First off, the time has come once again for local performers to tap into those rock-star fantasies they've been harboring since childhood. In other words, we're currently gearing up for the Fourth Annual Great Cover-Up, which also serves as a benefit for the Brewster Center, and is set to blow your mind on Thursday, November 29 and Friday, November 30 at Club Congress.
Here's where you come in: We're asking for submissions from local bands to participate in the shindig. The rules: Your band must normally play original music, but for the event, must only play songs by the artist you choose to cover in a 20-minute set. Keep in mind you will only have about six weeks to learn the material. And just like everyone else involved in the event, you will not be compensated monetarily for your efforts (but you will have a hell of a good time and raise a ton of money for a worthwhile organization). In addition, you are highly encouraged to get creative in your choice of artist to cover (i.e. cover a performer outside of the genre in which you normally play, pick an act that will allow you to play dress-up, etc.), but keep in mind that artists covered in the three previous years' events are exempt from being covered this year.
Send us the following: the name of your band; what type of music you normally play; your top three choices for artists you'd like to cover (in order of preference); and a contact name and phone number and/or e-mail address where we can easily get in touch with you. E-mail all this info to musiced@tucsonweekly.com with the words COVER-UP in the subject line. The deadline for submissions is Sunday, October 14, so please don't drag your feet. We'll contact bands shortly thereafter to let you know whether or not you made the cut. Good luck to all, and thank you in advance for your submissions.
And what, we ask, would fall in Tucson be like without the annual Fall Crawl? One night, more (mostly) local bands than you could possibly fathom, banding together in the name of pure mindless entertainment (a hot commodity, now more than ever), and all at one low, low price: Everyone's a winner. This year's event sees nearly 100 acts on 20 stages spread out over the downtown/Fourth Avenue area, just the sort of controlled mayhem that any self-respecting music junky lives for. We won't waste too much space here--check the insert in this issue for each venue's lineup, a map of the area, and full details--but we will warn you: Get your wristbands early, because the event will sell out this time around. You can pick 'em up in advance at all Zia locations for a mere five bucks, or at each venue while supplies last on the night of the event, Friday, October 5. See ya there.
TWITCH AND SHOUT: With the format of the rock opera making an unlikely recent comeback (think Hedwig and the Angry Inch), local John Paul Marchand's composition and production of Twitch: A Rock Opera From the Earth, an idea that seemed slightly bizarre when he began work on it a few years ago, now seems rather prescient. Marchand (who also hosts Technicolor Dream, a prog-rock show that runs from 11 p.m. to midnight every Sunday on 91.3 KXCI-FM) has the bulk of the video project completed, and is now in post-production mode, but with one familiar problem: a lack of funds to finish it up. To that end, a benefit for Twitch has been organized for this weekend. Locals Infinite Beauties, Gabrielle Pietrangelo (who stars as Mother Earth in the opera, and will perform songs from it), Polaris and spoken-word psychedelicist Squiglee Reks plus special guests will all team up to raise money for the completion of the project at 9 p.m. on Saturday, October 6 at 7 Black Cats, 260 E. Congress St. For more information call 670-9202.
JUST PEACHY: Somewhat along the same lines, Tucson avant garde collective Prepping Finger Salad will debut The Peach Garden, a performance piece that explores the realm of social and environmental evolution with music, spoken word, and projected images, when it performs as opener for the High On Out Duo this week. The Duo--brothers Lou and Michael Golden--uses percussion, keyboards, and a variety of reed instruments in its free jazz explorations, honed by sitting in on rehearsals by the late, great Sun Ra Arkestra. The performance is another installment in the excellent Zeitgeist Emerging Voices series promoted by local free-jazz musicologist Steve Hahn, and takes place at 8 p.m. on Monday, October 8 at the Mat Bevel Institute, 530 N. Stone Ave. Admission is $5 at the door. For further details call 621-7355.
APOCALYPSE NOW: New York City Sub Pop band The Rapture combines an '80s-style angular guitar attack with a modern emo-ish sensibility (and still manages to remain danceable) for what it lovingly refers to as a "sonic deathfuck groove." Catch it, along with Tucson's The Answer, at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, October 9 at Solar Culture, 31 E. Toole Ave. Admission is $5, and as always, all ages are welcome. Any questions? They'll have answers for ya at 884-0874.
ZERO IN: Wadsworth is a three-piece instrumental trio from Portland, Ore., that obviously did a lot better at math in school than I did (read: lots of odd time signatures and abrupt tempo shifts). Smart money says that if you dig Last of the Juanitas, Wadsworth won't disappoint.
Tucson's Hobart, which one could probably say sounds like a harder-edged emo band (think Jets to Brazil), still kicks much ass after all these years. Not that it's ready for the retirement home or anything, it's just outlasted most of its onetime contemporaries, to the benefit of us all. The band has just issued a three-song EP that flaunts its instrumental prowess, but frankly, doesn't do its incendiary live shows justice. If you've never seen it, do yourself a favor and check Hobart out.
Speaking of which, I seem to keep missing locals The Okmoniks when they play out, but word on the street has them as a mighty force to be reckoned with indeed.
We'll all get our chance when Wadsworth, Hobart and The Okmoniks take it to the stage of the Double Zero, 121 E. Congress St., at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, October 10. Cover is cheap and so are the Long Islands. Call 670-9332 for details.
