Phoenix Music Blog

​Concert announcements are starting to filter in for The Rogue, the Scottsdale night spot that formerly hosted the beloved hipster dance night Shake! (for about a half decade, if you can believe it) but is now moving in to live-action rock shows.

Quick recap of some news we broke in this week's New Times music newsletter (sign up here): The Cover Up is playing its last show tonight.

​It was exciting to hear one of the Valley's catchiest bands, Violet Wild, is playing a show this Friday, November 20 at Club Red, opening for Days of the New.

But after taking a look at the flyer for the show, it's flabbergasting how many freakin' bands are on one bill: a whopping 11. For a non-festival show at such a small venue, that's a ton.

This is great for local music lovers, considering tickets range from only $15-$20. The show features a big variety of acts, from pop, to alternative rock, to experimental. The concert's split between two stages, so you can wander around and find music you dig.

Be sure to check out Violet Wild, an energetic pop rock band that recently opened for Our Lady Peace. Locals The Constellation Branch are also on the bill.

Another notable act is Vains of Jenna, a "sleaze rock" band from Sweden that goes crazy with the guyliner. Even if you're not a fan of their music, they'll be interesting to watch.

Tickets for the show are available on www.ticketweb.com.

For Phoenix rock band Year of the Moth, being in a band isn't about getting signed to a label and becoming Nickelback-scale famous. It's all about playing music the group members stand behind, and that's what the band attributes to the support they've felt in the local scene.

www.myspace.com/yearofthemoth

​"For the first time of all the bands we've played in, we were like, 'Let's play music for ourselves," says vocalist/guitarist Kevin Dye.

The band consists of longtime musicians and has been around since 2007. They released their current album, Transitions, earlier this year and are now being played on KUPD 97.9 FM. They also join a legion of diverse local acts, from Digital Summer to Drunken Immortals, this Friday, November 20 at Venue of Scottsdale for a huge show benefiting www.allweask.org, which promotes cancer and AIDS nonprofit Absolute Philanthropy.

Earthless

​San Diego psychedelic hard rockers Earthless join their thrash metal Tee Pee Records labelmates Iron Age, and Georgia sludge metal act Baroness for a show at The Clubhouse on Saturday December 5. Should be one hard rocking show, as you can hear from the Mp3s below. Tickets here.

The kids in The Summer Set are barely legal, yet the pop rock band is one of the most prominent repping for the Valley music scene right now. 

www.myspace.com/davemcgraw

​It's still a little warm here in Phoenix, but you can catch a show in a cool place tonight in Flagstaff as folk/Americana band Dave McGraw and Crow Wing takes the stage at the Green Room (15 N. Agassiz St.)

The band released their current full-length album, Coyotes Came Around, this past summer. It's a peaceful, folky mix of full band and acoustic songs produced by Jeff Lusby, formerly of Flagstaff rock band Mercy Fall, which was signed to Atlantic Records.

Additional production came from Bob Hoag at Flying Blanket Recordings.

McGraw, who started out as a solo artist, said though the slick production was a change of pace from his previously rougher recordings, he welcomed the new opportunity.

"It definitely stretched me beyond any style I would have come up with on my own," McGraw says.

Courtesy Fearless Records

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Local bands shine through in Fearless Records-signed Every Avenue, a pop punk quintet from Michigan who's coming to Martini Ranch in support of The White Tie Affair Wednesday, November 11.

The guys in Every Avenue cite hometown heroes Jimmy Eat World and Gin Blossoms as influences, and it's evident judging by the band's sophomore album, Picture Perfect. The disc, which came out last week, is a must for anyone's pop rock catalog, since it's full of catchy hooks and highly danceable tracks.

Up on the Sun caught up with vocalist Dave Strauchman, who also had great things to say about Valley band The Maine, now on Warner Bros. Records. "They're some of our great friends, and we've had a lot of fun playing with them," Strauchman says.

How do you think Picture Perfect showed growth from your debut album, Shh. Just Go with It?

It has more layers. It just flows better, and the songs have more depth. We matured as a band, and we spent a lot of time writing it. The songs are all different, but they all still sound like us. Some of our influences have shown through on this record.

Expect just as much confusion at Melt-Banana Lite's show tonight, with more of an American audience

​Melt-Banana is playing the Hollywood Alley tonight. For those faithful readers of Up on the Sun, this should come as no surprise. I mentioned this fact a few weeks ago, explaining just what Melt-Banana Lite means. This concert is previewed in the current issue of the New Times, proving that there has been an exhaustive amount of coverage for this particular Japanese noise-rock band. Worry not, however, since I have more dutiful words to hopefully describe just what will be taking place tonight at the Hollywood Alley.

