Phoenix Music Blog

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Also off the bill is supporting act Runner Runner, citing the same reason.

Taking on headlining duties is now Every Avenue, who will perform with Stereo Skyline.

Refunds are available through Marquee Theatre by calling (480) 829-1300, and if you wish to purchase tickets, they're $15 through www.luckymanonline.com.

www.myspace.com/alifeofscience

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The ambitious band also has plans to make a film to go along with the music and book, which follow a man named Jon, who lives in an apocalyptic world he created.

The book was written by vocalist/bassist Jim Keenan, who says the state of today's world inspired him in his writing.

"The trouble times of today influenced me," Keenan says. "It's obvious to me that the world can't last forever, especially with all the wars going on. That to me has always been fascinating. There's numerous speculations to the end of the world, and we wanted to give our own spin on it."

Benjamin Leatherman

Gundams at Ignite Phoenix 5

​Last night hundreds of people flooded the Tempe Center for the Arts for Ignite Phoenix 5, a presentation series that gives 18 people five minutes and twenty slides to talk about their passions. I would have happily joined them, but I was too busy pacing back and forth back stage, sweating the presentation I was about to give.

One of the untold stories from my (somewhat) recent article about Jeff Moriarty is an off-the-record conversation he's had with countless people since founding Ignite. Moriarty has an almost surgical ability to get people to admit where their greatest passions lie whether they are in programming languages for kids, bathroom etiquette or, in my case, miniature models of giant robots from Japan based on the Mobile Suit Gundam anime mega-series. When I started talking to him about building miniature robot models, he noticed that I leaned forward in my chair and my eyes grew wide. He pointed that out to me, adding that Ignite is built for that sort of passion. Mid-interview he asked me to submit to Ignite 5 and I sort of brushed him off. Then after the interview he told me to submit again and got me to promise I would. A few hours before the submission deadline, I put my money where my mouth is.

​If you're looking for a hip-hoppin' way to spend Halloween (and you're too young for the bars), Jilly's American Grill in Chandler is hosting an 18-and-older costume bash complete with the latest in hip-hop tunage.

The bar, which we're a little sketched out about, considering the bouncers pad you down before you enter, still has a fun vibe with a video DJ and big dance floor. DJ Green Lantern spins Saturday.

The spot also serves up a wide variety of bar food and has plenty of spots to take a breather if you get winded doing the monster mash.

What has us intrigued, though, is the big $1,000 cash prize for best costume. Maybe it's worth debuting our Lady Gaga outfit there?

Admission is free for ladies before 11 p.m. and $5 for men before 10:30 p.m. Log on to www.myspace.com/vipenterprises for more info.

Adriane Goetz

Ashley Roberts shakes what her mother gave her at the Suns Dancers auditions

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So you think you can dance (for the Phoenix Suns, that is)?

About 200 women from around the Valley thought so when they showed up at the US Airways Center in Phoenix on Saturday morning to audition for the 2009-2010 Suns Dancers squad. In the end, however, only 16 can make the cut.

As with years past, there was plenty of floor-stompin', booty-poppin' excitement (much to our delight, the warm-up felt more like "Soul Train" than a dance audition), but this year's choreography had a little extra bump in its grind courtesy of former Phoenician Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts.

Would you pay top dollar to catch a glimpse of Twilight's Cullen family?

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Keep in mind, Twilight fans, that just because your favorite character from the film inspired by Stephenie Meyer's uber-popular series of vampiric, romance novels for teens is chilling pool side does not mean that his or her skin will shimmer like diamonds.

Still, for the cost of $105 a night, you too can stay at the Wigwam Golf Resort and Spa where members of the Twilight cast will be resting between autograph sessions at the Twi/Tour Convention on August 14 -16.

A press release from Wigwam claims that guests will be in "prime position for the chance at seeing their favorite Twilight cast member." Who wouldn't want a shot of Ashley Greene or Billy Burke enjoying dinner at Red's Steakhouse, rejuvinating at the Red Door Spa or beating away Hot Topic shoppers while insisting that they're not really vampires?

Given the option of watching a bunch of minor celebs try to avoid fans, we'd rather watch this.

Souls of Mischief.

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Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday with were kicking off the annual Summer of Sound series, and now we're down to the final show.

Every single genre has come and gone (Americana, Pop, Indie, Hard Rock), save one: The hip-hop showcase, which takes place this Saturday, August 8, starting at 8 p.m. at Fat Tuesday on Mill Avenue in Tempe.

We're sending Summer of Sound out with a bangin' night of hip-hop featuring four different local acts, each offering it's own distinct spin on the genre: There's the hedonistic electro-hop of Silver Medallion, the ghetto-fab Latino rapper (and former NB Ridaz member) Zig Zag, the lyrical tricksters of Golden Tung, as well as backpack-style indie practitioner Bear the Astronot.

