The Points/Said Gun, Modified, Phoenix

Sometimes playing and touring with your indie punk rock is a tough slog. Bands come into town ready to blow folks' faces off, and expectations are generally high.



But last night at Modified in Phoenix, very few faces show up to enjoy that feeling. But those of us who gathered for the fast punk rock, we indeed got our faces blown off by DC's The Points.



The Points played a set as fast as I've seen in a looong time. They probably did their set faster than they've ever done. The Points continue their tour this weekend in San Diego with a pair of show with The Spits.
May 29 2009 CHE CAFE W/ THE SPITS + PERSONAL AND THE PIZZAS
SAN DIEGO, California
May 29 2009 KENSINGTON CLUB W/ THE SPITS + PERSONAL AND THE PIZZAS

Here's a video of The Points from last night (completely overdriven sound, but the energy's good):



Phoenix punkers Said Gun opened the show with Husker-like vocals, loud guitars and some bangin' songs (mixed with a few clunky ones). A few pics are up at my Flickr page.

DJ Manchester, Paul Ryder DJ night - Ruby Room, Phoenix

Malibu, California resident Paul Ryder, founding bassist for the Happy Mondays and brother to Shaun Ryder, is in Phoenix this weekend to spin some classic BritPop, New Wave, indie classics. It all goes down Saturday night at An Elegant Chaos at downtown rock lounge Ruby Room.

Here's Paul at SXSW 09 (interviewed by the silliest wanker ever) describing his current production and musical pursuits.

The Thermals/Shaky Hands, Rhythm Room, Phoenix

Two of Portland's fine rock bands (both on Kill Rock Stars), The Thermals and Shaky Hands, powered up the crowd Tuesday night at Rhythm Room in Phoenix. A big crowd packed the room and warmly welcomed both bands, who are nearing the end of this leg of their respective tours.

The Thermals

(photo by Dfactor)

The Shaky Hands were a great opening band, mixing up rhythms, textures, tempos and energy in equal doses, and rocking up their songs more than the recorded versions would suggest. The dynamics were more alive in their set than in the Thermals' set. Drummer Nicholas Delffs seemed to be the center of the band's focus last night, as they seemed to played more inwardly to each other than to the crowd. Good stuff all around - see more pics at my Flickr page.

The Shaky Hands


The Thermals kept the crowd waiting and anticipating. Then their bearded 'roadie' (is he also in a band? He looked really familiar...) came out with big bath-type towels for the band to soak up the sweat many minutes later, and the rockin' began. The Thermals kicked out their first 3-4 songs fast 'n loud (setlist anyone?). Singer-guitarist Hutch Harris is an intense young guy - he loves his guitar rockin' but he seemed somewhat distracted last night. Maybe it was just the long tour and nerves were somewhat frayed, but after the solid opening few songs, both Hutch and bassist Kathy Foster seemed to disconnect on songs and parts.

The Thermals


I thought most of the middle of the set, while still rockin', seemed somewhat routine and perfunctory. Except for I Can't Let Go, which I really liked as a sort of defiant declaration. And yet....the big sing-a-long "Now We Can See" seemed somewhat flat (Video below)

But the band found a third wind for the last couple of songs, and finished the set strong to the mighty applause of the Phoenix crowd, which earned an encore. While singer Harris zipped right out the back door to the bus, bassist Foster and drummer Westin Glass ('happiest drummer ever!') both hi-fived the crowd up front before departing the stage. All in all, great rock 'n roll night. I wish I knew more of the band's songs. From their Twitter site, The Thermals seemed to dig the crowd's enthusiasm, (plus they had swell late night hotel hijinks), so maybe everything above in this piece is overrated.

The Thermals Live - Now We Can See (bass heavy, sorry)


(Note to Rhythm Room sound/lights - Does your crew adjust the lights for individual bands? Because of the low hanging stage ceiling, the lights are low,near the front of the stage, so they seemed aimed at the back of the stage, resulting in a massively well-lit .....drummer. But both lead singers in each band last night sang in the shadows, because apparently no one coordinated the lights to fit where the microphones were placed. Pretty lousy viewing. See video above for proof.

