Forty Years Later

This Saturday, you can be transported back to a year of musical magic.

Community radio station KXCI FM 91.3 will be transforming the Rialto Theatre into a 1971 time capsule of sorts, where 10 local bands will cover 10 different albums by 10 different bands. Tickets are—you guessed it—$10, and all proceeds will go toward supporting KXCI.

Amanda Shauger, KXCI's director of community engagement and the producer of the show 30 Minutes, said KXCI's previous tributes to Woodstock and the music of the year 1970 drew large crowds—and she hopes the same will happen this year.

"It's been a natural progression, and by all accounts, they were a real success, and people really enjoyed them," Shauger said of the past shows.

KXCI has been on the air since 1983. Because the community radio station's support comes from listeners and local businesses, KXCI spreads the word about community events and hopes the community will support them at this concert.

This year's concert celebrates the 40th anniversary of 1971. Bands will each perform 25-minute sets of songs from the selected albums. The bands were given the option of what band and album they wanted to cover from a list that was compiled by the station.

"It will probably get a little louder and rockier as the night goes on, but it's still a great place to bring the whole family," Shauger said.

The musicians include the Kevin Pakulis Band performing the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers; Gila Bend playing The Carpenters' album Carpenters; A Son y Sol performing John Lennon's Imagine; The Modeens covering The Who's Who's Next; Silverfox covering David Bowie's Hunky Dory; Atom Heart Mother playing Pink Floyd's Meddle; Amy Rude covering Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors; Diane Van Deurzen and Lisa Otey performing Carole King's Tapestry; Five Way Street doing Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's Four Way Street; and Tom Walbank honoring Hooker 'n Heat by John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat.

Duncan Hudson, music director for KXCI, helped put together the concert.

"There are so many great local bands here, and we didn't want to duplicate any of them from last year," Hudson said.

Hudson has been part of the Tucson music scene for decades and enjoys the variety in Tucson music. Hudson said that Tucson does not typically have a "cover-band" music scene, but that this concert gives bands a chance to try something new—and that is a fun part of the show.

"We have a lot of different contacts from being a station in town that celebrates and plays local music," Hudson said.

While no bands from last year's KXCI concert will be performing, one member of Atom Heart Mother will be performing for his second year in a row. Mike Sydloski, who handles guitar and lead vocals for the band, said he got the e-mail from Hudson regarding the concert and couldn't pass up the opportunity.

The band plays nothing but Pink Floyd covers—but Meddle is an album they have never played.

"This is a period of Pink Floyd we haven't covered," Sydloski explained, adding that the band usually does songs from later albums like Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. Sydloski said covering songs from this album has actually made his band stretch because of the mix of songs.

"I'm excited, because the material my band is playing this year is more of an epic and grand style of music, and it fits the Rialto really well," Sydloski said.

Feel free to bring the kids—this is an all-ages show—to the Rialto for a night of musical classics.