Thursday, July 11
Acoustic blues/ragtime guitar prodigy, Roman Barten-Sherman takes you on a trip through the Mississippi Delta. On the patio at Agustin Kitchen... Gentilic prog rockers Demonyms share a bill with Austin psychedelic rockers Sleeve Cannon and those bass-driven purveyors of psychedelic/post-punk/folk rock/cabaret, Breaking Glass. At Sky Bar... Dance? DJs Atom Energy and lunarfox spin house at Bar Passé... Led by vocalist Amy Virnelson, Soul Essential perform classic and modern R&B and soul. At The Screening Room... Crash Magic do unpredictable and otherworldly things at Tap + Bottle - Downtown...
Friday, July 12
Genre hopping, Mexi-Americana singer-songwriters FebboFuentes perform for the betterment of the human soul. In the tasting room at Sand-Reckoner... Satan Celebrates 40 Years of Amy. Huh? That's right. Amy Munoz Mendoza is blowing out a plethora of birthday candles poolside. Insobriety will run riot. With musical sets by The Surfbroads, Sugar Stains, Birds and Arrows and Loveland. And a special performance by Kitty Catatonic. At Hotel McCoy. D[foRm] spins dark wave before, after and in between... Pairing well with an ice cold libation, bluesman Austin Counts chills at Westbound Bar & Grill... Latin-fusionists Santa Pachita perform for your dancing and listening pleasure on the patio at The Boxyard... The concept behind this L.A. electronic/hard rock band's latest, Megalith (Pavement Music, 2019), grew straight out of an obsession with lost civilizations and esoteric symbols. Says vocalist Ron Underwood, "Most of the lyrics are introspections into life's dualities; Primarily good and evil, and how they work to create a third and even greater single entity." 9Electric worship a "New God." At Encore. Las Vegan hard rock outfit Bravo Delta set things off... The Welty-Wilson Trio play their usual brand of weird and wonderful jazz at The Dusty Monk Pub...
Saturday, July 13
First gen L.A. punk legend Alice Bag says of the band's name, "The band has also made it into an acronym for "Fuck 'Em All," reinforcing their message. One that echoes the words of Gloria Steinem, "The Women's Movement is still necessary and more alive than ever." Resistance has never sounded so infectious. From San Antonio, FEA inhabit the space where Chicana punk and social consciousness intersect. With St. Louis Rock 'n' Rollers Bruiser Queen. At 191 Toole. Locals Sur Block cast their bewitching indie pop spells, first up... This Phoenix singer-songwriter has been called "The Queen of the Underground." Her 2015 EP, Take Me Home Spiderman, was recorded modestly on a ½" reel-to-reel tape deck at home. Rumors circulated afterwards that unreleased B-sides existed. Now disentombed. Mixed/mastered by John Dieterich (Deerhoof), "Will I See You" and "Time Waits For No One" grapple with death, love and time lost—in the wake of losing her then partner/child's father Mark Erickson to suicide in 2012. Free from pretense, this is art made out of necessity. Lonna Kelley celebrates her 7" vinyl release at Exo Roast Co. With found sound/sonic alchemist Karima Walker... Guitarist Naim Amor brings a touch of the glamour and charm of the Champs-Élysées to Tucson Hop Shop... Metallica tribute band Masters of Puppets "Ride The Lightning" at Encore... Rising indie/pop/rock artist Belinda Esquer performs songs from her latest album Elevator Music. In the courtyard at Mercado San Agustin... Their fourth release, The Last Emperor, is a historical concept album—covering several events and figures from the Crusades—that marks a return to a faster, lighter Germanic influenced power metal sound. Judicator rampages at House of Bards. With support from Never Reborn, Hell Follows and Olden... Pushing Buttons: The monthly producer showcase and getdown continues. With beat sets by Phen, Nick Arcade, Rex Garcia, RND1, Will Fase y mas. At Thunder Canyon Brewstillery...
Sunday, July 14
"Tucson's answer to Chicago-style electric blues." Whose Blues are at Public Brewhouse... While Natty & The Sunset weave dreams on the patio at Che's Lounge...
Monday, July 15
Stay in. Read a book.
