Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of their debut album, Cake, the Trashcan Sinatras find themselves at a career crossroads. Two of the band’s four remaining original members reside in their native Scotland, while the other two now live in sunny Southern California.”We’ve already written a couple of songs…
Ra Ra RiotClubhouse Music VenueFriday, October 22, 2010On Friday night, I was sure the Ra Ra Riot show would sell out, but I was so very wrong. Maybe it was because Sufjan Stevens was playing his own sold-out show, or maybe it was because people had never heard of Ra…
Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Arizona State FairSaturday, October 23, 2010Last night’s Bret Michaels concert came with a fair amount of trepidation. What were fans to expect? Was Michaels going to play a show full his newer, solo material with his aptly-namned Bret Michaels Band? Or would he play a…
Jónsi Marquee Theatre in Tempe Saturday, October 23, 2010 Even when he sings in English, I have absolutely no idea what Jónsi is saying. But at last night’s show at the Marquee Theatre, that didn’t matter at all. His music transcended language barriers, and was understood as a profoundly moving…
Sufjan StevensMesa Arts CenterFriday, October 22. It didn’t take Sufjan Stevens long to bust out the banjo at his sold-out Mesa Arts Center show. The Detroit-bred, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter picked up the instrument just after taking stage, opening with the title track from Seven Swans, which is both his most parred-down and…
Caitlin CronenbergLIGHTSSome musicians like to drink, party and hang out with groupies while they’re on tour. For LIGHTS, a spunky little 23-year-old Canadian who has played on Vans Warped Tour and with Owl City, playing World of Warcraft is the perfect way to unwind. And the electro pop singer hopes…
Dayglow Brings Paint to the Marquee What do you get when you pack the Marquee full of ravers dressed in white, get the DJs spinning, and dump a few hundred gallons of paint on the crowd? Answer: Dayglow, “America’s Largest Paint Party.” Check out the messy fun in our Dayglow…
Everyone’s heard of the Final Fantasy video game series, but few people have heard of the Final Fantasy I’m writing about: Owen Pallett. What does one have to do with the other, you may ask?Pallett, who opened for The National at Marquee Theatre last night, the Canadian violin virtuoso, used…
Luke HolwerdaThe National live at Marquee Theatre in Tempe.The NationalOctober 14, 2010Marquee Theatre in TempeThe National’s singer, Matt Berninger, has a reputation for performing drunk. It hasn’t been a huge problem — never leading to a canceled tour or even ruining a high-profile show as far as I know –…
Sleigh Bells October 13, 2010 The Clubhouse An army of sweaty hipsters turned out for Brooklyn pop metal duo Sleigh Bells at the Clubhouse last night. They didn’t have to wait long for a full-on onslaught of cute, noisy, pop. It didn’t last long, either. The whole thing was over…
Jack JohnsonOctober 10, 2010Cricket Wireless PavilionLast night’s Jack Johnson show was like an episode of late night television where the host casually invites all his famous friends to chill on stage with him. The stage gradually got more crowded with the Brushfire Records family as he played on.Jack kicked off…
CaribouClubhouse Music VenueOctober 9, 2010Canadian electronic act Caribou is essentially only one person, Dan Snaith. At least in the studio. When Snaith, who I was lucky enough to interview for this week’s print edition hits the road, however, he is joined by bandmates.The question is what they do. How do…
Every Dying DayClub Red puts on a massive rock festival tonight and tomorrow, Saturday, October 9, but don’t rely on the www.clubredrocks.com website to figure out which of the more than 50 bands to see.The bands on the site do not necessarily correspond with the day they’re playing, and rock…
Jonathan McNamaraTom Petty and The HeartbreakersUS Airways CenterOctober 7, 2010Phoenix fans had to wait a few extra weeks to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Once the veteran heartland rocker took the stage, though, they didn’t have to wait for the hits. Petty came out swinging, opening with four of…
Matt and KimClubhouse Music Venue in TempeOctober 6, 2010Summer seemed to end about 48 hours ago in Phoenix, when golf balls of hail fell from the October sky, finally banishing triple digit temperatures from the Valley for a few months.You’d never know it inside the Clubhouse Music Venue where Brooklyn-based…
Jonathan McNamaraTed Leo and the Pharmacists Rhythm Room October 4, 2010 It’s sort of rare when a mosh pit is possible but not inevitable. You know, when a band could inspire a little knock-push-bounce action but it isn’t necessarily a forgone conclusion.Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, who played Phoenix’s Rhythm…
O.A.R. The Celebrity Theatre September 28, 2010The Celebrity Theatre’s layout and rotating stage made for a warm performance by veteran jamband O.A.R. that accommodated every seat in the house last night.The design of the venue made the band’s entrance particularly special since fans got to slap hands with the band…
Surfer BloodThe Clubhouse Music VenueSeptember 27, 2010Maybe you remember ‘the bear thing’ or ‘the wolf thing,’ those peculiar eras when seemingly every hotly-tipped indie band adopted one of those ferocious animals as a component of its name? Of course you do.Probably you’ve noticed we’re currently in the midst of ‘the…
RatatatSeptember 25, 2010The Venue ScottsdaleWhen does an electronic rock concert make a person feel like Danny Glover’s irritable geezer cop in Lethal Weapon? The answer: When the concert in question is Saturday’s all-ages Ratatat show at the Venue of Scottsdale, and the person in question is older than some of…
Pixies at the Mesa Amphitheatre Last Night To say that the Pixies performance was underwhelming might be a bit too strong. Mostly satisfactory would probably be a more accurate description. That is to say it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t completely blow-you-away-good, either…full story KISS at Cricket Wireless Pavilion You…
Pixies September 24th, 2010 Mesa Amphitheater Back in June, when Up on the Sun music editor Martin Cizmar put up a blog post announcing that the Pixies would be playing an upcoming show at the Mesa Amphitheater there was one point in the post that I kept coming back to…
What a weekend! We’ve already written extensively about the three-day concert event known as Fall Frenzy, but part of the story can only truly be captured through a lens. Before we put our Fall Frenzy coverage to bed, check out the following slideshows direct from each day of the event…
