LIKE CLOWNS WITH A SMALL CAR
We’ve been graced with so much great live music lately that it’s
been something of a game to see how many shows I can cram into this
relatively small space. Game on, people! Let’s play!
LET THE OUTDOOR CONCERT SEASON BEGIN
On Aug. 27, 1977, 67,000 fans piled inside the gates at Arizona
Stadium to witness a charity show for the American Heart
Association featuring Arizona (not to be confused with the Arizona
that’s currently touring), Kenny Loggins, the Marshall Tucker Band and
headliners Fleetwood Mac, who earlier that year had released
Rumours, one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Although, according to the Arizona Daily Star, the field was
ready for a football game three weeks later, the damage done to the
field was substantial enough that the stadium was verboten for aspiring
concert promoters thereafter.
Until this week.
Nearly 32 years after that storied concert, UA student-body
president Tommy Bruce, the same guy who brought Kanye to McKale last
year, is bringing a five-act bill to the stadium on Wednesday, April
29, including headlining rap legend Jay-Z, Kelly
Clarkson, Third Eye Blind, The Veronicas and a local
act that had not yet been announced. Gates open at 5 p.m., and tickets,
which range from $25.95 for obstructed-view seats to $200 for the best
seats in the house, are available at asuaspecialevents.com. (Note:
Tickets are moving slowly. Last week, the Associated Students of the
University of Arizona, aka ASUA, ran a 50-percent-off, one-day-only
discount, so keep your eyes peeled for possible similar discounts.)
Arizona Stadium is located at 530 N. Vine Ave.
This week also brings us KFMA Day, the annual festival
promoted by KFMA FM 92.1 and 101.3, which this year brings with it what
may be the most disappointing lineup in the history of the event.
Has-been ’90s rockers Korn are headlining an eight-band bill
that also includes Hollywood Undead, Anberlin, Escape
the Fate, Red, PH8, The Kindled and We Draw
the Tide.
Gates open at noon, Saturday, April 25, at Tucson Electric
Park, 2500 E. Ajo Way, and tickets are available for $35 at
Catalina Mart and KFMA.com.
As long as we’re on the topic of outdoor music festivals, we should
mention that the McDowell Mountain Music Festival takes place up
north this weekend, on Friday, April 24, and Saturday, April
25, at WestWorld of Scottsdale, 16601 N. Pima Road. (No word
on whether the reanimated Yul Brynner will serve as emcee.) The lineup
runs mostly in a rootsy vein, with Michael Franti and Spearhead headlining on Friday, and the Flaming Lips and Matisyahu taking the big slots on Saturday. All the info one could possibly want
is available at MMMF.net.
THE RETURN OF LINDA
The Tucson International Mariachi Conference rolls into town
this week with workshops, performances and even a mariachi Mass.
But the most talked about performance is the return of Linda
Ronstadt, who will make a guest appearance at the conference’s
Espectacular Concert on Friday, April 24. Ronstadt, once
a conference regular, hasn’t participated in the event for 13 years.
Also on the bill for the big show are Mariachi Vargas de
Tecalitlán, Los Camperos de Nati Cano and Eugenia
León. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Tucson
Convention Center Arena, 260 S. Church Ave. Tickets are $48 to $88
and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets or by calling 321-1000.
For complete information, head to tucsonmariachi.org.
NOT QUITE DEAD
While Arizona may not be on the itinerary for the Dead tour this
summer, a pair of acts associated with them will perform this week at
two different venues—alas, on the same night, Saturday, April
25. (Both acts are performing the previous night at the
aforementioned McDowell Mountain Music Festival.)
New Riders of the Purple Sage began in the late-’60s as a
less jammy, more countrified offshoot of the Grateful Dead, with a
lineup that included Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart. Things
have morphed a bit over the last 40-plus years, and these days, the
roster includes original member David Nelson, as well as Buddy Cage,
who replaced Garcia on pedal steel in 1971.
Get a taste of Panama Red at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, at the El
Casino Ballroom, 437 E. 26th St. Advance tickets are available for
$25 at Antigone Books, Plaza Liquors and Enchanted Earthworks; online
at rhythmandroots.org; or by
phone at (800) 594-8499. For further details, call 319-9966.
