…
Chicago Riot Fest, Day Three Humboldt Park Sunday, September 15, 2013 (View the full slideshow.) The third and final day of Riot Fest was all about The Replacements, rain, and reunions. The ‘Mats performed their second show after a 22-year break up Sunday, and it was everything a fan could…
My version of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a lot different from the final cut. It’s not that I have anything against Jane Austen or George Romero; I just prefer the British invasion to the actual, brain-eating invasion. (View our complete concert calendar here.)…
Riot Fest Day Two Humboldt Park, Chicago Saturday, September 14 The Fall Out Boy craziness of the festival’s first day carried over to Blink-182’s set on Day 2. For about 15 minutes before the band took the stage, fans chanted the lyrics to songs like “What’s My Age Again,” “All…
Chicago Riot Fest Day One Humboldt Park Friday, September 13, 2013 This year’s Riot Fest features a great mix of reunions and some of Chicago’s finest punk bands. Heck, The Replacements and Broadways reunions were enough to get me on a plane from Phoenix. Whether the trip was worth it…
Hawaii-bred reggae rock group Iration take change in stride. Each of their albums explores a different side of their musical influences–ranging from drummer Joseph Pickens’ love for Lamb of God to lead vocalist/guitarist Micah Pueschel’s penchant for the Beatles–while keeping their roots in traditional reggae. Earlier this year in April,…
Neko CaseOrpheum TheaterSeptember 12, 2013 Had she not mentioned it, you probably never would have known that Neko Case was suffering from an annoying head cold at her nearly sold-out show last night at Phoenix’s lovely Orpheum Theater. Her sickness showed no intentions of betrayal to her glorious voice as…
Future Loves Past’s debut album, All The Luscious Plants gives “polish” a good name. That’s not the only musical jargon the Tempe natives rehabilitate on All The Luscious Plants, but it’s the first bit of it you’ll have to confront when you listen to it; this is an album that…
Two very different festivals this weekend: One, Desert Uprising, will fill Ak-Chin Pavilion with metalheads and hard rock fans for acts like Alice in Chians, Jane’s Addiction, and Avenged Sevenfold. Lushfest, the other, will fill The Sail Inn with local music fans ready to see Future Loves Past perform its…
A band that repeats “you will always be a loser” toward the end of a five minute song may be a little discouraging, but the put downs are worth it. Titus Andronicus finishes its magnum opus “No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future” by singing “you will always be…
Mickey Avalon is constantly loaded. He’s loaded with clever rhymes and catchy hooks, played by DJs to writhing Hollywood club kids who don’t understand that half of the dark memories Mickey shares are actual experiences. When he started out around 2004, he was loaded with the burden of family members…
fun. Comerica Theatre September 10, 2013 (Complete slideshow here) “We Are Young” may not have even been the second-unlikeliest No. 1 hit of 2012–here in 2013, though, at a safe remove from PSY and Gotye, it’s a little easier to appreciate just how weird it was. With rock in a…
Finnish rock band HIM is known for causing a lot of weird controversy. First, a lot of people get angsty when it comes time to define their sound–the band has been categorized as everything from slow alt-rock to melodic metal to gothic metal. But they’ve been around since 1991, and…