R.I.P. Jay Bennett

Multi-instumentalist Jay Bennett, formerly with Wilco, died over the weekend. Here's the Billboard story. After Wilco, Bennett released a handful of studio albums while appearing on several as an in-demand studio musician. He also helped out one of my faves David Vandervelde on his debut LP.

Hope he's in a better place now.

Touring Bands Rock Phoenix this week

Whew! What a great slab of touring bands coming through Phoenix this week! Check out this week's action (culled from Silver Platter):

- Tuesday night, The Thermals pound their rhythms at the Rhythm Room, backed with label mates Shaky Hands.
- Wednesday night - Barsuk band The Wooden Birds play at Modified Arts.
- Wednesday night - Detroit Cobras (backed with Dexter Romweber Duo come to the Rhythm Room to sing those long lost soul covers with sass and verve.
- Thursday night, DC area punk badasses The Points bring their fast 'n loud to Modified Arts.
- And more Thursday night punk rock with old school UK punkers The Vibrators ('Keep it Clean!') hitting the small stage at Jugheads, with local punks Glass Heroes opening.
- Saturday night, Detroit rockers The High Strung come to Trunk Space.


I'm seeing at least two or three of these shows, depends on schedule action. Should be packed rockin' fun. Check Silver Platter for calendar listings of all your favorite music shows in greater Phoenix.

Rock Clip of the Week - Shoes, Tomorrow Night (1979)

It's been awhile since I shared a straight up power pop tune on Waved Rumor's 'Rock Clip of the Week (Green Day notwithstanding), so here goes.

Shoes, from Zion, Illinois in the 1970s, were DIY home recordists long before Sebadoh, Pavement and GBV all shared their lo-fi aethetic in the early 1990s. The band comprised Gary Klebe (guitar, vocals), Jeff Murphy (guitar, vocals) and John Murphy (bass, vocals).

Their early claim to fame was that the band recorded its first lP 'Black Vinyl Shoes' on 4-track in its living room as a demo. This song below 'Tomorrow Night' comes from the band's major label debut 'Present Tense', a fine pop record - I've always like this one. You can read a bit more on Shoes at Windy City Rock and see the band in 2009 performing a new song of theirs 'Rugged Terrain' from a recent club gig.




Here are the words - sing along!

Don't say goodbye 'cause you're the one that I need
Don't say goodbye, you know you're special to me
All the time, tell me why
All the time
I can't show what I feel, do you know what I mean
I get restless inside in the night

Why do you say wait 'til tomorrow night
How can I wait until tomorrow night

Don't let it die, just say to me that you'll try
Don't let it die, please think it over tonight
All your love is enough
All your love
It's so hard to tell, though I know you so well
If you'd show me then I'd know for sure

How do you feel about tomorrow night
It could be real, so right tomorrow night

Don't say goodbye 'cause you're the one that I need
Don't let it die, you know you're special to me
All your love is enough
All your love
I can't show what I feel, do you know what I mean
I get restless inside in the night

Where will be we this time tomorrow night
Will it be me you love tomorrow night

What will you say tomorrow night
How can I wait (tomorrow night)
Tomorrow night
Just a few more hours (tomorrow night)
Why do you say (tomorrow night)
Please think it over (tomorrow night)

Teenage Fanclub Imeem Mix, ATP video

I just posted up a new Imeem Mix in the right column (and below) featuring the songs of Teenage Fanclub - all the good ones are there (with varying volume levels), and I hope you rock out to it at some point.

Teenage Fanclub

Here's what Teenage Fanclub sounded like doing "Don't Look Back" at last weekend's All Tomorrow's Parties music fest curated by the Breeders. They've never really been an electrifying act onstage, but the singing, songs and melodies get me all the time.

Midweek McVities

Here's some goodies from around the Internet-o-sphere.

- Longtime rock and roll fan and moviemaker Cameron Crowe tells Empire mag about his favorite music moments in movies, with the caveat that said moments are always changing. But he DOES include Goodfellas' great use of 'Jump Into the Fire' during Ray Liotta's coke-fueled driving scene. (via Largehearted Boy)
" My favorite music moments in film change all the time. Music and cinema can sometimes be a finicky match. A great movie doesn't need music to exist, and a wonderful song is already a perfect movie in your imagination. But sometimes the marriage works, and the result is an explosion, a memorable body rush that enhances both and rocks your soul along the way."