Jonathan McNamara

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Local indie pop favorites Miniature Tigers (who are rumored to be moving out East soon) embark on a 2-month tour tomorrow across the country.

Next week, they'll be playing solo, then the buzz-y band joins Say Anything, along with rock bands Eisley and Moneen. The tour stops in Tempe November 20 at Marquee Theatre, with advance tickets at $16.50.

The group's come a long way, starting out as vocalist/guitarist Charlie Brand's project in 2005, and has picked up momentum since the release of their current album, Tell It To the Volcano.

We think the pairing of Miniature Tigers with Say Anything is interesting, considering the Tigers are lighter fare, but we're stoked the band keeps on moving up with national exposure.

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It's probably too early to compile my top 10 albums of the year list for 2009, but I'll go ahead and tip my hand on one that will almost definitely make it: Islands' Vapors. I've had the Montreal indie band's new record in and out of my car's CD player more times than I can count over the last two months and it just keeps growing on me more and more. Listen to the first three tracks on the record below and see if you don't agree. Tickets available here or through the promoter, Stateside Presents.

Digital Leather will play The Manor this Saturday night, making sure to rock the very foundation of the unique venue

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The live Digital Leather sound is ugly and raw like a porkchop sitting out in the sun crawling with maggots. But still, you are starving to death. So you eat it. Mmmm.

Digital Leather will be bringing all of this -- synths, grime, rotten pork chops -- to Tempe's The Manor this Saturday night. Question is, will you be there to revel in the all the shameless (or shameful, however you choose to look at it) glory?

blackcroweslive.com

The brothers Robinson, singer Chris and guitarist Rich, bring The Black Crowes to the State Fair this Thursday.

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Wow, has it really been two decades since The Black Crowes released their debut album Shake Your Money Maker? Just about, kids, that disc dropped in January 1990.

Almost 20 years later, the Crowes are many things to many people, depending on when you came to their party: classic rock revivalists, Southern rock torchbearers, jam band, blues band, rock band, Americana band, etc.

It seems the group has come full circle from their beginnings as Stones/Faces traditionalists -- in the very depths of the hair metal era, mind you -- to being embraced as a true classic rock band in their own right.

And they earned that respect the old-fashioned way, on the road. While the group has never enjoyed a greater presence on the sales charts than they did with their debut, their subsequent recordings have shown increasing artistic depth and garnered them a loyal audience that continues to support their live shows.

It's hard to believe ASU's Gammage Auditorium has never hosted a hip-hop show -- even for ASU, that's pretty whitebread -- but organizers of this weekend's Civil Disobedience Part Wu, are claiming the concert, a charity event for the Crisis Nursery of Phoenix featuring Gza of the Wu-Tang Clan, and a bunch of underground MCs, will be the first rap show ever. Here's a "commercial" advancing the event, which is selling tickets for only $11.50.

Tonight is a huge night for Phoenix shows. Not only are !!! and The Cave Singers combining their shows at Rhythm Room, Bon Iver is nearly sold out at Mesa Arts Center, Creed is selling $10 tickets at Jobing.com and Insane Clown Posse is coming to Marquee Theatre.

For me there's no real question which show to see. Not only do I consider Bon Iver to be one of the most overrated acts of the past decade, I've got a soft spot for Clown Love.

Readers may remember my defense of The Juggalos in a column last year, the slideshow where I turned myself in to a Juggalo and the video we did of me trying to get kicked out of a mall with the Juggalos. I'm not sure I'd commit a Friday night to this sort of spectacle, but it sounds like a pretty great Tuesday to me.

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I'm suddenly regretting my decision to switch from Showtime to Starz.

On Saturday, Oct. 24 Showtime will premiere When We Were Beautiful, a Bon Jovi documentary, at 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific time. The documentary will detail how my favorite hair band has become of the biggest success stories in rock music history, offering an intimate glimpse of the Jersey music icons and their 25 years of brotherhood. 

According to a post on the band's MySpace page, the documentary was filmed on the road and will feature a behind the scenes look at the band during their 2008 Lost Highway World Tour, which concluded with a historic concert at New York City's Central Park and was the top grossing tour of 2008 in Billboard Magazine. The post promises that "avid Bon Jovi fans will find plenty of new reasons to be devoted to the band."

In addition to the documentary, Harper Collins will release a 192-page companion book on Oct. 27 titled When We Were Beautiful. Bon Jovi will release their forthcoming disc, The Circle, on Nov. 10.

He's the lead singer of twentythree-year-old power pop dream The Posies and rounds out the second-wave Big Star revival. But next Friday, Jon Auer will be all alone at Last Exit in Tempe, showcasing his extensive repertoire of solo work.

