SOLD OUT!
The most highly anticipated show of the week has got to be the return of the Deftones.
A full four years after the release of 2006's Saturday Night Wrist (Maverick), the thinking man's metal band earlier this month finally released its follow-up, Diamond Eyes (Reprise). They weren't slacking: In 2007, the group began work on an album called Eros, which was eventually shelved following a very serious 2008 car accident that left bassist Chi Cheng in a coma with a debilitating brain injury. Quicksand bassist Sergio Vega came on board last year, and it's his playing you hear on Diamond Eyes.
Unfortunately, "the most highly anticipated show of the week"—at an extremely affordable $25 ticket price—translated to an early sellout for the group's show at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., on Tuesday, June 1. At least one fan we found on craigslist is willing to pay double face value for tickets—and that's if he can find someone willing to part with them.
Best of luck to all the procrastinators. If the band's last Rialto appearance, way back in January 2001, is any indication, it should be one hell of a show.
FUNK TIMES TWO
Let's say you were starting a band. You decide that this band will pay homage to one of your favorite bands in both sound and spirit. That band has a huge, sprawling membership, and yours does, too. You play songs that sound as if they could have been written by this band you love, but you don't take the easy route and simply play covers—you write new songs in the same style. Hell, you even name your band after one of the other band's albums. So, probably the coolest gig you could possibly get would be to open for this band you love so much, right?
That's exactly the position that local funksters Cosmic Slop will find themselves in when they open for George Clinton, the legendary Parliament-Funkadelic bandleader, and the guy who helped invent the sound of Cosmic Slop (and who released the Funkadelic album Cosmic Slop back in 1973), at the Rialto Theatre this week.
For Clinton's part, expect the usual marathon o' funk, in which he and his own sprawling ensemble tackle all of the hits and semi-hits from Clinton's solo material, and those of Parliament and Funkadelic.
Tear the roof off the sucker at 8 p.m., Wednesday, June 2, at the Rialto, 318 E. Congress St. All ages are welcome ('cuz you're never too young to funk), and tickets are $28 in advance, or $31 on the day of the show. Call 740-1000 for more information.
A DOSE OF DEADBOLT
There was a time when San Diego's Deadbolt, the self-proclaimed "scariest band in the world," played in Tucson with frequency. But in recent years, those visits, along with their recorded output, have been reduced to a mere trickle.
Last month, the band, in its 21st year, released its eighth studio album, Voodoo Moonshine, on its own label, Cargo/Headhunter, and this week, the band arrives in Tucson for the penultimate date on a cross-country tour. (The band last performed in town just more than a year ago, but that followed an extended lull in local Deadbolt shows.)
Though the group, which combines rockabilly, surf rock, blues and a touch of goth (they call it "voodoobilly"), comes across as menacing (a lot of cows were killed to derive that much leather, and how many other bands' equipment includes power tools?), it has always been very self-aware and tongue-in-cheek—a nifty mix of highbrow and lowbrow. Most of their albums are concept albums, and they're not lazy ones; they do their research. Before writing the songs that appear on Voodoo Moonshine, the band spent a month hanging out with hillbillies (their word) in Georgia and North Carolina.
They couldn't have found a better band to pair up with than the similar-minded (though less testosterone-addled) Mission Creeps. The more traditional local rockabilly act the Outlaw Rebels open.
Deadbolt, The Mission Creeps and the Outlaw Rebels perform at 9 p.m., Friday, May 28, at the Surly Wench Pub, 424 N. Fourth Ave. Calls to inquire about a cover charge went unanswered, but you can try for yourself at 882-0009.
FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS
For a change, there are no local CD releases that we know of this week, but there is a trio of worthwhile benefit shows.
After nearly 30 years of publishing, the last nine of which took place in Tucson, the radical environmental publication Earth First! Journal will be relocating to the Florida Everglades in November. But before they leave Tucson in the rearview mirror, they'll be raising money for the publication in the form of the second annual Grassroots Groovin', a benefit show for the journal at The Hut. Spirit Familia will headline the event, which will also include performances by the String Figures, Top Dead Center and Mambo Dulce, as well as several speakers, including Leah Rothschild from the Earth First! Journal collective.
Grassroots Groovin' gets movin' at 7 p.m., Saturday, May 29, at The Hut, 305 N. Fourth Ave. Admission is a suggested donation of $5. Call 623-3200 for more details.
Over at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St., this weekend brings the Fourth Annual Night of New Orleans, a celebration of all things Crescent City with a portion of the proceeds earmarked for Opening Minds Through the Arts, which integrates the arts into reading, writing, math and science in public schools—though the hotel's entertainment director, David Slutes, reports to us that "a big focus will be on the oil spill, of course." The Nature Conservancy and local environmental advocate Mrs. Green will be on hand to explain the current situation and advise Tucsonans on how they can help. The event, which runs from 3 to 10 p.m., Saturday, May 29, will feature performances by the Original Wildcat Jass Band, Tom Walbank and Tony and the Torpedoes, and the hotel will be flying in 300 pounds of live mudbugs for a crawfish boil. Suggested donation is $5, and you can call 622-8848 for further info.
Finally, if you're reading this on our date of publication, Thursday, May 27, there's still time to head over to Plush, 340 E. Sixth St., for the second recent benefit show for MyTown Music School, a new music education program for kids ages 8 to 18 started by local musicians and teachers to fill the gap forced by school budget cuts. MyTown, which is spearheaded by drum and guitar teacher Corey Ferrugia (Rescue Lights) and drum teacher Jim Howell (The Wyatts, The Ghost Dove), is scheduled to debut this summer as a music camp at SkyView High School, which has donated its facilities for the cause.
This week's benefit, which begins at 6:30 p.m. and is open to those of all ages (rare for Plush), will feature performances by The Runaway Five, The Ghost Dove, Rescue Lights, Student Musician Jazz Lab and Rock, Paper, Narwhal, as well as special appearances from Crystal Stark and Jenny Cain. Admission is a suggested donation of $5, and you can call 798-1298 for more information.
(As a side note, congratulations to The Ghost Dove's Ryan Trayte and his wife, Sheena, on the recent birth of their daughter, Cora!)
ON THE BANDWAGON
Powhaus Presents Jump Off, an old-school hip-hop and new-jack dance party at the Rialto Theatre on Friday, May 28; Friendo at Club Congress next Thursday, June 3; Mark Mallman at Plush on Wednesday, June 2; A Skylit Drive at The Rock on Sunday, May 30; The Strange Days Tour featuring Tech N9ne, Brotha Lynch Hung and others at the Rialto Theatre next Thursday, June 3; Tatsuya Nakatani and Vicki Brown at Solar Culture Gallery on Wednesday, June 2; Golden Boots and Acorn Bcorn at Sky Bar on Friday, May 28; The Swigs and the Loren Dircks Band at The Hut on Friday, May 28; Green Jelly at The Rock on Monday, May 31; Palace of Buddies and ... music video? at the Red Room at Grill on Monday, May 31; Stuart Oliver and Kate Becker and the Zodiacs at Sky Bar on Saturday, May 29; Abigail Williams at The Rock on Tuesday, June 1; Primavera Women in Jazz with Jessy J and ArcoIris Sandoval at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort on Sunday, May 30; The Static Session, Blind Divine and HAIRSPRAYFIREANDGIRLS at Plush on Friday, May 28.