Simply put, what the New Riders were to the Dead, what Hot
Tuna was to Jefferson Airplane: a splinter group for some of its
members to explore another genre of music. In Hot Tuna’s case, it was
bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen’s love of the blues
that led them to form the band, though in the ensuing years, the group
has explored other forms, including soul-rock and hard rock, with a
revolving crew of musicians performing alongside the duo. These days,
the band performs either in an acoustic format or an electric one. The
show this week is electric.
Hot Tuna takes to the stage of the Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W.
Congress St., at 8 p.m., Saturday, April 25. Tickets are $25 and $35,
available at foxtucsontheatre.org. For more info,
call 547-3040.
BENEFIT CORNER
A trio of benefits worth your time and money go down this week in
the Naked Pueblo.
First up is a benefit for the American Friends Service Committee.
JusticePalooza includes Space Over Desert, The
Tangelos, Leila Lopez, Courtney Robbins and Michael
P., and things get rolling at 8 p.m., Sunday, April 26, at
The Hut, 305 N. Fourth Ave. Admission is a suggested donation.
Check out our City Week section and/or call 623-3200 for further
information.
The other two both take place on Wednesday, April 29.
We told you last week about a benefit show at The Living
Room, 413 E. Fifth St., to raise funds for the new location of
youth venue and resource center Skrappy’s, which will eventually open
on Toole Avenue. This week, The Living Room brings us a sequel:
Skrappy’s Benefit Episode II will feature performances by
Wolves and I Am the Lion starting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Cover is a suggested donation. For more info, head to myspace.com/thelivingroomtucson.
Over at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St., writers and
musicians will team up to present the Po’Tree Salo(o)n, a
benefit for Casa Libre, a nonprofit community resource center
and inn for writers, and Sonora Review, the UA’s
creative-writing-student-run literary journal.
The event will be divided into two sections: On the Tap Room patio
from 7 to 9:30 p.m., the lineup will alternate between poetry and
fiction readings and musical performances; at 9:30 p.m., the
proceedings relocate to the indoor stage at Club Congress for a
strictly musical portion, including performances by Tom Walbank and
the Ambassadors, the Kate Becker Project, The Iods and Chris Black. Participating musicians for the outdoor section
are Emilie Marchand and Naim Amor, Maggie Golston,
Jeremy Serwer and Lori LeChien, while the writers will be
Amelia Gray, Jane Miller, Ander Monson, Richard
Siken and Bo McGuire. Kristin Nelson and Jake
Levine will emcee. Admission is a suggested donation of $5. Call
622-8848 for answers to any questions you may have.
ON THE BANDWAGON
Eb’s Camp Cookin’ CD-release party at Old Town
Artisans on Sunday, April 26; Victoria Williams at
ZUZI on Saturday, April 25; The Faint,
Ladytron and Crocodiles at the Rialto Theatre on
Friday, April 24; Matt Costa and The 88 at Club
Congress on Monday, April 27; Joe Bourne at St.
Philip’s Plaza on Sunday, April 26; Granite and Phunk at Level Lounge on Saturday, April 25; Acid Mother’s
Temple and Sonic Suicide Squad at Plush on Monday,
April 27; Indigenous and The Plateros at the
Rialto Theatre on Sunday, April 26; Mr. Lif and
Willie Evans Jr. at Club Congress on Tuesday, April
28; comedian Doug Benson at the Rialto Theatre on
Saturday, April 25; LowGun Booking’s first anniversary show with Logan Greene and the Bricks, Ralpheene,
Monterey, Verdant, Chain Drop, Serows and
Cities Like These at Dry River Collective on Friday,
April 24; the fourth annual Weststock Music and Food
Festival at Westward Look Resort on Saturday, April
25; Stephen Pearcy of Ratt at Paradiso Bar and Lounge at
Casino del Sol on Friday, April 24; and a screening of the
new live Wilco film, Ashes of American Flags, at
the Rialto Theatre next Thursday, April 30.
This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2009.