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IN BETWEEN DAYS: My high-school experience wasn't too different
from anyone's in the mid-'80s. Conjure up images of virtually
any John Hughes movie from that period, and
you're pretty much on target: stereotypes were the rule of the day. There were the defiant punk-rock kids in their Misfits and Bl Grateful Dead-worshipping neo-hippies; the head-banging heshers who all seemed to drive souped-up Camaros with Ozzy blasting through the open windows; the cutting-edge college rockers who dug The Replacements and R.E.M. (this was before those bands had made their way to the mainstream pop charts); the jocks and cheerleaders who didn't seem the least bit interested in music at all; and then there were the goths. Now, I'm a music writer, not a social critic. But I do know this: goth kids have been around since '79 or '80, when Bauhaus, Joy Division and The Cure unleashed their respective brands of gloom-n-doom on a music world bitterly divided between disco and punk. And while goth certainly fell closer to the punk side of that fence, it was still (almost) completely distinguishable from it.
Where punk ranted angrily and loudly about its disaffectedness,
goth ate its heart whole. Both were ultimately about catharsis,
but punk's tool was expulsion, while goth wallowed in the mire.
And it's no accident that the punk kids wore ripped up Bermuda
shorts and But somehow, among all the bands in the goth scene, The Cure was the one that transcended the unspoken label "For Goths Only." In fact, virtually everyone I've talked to recently, regardless of their musical tastes, admits to going through a Cure "phase"; and without exception, that phase took place during those painful adolescent years we call high school. The Cure was the one dark band, the singular connection if you will, to unite the various high school stereotypes into a brooding but unified community, even if certain people were hard-pressed to admit it. So, here's your chance to not only admit that you love The Cure, but to celebrate your real high-school reunion, when the folks at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St., present a very special '80s night dedicated to the band. The evening will feature a live performance by Levinhurst, featuring Lol Tolhurst and Andy Anderson of The Cure, followed by Tolhurst teaming up with DJ Spyder Rhodes for special Cure remixes, and a Cure-related film and slide show. Fans are encouraged to bring their Cure memorabilia for an autograph session. Doors open at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 27, and tickets are $7 in advance at the Hotel Congress and Zip's University. They'll cost $9 day of show. Call 622-8848 for more information. CALLING ALL FREAKS: The Flower Fresh Co., a non-profit arts collective dedicated to building community through original underground transformative art, is throwing another of their wacky-ass shindigs this week. The third in the series, the appropriately titled Le Freak Show 3: Hot Fun in the City, is being billed as "a love-in celebration of Tucson's eclectic underground performance art scene," and continues the Freak Show tradition of multi-media, multi-cultural community art. The event boasts two live stages, plus sideshow attractions, with music by dance-funk combo Whatever, instrumental blaxploitation groovers The Money Shot, Wasabi, and MC Reverend Fun Yung Moon with Le Freak Show Depot, plus performance artists Flâm-Chén, The Wizard's Lore of Dance, Polly Peptide & Chastity, Dennis the Red & Cledd, The Butterfly Lady and more. Bring your own drums to kick off the show at 7:30 p.m. with an open drum circle. It all goes down on Friday, May 28, at the Mat Bevel Institute, 530 N. Stone Ave. Admission is $5, with a $1 discount for anyone dressed in freaky attire or with food donations for the Community Food Bank. All ages are welcome. BAND WAGON: While the name Eric Rigler might not ring a bell, chances are pretty good you've heard his music before. If you've seen Titanic, Braveheart, The Prince of Egypt, or heard the most recent albums by Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, Barbra Streisand or Tracy Chapman, then you've heard his stuff. Called "the most recorded piper of all time," Rigler is the guy whose phone rings just about anytime somebody in the biz has a creative need for the strains of uilleann pipes, the Great Highland Bagpipe or the low whistle. Rigler's recently formed his own band, Bad Haggis, an experimental four-piece that explores the territory between traditional Celtic music and jazz-influenced rock, featuring a standard guitar/drums/bass line-up in addition to Rigler's more exotic instrumentation. Ireland's Rock 'N' Reel magazine describes the sound as, "drag(ging) Celtic music kicking, beating and screaming into the next millennium." Bad Haggis performs at 8 p.m. Thursday, June 3, at Nimbus Brewing Company, 3850 E. 44th St. Admission is $8, and proceeds will help send the Pipes and Drums of the Seven Pipers Scottish Society to Scotland for the World Championship Bagpipe Competition. The impressive talents of New York folk-punk artist Roger Manning are on display this week when he returns to the Old Pueblo for a showcase at 7 Black Cats, 260 E. Congress St., on Sunday, May 30. Known for his incisive and wordy lyrics, and often hilarious between-song commentary, the word that always springs to my mind in describing Manning is "passionate." Don't miss this fabulous performer, or the opening set by local twang purveyors Creosote. Call 670-9202 for show time and other details.
And finally, Gods in London puts on a free show this week
in celebration of the release of their new album. It'll be their
last in-town performance before heading for the bright lights
of New York City. Openers the Wonder Twins kick things
off around 9 p.m. Friday, May 28, at the Plaza Pub, 20
E. Pennington St. Call 882-0400 for more information. Good luck
in the big city, kids.
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