Estefex, Craft, Travelah, Sub D at UK Thursdays, 1/19/12

Estefex, Craft, Travelah, Sub D UK Thursdays at School Of Rock Thursday, January 19 School Of Rock? More like “School Of Bass.” Last night, the Mill Avenue club hosted a special experimental version of UK Thursdays featuring four local Drum and Bass artists from the Valley area. The music didn’t…

Fitz and The Tantrums at CityScape, 1/13/12

Fitz and The Tantrums CityScape: Pre-race concert for the PF Chang’s Rock and Roll Marathon Friday, January 13 See the complete Fitz and the Tantrums slideshow. So much for drinking that Red Bull. All I needed for some real energy was Fitz and The Tantrums. Making their first appearance in…

Cass McCombs at Crescent Ballroom, 01/12/12

Cass McCombs and Frank Fairfield Crescent Ballroom Thursday, December 12 It’s a rough night when the opening act outshines the headliner. Maybe it’s just because this particular opening act was especially talented, but seeing rocker de melancholia Cass McCombs take the stage following old timey string multi-instrumentalist Frank Fairfield was…

STRFKR and Painted Palms at Crescent Ballroom, 1/10/12

Over the years, it’s been hard to peg Portland solo project turned electro-pop trio Starfucker as any one thing. Known for wearing women’s clothing during live performances, having song titles like “Biggie Smalls” and “Queen Latifah,” and changing their band name more times than they’ve changed their performance panties, it’s…

Packrat at The Rogue Bar, 1/10/12

Packrat The Rogue Bar January 10, 2012 In the build-up to last night’s show at The Rogue Bar in Scottsdale, Phoenix rockers Packrat bragged that they had assembled some of the noisiest local groups in town. Three hours later, the ringing in my ears (despite using ear protection) gave some…

NOFX, Black Carl, First Friday of the Year and More

NOFX at The Marquee Theatre, 1/7/12 Fat Mike painted a grim picture of Arizona a couple weeks ago. He was convinced that nobody goes to shows in Phoenix anymore because it’s on its way to becoming the next Detroit. Sure, we’ve got our issues, but NOFX fans surprised everyone (myself…

Black Carl’s The Fool Record Release at Crescent Ballroom

​If we’re being realistic, not every band that comes out of Phoenix is really worthy to be classified with what Emma Pew and crew do on a show-by-show basis. The lead singer of Black Carl and her four-piece backing band obliterated Crescent Ballroom last night as they celebrated the release The…

NOFX at The Marquee Theatre, 1/7/12

NOFX Marquee Theatre Saturday, January 7, 2012 See the full NOFX slideshow here. Fat Mike painted a grim picture of Arizona a couple weeks ago. He was convinced that nobody goes to shows in Phoenix anymore because it’s on its way to be coming the next Detroit. Sure, we’ve got…

How Cover Nights Can Create Local Music Fans

​Some people get stuck in ruts. My dad, for example, has been listening to the same 300 songs for the past four decades (let us take a moment to remind you of Nothing Not New, where our own Jay Bennett gave up all his favorites and listened to nothing but…

The Young at Yucca Tap Room, 1/4/12

The Young, Mangled Men, ROAR, The Plainfield Butchers Yucca Tap Room Wednesday, January 4, 2012 Bits of Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney’s interview with Rolling Stone started hitting the web yesterday, with the bespectacled musician stating: “Rock ‘n’ roll is dying because people became okay with Nickelback being the biggest…

Trans-Siberian Orchestra at Jobing.com Arena, 12/30/11

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Jobing.com Arena Friday, December 30, 2011 See also: Our complete Trans-Siberian Orchestra slideshow. Trans-Siberian Orchestra is a lot like Christmas itself: The pretty lights are a good distraction from how over-the-top and annoying it can be. Both have some classy elements and are good for family fun, but…