Best Classic Rock Radio Station 2014 | KCDX 103.1 FM | Bars & Clubs | Phoenix
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Best Classic Rock Radio Station

KCDX 103.1 FM

KCDX recently started boasting that it's "like pirate radio, minus the pirates," and the catchphrase is utterly accurate. It's aural anarchy on the station, which broadcasts across most of the Valley. You're as likely to hear a noisy Velvet Underground tune as you are prog rock from 10cc. There are no DJs to clue you in on what's what, but the station updates its website in real time, a handy trick when it's spinning a song by underground Texas psych bands like Bubble Puppy or British folk rockers Fairport Convention. Sometimes the station airs silence for hours — making it all the more mysterious when the tunes come roaring back to life. No one does freeform AOR like KCDX — and while other classic rock stations do a good job with the standard formula, it's awesome to hear the rulebook thrown out the window while cruising across the desert.

Best R&B Radio Station

Mega 104.3

There's no one playing sexier jams than this locally owned station, which features programs like the syndicated Art Laboe Show, the sensual Quiet Storm, and a block of programming by the Manic Hispanic, whose knowledge and selection runs deep, incorporating lowrider oldies from doo-wop acts and smooth electro from Zapp and Roger. The vibe is mellow but hardly boring, and Mega 104.3 takes it to the streets, too, hosting events at clubs like Casablanca Lounge.

Best Hip-Hop Radio Station

101.1 The Beat

More than just a legacy hip-hop station playing classics, the Beat includes select new songs, afternoons with Ramses Ja, and edgy programming featuring Pokafase, Mattlocks, Roknowledge, DJ Element, and Madd Rich. On-air mixing and a solid catalog of hip-hop classics from Jay Z, Notorious BIG, and even left field acts like Digable Planets, and new cuts by Schoolboy Q and Rick Ross. The Beat manages the difficult task of incorporating new songs into a playlist of legends, showing off a commitment to furthering hip-hop's cultural legacy while staying relevant to a new crop of fans.

Best Blues/Jazz Radio Station

KJZZ 91.5 FM

During the day, KJZZ broadcasts NPR content and exclusive news and culture reporting about Phoenix, but at night, the controls are handed over to jazz DJ Blaise Lantana. On Saturday night, the station broadcasts American Routes out of New Orleans, one of the best roots programs in the country. On Sunday night, the station devotes five hours to Those Lowdown Blues, blues musician and club owner Bob Corritore's 30-years-running blues program, which features the disc jockey spinning dirty Delta blues, gritty R&B, and gospel. Last year, the station took its commitment to the blues even further, launching a 24-hours-a-day online component, Jazz Phoenix, playing a stream classic jazz for HD listeners. From hard bop to smooth progressive tunes, KJZZ remains the standard for jazz and blues in the Valley.

Best Storytelling MC

Dan Hull

Dan Hull deals in yarn-spinning. The master storyteller is arguably the architect of downtown Phoenix's storytelling scene. And he has told tales across the country — including at The Moth in New York. Lucky for Valley dwellers, Hull's easy to find around town. He hosts the aptly named Yarnball, a recurring open mic night at literary hotspot Lawn Gnome, and organizes Storyline, a series at Space 55 in which he occasionally takes the stage. Each event series is a platform for both established and emerging storytellers. Further bolstering Phoenix's storytelling scene, Hull occasionally hosts workshops for start-up raconteurs. And we've gotta give him snaps for that. 

Best Country Radio Station

KSWG 96.3 FM

The two Valley radio stations for popular country music have some pretty short-term memories. That is, you're not likely to hear music that's more than a few years old. That's certainly not the case on KSWG, "Arizona's Real Country," where Johnny Cash and even Brooks & Dunn make the station's list of most-played songs. The station still mixes in modern country hits from the likes of Luke Bryan or the Zac Brown Band, but it probably is the only local radio station that will give you the opportunity to belt out Alan Jackson's "Chasin' That Neon Rainbow" in the middle of the afternoon — and don't pretend you still don't remember that words.

Best Arena Show

Paul McCartney at US Airways Center

It would have been enough for many in the crowd just to see a real live Beatle, but Paul McCartney is a showman and a gentleman, and at 72, he worked hard to please the crowd at his August show in Phoenix. The fans sat politely and quietly for a few new songs, but they were obviously there to hear old hits, and McCartney delivered. Both Beatles and Wings fans left pleased as the songs — and accompanying anecdotes and touching moments — rolled out. From "8 Days a Week" to the end of "Abbey Road," McCartney and his band played on. Highlights included "Maybe I'm Amazed" — dedicated to Linda — and "Live and Let Die," which was accompanied by some incredible fireworks. He told the story behind "Blackbird," played "Something" on the ukulele and actually married a couple from the audience onstage — with the caveat that he's not really ordained to do it. Either way, it was a night to remember, and not just for the newlyweds.

Best Theater Show

Lindsey Stirling at Marquee Theatre

Sure, Gilbert-born Lindsey Stirling's shtick — virtuosic violin shredding over booming EDM beats — sounds like there's no way it would translate on a live stage. But the 27-year-old Stirling doesn't just pull it off, she makes the whole thing seem remarkably natural. Commanding a sold-out crowd at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe in May, Stirling sprinted across the stage, performed intricate interpretive dance routines, and cracked jokes all night, never missing a beat or note on her fiddle. Songs like "Swag," "Crystallize," and "Shatter Me" blended her Celtic-inspired melodies with throbbing electronic music; at times it felt like a rave, other times it felt like Stirling was imagining the perfect soundtrack to Phoenix Comicon (like when she performed a medley of themes from Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series). Stirling may not have won as a contestant on America's Got Talent, but her performance at the Marquee proved that the local girl's done good and has a career of genre-defying ahead of her.

Best Club Show

The Phoenix Rock Lottery at Crescent Ballroom

Local promoter Steve "Psyko Steve" Chilton may have borrowed the idea of assembling a bunch of local musicians and randomly assigning them bandmates, a "rock lottery," from bigger cities like New York City, Seattle, and Dallas, but the resulting show was all Phoenix. In February, members of Captain Squeegee, Jimmy Eat World, the Whisperlights, The Stereo, Avery, Source Victoria, Ladylike, Where Dead Voices Gather, Snake! Snake! Snakes! Wooden Indian, and other Valley luminaries took the stage at Crescent Ballroom, with only an afternoon's worth of time to prep, and performed brand new material.

The ensemble names tended toward the silly — Beer Barbacoa and the Ballroom Burros, Bitch Choir, DCKSPLT, Auto-Tune-Workout — but the resulting music was surprisingly, okay, astonishingly cohesive. The idea was likely a goof, but it ended up being yielding goods that had Phoenix feeling pretty damn great about its music scene.

Best Bar for Local Acts

The Lost Leaf

The Lost Leaf

The Lost Leaf doesn't have a giant stage or a killer sound system, but it's still the perfect place to catch a loose set from locals like Wooden Indian, Kevin Daly's Chicken and Waffles, Sunorous, or DJentrification. The historic downtown bungalow feels appropriately homey, with art by bartender and musical proprietor Tato Caraveo on the walls, and the bar is stocked with a killer selection of microbrews. The Lost Leaf is refreshingly chill, mellow, and classy; it's easy to sneak in for a few, catch a great set, and wander out to explore downtown.

Best Of Phoenix®

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