BEFORE SOMEBODY GETS HURT
It's quite rare that a week goes by without a free show happening at Club Congress, and typically there's acts you'd actually pay cold, hard cash to see, so praise be unto the booking powers that be over there. This week looks especially good, with psychedelic psychos Dream Police headlining. This offshoot of indie rock band The Men is definitely in line with quite a few Joshua Levine-approved dreamweapons/weavers from Spacemen 3 to Phoenix's incredible Destruction Unit, and their new record Hypnotized, is as sensory deranged as naming your psych-punk band after a Cheap Trick album. You've got nothing to lose by heading over to Congress on Wednesday, Dec. 3, with The Night Collectors and Cobra Family Picnic kicking the show off at 8 p.m. More info at hotelcongress.com.
THE WEEKEND
Local fashion, local art, local music and all-around man of wealth and taste Slobby Robby will be coming together for "Beast of the West 2" over at the Flycatcher on Saturday, Nov. 29. Though I'll be slightly disappointed if "Beast of the West" is not indeed a reference to the similarly titled 1988 live album by Dokken, hard rock from local bands Back to the Well and Horse Black is certainly worth checking out, along with what might turn out to be a collaboration between hip-hop artist Johnny Redd (featuring the Honor Roll Gang) and indie-folk singer Clay Dudash. Slobby Robby will be hosting the event, which includes a fashion show with designs by Carne & Queso, Lion & Wolf Apparell, Diana Williams, Cynthia Gerriets and others. Show up at 7:30 p.m. with $5, but if you need more info, head over to www.facebook.com/events/1499600843655291/
HABIT I CAN'T BREAK
Modern country music has seen more than its fair share of slick ready-made rags-to-riches-back-to-roots narratives over the years, and plenty of them ring as hollow as the "rap game/crack game" gangsta tropes that have paralleled it in hardcore hip-hop, but Texan-born Kevin Fowler does have a guileless and reasonably sincere sensibility to both his story and his music that does make you feel like cheering him on. To sum up the arc, Fowley left home for Nashville with stars in his eyes, gets—surprise!—less than he bargained for and goes back home to make an independently-released grittier album, "How Country Are Ya?," with his old pals. You can revel in his redemption at The Rialto during his opening slot for the Casey Donahue Band on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $14-$16 for this all-ages concert. More info can be located at rialtotheatre.com.
WHISKEY AND I
It's never a bad thing to remember that Tucson's live music options expand beyond the Fourth Avenue/Downtown area. With that in mind, the classic blues-rock and Americana of the Kevin Pakulis Band will be performing at Monterey Court Studio over at 505 W. Miracle Mile from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday, November 28 (see monteraycourtaz.com for details) and again at Boondocks Lounge, located at 3306 N. First Ave., Sunday, Nov. 30. Additional info at boondockslounge.com.
