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Your April and May concert calender, courtesy of the Dust Devil!

April 15th, 2009 Posted by: Dust Devil

Hello folks,

I have to admit, I am still on a high from that unbelievable Bob Mould show March 30 at the Varsity Theatre in Minneapolis!

But alas, it is a new month and although April is not a choice month for concerts in the Valley of the Sun, May is unbelievable. So let’s get to it!

Coachella; April 17-19; Empire Polo Field; Indio, CA. Well, this event is on here purely for selfish reasons since I am going this year. Needless to say I am plenty excited since I have wanted to go to this festival for a number of years. A lot of great artists will be there that I have seen before but am dying to see again, including Band of Horses, Bob Mould Band, A Place to Bury Strangers, TV on the Radio, Cloud Cult and X, and a slew of acts I want to see for the first time ever, including My Bloody Valentine, Fleet Foxes, Leonard Cohen, Paul Weller and Okkervil River. What a way to celebrate turning 40!

Franz Ferdinand; April 18; Marquee Theatre. This show and the next I will not be in town to see, but I will have a chance to see both Friday at Coachella. Both are great artists, Franz Ferdinand plays some catchy post-punk and M. Ward a mellow indie-pop.

M. Ward; April 19; Marquee Theatre. See above!

Gin Blossoms; April 19; Steele Indian School Park. Another show I will be gone for and probably would have gone to if I was in town. The Gin Blossoms have not been anywhere near as good as during the old Sun Club/Long Wong’s days with Doug Hopkins in the band, which is unfair to Scott Johnson, a GREAT guitarist in his own right. If you ever had a chance to see Tempe legends the Feedbags you will know what I am talking about. It is just that Doug wrote all their great songs, including Found Out About You, Lost Horizons and of course, their hit Hey Jealousy, then the rest of the band gave him the boot right when they were about to hit it big in the early nineties. A sad story.

The Go-Go’s; April 24; Phoenix Zoo. The Phoenix Zoo is once again hosting ZooBrew, an event which features food and beverage sampling, along with some live music every year. Unbelievable to me that the Go-Go’s are playing this event! What a great band, I can still remember seeing them open for The Police on the Zenyatta Mendatta Tour years ago. Beauty and the Beat is STILL a great album.

Reverend Horton Heat; April 24; Marquee Theatre. Are you kidding me, three shows I would want to go to on the same night? The Reverend is an amazing live band, I have seen them at least seven times over the years, and I believe the number is even higher. From that incredible first time I saw them at the Mason Jar I knew I was in the midst of greatness. Get ready for some intense psychobilly to be unleashed when you show up at a Reverend Horton Heat show!

McDowell Music Festival; April 24-25; Westworld of Scottsdale. An interesting festival set out in Scottsdale to benefit Phoenix Day and the Golden Gate Community Center, two organizations specifically geared to help underpriveleged kids. YEA! Normally I would not support anything taking place in Snotsdale, but this is a great cause and a great event. Michael Franti and Spearhead will be headlining Friday night, but of course the Dust Devil’s primary focus musically will be one of the best live bands I have ever seen, the legendary Flaming Lips! These guys have not played in Arizona since 2000, so do not miss this show!

The Pomegranates; May 1; Trunk Space. Fabulous indie-pop band with a full display of shimmering guitars, these guys were one of my treasured discoveries from last year’s Monolith Festival. I love the pop melodies they play, with a guitar style reminiscient of a great dream-pop band from years ago by the name of Kitchens of Distinction. Plus, any band influenced by the legendary Sonic Youth is sure to be a good thing! They just released a new album, Everybody Come Outside, on April 14, so I am really looking forward to the new material. Go support this great band! 

The Forecast; May 7; The Modified. The Forecast delivers some pretty decent indie-pop. I like the dual vocal delivery and always enjoy music from a band with male and female vocals. They just have not completely grabbed me as an act yet, so am curious how I will feel after the show. It’s at the Modified, so that is reason enough to go right there.

Jane’s Addiction and Nine Inch Nails; May 15; Cricket Pavilion. 1991, the first ever Lollapalooza show, and I literally mean the first. Lollapalooza One kicked off the summer tour at Compton Terrace, a horrible dust-bowl of a venue, but back when I was in high school and early college it was THE venue for big concerts.

Jane’s were at the top of the alternative universe at that point and NIN were just getting rolling at that time. Unfortunately, they both SUCKED on this particular day, so I have bad memories of that concert. I have seen Nine Inch Nails twice since then and both shows were great. I have never seen Jane’s Addiction since that day, so I am praying for redemption on this evening.

Cloud Cult; May 17; Rhythm Room. Cloud Cult is a great band and play impressive indie-rock with a folk twist to things. I breifly saw them at Monolith 2007 and was blown away, but the Flaming Lips were coming up so I had to leave to see that. I will also see them at Coachella this week, but an intimate setting like the Rhythm Room is where I believe they will really excel live. This should be one of the shows of the year!

Flight of the Conchords; May 19; Dodge Theatre. These guys are hilarious, I finally caught their show on HBO and it kills! The music is pretty darn good to boot, so if I can I will be at this show. Check out the YouTube video of Frodo, Don’t Wear the Ring, I nearly cried after I saw it for the first time from laughing so hard.

Youth Group; May 20; Chyro Arts. So I’m in Stinkweeds one day and was asking about the new Doves record Kingdom of Rust. By the way, if you do not own this amazing slab of vinyl yet, then don’t even pretend to like good music. Anyway, Kimber, owner of what is the coolest record store in Phoenix, told me about a band out of Australia called Youth Group and said if I liked Doves (it’s Doves people, NOT The Doves), that I would like Youth Group.

Folks, if you are in Stinkweeds and Kimber, Lindsay or Dario tell you to buy something, do yourself a favor and listen. I have never been steered wrong at this place. Needless to say Youth Group is a winner, beautiful, atmospheric Britpop. The lead singer sounds a bit like the vocalist from James, a big plus in the Dust Devil’s opinion. I am excited for this show and excited to check out a new venue!

Dane Cook; May 28; Jobing.com Arena. He is funny as hell, enough said!

There you go, for now. If I missed something please let me know.

Cheers!
The Dust Devil

Filed under: Concert Tour Announcements