DPJ Blogs
Bike Chic | Sean Sweat
Posted on 3/27/12 by Cortney Kaminski » No Comments
Bike Chic is a new DPJ series by Fashion intern, Cortney Kaminski. Each week she will be scouting locals who not only ride their bikes but look dapper doing it.
Who: Sean Sweat
Age: 30
Occupation: Industrial Engineer
His neighborhood: Evans Churchill
Where spotted: Royal Coffee at the Market
What do you enjoy about Downtown? The ability to be able to walk, bike and train anywhere.
Where do you like to explore? I guess anywhere, Rum Bar at the Breadfruit is my favorite place; I kind of love rum.
Why do you use your bike as your mode of transportation? So I don’t have to use my car or my feet.
What he’s wearing:
• Jacket thrifted from Buffalo Exchange
• Banana Republic T-shirt and jeans
His biking essentials:
• Dahon Boardwalk folding bicycle
• Lights to make sure cars see him
Listen Up PHX | The Lineup 3.26 – 4.1
Posted on 3/26/12 by Erin Bartynski » No Comments
Each week, Listen Up PHX brings you The Lineup, a list of live music events going on in greater Downtown Phoenix, picked by music blogger Erin Bartynski.
Monday 3.26: Inner Urge at the Lost Leaf. Live jazz music starts at 9 p.m. As always at the Lost Leaf, there’s no cover and the show is 21+.
Tuesday 3.27: South Central Swing dancing to live music at the Duce. Grab a partner or mix and mingle — with drink specials and a free swing dance lesson, you’ll have the confidence to jump, jive and wail. 7:30 p.m. – 12 a.m. $7 at the door.
Wednesday 3.28: The Milk Carton Kids at the Rhythm Room with opener Wes Kirkpatrick is an all ages show. Doors are at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 in advance and $14 at the door. Visit their website before you go, www.themilkcartonkids.com, where you can download the soft, soothing folk album Prologue for free!
Thursday 3.29: Ladies Night at Copper Blues features live chic-rock music by Lunatics & Lovers. No cover, starts at 7 p.m. Drink specials include $5 martinis and $20 for a bottle of wine and bruschetta.
Friday 3.30: For those craving an indie-rock show, White Rabbits will be at the Crescent Ballroom with opening act Gull. Doors at 7:30 p.m., music starts at 8:30 p.m. Cost: $13-$15, ages 16+. Head to White Rabbit’s website for a free download of their single Heavy Metal before catching them live.
For those looking to dance their way into the weekend, this week’s Sticky Fingers features Blatta & Inesha, who will be dj-ing their new style of dance music, a self proclaimed mix of techno and electro which they’ve named “Techno Nouveau,” at Bar Smith. Doors at 9 p.m., music until 3 a.m. $10 cover, 21+.
Saturday 3.31: Colton Avery at the Hard Rock Cafe at 8:30 p.m. $8 in advance, $10 at the door. An all-ages show, must be 21+ at the bar.
Sunday 4.1: Wind down your week with a free acoustic bluegrass show by Run Boy Run in the Lounge at the Crescent Ballroom at 8 p.m. Head over to their website to give their EP a stream for free.
Listen Up PHX | Cults at the Rhythm Room
Posted on 3/20/12 by Erin Bartynski » No Comments
Cults
Last night, (one of my favorite bands right now) Cults played a sold-out, all-ages show at the Rhythm Room, with opening acts Mrs. Magician and Spectrals.
Mrs. Magician’s sound was like a mix of grungy, garage-rock bass and of buckets of San Diego surfer rock — think lots of “Wipe Out”-esque guitar riffs. Unfortunately, the guitar definitely overpowered the rest of the band last night. This may have been because his volume was too high, or it may have just been too small of a venue for their big sound. After giving their recently-released album another listen on Spotify, I’m chocking it up to a combination of the two, because on their album, they sound crisp, clean, and balanced with only a hint of properly-distorted guitar sound.
Also, it absolutely has to be noted that their drummer, who has also been backing Cults the entire tour, looked remarkably like Neil Patrick Harris — see the gallery below. I’m guessing he’s probably sick of hearing that, too, since I overheard at least two others in the crowd mention it to their plus ones. If you ever see this blog post, I apologize. But it had to be said.
