By Martin Cizmar
So, sadly, Phoenix does not appear to be getting of Montreal’s Skeletal Lamping Tour, which MTV says is a much better bet than Madonna’s latest tour – and features Kevin Barnes on horseback, staging his suicide covered in whip cream but we do have a few related acts with shows announced this week. But a few shows by related acts were announced this week.
Goth rocker Voltaire is scheduled to perform tonight at the Sets in Tempe. There’s a multitude of musical mayhem on tap for Valley concertgoers this weekend. From the cadre of old-school hip-hop artists like Naughty By Nature and Ton Loc ripping it up at the Arizona State Fair to the…
Jimi Hendrix died 38 years ago, but his music lives on — and his merchandising does, too. Caffeine fiends can now drink a real “rock star” energy drink — the “Jimi Hendrix Liquid Experience.” The flavorful brew was introduced last year by The Liquid Experience Group, a division of Beverage Concepts, LLC, and seems to be catching on in consumer land. The drink is available in seven states — New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Nevada, California, and Arizona, and the company looks to expand its distribution over the next two years.
By Martin Cizmar As I mentioned earlier this week, The Stiletto Formal is having two CD Release parties for ¡Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta! this week. Saturday’s show at The Rogue also features Black Carl and Montresors, as well as DJ William Fucking Reed. It’s all promoted Psyko Steve, so sounds…
By Michael Lopez
Taking the stage in his Army of Darkness t-shirt accompanied by Zombie Nation’s hit “Kernkraft 400,” (as heard in many sports arenas) Illinois’ own MC Chris welcomed the flood of cheers from his loyal, nerdy fan base. Chris Ward IV knew just how to get them riled up for his entrance, showing his favorite clips from Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2 before he took the stage. I knew going into this concert I would encounter a lot of sci-fi themed fanboy antics, so having “Bruce Campbell” (the star of the Evil Dead series) act as the buffer between opener Totally Michael and MC Chris made all the sense in the world.
THURSDAY 23 Bikini Lounge: DJ HFE (rockabilly, surf, jazz, classic country, indie, obscuro) Blooze Bar: DJ El Dedo (rockabilly) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Cash Inn: DJ Sting (hip-hop, dance) Cherry Lounge: DJ M2 (hip-hop, Top 40) Club Red: Furious Styles 15th Anniversary with DJ Element, DJ Radar, Deeko, Benjamin Cutswell,…
In watching the presidential campaign for what feels like forever, the phrase you keep hearing that’s supposed to define people called to public service is “personal narrative.” Experience, judgment, policies, character, good grooming habits . . . They’re nil if you don’t have a compelling life story that you can…
Weekends start early in Rocky Point. The sun hasn’t yet set on a Friday night, but the beach is already spattered with vomit. Most people entering the tony Peñasco Del Sol hotel, overlooking the beach, plop cans of cerveza down on the marble counter as they check in. Where they…
This year’s Arizona State Fair has an Old School Jam, featuring Naughty By Nature, Tone Loc, Coolio, Young MC, Klymaxx, Club Nouveau, and Timex Social Club. What many don’t realize is that these bands already toured together once — in 1995, when many of them were at their height of…
Harmonious Ottawa indie rockers The Acorn bring their folk-minded sound to the Valley this Saturday. Along with them will be Portland hipsters The Shaky Hands, who have impressed critics and wooed fans with their eponymous 2007 debut and this year’s brilliant follow-up, Lunglight. The Shaky Hands, with their irresistible rhythm…
You know that old saying about how bumblebees were never designed to fly but nobody told the bees that? Well, that’s kind of how it is for the members of Cowboy Mouth — four radio rockers who probably should’ve called it quits in the late ’90s. But instead of taking…
Ranging in style from hip-hop to punk to, arguably, metal, The Stiletto Formal is creating quite the buzz. Sure, it could be because it’s one of the few signed local bands, or it could be because of its forthcoming CD, ¡Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta!, or it could be because its…
Phil Elverum began his shambling psych-pop effort The Microphones during the late ’90s, mixing fuzzy drone, pastoral songwriter folk, and lo-fi experimentation in music that often is as shrouded in sounds as his Olympia, Washington home is in clouds. He scotched the moniker after 2003’s moribund concept album Mount Eerie,…
Like the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. So even though it’ll break their hearts to see it go, the DJs of the Salacious Beat Slingers are ending the long-running Fat’s Breaks night. Debuting last spring, the Tuesday-night affair (originally called “A Case of the…
By Jonathan McNamara When Music Editor Martin Cizmar asked me to accompany him to Mexico to cover a Roger Clyne concert for the debut of his column, Sonic Truth, I knew it was going to be a big deal. But it wasn’t until I was hanging from a scaffold trying…
By Martin Cizmar
It’s been a good day in metal, what with Metallica opening their World Tour here in Phoenix Tuesday night, and now Guns N’ Roses announcing a release date for Chinese Democracy.
By Jonathan McNamara Something amazing happened at Clubhouse Music last night. In the old tales of concert-going I’ve heard of this mysterious phenomnenon called “interaction,” but it wasn’t until a group of Japanese musicians in orange jump suits with rectangular sunglasses took the stage at the Clubhouse that I witnessed…
By Martin Cizmar
As promised, we’ve got a link to New Times Staff Writer, and former Music Editor, Niki D’Andrea’s review of last night’s Metallica show for Spin.com.
By Lilia Menconi Get something a little more metal in the slideshow. So, after reading the New Times Best of Phoenix Award for the death metal band, Hellen, we thought one of their live shows would drudge up a club candids-worthy crowd for sure. And, just as we suspected, Joe’s…
By Martin Cizmar
It’s not often that a band’s only top 10 hit is the low point at a concert – let alone by a band that’s been around 25 plus years and released 40 plus singles – but that’s exactly what happened Tuesday night in Glendale.
Graceful Degradation
There You Go
(Self-released)
By Martin Cizmar
As I wrote last week, every band selected for You Asked For It, no matter how bad, gets at least one spin when they go in the queue. Graceful Degradation got a lot more than that as I listened to their three-song EP, There You Go, at least ten times today. Honestly, I still can’t think of much to say about it.
By Martin Cizmar
You know a local band is big when they get not one but two CD release parties. The Stiletto Formal will be all over town this weekend, celebrating the release of ¡Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta, Fiesta! at The Clubhouse on Friday and The Rogue on Saturday.
