SERIOUSLY, GO DO THIS
If you're one of those people who reads this paper as soon as it hits the red boxes or is posted online, good news: You've still got time to attend the first night of the three-night local music extravaganza known as The Great Cover-Up! Head over to Plush on Thursday and read the rest of this column later. (For full details about Night One of the 15th anniversary of this local music institution, check out last week's column or point your browser to greatcoveruptucson.com. You'll also find a brief history of the event at both locations.)
OK, so now that you're all caught up on what the event actually is (local acts covering well-known acts in 20-minute sets), where it's happening (Thursday, Dec. 12, at Plush; Friday, Dec. 13, at Club Congress; Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Rialto Theatre), why it's happening (because it's one of the most fun local music events of the year and all the money is donated to the Southern Arizona Artists and Musicians Healthcare Alliance, aka SAAMHA), take a gander at the schedule for the final two nights of the big-ass shindig.
Acts being covered Night Two on Friday, Dec. 13, at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St.: Big Star (8:30 p.m.),old-school hip-hop (9 p.m.), Sleep (9:30 p.m.), Nick Cave (10 p.m.), Blondie (10:30 p.m.), Hall and Oates (11 p.m.), Led Zeppelin (11:30 p.m.), Pixies (midnight), Tears for Fears (12:30 a.m.).
In no particular order (because surprise!), the local acts who will be doing the covering on Friday: The Monitors, Human Behavior, The David Clark Band, Leila Lopez, Chris Black, El Goodo, The Rail Callers, Spacefish, and Deschtuco.
Acts being covered on Night Three on Saturday, Dec. 14, at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St.: Neil Young (7:30 p.m.), The Velvet Underground (8 p.m.), Bruce Springsteen (8:30 p.m.), The Cars (9 p.m.), Aerosmith (9:30 p.m.), Prince (10 p.m.), The Killers (10:30 p.m.), The Beach Boys (11 p.m.), The Beastie Boys (11:30 p.m.).
The local acts doing the covering on Saturday (in no particular order): Sun Bones, Cheepness, LeAnne Savage & the Curveball Cowboys, Crosscut Saw, Kaia Chesney & Friends, Gat-Rot, Algae & Tentacles, Some of Them Are Old, and Roman Barton-Sherman & Friends.
Admission for one night is an $8 suggested donation to SAAMHA; $12 for two nights, and $15 for a weekend pass. Doors at Club Congress on Friday open at 7 p.m., with music starting at 8. Doors at the Rialto on Saturday open at 6:30 p.m., with music starting at 7:30 p.m. The shows at Plush and Club Congress are 21-and-older, but Saturday night at the Rialto Theatre is open to all ages. As mentioned earlier, there's a whole lot more info at greatcoveruptucson.com. If you've got questions call Plush at 798-1298, Club Congress at 622-8848, or the Rialto Theatre at 740-1000.
(One minor correction to last week's schedule: The music of The Clash, not The Police, will be performed in the 11:30 p.m. slot at Plush tonight.)
This shit's gonna be fun, y'all. See you there!
PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE
As is fitting this time of year, The Great Cover-Up is not the only benefit event happening in town this week. The Rock, located at 136 N. Park Ave., has back-to-back charity shows happening this weekend.
First up, on Friday, Dec. 13, is KFMA's Jingle Balls featuring former House of Pain rapper and current singer-songwriter Everlast performing acoustically. Also on the bill is Big B. Doors open at 6 p.m., but if you didn't get tickets yet, you might be out of luck, since it would appear the show, a benefit for the American Cancer Society, with special emphasis put on testicular cancer research, is sold out.
The following night, Saturday, Dec. 14, The Rock plays host to an all-local lineup of acts donating their time for Toys for Tots IV, an annual toy-drive event for children in need. Doors open at 5 p.m., with music starting promptly at 5:30 p.m.
Here's a look at the schedule: Magguts (5:30 p.m.), Am.Are.Is. (6:10 p.m.), Light Her Up (6:50 p.m.), Solace in Nothing (7:30 p.m.), Ashes (8:10 p.m.), Lethal Dosage (8:50 p.m.), We Killed the Union (9:30 p.m.), Headrust (10:10 p.m.), Evasion (10:50 p.m.), Hillbilly Bo (11:30 p.m.).
