Live Music
St. Patrick’s Day Downtown
Posted on 2/28/11 by DPJ Staff » No Comments
- 4 p.m. — Irish house music
- 5:30-7 p.m. — Emerald Rising
- 7:30-9 p.m. — Aengus Og
Outdoors not your thing? Irish pubs in Central Phoenix will undoubtedly be in the spirit all day long:
Rosey McCaffrey’s —906 E. Camelback Rd.
Seamus McCaffrey’s — 18 W. Monroe St. (light rail at Central/Washington westbound or 1st Ave/Jefferson eastbound)
Turf Irish Pub — 705 N. 1st St. (light rail at Central Station)
Make the Scene | Arcade Fire at Comerica
Posted on 2/24/11 by Monica Arevalo » 3 Comments
These past couple months have marked the year for Arcade Fire.
After releasing their third full-length album, Suburbs, which just won Album of the Year at the Grammys, they have become the band to download, listen to and fall in love with.
Following a week of Grammy-fueled momentum, Arcade Fire announced on Saturday that they are going to tour, and yes, they’re coming through Downtown Phoenix. Three days before they headline at Coachella, they’ll be playing at Comerica Theatre on Wednesday, April 13 with indie favorites Local Natives.
Presale tickets sold briskly earlier this week, and tickets officially go on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m. No doubt, this show will sell out.
This is the first time in 10 years that Arcade Fire has graced Phoenix with their presence. When they were here in 2001, the Montréal-based band had yet to even release a full-length album in the U.S. They played an abbreviated seven-song set at Modified Arts to a mostly unaware crowd.
If you have not heard of Arcade Fire, go out and buy Suburbs. You will not regret it.
From “Ready to Start,” which has you screaming “Businessmen drink my blood” at the top of your lungs, to the singalong “Rococo,” to their angry punkish single, “Month of May,” this album does no wrong.
Every song keeps your ears awaiting the next.
Lead singer Win Butler and wife Regine Chassagne founded the seven-member band, which includes almost every instrument under the rainbow: guitar, drums, bass, piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, xylophone, keyboard, French horn, accordion, harp, mandolin, glockenspiel and a hurdy-gurdy. (That last one is still a mystery to us, too.)
Arcade Fire’s debut album, Funeral, came out in 2004 with a raw sadness throughout, laced with words of suicide, death and love. The album instantly catapulted the band up the indie ranks.
Their second album, 2007′s Neon Bible, was darker, not lyrically, but musically. It starts off with “Black Mirror,” full of angst and anger, with Butler’s haunting voice echoing the title. It leads you on a dark dream of emotion from there.
With an album coming out every three years, we can only imagine what 2013 will bring from Arcade Fire. It looks like the band will hole up in its Québec church-turned-studio compound later this year to work on album four.
Refresh your browser around 10 a.m. tomorrow for the best tickets before they sell out. Tickets range from $48.20 to $53.50.
The Comerica Theatre is located at 400 W. Washington St. Downtown (light rail station at Central/Washington westbound or 1st Ave/Jefferson eastbound) — 602.379.2888
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Make the Scene | Lisa Savidge
Posted on 2/17/11 by Monica Arevalo » No Comments
When you first hear about Phoenix-based Lisa Savidge, what comes to mind? Solo female folk guitarist, perhaps?
Wrong, but don’t worry, you’re not the only one that thought that.
Lisa Savidge is actually a group of dudes creating a late-’90s-rock-meets-Explosions in the Sky sound. (Yep, sounds pretty epic already.)
The band has just finished working on its latest full-length album and is rather excited with the way it turned out.
DPJ talked with lead singer Dan Somers about the new record, touring, psychedelic lights and the people in life that go unnoticed but make a world of difference.
Somers, Ellery Keller, Nick Gortari, James Krehbiel and Patrick LaMaide formed about three years ago to complete Lisa Savidge but it wasn’t always a five piece.
“Basically, Ellery and I had started a band,” Somers recalls. “I don’t know, back in ’95 or ’96, back in high school. It was bad. It was awful.”
The band’s history includes all sorts of wackiness: Somers going to the army, band members leaving and Somers meeting his brother, Patrick, for the first time.
Their bass player left because of creative differences, which left the band incomplete.
“We needed a new bass player and [LaMaide] said that he could learn the bass,” Somers says.
Once the band was complete, the only thing they had to tackle was their sound.
In the past, the band had fallen into the punk and grunge genres, but after jamming around they found their sound.
Every member in the band listens to something different, from metal, to Pink Floyd, to indie, to shoegaze, which created their unique sound.
“We started working on this record once we found out what we wanted,” Somers says.
The 12-song record took about three years to create with the help of a dear friend, Jalipaz of Audio Confusion, a Mesa recording studio.
“A lot of the writing got done over email,” Somers explains.