I’d recommend giving them a listen online, or better yet, going to see them next week, March 28th at the Crescent Ballroom with Hot Snakes and Spider Fever.
Next up was Spectrals (aka Louis Jones), who can be quickly summed up as solid Brit-pop with a slightly awkward stage presence. The sound was definitely good, and much more low-key than the band before them, but I spent most of the time watching his bass guitarist, who was much more animated than the rest of his backers, bopping and dancing even during the self-proclaimed “cheesy slow song for the lovers.”
Cults took the stage around 10, and the following 45 minute set was powerful, perfectly on-point, and consistently awesome throughout. I wondered if they would be a little worn down after coming pretty fresh off SXSW with no break, and although it seemed Madeline Follin’s throat may have been bothering her with a few coughs and several sips of water, her voice showed absolutely no wear. It impressed me the way Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells impressed me when I saw them back in Minneapolis — I simply can’t believe how either of their voices stay so loud, strong, high and powerful for 45 minutes straight, but I’m positively mesmerized by it.
They opened the set with “Abducted,” a love song about an unhealthy relationship, and pushed steadily through almost their entire self-titled album. They did offer one surprise track — after Brian Oblivion mentioned that they’ve played in Arizona six times in the last year, he said they’d be doing a song they haven’t played for many people yet: a Leonard Cohen cover of “Never Saw the Point.”
Other than introducing the cover track, there was no chit-chat in between songs last night — just a cute “Thank you!” from Follin after each song, and an invitation to sing along to “Go Outside.” Before playing their closing song, “Oh My God,” Oblivion said, “We’ve always hated encores, we think they’re pretentious,” a.k.a. a concise and honest, thank you, goodnight, and don’t stick around too long ’cause this really is our last song.
Check out the rest of the pictures from the Cults show last night at the Rhythm Room by clicking through the gallery below!
Petition Urges Bike Lanes on Roosevelt
Posted on 3/19/12 by DPJ Staff » No Comments
If we heard about an area like Downtown Phoenix’s Roosevelt Street developing in another city, we’d be pretty jazzed about the concept.
What’s not to love about an organic arts district and an established historic neighborhood coming into their own, with small businesses, events, community engagement and more taking hold. We could imagine the streetscape, historic buildings, retail opportunities, and increasing number of pedestrians populating the sidewalks.
Naturally, the pièce de résistance of that vibrant, connected, city scene are chic bicyclists safely riding to and from markets, art galleries and cafés.
So, imagine our surprise (quelle surprise! – yes, we think in French when musing about urban bicycling) when we read this online petition posted by Greg Esser of the Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation.
Petition posted on Change.org
Could it be that a current street improvement plan excludes bike lanes, on what is one of downtown’s busiest, and one would think, multi-modal oriented thoroughfares?
The petition explains:
Roosevelt Street currently experiences a high volume of bicycle use. Bicycle lanes significantly increase safety for bicyclists, vehicles and pedestrians. Phoenix City Council adopted the Downtown Plan in 2008 which recommends installation of bike lanes along Roosevelt Street between 5th Avenue and 7th Street.
Wouldn’t we, as a community, want to show off the Historic Roosevelt district’s beautiful streetscape to roaming pedal-pushers? And as destinations continue to pop-up in the Evans Churchill Neighborhood, wouldn’t any plans of development include this critical mode of transportation, especially given the proximity of a popular Light Rail station at Central/Roosevelt?
It seems the current answer is “no.” If you want to try and change that, you might want to add your name to the growing list of petitioners.
Bunky Boutique Launches Exclusive Jewelry Collection
Posted on 3/19/12 by Cortney Kaminski » No Comments
Bunky Boutique is always showcasing new items, and owner Rachel Malloy recently began stocking exclusive jewelry designed by a local artist. The necklaces were designed and hand-made by Ashley Weber of Against the Grain.
The collection features the classic Bunky Heart Sterling Necklace (pictured below) and will rotate in other designs every so often. The classic necklace is made from brass, red enamel and sterling silver.
The necklaces are currently on pre-order and have a wait time of approximately 10 days. To get on the waiting list, email Rachel at rachel@bunkyboutique.com.
Photos Courtesy of Rachel Malloy
