All photos by Melissa Fossum

Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley (see the full slideshow.)
Desert Sky Pavilion
May 16, 2013

For me, the night the Desert Sky Pavilion (or whatever else it's called from year to year) opens its gates for the first show of the season marks the beginning of summer. And the 2013 summer concert season kicked off with some red-blooded American country music -- Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley's Locked and Reloaded tour.

As I approached the pavilion, a man was lounging in a lawn chair that sat on the roof of his car, blasting country music with the doors open, chanting and chugging beer and offering his own unique rebellion against parking lot security.

Inside, the crowd was almost as enthusiastic.

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Fog machine.

The Marsh is a house venue whose main room's dimensions I estimate to be around 16 x 20. In this room, there is an alcove where some lights that change color are installed.

There is a fog machine somewhere that, in conjunction with the lights, is intermittently successful in creating the illusion that you are not in someone's house, but at a posh dance club, possibly in Europe. The venue sporadically hosts shows, often involving artists affiliated with Ascetic House and usually exhibiting the kind of experimental projects they are known for supporting.

Last night, I attended one of these shows.

Jock Club, a local solo EDM project, opened as probably the least abrasive and most palatable performer of the evening. I got a strong acid-house vibe from it. At one point, a person in the crowd said "that was pretty dope," and I completely agreed.

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Markus Schulz The Venue Scottsdale Friday, May 10, 2013

Three sets within five hours can be a bit ambitious for most. Sometimes the line-up just isn't your thing. But it was hard to be steered wrong by the Markus Schulz SCREAM tour, with Schulz and support from KhoMha and The M Machine.

Walking into the venue, I immediately knew that a long and eventful night was under way. And I have to admit that this definitively upped my night after I'd just finished some job training. I thought that there was no way I could get out of my tired funk, but as soon as I stepped into The Venue that was all swept away by excitement and acknowledgement of the amount of talent that was in store last night.

READ MORE: For Markus Schulz, returning to Arizona is "nostalgic," but "it saddens me."

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Jim Louvau

Ratt

Ratt and Dokken (view the full slideshow.)
Celebrity Theatre
May 9, 2013

The '80s paid a visit to the Celebrity Theatre Thursday night, when hair metal rockers Dokken and Ratt hit the Valley for a night full of Aquanet-infused anthems. Dokken might be one of the most underrated '80s bands still standing; their first four releases, including the gritty Tooth and Nail, have long been overlooked. In reality, original guitarist George Lynch could hold his own against most of the other players in the genre, and musically Dokken didn't have as much fluff as some of their contemporaries.

Unfortunately, the original lineup is all but gone -- the show really should have been billed Don Dokken and Ratt, since the singer is the only original member left. Don would probably fire back that guitarist Jon Levin has been in the band for the past 10 years, but it's still not the same watching him play Lynch's solos. Meanwhile, drummer Mick Brown has been in and out of the band for years; while he still plays with them occasionally, he spends most of his time on the road with Ted Nugent.

Details aside, one thing remains the same: Dokken still rhymes with rockin'. So how much rockin' went down last night?

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Melissa Fossum

Jimmy Eat World
Paramount Theatre, Casa Grande, Arizona
Thursday, May 9, 2013

Jimmy Eat World's Arizona tour turned out to be excellent news for local fans of the band, who get a belated chance to see them in the kind of venues they played before their national breakout more than a decade ago. The group is now more than halfway through its tour, which stops in venues in smaller towns such Yuma, Flagstaff, and Sierra Vista. The remaining tour dates are sold out, but given the intimacy of Thursday night's show, buying a ticket from a reseller would absolutely be worth it.

See also: Jimmy Eat World Releases New Song, Announces Arizona Tour Dates (Basically Everywhere but Phoenix and Tucson)

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Turquoise Jeep

Du Hot Club de Bizarre
Crescent Ballroom
May 8, 2013

Turquoise Jeep looks and sounds like a novelty act at first, but that doesn't quite explain their appeal. What they're really doing with their bizarre slow jams and paeans to stretchy pants and choreographed dance moves is hitting the basic tropes that make R&B so durable -- sex, euphemisms for sex, memorable hooks over dance music -- at their most ridiculously basic. They're funny, but they deliver the experience they're parodying while they parody it.

Du Hot Club de Bizarre, two packed days at Crescent Ballroom, is everything that makes a music festival a music festival, and nothing else. It's two days long (Ra Ra Riot and Man or Astro-Man? headline tonight); there are booths and beer, and indoor and outdoor stages to walk between; there are lots of different-sounding acts; it has a name. It might seem like a novelty -- like a few separate shows glommed together on short notice -- but you'll get the experience anyway.

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Melissa Fossum

of Montreal
Crescent Ballroom
May 8, 2013

You didn't need to be an of Montreal fan to enjoy Wednesday night's headlining set at day one of Du Hot Club de Bizarre. The band's performance was part circus act and part acid trip, providing plenty of entertainment for the casual fan.

of Montreal's shows are always part performance art and part live music; this time frontman Kevin Barnes, performing "For Our Elegant Castle," took the outdoor stage at Crescent Ballroom riding this weird hydra horse/dog/lion thing. It got weirder.

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Melissa Fossum

Built to Spill
Crescent Ballroom
May 7, 2013

Built to Spill is something of an anomaly. Part grunge, part punk, part indie-rock quirkiness, the band encompasses all these elements without completely embracing any one for too long. That's what made Built to Spill's Crescent Ballroom show so appealing -- this is a musical idiom not found elsewhere on the rock spectrum.

Despite missing two members of the band due to a van breakdown, Built to Spill worked exceptionally well as a power trio. This lineup may also explain why the band kept coming back to 1999's Keep It Like a Secret, recorded when it was still a trio.

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Porter Robinson
May 5, 2013
El Santo

Cinco de Mayo typically is spent sipping margaritas and throwing back Corona or Dos Equis, but El Santo added one more treat to the festivities: Porter Robinson.

It was my first time at El Santo, where the turnout was impressive. At this kind of event, one can only assume that not everyone was there to see the artist, but midway through Robinson's first song, the crowd got on board with the 20-year-old DJ superstar from North Carolina.

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Jim Louvau

UFIESTA (view the full slideshow here.)
Quail Run Park, Mesa
May 4, 2013

When I arrived at KUPD's UFIESTA on Saturday afternoon, a 50-something blonde with blue-tipped hair was stumbling out of the Powerman 5000 mosh pit, wide-eyed and yelling about her head getting stomped in, but still refusing medical attention.

This year's UFEST -- named UFIESTA for its proximity to Cinco de Mayo -- featured a lineup including Howitzer, Flotsam and Jetsam, Trapt, Frequis, Heaven's Basement, Newsted, Powerman 5000, Adelitas Way, Skillet, Chevelle, and Stone Sour.

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