Warped Tour 2012, Camelback Ranch Baseball Stadium, 6/28/12

Vans Warped Tour Camelback Ranch Baseball Stadium Thursday, June 28 See also: Valley Bands Sweat it Out on Warped Tour Stages See also: Warped Tour 2012 at Camelback Ranch Stadium full slideshow See also: Vans Warped Tour 2012: The Good, the Bad, and the Auto-Tuned See also: Crowdsourced: Fans Beat…

Jonathan Richman, Crescent Ballroom, 6/28/12

Jonathan Richman Crescent Ballroom Thursday, June 28 See also: Jonathan Richman Doesn’t Care for “Masculine Arrogance” See also: Our full Jonathan Richman at Crescent Ballroom slideshow. It’s hard to know exactly what to say about about Jonathan Richman’s performance at Crescent Ballroom last night. Not because things weren’t memorable (they…

Whitehorse at Yucca Tap Room 6/27/12

White Horse Yucca Tap Room Wednesday, June 27, 2012 I feel I should mention this is the first show I’ve ever worn earplugs to. Why? Because as three of my friends can demonstrate, the dangers of tinnitus are very real, you guys! Also, because nothing would help me from being…

El-P and Killer Mike, Crescent Ballroom, 6/25/12

El-P and Killer Mike Crescent Ballroom Monday, June 25 Brooklyn indie-rap linchpin El-P and Atlanta journeyman Killer Mike are kind of on top of the world right now. There’s nothing like seeing two dudes with critically acclaimed new albums on the same bill, popping in on each other’s tracks and…

Vans Warped Tour 2012: The Good, The Bad, and the Auto-Tuned

See also: Vans Warped Tour 2011 See also: Hot Chicks at Wicked Tattoos at the Vans Warped Tour If you’re going to The Vans Warped Tour on Thursday, look around and try to spot the dinosaur. It won’t be a giant carnivorous lizard with huge teeth and disproportionately small arms…

Phife Dawg at Club Red, 6/22/12

Phife Dawg Club Red Friday, June 22 If there was one point that was made clear in last year’s documentary Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, its that the members of the influential hip-hop group won’t be staging a reunion anytime soon. Although Q-Tip is…

Against Me! and The Cult at Marquee Theatre, 6/22/12

The Cult and Against Me! Marquee Theatre Friday, June 22 See also: The Cult’s Ian Astbury Ain’t No Caveman (He’s the Wolf Child) See our full Against Me! and The Cult at Marquee Theatre slideshow. Last night’s lineup was strange, to say the least. Noise rockers The Icarus Line drew…

Roll Acosta Teams With John Vanderslice For This Dreamt Existence

Tucson indie poppers, Roll Acosta recruited John Vanderslice to produce its forthcoming debut full length album, This Dreamt Existence. Vanderslice’s touch can be heard in the album’s intricate instrumentation, which falls somewhere between fun.’s acrobatic melodies and Cold War Kids’ strained funk, giving these catchy songs have plenty of get-stuck-in-your-head…

CéU at the Musical Instrument Museum, 6/19/12

CéU Musical Instrument Museum Tuesday, June 19, 2012 It’s easy to see international artist CéU’s mass appeal. Her music can evoke images of a smoky lounge full of Mad Men types sipping scotch, or she can put you on some sandy beach with a caipirinha in one hand and a…

Van Halen and Los Lobos Over the Weekend

Van Halen at US Airways Center When the recently reunited Van Halen (featuring original vocalist David Lee Roth) announced it was postponing a handful of dates on its current tour, most people assumed that it was due to some conflict within the band. Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth…

Van Halen, US Airways Center, 6/16/12

Van Halen US Airways Center Saturday, June 16 When the recently reunited Van Halen (featuring original vocalist David Lee Roth) announced it was postponing a handful of dates on its current tour, most people assumed that it was due to some conflict within the band. Eddie Van Halen and David…

Los Lobos at Wild Horse Pass Casino, 6/15/12

Los Lobos Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino Friday, June 15, 2012 East L.A.’s Los Lobos hit the Ovations Live Showroom stage almost unceremoniously Friday night. They smiled and waved and took their familiar places among one another; RayBan-wearing guitarist/vocalist Cesar Rosas far left, followed by bassist Conrad Lozano, guitarist…

YACHT at Crescent Ballroom, 6/14/12

YACHT Crescent Ballroom Thursday, June 14, 2012 Summer usually finds us in the concert doldrums. There are some good shows here and there, but mostly we opt for pool parties and air conditioning while eagerly awaiting fall. This hasn’t really been the case this year thanks to a concert calendar…

Snail Quail Learns to Love This Screwed-Up City

Jonathan Cisneros knew Snail Quail was going to trail into the bizarre, and at first, he wasn’t going to drag a backing band into it. Band breakups are hard, but you don’t have to deal with that if you have a bunch of lovable weirdoes backing you up, as the…