Club Candids: Electroball at Radius

Radius hosted Electroball, its first 18-and-over rave on Wednesday, November 23. Axis was closed off, but guests had plenty to be thankful for at this pre-Thanksgiving bash. DJs Henry Dilema, Sean Watson, and EddieNMarco provided the house, hip-hop, and dubstep beats while the crowd danced under a cover of fog,…

Flier of the Week: What Laura Says

​We’re used to being shown a whole lot of fliers here at Up On The Sun. Each of them is artistically unique in its own way. But none of them has ever struck me quite like this one.What Laura Says has an absolutely beautiful flier for their upcoming show at…

Colt Ford @ The Compound Grill

When rap was coming into the national consciousness in the ’80s, there was a pretty lame joke going around that went something like “Did you hear about the guy who crossed country with rap? They call it crap.” It may have taken almost 30 years, but a former professional golfer…

Timothy B. Schmit @ The Compound Grill

Timothy B. Schmit always felt like “the new kid in town” in The Eagles, but that’s because he pretty much is. Schmit played on only one pre-reunion Eagles record, The Long Run, but he made his presence known with the stellar, blue-eyed soul number, “I Can’t Tell You Why.” He’s…

Switch @ Crescent Ballroom

David Taylor, better known by his dance-floor-packing name Switch, comes to Phoenix packing serious credentials. He’s worked with M.I.A., Santigold, Christina Aguilera, and Beyoncé, not to mention crafting the dancehall/electro project Major Lazer with Diplo. The production duo’s debut, Guns Don’t Kill People . . . Lazers Do, indulged their…

Clint Black @ Celebrity Theatre

Alt-country hero Dale Watson has a tune called “Nashville Rash,” in which he bemoans the pop crossover changes in Music City and sings “I’m too country now for country, just like Johnny Cash / Help me, Merle, I’m breakin’ out in a Nashville rash.” The condition has begun to afflict…

A Life of Science @ Yucca Tap Room

Meet Jon Tate. He’s from the future. Jon is a genius infatuated with robotics and a blond, buxom beauty named Sandy. He’s building an army of robots in hopes of ending a war that is gripping the world. It’s an army that eventually will turn on him, culminating in an…

DJ Fresh @ Club Red

Christmas music is weird stuff. Sure, grandmas like it, but for poor souls folks manning the boards at 99.9 KEZ FM, it’s less the music of holly jollies and more a nightmare of tunes played long before (and even a little after) Christmas. DJ Fresh, who’s spinning funky breaks as…

Flier of the Week: Thanksgiving Eve Party at the Sail Inn

It’s all about giving thanks for local music, which means local music lovers and Sail Inn regulars should definitely get in on this.What Laura Says, Gospel Claws, Banana Gun, The Smith Family Band, and Sister Cities will be performing. Get stoked!It’s all going down on Wednesday, November 23. Doors open…

Everlast @ Roxy Lounge

Everlast is like Kid Rock for the indie set, a onetime rapper who’s embraced roots music and proved to be an evocative performer. His gruff baritone has been his calling card going back to his days in House of Pain, during which his admonition to “Jump Around” spoke to a…

Mark Sultan @ The Trunk Space

Mark Sultan is an accomplished, unique songwriter, so it may seem wrong to reduce him to the more outrageous aspects of his persona. Unfortunately, we can’t help it. The man (who travels under such aliases as Von Needles and Blortz) wears both a turban and dashiki onstage; he has gone…

Sting @ Comerica Theatre

When did you first think Sting was a pompous twit? The love-me-I’m-tortured artistry of “King of Pain?” The way he sang “the bitter sting of tears” with a straight face on “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” The way he withheld new songs for a 1986 Police reunion, resulting only in…

Lotus @ The Compound Grill

Let’s face it. “Jamming” is little more than musician code for one great big circle jerk. Each player is just waiting for his solo, and that’s cool, because being at the center of the circle so totally rocks. But when a jam session turns into a “jam band,” it’s a…

Melt Banana @ Hollywood Alley

Robert “Fun Bobby” Birmingham was a fixture behind the bar at Hollywood Alley for over a decade — a talkative, friendly dude with a serious musical yen for the bonkers rock music of Japanese rockers Melt Banana. He’s been booking the band for over 16 years — at places like…

Furious Styles Crew 18th Anniversary @ Yucca Tap Room

Few things that were fresh and fly in 1993 are still cool these days, save for Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and the Phoenix’s Furious Styles Crew. The local b-boy collective has stuck around for almost two decades now and isn’t slowing down. You can catch the FSC busting out with…

Flier of the Week: Sigma

This flier struck me as a mix between the album covers of Yellow Submarine by the ​Beatles and Kona Town by Pepper. If that doesn’t stand out, then nothing does. Sigma’s flier makes me excited to get down and rock out. It will certainly be a special evening since it’s…