Head over to the Phoenix New Times site by clicking here to check out this little article that I even gave a few reflecting moments to Benjamin Leatherman for his article on the old Phoenix radio station The Edge 106 and later 103.9. That station responsible for shaping a lot of my music tastes back in the day.
Read MoreThey say the universe works in mysterious ways. If you’ve been following me, I’m on a now five-month journey of experiencing long Covid and chronic fatigue. So, about a month ago I received an email about doing possible photos for this show and responded if I felt better, I might be able to at this Zona Nights show. Zona Nights the name for club shows playing around the inaugural Zona Music Fest. I am not exactly feeling better, but last week I received an email saying I’m approved. I thought…
Read MoreEpic duos persist throughout pop culture. Rick and Morty, Joker and Harley Quinn, Pinky and the Brain, Jay and Silent Bob, and so many others over the decades. That brings me to the peanut butter and jelly of epic duo tours, Bowling For Soup and Less than Jake. The pop punk and ska punk staples are together for a west side run of the U.S. bringing the awesome pair of Cliff Diver and Doll Skin with them to the Marquee Theatre this past Friday. Up first was a band known…
Read MoreWednesday was a night circled on my calendar. A night I was looking forward to as Grumpster returned to Phoenix. They were the top of the top of favorite music discoveries in 2020. Last time they visited Phoenix, I was in Vegas for Punk Rock Bowling so missed what I can assume a wonderful local show. Luckily, I did get to see them play a set on a rad bill of a club show on the roof of the Downtown Grand Hotel. However, I subscribe to the best time seeing…
Read MoreIf you are not a local band, it is a special treat to get to see one of your favorite touring bands twice in a half year span. Albeit, it has happened once already in the last year for me with Lagwagon who played two shows of two different albums and returned for Punk In Drublic, but that is a less common occurrence. This time around the special occasion was Beach Bunny returning for a bigger room in the Nile and with another set of cool touring musicians with Ky…
Read MoreWhile we have mourned a few of our favorite venues close over the past couple years, the good news is we are seeing birth of new venues too. It is wonderful when that new space is one about giving all ages, any musical creation a place to play. The new space I refer to is the Groundworks in Tucson that opened this past November. They had Sean and Ben, of AJJ, headline the big inaugural show. Since then, they have regularly been hosting shows and art down there. While it…
Read MoreI’m back on pushing blind discoveries are exactly why you try to make it at the beginning and stay to the very end of a show. If you read my prior M3F coverage, you already know that was a bucket load of seeing rad new musicians for me recently. That is continuing as I came out for the Aquadolls in their co-headlining tour with Sitting On Stacy and their cool openers in Hoity Toity. Both latter bands I’d never seen or heard before. Let me tell you, all of them…
Read MoreWith the first day of M3F under my belt, I was more excited going into the second day. I had already discovered so many new to me musicians and bands that it created a bigger anticipation for the second day. The sun was out this time that added warmth and to that feeling that it was going to be a good day. As for the festival, it did live up to that growing anticipation and the bar set by the day prior. First of the music would be another solid…
Read MoreThe now by the name M3F festival has been running since 2004. The three in the name originally coming from McDowell Mountain Music when it started in Scottsdale in view of the McDowell Mountain range. Since then, it has only grown and grown, moving into bigger digs in downtown Phoenix at Margaret T Hance Park. It only made sense for them to remove the direct name of McDowell Mountain and rename to the acronym of M3F. My first attending of the festival was in 2016 where I watched Beck for…
Read MoreWhile things are getting postponed or canceled, figured I’d go bring up a band I finally got to see back in October called Ratboys. You may have seen a couple camera shots over on the Psyko Steve Instagram, but I never got around to processing everything I took until now. As a repeated tale from the past two years, they are a band that grabbed my attention over streams. For Ratboys though, it wasn’t just for their music but personality they exude. If I recall correctly, part of that included…
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