Cover Story
Guitar Hero
The Whisky a Go Go is a shell of its former self. What was once, alongside the neighboring Rainbow and Roxy, the manic epicenter of the musical social scene on the Sunset Strip, is now a pay-to-play haven operating on past glories and the merch sales associated with that.
Save Our Guns
You may recall a few years ago the City held a oddly named “Gun Buyback” event, oddly named since the City of Tucson did not sell the guns in the first place. During the one-day event, people were encouraged to trade any firearm for a $50 Safeway gift card with “no questions asked.” It was…
The Weekly List: 22 Things To Do In The Next 10 Days
Your Weekly guide to keeping busy in the Old Pueblo. Holidays It’s mid December, which means holiday themed events abound. Here’s everything you need to know to get your festive cheer on this year. Meet the Clauses Holiday Express with Santa at Historic Train Depot: For all the Christmas lovers out there, what is the…
Tucson Unified School District Makes a Statement
Tuesday the TUSD board passed a resolution stating “the Governing Board and the District, and its administration, teachers, counselors and staff will support all students equally, whether their immigration status is documented or undocumented.” The vote was 4-1 with Michael Hicks voting No. The TUSD resolution isn’t as lyrical as the one put out by the…
Quick Bites: Gimme Shelter
Here’s a very quick bit of news for frequenters (or would-be frequenters) of The Coronet: This Fourth Avenue–area café and bar now has a cozy tent around its patio—and will keep it up at least through the rest of December. Says co-owner Gregor Kretschmann, via Facebook (hyperbolically, in case you don’t get it): “We’ve lost…
Nine Questions: Eremsy
Producer and programmer Eremsy considers what he does as “Cliché SoundCloud rap type stuff. Not too serious.” You can see Eremsy preform on Dec. 18 at R Bar and can listen to his music on SoundCloud. What was the first concert you attended? It was Wiz Khalifa at the AVA Amphitheater. I had lawn tickets and…
Win Tickets to See the Wildcats Play Grand Canyon University Antelopes on Dec. 14
Busy Wednesday night? We’ve got tickets to the Dec. 14 Wildcat basketball game against the Grand Canyon Antelopes, which starts at 9 p.m., and we want you to take them. There is one catch: The winner has to pick up the tickets at our office (near the Foothills Mall) sometime before we lock the doors…
Quick Bites: Miracle on Congress Street (With Booze)
Have your kids been good this year? Or at least this week? If so, and if you celebrate Christmas and they still believe in Santa, they’ll probably be delighted to tell him that. But you don’t want to tote your fam to some overcrowded shopping mall just to facilitate this, do you? Hell, nah, you…
Cinema Clips: Manchester By the Sea
Be prepared to get your heart ripped out by Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams in this, one of the more emotionally powerful movie experiences of 2016. Affleck plays Lee, uncle to Patrick (Lucas Hedges), who must return to his hometown and raise his nephew after his brother (Kyle Chandler) dies. Lee is a true mess,…
Hitler: America Is Weak Because It’s Not White Enough
Hitler wasn’t too worried about the U.S. getting involved in World War II, according to a column in the Sunday New York Times. “I don’t see much future for the Americans,” Hitler said in January 1942. “Everything about the behavior of American society reveals that it’s half Judaized, and the other half Negrified. How can…
Song of the Day: ‘The Corridor’ by Don ‘Doop’ Duprie
Nobody weaves working peoples’ stories into song with as much empathy and care as Don “Doop” Duprie, a fireman from the industrial town of River Rouge, Mich. “The Corridor,” the title track off his 2016 album, is both an elegy for the eponymous neighborhood in central Detroit where the song takes place (a place whose…
Space Spending: A Look at the UA’s Investment in Studying the Skies
The UA is renowned worldwide for its efforts in space exploration—with involvement in multiple satellite launches, observatories, and projects with NASA, the school is a crucial arm of space exploration in the United States. However, it comes at a cost. “We had a little over $600 million in research expenditures, which placed us thirty-third in…
Trooper Needs a Home
Hi, I’m Trooper! I’m a handsome 4-year-old boy and I need a new home! I was transferred to HSSA from a different local shelter and can’t wait to find my forever home. I’m a little shy while in my kennel, but please consider giving me a chance. Once I meet people and have a minute…
Cinema Clips: Nocturnal Animals
Amy Adams, on fire in 2016 even after you factor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, plays Susan Morrow, a bizarre art gallery owner stuck in a rut. Her bland but gorgeous husband (Armie Hammer—also having a good year) is ambivalent toward her, and she’s borderline broke and generally unhappy. She gets a manuscript…
Nine Questions: Sui Blue
Tucson rapper and producer Sui Blue considers himself a listener more then anything. “That’s pretty much what it come down to, pretty much,” says Blue. You can see Blue perform Dec. 18 at R Bar and listen to his music on SoundCloud. What was the first concert you attended? As a kid, I used to…
Ducey ‘Next Step’ Watch: Day 207. Lies My Governor Told Me. Or, Hey Doug, Man Up & Pay Up!