- Chromewaves has LOTS of MP3s on its site from bands that played last weekend's NYC popfest - worth a listen or three.

- NME's got all the goods (including video) of The Libertines' get back show from last weekend.

- Billboard reports on Green Day's small club NYC shows from Monday and Tuesday nights - Here's a Monday night video of the band from right up front doing Minority.



Here's Green Day stretching out Know Your Enemy from the larger Webster Hall last night. Looks like a lot of fun.

FOTC review - Phoenix Show - Up on the Sun

Phoenix New Times 'Up on the Sun' blog writer Michael Lopez saw and reviewed last night's Flight of the Conchords show in Mesa, AZ. Great stuff, really captures the enthusiasm of the performance. To wit...

"McKenzie and Clement are, as well as being very funny and able to handle most situations on their feet, talented musicians as well. This was evidenced by Clement's tangent after a fan shouted out, with a total lack of ingenuity, "Freebird!" We were treated to a pretty impressive 3 minute rendition of the Lynrd Skynrd epic lead by Clement with McKenzie chiming in for comedic effect. Hoping to perhaps top himself, Clement even treated fans to a short version of Prince's "When Doves Cry," and I must say I was floored at how well he handled both songs."

Here's one of the pics from the show - the rest are here.


I presume anyone reading this blog knows the musical and visual work of FOTC - if you don't, watch these clips for a start!

Robots


Bret, You Got it Goin' On

Robert Pollard's living room - A Year Ago

Spin shot this photo of Matter Eater Lad Robert Pollard's living room - it's dated May 14, 2008 - I've not seen this until today. Click above to get the full deal to make out all the goods, cuz it's not showing below. Cool stuff - would love to hang there with him one night playing records and strumming acoustics. Would be a long night, I bet.

Official Secrets Act - New video 'Bloodsport'

The probably with listening to indie-rock-punk-garage-pop for the last 30 years as I have is that when you hear cool new music, your ears & brain will tell you that you've heard it before. Which is OK! Bring cool old sounds to new audiences. Music players have been doing that for years. Heck, Guitar Hero has brought 70s classic rock like Nugent, Foghat, Aerosmith and others to a whole new slew of 13 yr old boys (God help us all...). The key thing I try to look for is finding the right twist on a previously made sound to make it fresh.

Right now, listening to the band Official Secrets Act, I'm being transported back to early '80s Depeche Mode, OMD and B.E.F.. Official Secrets Act may dislike that comparison, but that's what I hear in this haunting lil' ditty called 'Bloodsport', the band's new single on the UK's One Little Indian Records.

Heres the promo video:


I like their sound and I think kids would be on it, but I sense I've been there, done that in the day. Official Secrets Act's new full-length is called 'Understanding Electricity' - the band is supporting Art Brut in Europe (weird combo maybe?) on dates over the coming weeks.

Pandora! Pandora! Profit!

Wow! I've been using Pandora for years, and even met its founder Tim Westergren a few times (at CMJ, Pandora open meeting at Housing Works in NYC). Today I read at Silicon Alley Insider that the company will actually post its first profit next year, as revenues will jump to $40 million.



Bloomberg News writes ... "Closely held Pandora, based in Oakland, California, received a boost in users after making its application available on Apple Inc.’s iPhone 10 months ago and on Research in Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry last month. The iPhone application has more than 5 million users and brings in 18,000 to 20,000 new ones daily, Westergren said.

“It’s a whole new world for us,” the Stanford University- educated musician and former film-score composer said. “It’s changed the perception people have of what Internet radio is, from computer-radio to radio, because you can take the iPhone and just plug it into your car, or take it to the gym.”

Baseball Project tour Summer 09!

Sure, the name The Baseball Project may not spill off the lips as easily as say, Franz Ferdinand, but with key guys like members like Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate, Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3) and Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows, Minus 5, and R.E.M), along with REM's Peter Buck and foxy drummer Linda Pitmon, you can count on some a-tastic rock show action comin' your way. The band is gonna follow up last year's Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails with another record and a six-week US tour! Whoo-hoo! (But will Peter Buck be playing bass the whole time??? Mr. 6-string arpeggio?)

