Cut Throat DVD Release Show Review

PBRs and fire, shit gets heated!

The night was Friday February 26th and after an exhausting week at my job I was ready to let loose and have some fun. Thankfully I ditched out on the Pigeon John show at the Hidden House (I love hip hop, but the venue didn't seem fitting for such fine talent) and headed to Chasers to see mainly 2 acts. Bro Loaf and Cut Throat Freakshow's DVD release. Upon arriving, Chasers was filling up, I counted roughly 45 people around 9:45pm. I showed up kinda late with my good friend Funky Monkey. We caught the last 4 songs of the opening band, and due to last minute changes in the line up I have no idea who they were, but I think it was Canyon Animals. They did, however, have a piñata in the middle of what would have been the pit if the place had been packed. Inside the piñata was your normal, every day punk rock shenanigans. Some penis pills, rubber eyeballs, candy and other assortments. As for the band, they were alright, mostly screamo/metal with hints of punk, I am pretty sure at one point they covered a Misfits song, but I could be mistaken.
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Local Stuff You Should Know #11

Awesome upcoming shows for punks of all flavors

The recent scouring of the innerwebs and additions to our shows calendar have pointed towards some seriously awesome local shows coming up. And by seriously awesome, I'm talking about opening your fucking calendar and marking this shit down in red right now. Hardcore pioneers, sideshow freaks, local favorites, and controversial house shows that will destroy lives and create more scrutiny than your mom's sex video we've been glued to all week.
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Happy Birthday AZPunk

Here's to 8 years, technically...

And what an 8 years it's been, eh? A little more low-key, but still D.I.Y. & dedicated to local punk & hardcore; love it or hate it, if you're any fan of the music, there's a chance AZPunk's played into either some part of your show-going experience, or online entertainment at one point or another. And in celebration of the good, the bad, and the fugly, the old, and the yet-to-come of this giant dysfunctional AZ underground music website, AZPunk is gathering a shitload of local stuff, packaging it up in a brown paper bag, and giving it to you. We're digging into the stockpile of comps, cds, stickers, and other random shit that we just can't stand looking at anymore, and putting it up for grabs.
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The Return Of The Nile Basement

The Mantooth Group announces the re-opening of the Nile Basement as "The Underground"

One flight of stairs below the historic Nile Theatre there is a basement but not just any basement, a basement that helped shape the state of live music in the valley for almost ten years. "The Nile had been one of the local staples for quite some time when I started performing as a wee young lad, and I was quite stunned when the place shut down. To hear that it's reopening is great news for the city of Mesa, and the state of Arizona. Not kidding. Some amazing bands have played there, and I'm positive that with the great promotion companies out there in Phoenix, many more bands will come wanting to play there for years to come," commented Wes Volcom of former local band Rondo Vega.
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Bropacalypse Now!

A BroLoaF retrospect

Back in late 2007, local punk geezer, and Father Figure, Tom Reardon, came to us with an interesting show challenge; can several randomly picked local musicians organize a punk band, write a 30 minuteset's worth of songs, and work together with musicians you hardly know, all within 2 months? The answer to this challenge would be played at the Hollywood Alley on AZPunk's Thrash of the Titans show. 24 musicians from local punk bands all around the Metro-Phoenix area took two months to organize six separate punk bands to compete for the title of AZPunk Titan and a spot on the AZPunk.com Volume 6 album. The battle was bloody and long, but as the night drew to a close, there was no doubt in neither the crowd, nor the judges that the undisputed AZPunk Titan was the frat-boy brohamness of BroLoaF.
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MCD Records want to give you some Boats!

Win a tripple pack of vinyl, and catch the Boats! AZ tour

May Cause Dizziness Records and Sacramento punk rockers Boats! are bringing teh rock to your doorstep with an AZ tour through Scottsdale, Tucson and Flagstaff, and a chance to win a trifecta-colored vinyl collection of their 7" with fellow Southern Cal buds, The Enlows. Brag to your friends and bulk up your punk cred by a whole 3 points by entering this super radtastic contest. Now you'll have an actual reason to buy a record player! Maybe you'll even love it so much that you'll get off your ass and go see something new for a change! The possibilities are endless if you choose to accept the challenge at hand.
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Local Stuff You Should Know #10

Win FREE Vandals/VGS tickets & check out the end of 09 events

Grab your speedos and clear your calendars, because on Friday December 11th, The Vandals are bringing their annual Christmas show to the Clubhouse, and Psyko Steve is kicking AZPunk down 2 free pairs of tickets to pass on to you! Next Thursday we will be drawing two names to each win a pair of tickets to be picked up at will call the night of the show. All you gotta do is click this link and shoot us an email. Your email address will be processed through our super scientific nuclear facility, and chosen at random by our underpaid AZPunk holiday elves. If you're chosen, we'll email, you to let you know. Otherwise, buy your tickets from psykosteve.com and come deck your halls with AZPunk and Psyko Steve! Speedos optional.
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Local Stuff You Should Know #9

