Soundbites

COVER UP SOME MORE

As one of the organizers of a charity show that just happens to be our favorite musical event of the year, you bet we're gonna use our bully pulpit to pimp the hell out of The Great Cover-Up 2004. By the time you read this in the print version, Night One will be in the history books. If you missed it, your loss, but you can still redeem yourself: Nights Two and Three are here to sate the desire to see your favorite local bands perform songs by a band or musician more famous than they are.

For a complete history and explanation of the event, see last week's Soundbites. For now, here's what you can expect to see and hear on the second and third nights:

Night Two, Friday, Nov. 12: 7 p.m., Amy Rude; 7:30 p.m., Rorschach; 8 p.m., Al Perry; 8:30 p.m., Fukuisan Go!; 9 p.m., Sun Zoom Spark; 9:30 p.m., Bombs for the Bored; 10 p.m., Lagoon; 10:30 p.m., Seven to Blue; 11 p.m., Lovemound; 11:30 p.m., The Deludes; midnight, Greyhound Soul; 12:30 a.m., The Therapists; 1 a.m., Mankind.

Artists being covered, in no particular order (it's a surprise, yo!): Electric Light Orchestra, Paul McCartney and Wings, 13th Floor Elevators, Elton John, The Deftones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Flaming Lips, Rick James (bitch!), Kenny Rogers, The Brady Bunch, Dinosaur Jr., Will Oldham and The Carpenters.

Night Three, Saturday, Nov. 13: 8 p.m., The Yellow; 8:30 p.m., Musica Obscura; 9 p.m., the Passionflies; 9:30 p.m., La Cerca; 10 p.m., The Fashionistas; 10:30 p.m., Lucy Chair; 11 p.m., Galactic Federation of Love; 11:30 p.m., scratchingthesurface; midnight, The Jons; 12:30 a.m., Tom Walbank and Friends; 1 a.m., Spacefish.

Artists being covered, in no particular order: Love, Blondie, Operation Ivy, T. Rex, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Interpol, Wire, Cocteau Twins, Donovan, The Jesus and Mary Chain and Joan Jett.

As always, KLPX DJ Chita will be your mistress of ceremonies, and all proceeds will go to The Brewster Center. We urge you to arrive early to avoid missing something you'll regret, and because the bands have put in an awful lot of time and effort for no monetary reward, whether they're playing first or last.

The Great Cover-Up goes down at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St. Admission is $7 for one night, $10 for two nights, or $12 for all three. Call 622-8848 with questions. We'll see you there.

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

Kudos to Van Halen for performing a two-night stand at the AVA instead of a single night at a bigger venue like TCC. That said, in Soundbites' humble opinion, the band has pretty much sucked butt since Diamond Dave left the fold. The very thought of hearing Sammy Hagar render Dave's classics borders on sacrilegious. The last time Sammy did anything worthwhile was when he was still in Montrose. OK, maybe "Three Lock Box" wasn't so bad. Still, the current Van Halen line-up could be worse: They could have asked Gary Sherone to tour instead of Sammy.

Van Halen perform at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, and Friday, Nov. 19. AVA is located on the grounds of Casino del Sol, 5655 W. Valencia Road. Advance tickets are available for a whopping $125 and $95 (reserved pavilion seats) or $68 (general admission on the lawn) at all Ticketmaster locations, online at ticketmaster.com or by calling 321-1000. For more information, call 883-1700.

DOUBLEHEADER

The folks at Club Congress are cramming two very different shows into one night this week.

The early show marks the return of Melissa Ferrick, who is touring to promote The Other Side (Right On), which was released in June. Aside from a single cameo appearance by guitarist Teddy Goldstein, Ferrick not only played all of the instruments on the album herself, but also produced and engineered it. Running the gamut from empowered ballads to jittery folk-pop, the album has been hailed as her best yet by most critics.

Opening are 23-year-old Canadian twin sisters Tegan and Sara, whose third album, So Jealous, was released on Neil Young's Vapor imprint in September. With help from producers David Carswell and John Collins (New Pornographers) and former Weezer and Rentals member Matt Sharp on keyboards, in addition to their longtime rhythm section of Rob Chursinoff and Chris Carlson, the album manages to combine elements of folk, punk, new wave and pop to arrive at a truly winning collection of hooky goodness. The songwriting is assured enough to belie the women's age, and they harmonize as only sisters can. Good stuff, this.

Melissa Ferrick and Tegan and Sara perform at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16. Tickets are $12.

The late show the same night is headlined by Guy Blakeslee, whose nom de musique is Entrance. A lefty who plays a right-handed guitar flipped around, Blakeslee plays raw, mournful slide-blues like you'd expect from someone whose latest album, Wandering Stranger (2004), was released on Fat Possum. But he can also turn in an absolutely gorgeous fingerpicked cover of Townes Van Zant's "Rex's Blues," as he does here. His unique, reedy, quivering voice only adds authenticity to the proceedings.

Tom Walbank opens the show at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16. Cover is three bucks. Club Congress is located at 311 E. Congress St. For details about either show, call 622-8848.

LATIN DIVAS

The tireless world music purveyors at Putumayo Records are bring to town this week three of the artists featured on their recent Women of Latin America compilation. Chilean singer Mariana Montalvo merges elements of her country's traditional music with the lyrical style known as nueva cancion; Brazil's Belo Velloso is the niece of the legendary Caetano Velloso, and has absorbed the rhythms of samba and bossa nova virtually since she was born; Toto La Momposina hails from the island of Mompos in Colombia's Magdalena River, where the cultures of Native Indians and escaped African slaves converged.

Putumayo Presents Latinas: Women of Latin America arrives in Tucson at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13 at Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd., on the UA campus. Ticket prices range from $18 to $36 for adults and $10 to $29 for students. Tickets are available at the venue's box office, online at uapresents.org, or by calling 621-3341.

SMOKY SYKES

Seattle's Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter make a return appearance to town in support of their second album, Oh, My Girl (2004, Barsuk), this week. Like its predecessor, 2002's Reckless Burning (Burn Burn Burn), the album is a devastatingly beautiful collection of forlorn, ghostly Americana songs. The term "smoky" was seemingly invented to describe Sykes' gorgeous alto, and her evocative songwriting is top-notch. Add to that a crack band that includes former Whiskeytown guitarist Phil Wandscher, and you've got a truly winning combination.

Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter perform at Plush, 340 E. Sixth St., Friday, Nov. 12. Loveland opens at 10:15 p.m. Cover is $6. Questions? Call 798-1298.

GLAM ROCK, UNGLAM RELATIONSHIPS

The Makers were garage-rock before it was cool. Once it became cool, they started playing a 21st-century version of glam-rock. Maybe they know something; is glam the new garage?

We've been following The Reputation's frontwoman, Elizabeth Elmore, since her days in Sarge, and not only has she never disappointed us; she just keeps getting better and better. The Reputation specialize in a brand of biting, punky guitar-pop, and their second album, To Force a Fate, released earlier this year on Lookout! Records, demonstrates just how far they've come in a very short time, widening their palette with lots more piano and song variation this time around. And, as usual, Elmore's sweet voice belies the very grown-up subject matter of the gruesome politics of romantic relationships, which she always addresses with an unflinching eye.

The Makers and The Reputation perform an early show at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St. Thursday, Nov. 18. Doors open at 8 p.m. and cover is $6. That number again is 622-8848.