Singer-songwriter Steve Wynn wrote on his MySpace blog this weekend --- "But the baseball season has begun and with it has come news that The Baseball Project will be doing a festival in Spain in August followed by a six-week US tour later that month and stretching into October. This is great news. I really enjoyed making that record and was disappointed that we were only able to do 2 gigs (that would be our wedding and the Letterman show, a weird First Two Gigs for any band) when the record came out. We’ll certainly make up for lost time before the year is over—dates soon to come.

It also looks like we’ll be making a follow-up to “Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails” before the tour begins so I suddenly find myself being able to justify baseball watching as Actual Research, an immersion songwriting program (watered-down beer and stale peanuts can only help the process, I suppose). And then the Miracle 3 will be hitting the studio towards the end of the year. In other words, a busy year ahead. Just don’t book anything for late October. That would be the World Series."

Here's the band doing one of those aforementioned two gigs from last year - the clip is from Letterman, the band doing "Past Time" (geddit?)...

Next Time, I'll Listen to My Heart

The Ramones, November 1977, Don Kirshner Rock Concert - God Bless YouTube

Rock Clip of the Week - Green Day, Waiting (Live in Deutschland)

Green Day's new wildly ambitious (and solidly rockin') new CD 21st Century Breakdown comes out today. To take notice, Green Day is our Rock Clip of the Week. Here's the band playing live in Germany a few years back does a swell version of Waiting - the fun escalates during the guitar part as a chubby German guy gets on the PA mic during the song, to Bilie Joe's confusion and annoyance.



BONUS! 21st Century Breakdown (live from April 14, 2009)

The future of music mags?

Folio Magazine writes about Paste Mag seeking reader cash infusions to help it through a recession fueled cash crunch. The piece also mentions the relaunch of Relix (jam band scene) magazine, thanks to a cash infusion from MNYC nightclub owner Peter Shapiro.

But in the bigger picture, one might ask 'what *is* the future of music magazines?' Do you read a printed weekly/monthly music mag? Or (like me), do you get everything you need to know about music from the Web?

Meat Puppets 'Sewn Together' out today

The Meat Puppets return to form with a fine new collection of music called 'Sewn Together' - 12 new songs of pure rock, country and a bit of punk attitude. It's released today on Megaforce Records. Recorded at The Saltmine in Phoenix, Arizona in winter 2009, the album features the Kirkwood brothers, Cris and Curt, with drummer Ted Marcus. (Picture from today's LA TIMES story). Man, these Kirkwood brothers have great hair, right?

The band heads out on tour - first show tonight in LA.
May 12th - The Mint - Los Angeles, CA
May 27th - Waterfront - Louisville, KY
May 28th - Blueberry Hill - St Louis, MO
May 29th - The Annex - Madison, WI
May 30th - Schuba's - Chicago, IL
May 31st - Schuba's - Chicago, IL
June 2nd - Mad Hatter's - Cincinnatti, OH
June 3rd - The Summit - Columbus, OH
June 4th - Magic Stick - Detroit, MI
June 5th - Mr. Smalls - Pittsburgh, PA
June 6th - Grog Shop - Cleveland, OH
June 7th - Mohawk - Buffalo, NY
June 9th - Higher Ground - Burlington, VT
June 10th - Paradise - Boston, MA
June 11th - Mercury Lounge - New York, NY
June 12th - Mercury Lounge - New York, NY
June 13th - Rock n' Roll Hotel - Washington, DC
June 14th - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
June 16th - The Earl - Atlanta, GA
June 17th - Exit/In - Nashville, TN
June 19th - Pontiac Garage at HOB - Dallas, TX
June 20th - The Parish - Austin, TX

Dead Weather Tour Dates

White Stripes' musical muse Jack White will rock the drums on the North American tour of The Dead Weather, Jack's 2009 interim band. All the dates below (via Strangeglue). No Phoenix date, alas, but they say it's Hot (not Dead) Weather here in August.

Read about the band's debut show in New York a month ago at Modern Age.