The OSS, Elders & The Tightholes

The word "punk" gets thrown around a lot lately, a lot of the time when it probably has no business being used. It seems like often someone will tell me about some supposedly great punk band and it turns out that they basically have the tendencies of a rock band, but just sped up. Now that's fine, but that's not what attracted me about the genre, and I really don't know when punk turned into sped up Guns N' Roses riffs without the wank. I am not an elitist of any sort, but I can offer you a replacement for the played out whiskey rock camouflaged as punk that seems to be running rampant these days. I've been playing punk for about 14 years now, so I have seen local punk take many shapes. I have seen its ups and downs, maybe perhaps, I have even reached "old guy" status. Maybe I am not far from standing in darkened corners alone at shows talking about how I once saw Dystopia in the Nile basement. Uh, excuse the digression, my point is that currently the local scene is looking pretty promising. So without further ado, I now offer you a couple of local bands that capture what I know and love about punk.
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Barred For Life @ Jugheads 11/7

Editorial team scouring North America in effort to document legacy of Black Flag, American punk rock

This Saturday, November 7th, author Stewart Ebersole and a four-person editorial team will be stopping by Jugheads in an effort to document the legacy of Black Flag via their iconography in tattoo art. The band's logo, four staggered, parallel rectangles known simply as "The Bars", is one of the most enduring and vivid symbols of youth subculture, and lends its name to the title of his forthcoming book, Barred For Life. Ebersole and his team will be taking photos for his book while you and your friends beat each other to the sounds of Black Fag, and locals The Tightholes, and JJCNV. The following is the Barred For Life press release.
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ShizzFest 2 Recap

TheShizz.org rounds out it's 2nd semi-annual local music event

On October 10, 2009 at the Trunk Space and Sweets & Beats in Phoenix, 20 bands performed on 3 stages throughout the evening in a festival of local sounds celebrating different bands in the Phoenix area at the semi-annual concert event, Shizzfest 2, presented by TheShizz.org, a local music messageboard.

So there I was waiting in the Jugheads parking lot. I had been there since 4:45 even though Tyler told me he would be there at 5. I had ants in my Dickies and basically wanted to drop off the new Cagematch shrit for Tyler and pick up flyers for the following Wednesday's Accused show we were playing. I was planning on handing them out at ShizzFest 2.
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Local Stuff You Should Know #8

Benefit show for Tumbleweed.org and the homeless youth of Phoenix

So economically, times are pretty damn tough for all of us. But our local charities and non-profits are really feeling the pinch. What's really frustrating is that this economic downturn is having the worst effect on our most vulnerable community members. The Tumbleweed Center for Youth Development, a local non-profit for homeless and at-risk youth, is on the verge of losing some really great programs. The drop-in gallery, which features the artwork of local teens, is facing closure. So is Tumbleweed's outreach program, which provides food, clothing and other personal necessities to homeless teens all over the Valley.
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Local Stuff You Should Know #7

Venue changes, radio shows & some cool videos, oh my!

With the recent demise of The Sets, and the creation of a much needed all ages venue 23 West to take its place, I think it's safe to assume that big changes are happening for local music out here. Case in point, Kimber Lanning of Stinkweeds and Modified Arts fame took some time from her incredibly busy schedule working with Local First Arizona and SilverPlatter.info, to talk about some big upcoming changes with Modified Arts.
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Because I Wasn't There

Anti-Snob.com documents Phoenix punk 1976-1980

T.S.O.L. @ Mad Gardens '83
I have been obsessed all year long. Obsessed with a history I was never a part of... and one that I am barely qualified to write. It all started after the Super Bowl party in early February. My best gal-pal Denise from The Cosmeticators invited a few of us over to her pad to watch the video she shot during The Lustkillers show at Jamie Monistat's WokStar Bar the night before. The video was part performance/part shenanigans, starring yours truly as a liquored-up volunteered fool being decorated with toilet paper by some of my friends.

After we watched the Lustkillers vid, Denise told us of a DVD that she received a few copies of from an old friend. She gave me one of the copies. It was an early 1983 show at the famous Mad Gardens in Phoenix featuring TSOL, Grant & The Geezers, and JFA. By now, I reckon more people around town have this bootleg.
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23 West: New All Ages Venue

Shows blow through here like the monsoon rain we wish we could get

Two independent companies are joining forces to open an all ages, alcohol free venue in Tempe. 23 West is set to open in late December or early January.

After months of planning and red tape 23 West was approved for its special use permit this past Tuesday. Over 25 members or the music and media communities showed up in support of the new venue and only a handful of detractors spoke against the venue. Now that the city has signed off on the venue, the remodel of the building located at 23 West Southern Ave in Tempe is scheduled to begin in the next few weeks. "I'm really excited about having an opportunity to have an all ages venue in the east valley. It really gives us a chance to bring art/music culture to the area. Especially, when there isn't anything like this currently around her," commented Rodney Hu of the Yucca Taproom.
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When In AZ Music Compilation

Local bands + local bands = BFFs

When we first started the AZPunk comps in '02, we had an idea to have local punk bands cover their favorite local punk bands. Unfortunately for AZPunk, that idea never really got off the ground (although we never say never...), so when I heard about the new When In AZ Music Compilation, which features 55 local artists paying musical homage to their fellow local artists, I was ready and willing to drop $8.66 for three-and-a-half hours of local music. The album wouldn't necessarily be classified in the "punk" genre, but it does include The Liar's Handshake, an artist who was featured on our Volume 5 Comp, as well as longtime local Indy rockers, The Necronauts covering local punk favorites, Bolt!. Way I see it, regardless of the albums lack of "punk music", organizer Nick Kizer and all the local bands involved get a big thumbs up from this AZPunker.
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