Oakland's underground/alternative hip-hop kings (and Hieroglyphics Imperium members)Souls of Mischief will headline the showcase, with the quartet of A-Plus, Opio, Phesto, and Tajai taking the stage to finish the night out.

It being the grand finale and all, we're planning to pull out all the stops: In addition to an outdoor extension into the back patio, the evening will also 10-on-10 battles by the National Breaking League, live art by Absurd Clothing, and more. The ubiquitous drink specials will return, including $4 SoCo Lime, $2 Bud Select, and $5 Red Bull vodkas.

The cover is only $5 and a portion benefits Ear Candy Charities. If you'd like score two-for-one admission, text "summer" to 46101.

Adriane Goetz

Who says there's no one partying it up Downtown? See more shots in our slide show from Bar Smith.

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Some people (usually the ones who complain all the time and are absolutely zero fun to hang out with) are always trying to say there's no nightlife in Downtown Phoenix. After cruising down to 2nd Avenue and Washington over the weekend to check out Bar Smith's Solstice Saturdays, the debate is over and they unequivocally lose.

Downtown Phoenix is so packed with partygoers, in fact, that parking can be an irritating and/or expensive ordeal (we paid $10 for a parking garage) and the lines of people waiting to get into each club tend to blur together into a sea of excited, gussied-up bodies.

While Stoudemire's, Majerle's, PHX, Silver and Sky Lounge were all poppin' off Saturday night, we're convinced that Bar Smith's atmosphere was by far the best. The bi-level club was packed with lively patrons who drank and danced to a well-mixed soundtrack of new and old school hip hop, R&B, funk, house and more selected by a lineup of highly reputable DJs including Element, Pete Salaz and Senbad. The vibe was welcoming and the crowd was eclectic, exactly the type of place we want representing our beloved Downtown.

See more shots from Bar Smith in our slide show.

"I'm finally done with Phoenix," he says. "Just been here all my life since I was six years old and I've never left. So it's time I did that."

Fashen's relocation shouldn't come as a surprise, considering he's already spending most of his time these days outside the Valley touring clubs in the L.A. area and even up in Canada. (Fashion's also a member of the Deckstar DJs, a big-time collective that already features such heavy hitters as Steve Aoki, DJ AM, and Jazzy Jeff.) In fact, his only local gigs are every Tuesdays at Dirty Pretty and an occasional appearance at Bar Smith's Pinky Ring on Wednesdays.

"A few club nights in Scottsdale don't justify me staying when there are bigger things going on in Los Angeles," he says.

His P-Town swan song starts tonight at a special edition of Pinky Ring at Bar Smith (130 East Washington Street, 602-229-1265) where he'll be feted by his buds D-JR, Benjamin Cutswell, Tricky T, Senbad, and Death to the Throne. The party starts at 9 p.m. While Fashen's final stint at Dirty Pretty on Tuesday, July 30, will also serve as big going-away bash, he plans on making a few guests shots in his hometown now and again.

"You haven't seen the last of me," he jokes.

Not only can you see What Laura Says for free at The Heard Museum Friday, you can also get free ice cream. The venerable downtown museum ("Word Famous For A Reason" appears to be their new tag line) has all sorts of cool programs aimed at locals this summer, including free admission some summer Saturdays and NU, the showcase with What Laura (and Shamrock Farms) as well as DJ Chris Flores and short films about indigenous arctic communities. Oh yes, and the event is right off the light rail at Encanto and North Central Avenue.

Attention citizens! Here's some secret intel: expect a written account of the ferocious battle between the forces of good and evil known as the "Epic Super Hero Battle '09" on Tuesday's edition of "Geek Beat" by Wynter Holden (who may or may not have participated in costume). While you wait, here are a few other super sites with coverage from the event.

Epic Super Hero Battle '09 on Flickr

Epic Super Hero Battle '09 on YouTube

Improv AZ

AZ Cacophny

This is the Michael Jackson we prefer to remember.

As the world mourns the loss of Michael Jackson, we're expecting that the members of P-Town's music scene will be putting on any number of tributes dedicated to the late King of Pop in the coming weeks and months.

The cat who gets the honor of being the first is DJ Joe DiPadova. We just got an e-mail from the 30-year-old, who's apparently pretty torn up over Jacko's death and will be transforming his set tonight at CenPho alcohol oasis Hanny's (which starts at 7 p.m.) into a wake of sorts.

Here's a quote from said dispatch, which offers more details:

"[I] honestly don't find myself much in the mood for playing now. So, I'm going to do the only thing I really know how--I'm going to play every single MJ & Jackson 5 song and remix I own tonight. Come mourn with me if you want. Bring a song if you have one that's special to you."

Pssst! Wanna hang out with Jim Adkins for a night?

