Hey guys, still figuring out liveblogging possibilities from Tempe Music Fest, but if you wanna keep track of the happenings go to twitter.com/NewTimesKelly or (for another hour or so) me at twitter.com/martincizmar. Shiny Toy Guns, our web editor Jonathan McNamara’s personal Beatles, are currently on stage, and Little Stevie from…
Reached by phone on a recent afternoon in his native Tucson, where he’s enjoying a bit of downtime before his band Calexico heads back out on the road, singer-guitarist Joey Burns is taking a walk with one of his best friends in the world, one he doesn’t get to hang…
“This is the year of the Rejects,” The All-American Rejects lead singer Tyson Ritter declares. “We’re going to conquer the world and this is the record we’re going to do it with.” Ritter is referencing the band’s third album, When the World Comes Down, which was released last year. And…
Fall Out Boy have a few ties to Phoenix that you may not be aware of. The band released Live in Phoenix, a DVD it recorded last year at Cricket Pavilion. Kyle, the band’s soundman, is from Phoenix. And the guys used to chill with Valley promoter Will Anderson years…
One of the reasons we love Leonard Cohen is because we don’t know him. That’s not to suggest he’s hiding sinister skeletons in his closet, but his 40-year-plus career has been significant precisely because of its air of eternal mystery. It’s even more amazing given he emerged in the late…
Ever since Kurt Cobain, Seattle’s seminal grunge hero, shot himself in the head, slews of would-be successors to Nirvana’s sonic throne have come and gone. Because April 5 marks the 15th anniversary of Cobain’s death, we’re taking a look at some of the bands that have been hailed as “the…
It’s rare we have a juicy update on good time guy Roger Clyne, and rarer still we have a local music scoop from the Arizona Republic, but, while trying to figure out who Richard Ruelas (guest DJing on The Blaze this week) is last night I came across an interesting…
Around the New Times office we’re really loving The Blaze’s Guest DJ week (which I participated in yesterday). ASU’s student radio station does this once a year, pulling in people like Murph from So Much Silence, Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World and, right now, our man Steve Chilton.But, seriously…
The finale of Jimmy Eat World’s Clarity x 10 tour at the Marquee will see digital release next week. Distributed through jimmyeatworld.com, the release will feature the front-to-back live performance of the wildly influential 1999 album Clarity along with two bonus tracks (“What I Would Say To You Now,” “No…
Sorry for not giving you earlier notice, but ASU’s student radio station, The Blaze, is hosting their annual Guest DJ week this week, featuring everyone from Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins, to Miniature Tigers to… me.You actually already missed Adkins, who spun this morning, but you can still tune…
All of the emo/scene blogs have been ablaze with last week’s news that Phoenix hardcore act The Word Alive have signed to Fearless Records, the California based indie label that has released such divers bands as At the Drive-In, the Aquabats, Sugar Cult and most recently Phoenix phenomenon The Maine…
Bar Smith’s Wednesday night electro/hip-hop affair Pinky Ring has offered some choice guests over its six months of existence (including local legend Z-Trip and NYC/ATL funkmeister Treasure Fingers). And now its organizers are about to add top themselves with their latest coup: Afrika Bambaataa. The Bronx-born hip-hop pioneer (who’s considered…
Is it just me, or is anyone else feeling a little over-Boomered lately? Maybe it’s that Billy Joel concert I saw last night, or maybe it’s the “review” I just read in that other paper, written by someone who’s probably a little too young to be a Boomer, but sure…
Authority Zero will hit the road with punk-rockers Pennywise and Pepper for a Jagermeister tour kicking off in May. Before the band joins their friends on tour, the AZ punk-rock act will perform at Tempe’s Marquee Theatre Friday, April 3 for a headlining show. The show will start at 8…
Tempe’s countrified punk-rockers Truckers on Speed have two big performances in Mesa this weekend. The guys will share a stage with Tempe rock guys Dead Hot Workshop and Los Guys at Mesa’s Goathead Saloon (1423 S. Country Club Drive) on Friday and will take part in the AZ Bike Week…
Fleet Foxes? Check. TV on the Radio? Check. Parisian rockers Phoenix join the ranks as the next hip, trendy band to grace SNL’s music stage this season. Their next album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, isn’t due out until May 26th, but the band still managed to swing a spot on the…
Scene from the green room of Scottsdale’s Martini Ranch: A burly security guard approaches Phoenix rockers Vayden, who are hanging out before their headlining Friday-night set at the club. “I heard you guys are all the rage,” the guard says. “Ah, man,” Vayden singer Curtis Casey sighs, tucking one of…
It’s opening night of the 2009 Billy Joel/Elton John “Face to Face” tour. Five minutes before showtime, Billy Joel stands behind the curtains, nervously looking at his Rolex, when Elton John scurries up beside him. Billy [under his breath]: Ah, the bitch is back . . . Elton: William. Billy:…
Metal, like any popular genre of music, is one that spreads itself over many different styles. Everyone and their mother is fully aware of the hair-metal craze that swept across the Sunset Strip in the early 1980s, sparked by Quiet Riot’s breakthrough success. Bands like Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax, and Megadeth…
In some ways, Arizona’s first “official unofficial” showcase at South by Southwest last week wasn’t a big deal. Other cities, states, and countries have been showing off at the massive music festival in Austin, Texas, for years. Hell, Canada’s barbecue was so hopping I couldn’t get in even though I…
On a small corner stage at Chopper John’s, Marco Polo’s getting ready to perform with his Mexican psychobilly trio, Curse of the Pink Hearse. Most of the patrons at this biker bar on east Indian School Road in Phoenix are white, blue collar 30-somethings kicking off a late-winter weekend with…
Festival season is officially upon us — with Country Thunder and Tempe Music Festival next weekend, and McDowell Mountain Music Fest later in April — and we’ve got one more to add to your calender. Clean Slate Celebration in Glendale April 11 is a benefit for Murray Grey Foundation, which…
