Oasis Affair @ W Scottsdale Hotel

While swank swimming soirees have dominated the summertime scene (as usual), none have been as posh or pimp as the pool parties happening at the W Scottsdale Hotel. The ultra-upscale auberge, located at 7277 East Camelback Road in Scottsdale, has welcomed in a young and stylish crowd to all manner…

S*PUNK! @ Chasers

The party monsters of local DJ collective Sadisco* aren’t shy about their utter devotion to industrial music. They’re slaves to the cacophonous grind of relentless electronically driven mayhem, brutal guitar hooks, and dystopian lyrics about dark lords and demons that only bands like Nachtmahr, Unter Null, and Fractured Transmission can…

The Mynabirds @ Crescent Ballroom

Imagine Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'” as a political rallying cry instead of a sultry kiss-off, and you have an idea behind The Mynabirds’ “Generals.” The title track on the band’s second LP is a call to action so catchy in its delivery, and yet so vague…

Relient K @ Marquee Theatre/mewithoutYou @ Crescent Ballroom

It’s not easy being a “Christian band,” especially when you don’t fit in the easy-to-categorize box, which is the case for Relient K and mewithoutYou, playing the Marquee and Crescent Ballroom this week, respectively. From the beginning, both bands had no trouble attracting fans outside the youth group circuit, with…

Elzhi @ Chasers

If you’re looking for a hip-hop role model, Nas is a pretty good one. Detroit MC Elzhi (real name: Jason Powers) borrowed the title for his breakthrough mixtape, Elmatic, from Nas’ classic 1994 Illmatic. Elzhi knows his stuff and, borrowed title aside, is more than capable of standing on his…

Club Candids: Foreplay Fridays at Flight Lounge

Scottsdale’s shimmering nightlife district tends to become saturated with a maelstrom of vibrant colors, flashing lights, and blaring sound after the sun goes down. Each illuminated establishment attempts to outdo the another by attracting toned-and-tanned clientele with flashy facades and the promise of exciting nighttime adventure. Well, except for Flight…

Is Heavy Metal Really The Devil’s Music?

See also: Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson to Headline KUPD’s Desert Uprising See also: Megadeth’s Dave Ellefson: “Why I’m Trying to Become a Pastor” Last week, I found myself in an awkward conversation with douchebag with a popped collar and frosted tips. He asked me if I worshipped “the Devil,”…

Kongos on the Cutting Room Floor

See also: Kongos are Huge in South Africa. Is Phoenix Next? See also: The Serene Dominic Show: Kongos Tear it Up Back and forth banter that didn’t find its way in this week’s New Times article on Kongos finds its way to you now, courtesy of Up On the Sun…

Oak Creek Music Festival @ Sedona’s Martini Bar

Looking for their place in Sedona culture somewhere between the vortexes and sweat lodges, the spiritual city’s musicians find a way to nestle their love for pan flute into everyday interactions. Need to go to the grocery store? Boom. Pan flutist. Heading out to the bar to have a raucous…

Lukas Nelson @ Celebrity Theatre

It’s not just physical resemblances that bind and reveal family ties. My little brother just got married in a lovely ceremony at the Botanical Gardens, and though we look alike, more than a few people I’d never met before knew I was my brother’s brother just by hearing my voice…

The Henry Clay People @ Crescent Ballroom

This year, bands like Japandroids and JEFF the Brotherhood have offered varied flavors of back-to-basics rock, all of them commendable in their unselfconscious energy. But it comes at a time where some baldly question the relevance of the stadium rock ethos. Frenzied power-chord jammers The Henry Clay People, hailing from…

Talib Kweli @ Club Red

In 1998, pioneering hip-hoppers Mos Def and Talib Kweli teamed up for Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star. Call it conscious rap or backpack rap if you must; we prefer to call it one of the best hip-hop records of the ’90s. In the 14 years since the…

Christopher Lawrence @ Monarch Theatre

With the zeitgeist celebrating any and all things EDM, trance has sort of fallen by the wayside in favor of more fashionable electro-house and dubstep. Europeans still go bonkers for the heart-pounding haywire style, born in German clubs in the early 1990s and championed by Armin van Buuren and Paul…

Club Candids: Bliss/ReBar

Bliss/ReBar is a great place to relax on the patio with a group of friends while people watching and sipping a fruity drink. The bar attracts a diverse, yet friendly crowd of folks who want to hang out, grab a bite, or perhaps dance if the right song is playing…

Are Casino Concerts Guaranteed to Suck?

See also: You Ready for the State Fair? A Guide to the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum Schedule (feat. Adam Lambert, Weezer, Jane’s Addiction, and More) See also: Joan Jett @ Talking Stick Resort I’ve always considered casino venues at the bottom of a musician’s career, just above the state fair circuit…

The Gathering of the Juggalos 2012 Lineup Is Pretty Good. Really!

See also: Soulfly and Fear Factory to Play The Gathering of the Juggalos See also: Seven Awesome Things About The Gathering of the Juggalos 2011 See also: FBI Report Officially Classifies Juggalos a Hybrid Gang; Arizona Boasts “Strong Juggalo Presence” Okay guys, so hear me out. I.C.P.’s The Gathering of…

Tempe Band Vial of Sound Is Obsessed With Analog

Tempe’s Josh Gooday is obsessed: The 29-year-old collects and restores vintage analog synthesizers. “I started going to law school and spending all of my loan money on buying synthesizers, and it just started to get out of control,” Gooday says. The habit eventually gave Gooday and his friends an unlikely…

J-Diggs @ Celebrity Theatre

J-Diggs is paying forward a debt laid on him by close friend Mac Dre, who was shot and killed on a Kansas City highway eight years ago. Born Jamal Diggs in North Vallejo, California, Diggs had success rapping at an early age but deferred to his Crest neighborhood buddy Mac…

The Jacksons @ Comerica Theatre

The Jacksons have a reputation as the most dysfunctional family in pop, but the name of their outing, The Unity Tour, is nothing cheeky or ironic. Except for a 2001 one-off show at Madison Square Garden, “Unity” is their first since 1989. It’s been a rocky road for the brothers:…