Keller would perhaps write two minutes of the song then send it to Somers, who would write two more minutes and send it to the band members and they’d write the last two minutes.
Somers says the context of the entire album is much more powerful than each song individually, which led to the idea of playing the entire album for their release show.
Expect to watch an hour full of pure raw, loud, hypnotic jamming with a nice surprise for your eyes.
A hint?
“We’re going to be making use of projectors and a huge screen,” Somers reveals. “We plan to take full advantage of that.”
Lisa Savidge plays tonight at The Rhythm Room with locals Dry River Yacht Club and The Necronauts.
And, just a bit more news from the Savidges: The band is playing South by Southwest in Austin. It seems like this is just the beginning for a great local band on the road to success.
The show starts at 8 p.m. and is $10. Admission price includes their CD.
The Rhythm Room is located at 1019 E. Indian School Rd. in Midtown.
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Make the Scene | Smith Westerns
Posted on 2/10/11 by Monica Arevalo » 1 Comment
Chicago garage rockers Smith Westerns visit The Rhythm Room tonight.
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, why not take that special someone to a show to express your love? Chicago-based Smith Westerns play tonight at The Rhythm Room with label mates Yuck.
Cullen and Cameron Omori, Max Kakacek and Colby Hewitt make full, sappy, love songs with some unlikely vocals. Think: If you were watching any Michael Cera movie, they’d likely fit on the soundtrack. In other words, it’s simple garage rock with that great melody that you crave.
Smith Westerns have been zigzagging the U.S. behind their 2009 self-titled album and Dye It Blonde, released less than a month ago. Seems like they just got their licenses and hit the road. Band members’ ages range 17 through 19. Before they had a car they toured with Nobunny, and their fame grew from there.
Music magazines from around the country, along with digital hipster bible Pitchfork, have picked up on the band, but it wasn’t until their latest release, featuring the single, “Weekend,” that they got some serious attention. With influences ranging from The Beatles to David Bowie to T. Rex, the varied sound lends to a diverse crowd.
So come on, take your date out for a nice surprise. Dedicate “Girl in Love” or “Be My Girl” to really impress him or her.
The Rhythm Room is located at 1019 E. Indian School Rd. in Midtown.
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Make the Scene | Stinkweeds Music Industry Party
Posted on 2/03/11 by Monica Arevalo » No Comments
DPJ would be crazy if it didn’t tell its readers about this amazing show happening tonight. Ready?
Six bands, $5, The Rhythm Room.
Need we say more? OK, yeah, we probably do.
Stinkweeds owner and founder of Local First Arizona, Kimber Lanning, wants to not only support local music, but also put an end to the SB1070 boycott that honestly has been going on too long.
Arizonans have been suffering long enough with bands skipping our state when on tour and Lanning is rewarding us with a great home-brewed show.
Kinch performs at Stinkweeds' Music Industry Party
Some of the best Phoenix has to offer round out the bill: What Laura Says, Andrew Jackson Jihad, Kinch, Dry River Yacht Club, Colorstore and Hot Birds and the Chili Sauce.
If you haven’t heard of at least one of these bands, that just means a.) you haven’t been reading Make the Scene and b.) your ears have been missing out on some good stuff.
What Laura Says has a calm, harmonic sound with a splash of pop in their tunes. The band has played around the Valley for a number of years now and just played six shows in January. Needless to say, they’ve been very busy these past couple of weeks.
Andrew Jackson Jihad is an acoustic, folk-punk, politically themed band that gained its start at Downtown Phoenix’s own Trunk Space. Sean Bonnette and Ben Gallaty make up AJJ. With only two members, it’s quite remarkable to see the amount of EPs, full-lengths and splits they’ve done over the past couple years. (It’s up to 20!)
Kinch is an indie band that released its first full-length in 2008 and was awarded “Best Arizona album of 2008.” They’ve grown on the local scene and have played various dates on Vans Warped Tour and South by Southwest. Kinch has a folky sound mixed with fun piano resulting in an upbeat, Format-like vibe.
Dry River Yacht Club has been featured on Make the Scene and are still a band that NEEDS to be on your iPod soon. With every song comes more addiction. With so many band members it might seem like the music would be chaotic, but their sound just creates this cradle for lead singer Garnet’s vocals. It is simply too good to put into words.
Colorstore are on the indie side with snapping and stomping but have some surprise electronic elements in some songs, while others sound more like Iron and Wine. They’ve been working on a release A Fire, to be released in the spring.
Hot Birds and the Chili Sauce are three lovely ladies full of soul, funk and rhythm. You’ll discover dance moves you never knew you had while watching them jive on stage.
After all these bands, how can you NOT want to go? Spare yourself one $5 footlong and go to a great show. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
The Rhythm Room is located at 1019 E. Indian School Rd. in Midtown.
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