You can do just that Thursday evening at the Tavern on Mill in downtown Tempe when the Jimmy Eat World singer plays the role of DJ during the New Times Summer of Sound: Pop showcase.

But before we let Adkins take over the bar's sound system with some of his favorite tunes, four of the Valley's best pop/rock bands will perform: Kinch; Good With Grenades; Sisterbrother; and Sleepwalk, a Robot. As you can see by the flyer above, Shake! partymeister William Fucking Reed will also be up in that bitch.

For this edition of our Summmer of Sound series only, admission is an economically-priced at free, with drink specials on Bud Select ($2.50) and So Co ($3).

Lauren Gilger

The design for the Soleri Bridge and Plaza on the Scottsdale Waterfront, overlooking the spot where it will be built.

It was, after all, nearly 40 years ago that the Italian architect began construction on Arcosanti, his alternative, experimental community near Cordes Junction in the middle of the desert north of Phoenix, introducing to a skeptical world the idea of sustainable living. And it's been more than 50 years since he founded the Costanti Foundation and began designing the city of the future. Its goal? To conserve energy, resources and land.

Sound familiar? All too, in today's world of green-this and sustainable-that.

Lauren Gilger

Paolo Soleri on his 90th Birthday, posing for photos with guests.

Soleri celebrated his 90th birthday and the summer solstice on the Marshall Way Bridge in Scottsdale Sunday morning, forgiving our lateness and even offering us a gift.

The legendary Arizona architect and bell-maker (you can check out his work by driving north on I-17 about an hour to Arcosanti, or head to Paradise Valley to see the bell foundry) unveiled designs for the Soleri Bridge and Plaza, which will cross the canal at Scottsdale Road just West of Camelback, encourage alternate modes of travel (like gasp! walking), and mark in shadows the course of the sun.

The fabulous members of Black Fag.

Imagine, if you will, that all those long-standing rumors about Henry Rollins' alleged homosexuality are actually true. (They're not, of course, but stick with us). Better yet, picture what the muscular singer would've looked like if he'd had spent his entire career out of the closet.

In our mind's eye, we think this "alternate universe" version of Rollins might've resembled Liberace Morris, the pink smoking jacket-clad, ascot-wearing, martini-drinking, beyond-swishy frontman for Black Fag, a self-described "absolutely fabulous" SoCal Black Flag tribute band that's performing at Jugheads (5110 East McDowell Road, 602-225-0307) tomorrow night. Bro-Loaf, The Revenge, and, er...Full Blown AIDS are also scheduled to perform.

What's our point? That you won't have to look very hard to playing said genre ad nauseum. Or trance. Or mash-ups. Or electro. Or club bangers.

As for a dubstep night? Eh, not so much. That particular EDM flavor is more of a Phoenix kinda thing, which is why it's notable that DJ Louder and his cohorts are attempting to bring the grimy and dark bass-heavy English-born genre to Scottsdale with Roc Thursdays starting tomorrow evening at Drinx (7330 East Stetson Drive, Scottsdale, 480-423-9434).

"I know we're taking a real leap with this, since Scottsdale has no clue about what dubstep is, but we're trying to push some new sounds into that town," he says.

The evening begins in familiar territory with some old-school jams and electro hip-hop early on starting at 9 p.m., but after midnight is when the subwoofers will start shaking as Louder will start seguing into fast-paced breakbeats and darkly grimy dubstep territory after midnight.

DJ Soloman (of Zuma Grill fame) will be the special guest during the first week, with future guests including Casper...That Funky Deejay (on June 25), and the team of the Brook B, Hazardous, and Rob Kwik from the Dirt Assasinz (on July 2). Plans are also afoot, Louder says, to bring in local low-bass DJs and dubstep aficionados CRUZ and Ultra Black.

The walls start shaking at 9 p.m. and there's no cover whatsoever. Visit the Myspace for more.

Jonathan McNamara

Jeff Moriarty (left) of the Ignite Phoenix Crew and other igniters hanging out at La Bocca Pizzeria on Mill Ave. during the Ignite Phoenix 4 after-party.

"Now, where you go when you die is an age-old question. Here's the answer: 7th Avenue and Jefferson." Stacy Holmstedt didn't skip a beat between appearing on stage at the Tempe Center for the Arts and beginning her presentation about what happens when you die. Her audience was eating it up. "If you're an organ donor, that's great! You're going to Central and Camelback." Another zinger from Holmstedt and the audience was in stitches.

Yet those in attendance Tuesday night weren't a bunch of stiffs and this was not a mortician conference. Five minutes earlier CJ Cornell talked about the "Cargo Cult of Entrepreneurship." Five minutes before that Nicholas DiBiase enlightened those in attendance to the benefits of "Food Security in Urban Phoenix."

Seemingly unrelated? To anyone who has yet to experience Ignite Phoenix, you betcha.

