There are few artists in the same league as Leonard Cohen. Even Lou Reed has placed the poet and songwriter in the “highest and most influential echelon of songwriters.” There are few as respected as revered Cohen and yet he has been able to maintain an air of distance and…
“Have you ever been given meditation instructions at a concert before?” the emcee asked as the crowd sat down at Chandler Center for the Arts to witness a benefit concert by Velvet Underground legend Lou Reed, his wife, performance artist Laurie Anderson.We had not, but that quickly changed. It was…
This weekend Tempe Music Fest 2009 united us once again from scattered Valley citizenry to one cohesive force bent on rocking the hell out. This year Fergy and My Chemical Romance got traded in for straight ahead rock-‘n’-rollers Kid Rock and 3 Doors Down with a couple of All-American Rejects…
There’s one word that describes the Calexico concert at Heritage Square last night: Classy. From the tastefully-appointed stage, to the home-made tamales and high-end beer (Tecate and Four Peaks products only; no Bud) to the gorgeous textures of the band’s unique blend of Western and Tejano music and indie rock,…
Celebrity sightings, beautiful weather, an on-site Circle K and a stellar music roster were part of the fun Saturday for the Tempe Music Festival. Our annual fest brought out names such as Frankie Muniz from Malcolm in the Middle, who held hands with his girlfriend most of the afternoon backstage,…
The annual Country Thunder festival at the dusty Canyon Moon Ranch just outside of Florence is country music’s version of a cattle drive, where over four days some of the bigger names in country music are herded on stage to bleat their biggest hits, then lassoed off to make way…
I’ve spent the last year telling everyone who’ll listen that Country Thunder is the premier music festival in Arizona. Whether you like country music or not, you should recognize that compared with any other festival in the state Country Thunder’s acts are bigger, the crowd crazier, the part wilder. So…
I’ve never seen Modified Arts as packed as it was last night during Will Oldham’s performance as Bonnie Prince Billy. And it’s no surprise why. More than 60 people jammed into the downtown Phoenix music venue to watch the iconic and enigmatic indie folk hero’s long, powerful concert that lasted…
Maybe it was the bouncing beach balls that reminded me of my first concert experiences (seeing the Kokomo-era Beach Boys) or maybe it was the inclusion of a relatively obscure song by glam-punks D Generation (the band who headlined my first-ever club concert) in the before-set house music, but something about Bruce Springsteen’s show at Jobing.com Arena…
Fall Out Boy kicked off the first date of their Believers Never Die Tour Friday at Mesa Amiptheatre with a nearly 90-minute set that covered all the hits as well as highlights from their latest disc Folie A Deux. Chicago’s fantastic four, dressed sharply in suits, took the stage a…
The All-American Rejects held a super secret show Friday in a warehouse on the northeast corner of McClintock and Broadway. OK, it wasn’t a show as much as a jam session in preparation of Saturday’s Tempe Music Fest but it was pretty damn cool nonetheless. The jam session was so…
As already revealed by Martin Cizmar, this weekend holds a bevy of entertainment for the Valley. Tempe has it’s annual Music Fest and Florence will cast some Country Thunder down upon the masses. If neither of those spark your fancy and you want a fun (and cheap) way to enjoy…
If you’re the type who bitches how nothing ever goes on in Phoenix, please feel free to grab a nice steaming cup of STFU. We’ve been referencing all week long on this very blog about how huge this weekend’s concert line-up is going to be, but “huge” doesn’t even begin…
After writing about a few bar and club closures over the past week (including Maloney’s in Tempe and Lyte Lounge in Scottsdale), it feels refreshing to dole out some news about some openings instead. It’s even better when it’s a previously-deceased nightspot that’s getting reincarnated with a new identity. Case…
Berkeley punk rockers Green Day will adapt their multi-platinum, Grammy-winning, catnip-for-angst-ridden tweens album American Idiot to the stage, just in time to open Berkeley Repertoire’s 2009/10 season. The musical will be the first for the vaunted Berkeley Rep’s new, swanky Roda Theatre, a fitting choice for Green Day, some of…
Celebrity Fight Night XV From the Red Carpet Michael Phelps, Forest Whitaker, Kurt Warner and more showed up to support Celebrity Fight Night which raised $6.6 million for charities such as the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center on Saturday, March 28, 2009…see the shots *Sadisco: The SadisClones Prosthetic Army Falsies were…
In my five years of covering the local music scene for New Times, I’ve seen some pretty crazy things happen at the Trunk Space. I’ve witnessed lobster-handed ladies, full grown men dressed as diaper-clad babies, and even half-naked body modification artists piercing their supple flesh with gleaming steel hooks. But…
If you’re looking for a place to get your swerve on this weekend, we advise you to seek out the Golden Buddha. No, we’re not dispatching you on some spiritual journey to seek out enlightenment a la Siddhartha, but instead are urging you to head for the Chinese Cultural Center…
In 1994, when Billy Joel and Elton John first took the stage together in Philadelphia, it was quite a novelty. Two piano-playing singer-songwriters — who’ve each sold more than 100 million records on their own — together in concert! Wowza!Five tours and 15 years later, the newness is gone. Last…
As music editor Martin Cizmar mentioned in his post earlier today, the slate of concerts scheduled to go down from tonight until Sunday kinda pales in comparison to the overwhelming assortment of superstars who’ll be in town next weekend. But while this weekend’s line-up of major music and comedy events…
It wouldn’t be hard to argue that The Bronx are on a steady decline. When the band first played Phoenix, they were at the area’s biggest club-type venue, the Marquee. Then, last year, they played the much smaller Clubhouse. Last night, they were crammed into the tiny (but wonderful) Yucca…
After discovering that MxPx lead singer Mike Herrera was coming to Tempe’s Yucca Tap Room with his rockabilly/country side project Tumbledown, I knew I had to check it out for sheer curiosity alone. I’ve been an MxPx fan for years and have seen the band live on numerous occasions. And…