(pic by Modern Age

The Dead Weather 2009 North American Tour: (presale tix available at link)

June:

11 - Lousiville, KY - City Block

July:

13 & 14 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
16 - New York, NY - Terminal 5
18 - Boston, MA - House Of Blues
19 - Ottawa - Ottawa Blues Festival
21 - Montreal - Olympia De Montreal
22 - Toronto - Kool Haus
24 - Detroit, MI - The Fillmore
25 - Columbus, OH - The LC Pavillion
27 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
28 & 29 - Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre
30 - Nashville, TN - War Memorial Auditorium

August:

17 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
18 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
20 - Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
21 & 22 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
23 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
25 - Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern Theatre
27 - Pomona, CA - Glasshouse
29 - San Diego, CA - San Diego Street Scene
30 - San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival

October:

1 - Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Festival

Green Day - 'King-Sized Stadium Rock'

This is the week that Green Day's new CD "21st Century Breakdown" comes out (on Friday). You can stream it over at Rhapsody or hear preview clips at We7.

The band is readying itself for a real NYC media invasion next week. Green Day will play NYC's Bowery Ballroom (a great venue) next Monday night, Webster Hall on Tuesday night, and a Central Park outdoor made-for TV event next Friday (May 22 - GMA).

Early CD reviews are mostly encouraging - Greg Kot's review from the Chicago Tribune says "One thing hasn’t changed. The music rocks, only now the snotty, faux-British accent has been replaced by a full-throated cry that owes as much to classic rock as it does to basement punk. The exuberant pop-punk of old has morphed into epic Who-style stadium-rock, with thundering drums underpinning windmill chords and shout-from-the-rooftops choruses. Rock operas demand nothing less, and Green Day delivers."

Spin wrote of the track "March of the Dogs" - "Handclaps, surf guitar, lyrics about sodomized dogs -- all accompanying a scathing indictment of contemporary religion. Hard and fast from start to finish, this spiky four-and-a-half-minute tune finds Armstrong ranting, "I threw my conscience in the river in the shadow of doubt," referencing the famous Biblical passage, Psalm 23:4, which reads, "I will walk through the valley of the shadow of death... I will fear no evil."

The Guardian UK writes... "For all its occasional nods to punk past - like the Sex Pistols' Holidays In the Sun, Horseshoes and Handgrenades opens with tramping jackboots while the ghost of Hüsker Dü haunts Viva La Gloria's tune - the main currency of 21st Century Breakdown is king-sized stadium rock. The episodic title track lurches from Big Country to Queen to Mott the Hoople; Before the Lobotomy is propelled by Keith Moon drum fills; there are McCartney-esque piano ballads. All of them display the same impressive, if faintly unnerving ability to come up with melodies that sound instantly familiar."

Green Day mainman Billie Joe Armstrong recently told MTV News... "We just wanted to evolve naturally. There was no decision like, 'This is how we're gonna sound.' But for this it was like, 'Let's keep moving forward and see where the music takes us,'" he told MTV News. "I love a lot of, like, British invasion. I love, like, the Who and Cheap Trick and the Ramones. And it's like trying to take that power-pop or that pop-punk or whatever you want to call it, and stretching it into places that are further than we've ever gone."

Sounds good to me! Call it whatever you like, but it sounds like despite its length, seriousness and whatever else the critics throw their way, Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown might be the punk rock 'n roll record of the summer (year?).

Rock Clip of the Week - Rolling Stones, Live in 1975, Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Heartbreaker

First time for the Rolling Stones (I think?) here on Waved Rumor's Rock Clip of the Week - In 1975, the Stones were arguably the biggest tour ticket at the time - Led Zeppelin, Queen and Kiss were probably a close 2, 3, 4.

By this time, for the Stones, money and coke were flowing in likely equal amounts (for the inside, er, dope on the Stones' scene a few years earlier, check out this book.)

When this song appeared on Goat Heads Soup, it became one of the more popular live songs for the Stones. I've always liked the streetwise lyrics on this and the raging double chords of Keith and Ronnie.
A ten year old girl on a street corner,
Sticking needles in her arm.
She died in the dirt of an alleyway,
her mother said she had no chance, no chance!
Heart breaker, heart breaker,
she stuck the pins right in her heart.
Heart breaker, pain maker,
stole the love right out of you heart.

This clip is from a live bootleg shot at the LA Forum on the 1975 tour - it includes Mick Jagger introducing the band to large applause. The song kicks in around 1:40. Happy Friday - Enjoy the rock.