What is Ignite Pheonix? The concept is simple,: 18 people have 5 minutes and 20 slides each to talk about whatever they are passionate about. If audience members want to find out more, links are provided.

Jonathan McNamara

Matt Haynes (center) with the AZ Ghostbusters

Though there were no spiritual apparitions at Gamestop at 5707 Northern Ave. in Glendale during the midnight launch of the new Ghostbusters The Video Game, there were plenty of EKG meters and "proton packs" just in case. These delicate scientific instruments belonged to none other than the AZ Ghostbusters, a charity organization based around dressing up like the iconic characters from the 198X film, who made a public appearance last night to raise money for the Salvation Army while promoting the new video game for just about every system you use to play games.

A crowd of about 100 people converge on Gamestop to watch a screening of the original Ghostbusters, toss red turtle shells at each other in Mario Kart Wii and rock out to Rock Band while waiting for the witching hour to purchase the new game. If you think you are a Rock Band god, try playing while wearing a nuclear-powered proton pack. Replica or otherwise, those things are heavy.

Benjamin Leatherman

Joe DiPadova and sax player Shea Marshall jam out at the Merc Bar on Sunday. Click here for more photos from our slideshow.

The stylish and suave Merc Bar has always seemed to be a cut above all the other gin joints and laidback lounges that abound in Phoenix. How come? There's a clandestine, speakeasy feel to the place, as it's secreted behind an unmarked door deep in the heart of the Esplanade. The Merc also has a killer pedigree, as it spun off the renowned NYC bar, as well as a substantial rep as a stomping ground for some of the hottest chickadees and top-shelf trim you'll see this side of a Ford Models shoot.

Oh yeah, and the bartenders pour a pretty mean martini to boot (try the Sophia Loren).

And now the best is only getting better, as the dimly-lit drink pad will now be bringing in DJs on Sunday evenings to help add to ambience.

Slopfunkdust and 11 other local hip-hop producers will bring their best beats to downtown Phoenix tonight.

We'll get the answer later tonight, as both will be going head-to-head against 10 other local beatsmiths and hip-hop producers during the Red Bull Big Tune competition going at the PHX Nightclub (122 East Washington Street, 602-258-1830).

Never been to a beat battle before? Hit the jump for an explanation of what's in store, fool, as well as a list of who's gonna pop off with their sickest shit and some video clips of the contenders in action.

DJ Tranzit with his weapon of choice.

Tranzit's been a staple of the P-Town house community over the past five years, having spun his high-energy blend at every major danceteria this 'berg has to offer. Switch has been his regular weekly gig in recent years, but due to a hectic summertime sked (including organizing the H20 pool parties at the posh Mondrian Scottsdale), he's making the event monthly and moving it to Cream from the nearby Pussycat Lounge until the fall. Hence, tonight's jam-packed soiree, which is a part of the club's Giant Wednesday series and also features sessions from Michael James, Freightrain, Turner & Heit, and Rani G. 

Doors open at 9 p.m. with a $15 admission. You can text "SWITCH" to 878787 on your mobile phone or e-mail info@vt-dj.com for a reduced cover and free drinks.

While the calendar nailed to our wall states that summer doesn't officially begin for another couple weeks, every Valley resident knows that Mother Nature doesn't play by such rules. Nope, that raging, sadistic bitch tends to jack up the thermostat in early May and doesn't let up until late-September at least.

So with the summertime scorch season now in full effect, it seems like the best place to flee our ever-present heat wave is by spending an evening chillaxing with an ice-cold beverage inside the cool confines of a local drinkery, which is exactly what we'll be doing tonight. The annual New Times Summer Guide hits newsstands everywhere this week (offering the scoop on the coolest drinks and hottest events over the next three months), and we're marking the occasion with a fabbo fete at San Felipe's Cantina (2000 East Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe, 480-736-8226).

It starts at 7 p.m. and DJ Earth will provide the jams, while a Triangle Fashion Show and beach party activities will also take place. Admission is free. Click here for more details, including info on how to eat and drink on our dime.

British Invasion: The Shapeshifters UK roll in Scottsdale on Wednesday

The British house duo of Simon Marlin and Max Reich (a.k.a. The Shapeshifters UK) have a busy itinerary planned for the summer. Besides jet-setting to the raucous Dance Island Festival in England and the trendsetting Pacha in Ibiza (natch), they're gracing the Valley with their presence tomorrow night with a gig at Scottsdale's Cream Stereo Lounge.

Marlin and Reich (who are also referred to as Shape:UK here in the states) will be guests of the lounge's Giant Wednesdays, which spun off of the popular L.A. club of the same name. The PHX's version has been equally well-attended since coming onto the scene back in February, and has given other local house nights a run for their money (we're looking in your direction, House 7340) by continually bringing in national and world-renowned talent like the 'Shifters. (It's also helping make Cream one of the premier discotheques in this 'berg, despite what a few haters might think).