Governor Ducey tells deadbeat dads to “Man Up & Pay Up” in his 2016: Year in Review. But when it comes to talking about education funding, Ducey isn’t man enough to tell the truth, and he sure as hell isn’t planning to pay up the money our children need to pull them out of the…
Help This Guy Find His Father’s Lost Telescope
Chris LaBoda is on a mission to find a piece of family history. Last April, a telescope was sold from his parent’s estate in Tucson. This particular telescope is is special: LaBoda’s father built it by hand in the ’60s. Telescope is about 5′ long, white with spotting scope on the side and wood tripod. Came…
Phoenix Union High School District Makes a Statement
Phoenix Union High School District issued a statement of its commitment to “excellence and equality for all students . . . every single one of the young lives entrusted to us.” According to the press release, the statement was created “in response to the concerns of many parents, students and staff following the election cycle.” It’s…
Noise Annoys
It’s beginning to look like Christmas, and, like the clearance sales, frigid 70-degree temps and the swelling population influx of out-of-state blue-hairs leaving reasonably predictable weather patterns back east, the demographic of committed year-round Tucson residents who fancy themselves arbiters of culture are just as much creatures of habit, filling in holiday-themed gatherings in the…
Know Your Product
Lord knows many folks fell in love with The Handsome Family for the first time in 2014 when the married duo’s “Far From Any Road” was the theme song on killer season one of HBO’s True Detective. (Boy did that tune’s deceptive ghoul-country fit the show’s eerie subtexts.) But since the mid-’90s, The Handsome Family…
Vintage Vinyl Tucson
In the 1970s, when my brethren and I were longhaired stoners, we attended parties in remote desert spots around and just outside of Tucson, usually including a generator for lights and music, and kegs for refreshment, called “boonies.”
What Are They Smoking?
Last week, Maricopa CountyAttorney Bill Montgomery called upon Donald Trump’s incoming administration to end marijuana regulation and enforce federal law in states that have legalized it medically or recreationally. “It’s the job of the executive branch that laws are being executed,” he said at a press conference Nov. 30. “Today we have a number of…
Editor’s Note
Learning and understanding history, as we know, is advantageous.
Danehy
Donald Trump is like the knuckleheads who used to stand on the corner, grabbing their genitals and talking about themselves.
The Skinny
Why did Supervisor Miller throw her support behind Huckelberry’s legislative agenda?
Ask a Mexican
Dear Loco: Unless the acclaimed Danish chef behind the world-acclaimed Noma is into tamborazo and Antonio Aguilar, he ain’t my compa.
Regional Beauty
The bustling city of San Luis Potosi, in the similarly named region around midpoint Mexico, is usually outshined by its more popular neighbors such as Guadalajara, Monterrey and Mexico City, but hopefully things are about to change.
Nutcracker Cascade
Three dancers who trained with the prestigious company will dance separately in the city’s most important productions. Lindsey Felix will star as the Prickly Pear Fairy in Tucson Regional Ballet’s charming Southwest Nutcracker this weekend, partnered by Max Foster as Caballero.
Two for One
To perform roles created by American playwright David Mamet, an actor must have an ability to take convoluted, complex and sometimes incomplete thoughts comprised of both short and lengthy sentences or phrases and fire them from one’s mouth like bullets from an AK-47.
Dark-Hearted Heart
A jilted husband uses the power of the pen to mess with his ex-wife’s mind in Nocturnal Animals, the engaging and dark-hearted latest from director Tom Ford.
Revolucionario!
Lalo Guerrero was born Christmas eve in Tucson in 1916, auspicious timing some believe.
