The website for Hollywood Alley contains a fairly lengthy rundown of some of the vast array of renowned musicians and bands that have performed at the Mesa rock dive over its 25-year history, and it’s both enormous and impressive. Said list includes name both iconic and influential, ranging from such…
It turns out that Hollywood Alley’s last night wasn’t last night after all. According to the Facebook page of the renowned Mesa rock bar — which was originally scheduled to close on Wednesday night after 25 years in operation — and a few of its employees, the place will remain…
Forming a six-member band without a guitarist is preposterous, but Fitz and the Tantrums make it work. Six is just the right number for the band’s larger-than-life Motown-influenced jams — adding anything else would be overkill. Two vocalists, a saxophone, and a keyboard are just the right mix of tones…
On one side, there are the credentials that mark Daughn Gibson as a country musician — the slightly twanged baritone, the smoky barrooms and long roads that appear in his lyrics, and the years spent working as a trucker before recording his first album. On the other are credentials that…
“Warm” isn’t a word generally applied to Killer Mike or El-P. After all, Run the Jewels — a new album synergizing the veteran rappers — hinges on two MCs who pride themselves on thinking five steps ahead of their opponents and writing punchlines that cut with a butcher’s precision. On…
It’s called the “Good Vibes Summer Tour,” it’s going to feature performances by a band called Rebelution and a guy named Collie Buddz, and Matisyahu’s there. This is a show so perfectly fitted into its niche that it really obviates the need for a preview — either that sounds like…
Every time industrial dance DJs Self.Destrukt and DJ Defense.Mekanizm throw one their monthly ResurrectioN affairs, a few things are guaranteed: The soundtrack will be harsh, the vibe will be debaucherous, and the patrons will be freakishly fun. The latter will be especially true during the Friday, August 2, edition of…
Trevvor Riley is presumably a very busy guy. Not very long ago at all, we were talking about Emby Alexander’s new single, “Drag the Long Way Home,” its Riley-directed video and the caveworms therein. Earlier this month, Vial of Sound got its own precision-creepy treatment, for “The Day We Both…
by Aaron Thompson Hollywood Alley has always been just another bar to me. Since I relocated to the Phoenix area about four months ago, the bar, located in an unassuming strip mall at the Tempe-Mesa border always seemed like a potential suburban gem of hidden filth and rock ‘n’ roll…
Stone Sour and Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor has been all over music news lately. Headlines have ranged from “Corey Taylor: There’s Nothing Worse Than Forced Music” to “Slipknot’s Corey Taylor Robbed of Music Gear, Late Bassists’ Guitars Stolen.” There are things that have come to light this past year that…
The week a once-ubiquitous band rolls through town on its comeback tour is a good time to reflect on whether, why, and how much you enjoyed it in the first place. For me and Matchbox Twenty, America’s most indestructible post-grunge band, those answers are “yes,” “because they’re so overproduced,” and…
If either Mighty Mike Saga or Alex King seems at all stressed lately, it’s to be expected. The pair of rivetheads has spent the past two years preparing to bring Saga’s influential dance party I Love Industrial to Phoenix this weekend, and there’s still plenty to do before the madness…
It takes a lot for a heavy metal band to beat out Lady Gaga on the music charts — especially in a place like Japan, where people love the pop artist’s catchy dance music and outrageous outfits. (You know, since the Japanese need a reason to sport cartoonish, questionable, and/or…
It’s been a while since Chris Isaak released an album of all-new music (2009’s Mr. Lucky), but for the rockabilly crooner with the spangled jacket, fat Chet Atkins-style guitar, and perfectly coifed hair, new material isn’t really necessary. Isaak made his name with his early albums, most notably San Francisco…
It’s hard to believe Bruno Mars was playing small clubs like Martini Ranch back when his breakout single, “Just the Way You Are,” started to gain traction. Now, after a steady takeover of pop airwaves, he’s playing US Airways Center. It’s hard to avoid hearing the tracks he’s touched, whether you’re…
Hollywood Alley is closing at the end of the month, and the move looks to have been sudden for everybody concerned; as recently as July 10, they were still planning a Labor Day blowout for the Mesa venue’s 25th anniversary. Since the abrupt announcement, Hollywood Alley’s Facebook page has become…
Folk musicians, for the most part, have it rough. Blindly thrust into the Dylan-esque pantheon, the overarching image of a folk-based singer-songwriter is that of the introspective introvert that shyly picks at an acoustic guitar before gracefully exiting whatever forum he holds. Yet when you’re young and influenced by the croonings of Damian Jurado and David Bazan, both exceptionally dynamic musicians in their own right, you’re bound to take a different approach to such a storied genre. Justin Moody, operating under the moniker The Balcony Scene, is such an example, having recently returned to his native Arcadia after spending the majority of his teens in Prescott. Breaking out of the coffee shop mentality for the first time, Moody is making his biggest debut yet with Tempe powerhouses Dust Jacket and Sundressed tomorrow at Crescent Ballroom.
It’s not often that a band’s social media bio nails it, but Tempe metal band TOAD’s is a rare exception. There’s no hyperbole, no invoking the names of far-out influences to seem “cultured.” It’s straight and honest: “An American rock ‘n’ roll band from the 1970s trapped inside of a…
Few things pique my interest more than authentic, hardcore Satanic metal musicians. But at the same time, there’s a part of me that is convinced that most satanic metallers are a bunch of prima donnas. I do know that it’s important to tread lightly when discussing the terms atheistic Satanism…
The proprietors of Hollywood Alley dropped an atomic bombshell on Facebook Thursday afternoon, and its devastating news: The venerated Mesa rock bar will be closing for business on July 31, just shy of its 25th anniversary. It would be safe to say that the announcement was a massive shock to…
An inordinate passion for pleasure is the secret of remaining young, or so sayeth Oscar Wilde. His eccentric wit is a perfect fit for L.A.’s Kitten, fronted by the just barely legal Chloe Chaidez, who co-founded the band when she was just 15. By now, she’s likely tired of hearing…
It’s almost scary to think about the music that guitarist John Scofield would have created as a heavy metal artist or as someone who dabbled in psychedelic, prog, or surf rock. Instead, Scofield touches on all these areas together, with his mostly jazz-fusion-ish construct Überjam. Maybe deconstruct would be a…