Bitchin' Trans Am

The Thermals' Kathy Foster Sounds Off - Now We Can See

Bass player rocker chick Kathy Foster of Portland's The Thermals sounds off on her listening choices these days to The Onion's AV Club:

"That’s on Clouds Taste Metallic. This is another band that has been a huge influence on me in creating my own aesthetic and what I think sounds good. I love this album and the album before this, Transmissions From The Satellite Heart. I love the huge, fat sounds they get, but it also sounds like they’re recording on tape, and you can hear the room. They get such good drum sounds and bass sounds."

Watch her rock the bass right here in the band's "Now We Can See'.

Asobi Seksu tonight in PHX

I've largely avoided the arty rock of Asobi Seksu over the past few years, for no particular reason. Well, maybe cause I've largely avoided any kind of arty rock types on this blog (Hey, I'm more of a straight up rock guy!).

But hearing Asobi Seksu's wondrously layered elements in songs like 'Layers' 'Familiar Light' and 'Me & Mary' at their MySpace site gives me a serious case of the regrets. It's really gorgeous stuff with a kickass rhythm. I've been getting emails from their promo people for months now, and maybe it's high time I wake up and smell the beauty in their ethereal rockin' sound.

Nylon magazine wrote about Asobi Seksu: "...the band makes music that sounds like daybreak. Think twinkling, shimmering, echoing, murmuring tracks. Even when the New York-based band was playing fuzzy shoegaze rock, they managed to a find a way to inject a bit of beauty into the simplest of pop songs."

MishMashMagazine wrote about their show last fall - "Yuki’s ethereal Cocteau siren song floats like a satellite above the surface of a storming planet of bass drone, guitar fuzz and Joy Division robo beats. It’s a dizzying experience, the sonic equivalent of angels fighting with power tools."

Asobi Seksu is touring and brings its NYC shoegazey synth rock goodness to Trunk Space in Phoenix tonight. And if you're a latecomer to the band like me, it might be a fine place to start listening.



Here are the band's upcoming dates:
May 5 - Phoenix, AZ - Trunkspace
May 7 - Norman, OK - The Opolis
May 8 - Kansas City, MO - The Record Bar
May 9 - St. Louis, MO - Firebird
May 10 - Urbana, IL - The Canopy
May 11 - Columbus, OH - Skully’s

Around the Blogosphere

Things I Share:

- The Hold Steady played a swell batch of songs new and old at Daytrotter recently - check it out here.

- Little Steven Van Zandt (ain't so little no mo) is bringing his fave brand of 60s inflected garage rock to TV - he describes it like this: "It'll be called Underground Garage A Go-Go. A Hullabaloo, Shindig!, Ready Steady Go! kind of thing. With young hosts, young kids, dancing to rock-and-roll on camera. The more rock version of TRL. More like the club scene in Austin Powers."

- Clothing guru John Varvatos likes rock music, so he's started a Sirius radio show called "Born in Detroit," a two-hour monthly show featuring music and interviews with classic punkers and rockers. (via GQ's Material Interest)

And lastly, ya can't go wrong with The Gaslight Anthem.

Rock Clip(s) of the Week - Punk: Attitude (Documentary)

Young Folks - Take some time this weekend to learn of punk's origins, as told by its participants and shot by noted film documentarian Don Letts. This week's Rock Clip of the Week is several - Here is (all of?) the 2005 documentary Punk: Attitude (Buy it here and read about it here)

"Punk: Attitude is a documentary on the history of punk rock in the USA and UK. The film traces the different styles of punk from their roots in 60s garage and psychedelic bands (Count Five, the Stooges) through glam-punk (New York Dolls) to the 70s New York and London scenes and into the hardcore present. Interviews with many of the musicians are edited with live clips and historical footage."

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5


Part 6


Part 7


Part 8


Final part

Music on Mill - new opps for Tempe, Phoenix bands

101 Distribution's Stay Independent blog has a post that should be good news for Tempe and Phoenix-area singers and bands - it's about the launch of 'Music on Mill' featuring local musicians, street performers and a series of contests every Thursday night.

Long before I arrived in the Valley, the Mill Ave district in Tempe was a hotspot of rockin' fun. Some local creative folks even made a documentary last year about that time (see the trailer below). Mill Ave arguably lost some of that charm with the early 00s onslaught of major branded stores dotting the district. Music on Mill seems a strong attempt to recapture some of the magic again at street level for the kids. I'm for it.