Downtown’s Rialto Theatre, shuttered for the foreseeable future thanks to our global pandemic, is launching a fantasy concert series. Friday’s show has Calexico opening for Bruce Springsteen, which is kind of my dream come true.

“I had this idea last night because I saw a pic of another venue’s marquee on Twitter, someone lamenting the shows they’re not going to get to see,” Rialto Theatre Foundation Executive Director Curtis McCrary said. “And I thought, well what if we just imagine all the incredible shows we could have if the only limit was our imaginations? Fantasy is a better place to reside than reality, for the moment. And reflecting on this better world also made me appreciate all the amazing things that have happened at this place. So, here’s a wish for better times.”

The marquee calls back to Prince’s “Paisley Park”:


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This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2020.

Getting hassled by The Man Mild-mannered reporter

5 replies on “#SceneFromASocialDistance: Rialto Launches Fantasy Concert Series This Friday”

  2. Calexico (aak!) was one of, if not the, most uninteresting band(s) in concert that I have ever witnessed. This band (at the time, maybe they’ve improved?) was easily in the top 5 most over-rated, over-hyped musical groups I have ever experienced. Ben Folds, solo on his piano, kicked the shit out of their performance with skills and songwriting talent that those Calexico dudes will never possess if they lived over several lifetimes. The Silver Thread Trio also managed to put on a far better show than Calexico. (Fox Theater, January 2012)

    And now they’re the opener of a “fantasy” concert for an even bigger over-rated, over-hyped hack? Bruce unalmighty! A fantasy for some misguided Jerseyites that want to experience what uninformed hipsters refer to as desert rock. Count me out.

    Whatta load.

  3. AZ/DC,

    One of the wonderful aspects of the Rialto Theatre is that they have music for all tastes. Clearly, this fantasy “concert” pairing is not to your liking but you don’t have to be a big jerk about it. Tucson is for all of us.

    Do try to have a good day,

    Thankful for Rialto Theatre Doyle

  5. Thank you Doyle. I didn’t have to try and have a good day, I had one without trying. I’m not sure why you may have thought I was having a bad day. Was it because I expressed my opinion about 2 extremely overrated musical acts? I’m sure that you think certain things are overrated, but I wouldn’t accuse you of being a jerk about it if you expressed your opinion.

    The real people expressing their full-on jerk persona are the instigators, antagonizers, aggressors, etc that continuously post their mindless dreck on comment sections under a seemingly never ending slew of usernames. Many of them using 2 or 3 different names within one thread to make them look like they actually have support. You know, people like “tony z”.

    “tony” has had a lot of time on his or her hands lately. I have not only seen the posts under that username, I have also seen the posts this person has so obviously done with different usernames. (One of those names being softier.) I would ask you to click on “tony’s” username to view the jerk commentary associated with this name alone, but “tony” doesn’t want to establish an account. “tony” chooses to be a sock-puppeting troll that doesn’t want to expose all of the jerk commentary in one place. It’s odd when you think about it, because “tony” seems awfully proud of the mindless dreck that’s posted. I would imagine this person would love to have a compilation of it, so everyone could enjoy it without having to sift through commentary that actually has merit.

    Okay, I believe that I have more than made my point. I’m sure there are some people that will enjoy this fantasy concert. Me, not so much. I’m of the opinion that if you’re going to put on a fantasy concert, go big with it. Put on a Hendrix concert with Randy Rhoads era Ozzy as the opening act. Now that’s a fantasy!

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