Admission is either $10 at the door, or one unwrapped toy worth $10. For more information on either of these shows head to rocktucson.com or call 629-9211.
And, starting at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14, Riley's Irish Tavern, 5150 N. La Cholla Blvd., will be the site for "Dismember to Remember," a fundraiser for the common-sense pairing of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and Tucson Reptile Rescue. Bands performing at the event are (in descending order of appearance): Take the Hill, Whiskey Knuckles, Dusk 2 Dust, Forever We're Forgotten, The Final Frontier (Iron Maiden tribute band), and Velocity. Attendees are encouraged to bring a dish of food, as the event is also a potluck, and there will be a raffle, too, so bring a few extra bucks. The Facebook event page says that admission is a can of food or perishable food item, but I'm putting my money on the fact that they meant non-perishable. For more info look for the Facebook event page or call Riley's at 408-0507.
THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR
Probably my favorite local holiday-music tradition is snuggling up with a hot toddy and turning my radio on to listen to local acts past and present performing holiday-themed songs. The 12th Annual Sonic Solstice will take over the airwaves on KXCI 91.3 FM from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 16.
This year's show will be hosted live by Cathy Rivers (The Home Stretch), our own Gene Armstrong (The Road Show), Matt Milner (Locals Only), and Laurie Starr, former host of Starr Tracks and a co-founder of Sonic Solstice. Nine local acts are scheduled to perform live in KXCI's Studio 2A, and in between the live performances, highlights from Sonic Solstices past will fill in the gaps.
Here's a schedule of who's performing live this year, with approximate times of their performances (hint: it's pretty rare for this sucker to run on schedule, but the whole thing is a blast to listen to, so who really cares?): Roman Barten-Sherman (solo; 5:10 p.m.), Steff Koeppen (solo; 5:35 p.m.), Armon Bizman (three members of Sun Bones; 6 p.m.), Kate Becker (6:25 p.m.), Stuart Oliver and the Desert Angels (6:50 p.m.), Deschtuco (7:15 p.m.), Cameron Hood and Carlie Alderink (7:40 p.m.), Outlaw Rebels (8:05 p.m.), Bradford Trojan and Gabrielle Pietrangelo (8:30 p.m.).
If you've never tuned in, I highly recommend it. And keep in mind that if you don't get KXCI in your 'hood, you can always stream it at kxci.org. Happy listening!
SHORT TAKES
Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St., will play host to a loaded local lineup of acts at its Christmas Carnivale, which starts at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18. Scheduled to perform are Mariachi Luz de Luna with Salvador Duran, The Kate Becker Band, Combo Westside, Stuart Oliver and the Desert Angels, Joe Peña, Leila Lopez, Al Perry, Annie Hawkins, Donna Kihl and Brian Haskins. Admission is $5 and you can check out hotelcongress.com or call 622-8848 for more info.
According to the band's website, Minneapolis-based Jesus Chrysler haven't played a show since 1997. But the band, which once released music on Bill Sassenberger's Toxic Shock Records—the in-house label at Tucson's Toxic Ranch Records, which will either be relocating or shutting its doors for good at the end of the month—is reuniting and making the trip to Tucson to play a pair of shows on Saturday, Dec. 14. The first one starts around 6 p.m. at Toxic Ranch, 424 E. Sixth St., and will also feature sets by The Pork Torta and Texas Trash and the Trainwrecks. Later that night, starting around 9 p.m., Jesus Chrysler will headline a show at The District Tavern, 260 E. Congress St., that includes The Sterling 202s and The Erudites. Admission to the all-ages Toxic Ranch show is $2, which will be subtracted from any purchase in the store. Admission to the show at The District is free, but donations are encouraged. For more info call Toxic Ranch Records at 623-2008 or The District at 792-0081.
Los Angeles-based country-rockers The Far West have been described as sounding like "Waylon's band jamming with Wilco." Check 'em out for yourself when they headline a show at Boondocks Lounge, 3306 N. First Ave., on Sunday, Dec. 15. The Far West will play from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Last Call Girls get the night started at 5:30 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door, and you can find more info at boondockslounge.com or by calling 690-0991.
There's lots more great live music happening around town this week, so be sure to check out our listings sections.