Football season is only two weeks away, which means you're either super excited for, or desperately dreading, Frank Caliendo's impressions. His Madden (above video) is of course the most famous, but the former MadTV personality certainly has plenty more.

If you'd like a closer look at the Tempe native's career will be at Dodge Theatre on Saturday, October 10, his last show before he becomes a permanent headliner on the Las Vegas Strip, fulfilling an exclusive 10-year agreement with the Monte Carlo.

Caliendo had his own show, Frank TV, a few years back, which you may remember for the ubiquitous promos that ran for months before its debut on TBS. He also did a memorable stint on FOX NFL Sunday with Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long, doing impressions of Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Dr. Phil, Jay Leno and dozens more.

Tickets here.

Doggass Productions August 28th Promotional Video from Ted Organ on Vimeo.

Darkness Dear Boy's Ted Organ and the guys over at Doggass Productions have put together a fun little video to promote their August 28 edition of the monthly "Best Fucking Live Show," at Last Exit in Tempe. As always, the show features bands, comedians and artists so there's no down time between sets. Check out the video above or read my March column on Ted and the boys here. 

​Everyone's favorite ex-Arizona band (sorry fun. and Lymbyc Systym) will be playing Denver's Red Rocks Ampitheatre, a venue so beloved Pollstar retired it as a contender for best small outdoor concert venue and instead named the award after it, on their way to Tempe for a show at The Marquee on Sept. 16. That date is with Ween, who they'll be teaming up with for two dates on the tour, which pairs them with Dead Confederate otherwise.

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If you were one of the countless Americans to shell out anywhere from eight to eleven bucks a pop (and contribute to its near $200 million gross) to see the film version of the Young Adult book sensation Twilight, there's a great chance you heard English musician Bobby Long's song "Let Me Sign" in the background of some blood-sucking scene (Albiet being sung by the movie's star, Robert Pattinson).

 

Get ready to break out the bathtub moonshine and dance with your cousins (metaphorically speaking, of course) because "The Master of Hillbilly Swing" is hoping to knock your socks off at the Rhythm Room this Sunday.

Tonight is a home-coming show of sorts for Tool, whose frontman Maynard James Keenan graced our cover a few months back because of his ambitious wine-making operation near Sedona. We'll have a review for you tomorrow morning.

Hoodlums Music, at 6434 S. McClintock in Tempe, will be screening RiP! a remix manifesto for free Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. Here's a bit from the movie's promotional materials:

In RiP: A remix manifesto, Web activist and filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores issues of copyright in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers.

The film's central protagonist is Girl Talk, a mash-up musician topping the charts with his sample-based songs. But is Girl Talk a paragon of people power or the Pied Piper of piracy? Creative Commons founder, Lawrence Lessig, Brazil's Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil and pop culture critic Cory Doctorow are also along for the ride.

Read more about the movie here or check out Girl Talk here.

We already told you a lot about Deer Tick in this week's paper, and we'll tell you a little more tomorrow, after tonight's show at Modified Arts but in the meantime we just wanted to give you a little reminder: DEER TICK IS TONIGHT.

In case you're too lazy to click the above link:

The group cranks out a rough-hewn hodgepodge of high lonesome twang, indie-rock tension, and crunchy, overdriven grunge dynamics, casting Ritchie Valens and Townes Van Zandt as the principal songwriters in Built to Spill, or coming on something like Vetiver with a wild hair and desire to "kick out the jams." The boys were breakout stars at this year's South by Southwest, earning Rolling Stone's David Fricke's appointment as "number-one breaking band."

It sounds too good to be true, right? Well, listen for yourself:

Hit up The Sets to see Young Buck's set this Friday -- you won't regret it

Sometimes a show falls through the cracks that deserves more coverage in the 'Nix. It's no one's fault in particular -- it can be a tough task to be on top of every single noteworthy show that comes to The Valley. Such is the case for this Friday night as I had to dig through some stuff to see that Nashville rapper Young Buck will be gracing Tempe's The Sets with his presence. It shocked me to see a big name like Buck tucked away at the relatively small venue -- and it also showed me that some light needs to be shed on Young Buck appearing in The Valley.

Yes, a didgeridooist. I see it, too.

Yes, as you can see by the poster for the event, that "fellow" is a didgeridooist. It sure does take balls, in this day and age, to put yourself out there and to play that instrument in the hopes of entertaining people. Hell, booking music and comedy is a slippery slope, but that hardly seems to bother Doggass Productions. They have quite a night of music, comedy, art and aboriginal tree pipes lined up for the willing patrons of Tempe's Sail Inn.