Sufjan Stevens @ the Rialto Theatre in TucsonIt was a night of deliberate holiday kitsch. It was an ugly Christmas sweater gone awry. If someone told me I mistakenly traveled down to Tucson for a Katy Perry Christmas celebration, based on the costumes, blow up unicorns, and giant game show…
Math the Band @ Trunk Space|11/3/12Imagine if that goofy indie rock cred of The Shins and Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, the “Napoleon Dynamites” of music, hadn’t lost so much popularity and had instead evolved, embracing the EDM subculture with sentimental Millenial generation video game samples and more energy than…
World Party @ Crescent Ballroom|12/2/12It was almost with a sigh of relief that Karl Wallinger and World Party began their Crescent Ballroom concert with “Waiting Such A Long Time,” as it has been some years since Wallinger has taken World Party on a large-scale tour. See also: World Party Offers…
People have recognized Danny Marianino — he of the infamous Danzig punching incident and hardcore band North Side Kings — ever since video of the incident hit the Internet. But lately, it’s been a little crazy. While signing my copy of his new book, Don’t Ever Punch a Rockstar: A…
Yeah, yeah, yeah…we get it Mondays suck (we’ve read Garfield). But it means the start of a new week, which means a bunch of killer shows in and around Phoenix. And here are a few of the coolest, our top five must-see shows this week…
Gospel Claws, Sleep Money, Vial of Sound, Knesset, Zero Zero, Me Vale Madre @ Crescent Ballroom|11/30/12 Leave it to Crescent Ballroom to have such a fantastic representation of local acts here in metropolitan Phoenix. Last night may have been an LP release party for Gospel Claws, but the lineup (including…
With a name like Leftover Cuties and a penchant for unabashed use of ukelele, how could the Los Angeles-based quartet of Shirli McAllen, Austin Nicholsen, Stuart Johnson, and Mike Bolger be anything other than adorable? The group’s folksy sound evokes images of happy couples strolling down a boardwalk decades ago…
What does emotional heavy metal sound like? Well, believe it or not, it’s kind of folky, but mainly acoustic. It’s mostly sad, but strangely fanciful and supremely intense. At least that’s how Marivel Luna and Jesse Simms, the duo comprising local outfit, Revizor, describe it. The pair have been quietly…
Lauryn Hill @ Celebrity Theatre|11/28/12″Life out of context is living ungodly,” Ms. Lauryn Hill sings in “Black Rage,” the new song she’s named her 2012 tour after. Built over a jazzy interpolation of the Sound of Music’s “My Favorite Things,” the song is heavy, exploring the brutal and checkered history…
Phoenix rock ‘n’ rollers The Technicolors are into big things: Big guitars. Big drums. Big vocals. Big hair. Big sound. It’s only appropriate then that they would record their debut album, Listener, at Studio at the Farm. The recording house, tucked away on three acres of farmland in nearby Gilbert,…
Whitehorse @ Crescent Ballroom|11/27/12I don’t know any Whitehorse songs, but then again, I don’t know any Whitehorse songs. Allow me to explain. Over the summer, my editor assigned me to cover a sludge metal band from Melbourne, Australia called Whitehorse. As the band name isn’t very creative, it is shared…
Melodic Minnesota punks Off With Their Heads are a busy bunch. The band is currently making the rounds in Canada and down the U.S. west coast after some border crossing issues. “I used to love the marathon touring,” says singer and guitarist Ryan Young, “but I’m a little more into…
Rush @ US Airways Center|11/25/12″We’ve got 6,000 songs to do, so let’s get with it.” Rush bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee might have been joking, but something about his hyperbolic statement, made early in last night’s nearly three-hour set by the legendary prog rock band rang completely true. Most 44-year-old bands are…
Guns N’ Roses @ Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas|11/23/12Let’s face it: The original Guns N’ Roses lineup is never, ever, ever getting back together. It was once again confirmed when lead singer Axl Rose declined induction to the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year. While the glory…
The Faint @ Crescent Ballroom| 11/23/12Dance rock favorites The Faint returned to Phoenix last night after a hiatus, armed with new songs, a Sonic Youth cover, and the band’s enduring synth-punk classic, Danse Macabre, in its entirety. Signs in the lounge warned about the band’s “heavy strobe lighting,” and in…
Curious what’s going on around town this weekend? Need some suggestions as to how to rock, dance, or krump in the Valley of the Sun? Don’t fret: These are our Five Shows to See This Weekend…
Soft Shoulder, The Pharmacy, JJCNV, Counterfeit Redcoats @ Trunk Space|11/20/12When I refer to a band as “bar rock,” I am not citing any definition of the term already established in musicological literature, but rather my own frame of reference. For me, bar rock can be defined in two separate waves,…
Young Prisms @ Rhythm Room|11/19/12The best shoegaze achieves what I think of as negative guitar momentum: distorted or whorled chord effects that, even when paired with hard and steady rhythms, are capable of washing out the meter to give the feeling of moving backwards. It’s related to the weird serenity…
Andrew Jackson Jihad @ Crescent Ballroom| 11/18/12Last night was what homecoming show is all about. Almost a year has passed since Andrew Jackson Jihad’s last hometown show, so there was plenty of anticipation. The show progressively got better and better, leading up to a very unexpected and excellent ending. I’m…
Curious about what’s going on around town during the Thanksgiving holiday music-wise? Plenty, to say the least, as local bands and DJs are gearing up for gigs on both the evening before Turkey Day on Wednesday and during Thanksgiving night on Thursday. Need some suggestions as to how to rock,…
The Deftones @ Marquee Theatre|11/17/12The Deftones rocked an absolutely packed house at The Marquee Theatre last night, treating Valley rock fans to one of the best shows of the year. From the opening notes of “Diamond Eyes” singer Chino Moreno took command of the room with one of his outstanding…
The Faint will makes its triumphant return to Phoenix next week, following a two-year hiatus. This isn’t just any show: The band is playing its landmark synth-punk record Danse Macabre in its entirety. The concert will include a few new songs as well as fan favorites, so you will get…