Tuesday, July 16
Testament to the power of social media. While studying classical clarinet at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Cody Carson asked All Time Low's Alex Gaskarth if he could sing "Coffee Shop Soundtrack," at their upcoming House of Blues gig, via a YouTube video. Gaskarth agreed. Fast forward. Now, despite guitarist Dan Clermont's recent hiatus from the band following allegations of sexual assault that went viral, Horrible Kids, symphonic rockers Set It Off dance the "Lonely Dance." At 191 Toole. Flanked by post-hardcorists Emarosa and pop punks Broadside... Singer-songwriter Steff Koeppen has a "Way With Words." Her chill electro pop provides the musical portion of Go For Launch Party: A celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon—in collaboration with Novaspace, Spacefest and the UA Moonfest. At Sky Bar... The sulfuric vapors will seep up through the crevices from the underworld. Hailing from the Black Hills of South Dakota, Souls execrate, "I've tried to swallow this guilt, but I can't. I always choke." With Arm's Reach, Hellhook, Realize and Slow Descent at Club Congress... From The Lone Star State, Punk With A Camera and Sad2 lock horns with local Clorox 'n' Rollers Bleach Party USA, Pretty Ugly and Gutter Town for all-ages diversion. Or is it subversion? Hmm. At Blacklidge Community Collective...
Wednesday, July 17
The motley crew that oversee this zydeco-tinged, accordion-fueled Tex-Mexican bacchanal on occasion splinter-off. The Carnivaleros Trio are at Public Brewhouse... "Past the Guards of the Mausoleum," from Los Angeles, alt-rock/synth-poppers Part Time share their "Visions of the Future." At Club Congress. Along with "The King Of Endicott," experimental/performance artist Gary Wilson... "Pisces poppers" Mesquite, indie/ambient trio Moontrax and singer-songwriter Chelsea Trejo converge at Wooden Tooth Records...
Thursday, July 18
In keeping with her song "Salty Sweet," this Denver, Colorado singer-songwriter's vocal style pulls as much from jazz great Ella Fitzgerald as it does from alt-folk rocker Ani DiFranco. Tiffany Christopher puts her "Tremendous Heart " on display at Tap + Bottle - Downtown... A perfect trifecta. Downtrodden, Black Cat Bones strew their "Dead Broke Blues" at Sky Bar. Along with blues rockers Caleb's Spirit and—recently furloughed from the "Pima County Jail" while his "suite" is revamped—bluesman Austin Counts... From Pennsylvania, straight edge punks One Step Closer join forces with hardcorists Anxious (Boston), Construct (Phoenix), Head to Wall (emo/punk from California) and hardcore punks End on End (Oklahoma City) in a mash-up. At Ward6... One of Arizona's best wedding bands, The Lucky Devils crash the party and ignite the dance floor. At Club Congress... Backed by a classic jazz ensemble, Parisian guitarist Gabriel Naim Amor performs a mix of standards, French classics and original compositions. In the Lookout Bar & Grille at Westward Look Resort... And, Seanloui presents his latest single "Bad Things," and other Europop/R&B earcandy, at Owls Club. Accompanied by the ever piquant, brujeria-powered garage rock of Taco Sauce...
Shout Out
Embracing the essence of improvisation, imagination and risk taking, avant-jazzers Purple Spectre celebrate the release of Purple Spectre on Friday, July 12 at The Screening Room. And with this self-titled release they carry the torch of jazz into the 21st Century... "Till I'm Gone." Desert rock royalty, Rich Hopkins & the Luminarios fête the release of Back to the Garden (Blue Rose, 2019)—a gritty and guitar drenched affair with vocalist Lisa Novak adding melody—on Saturday, July 13 at Club Congress. Rock 'n' roll survivor Billy Sedlmayr lays it all on the line...
On The Horizon
In a rare pairing, Arizona Friends of Chamber Music presents, Bin Hu, on acoustic Spanish guitar, and guzhengist Jing Xia performing a diverse program—where East meets West—that features compositions by Enrique Granados, Isaac Albéniz, Chenyu Huang and Wang Zhou. At Holsclaw Hall... Ok. Now visualize Ronald McDonald, the Hamburglar and Mayor McCheese rockin' "the absolute fuck out" while covering Black Sabbath tunes. Right. Bear witness to this bizarre spectacle when Mac Sabbath roll The American Cheese Tour into 191 Toole. Phoenix metalists dedicated to The Simpsons' Ned Flanders, Okilly Dokilly and Playboy Manbaby—who Rolling Stone credits for "bringing sexy back to the genre of polka,"—add appreciably to the high drama. On Saturday, July 27... And finally, released in late April 2016, this Miami rapper's debut album Underground Underdog shot like a bullet up the charts to reached #2 on iTunes Top Hip Hop Albums to sit right behind Drake. Not too shabby. Firing off "1000 Rounds," Pouya spits straight '90s hip-hop and Memphis fire, on Saturday, July 27, when he brings The Liquid Sunshine Tour to Encore. Flanked by Ramirez and Boobie Lootaveli...
Until next week, XOXO... ■