LUCKY 13TH
As we all know by now, rock 'n' roll (and, by virtue of extension, the blues and rap) is the devil's music—which might explain why there's an abundance of musical options on Friday, July 13 (aka Friday the 13th).
Of course, this sort of thing happens virtually every Friday night. But why let that spoil the fun? These Friday the 13th shows are bound to be eeeevil. (Or not.)
With a long-running (and almost always sold-out) weekly residency at Austin's famed Saxon Pub, Bob Schneider somehow makes time to frequently hit the road, and when he does, he usually makes a stop in Tucson.
While one would put him in the folk-rock category if pressed, part of Schneider's charm is that he so frequently jumps from genre to genre in his live performances: He'll follow up a foul-mouthed country ditty with a heartfelt funky one, and so on, and audiences—especially the ladies—eat it up.
His latest album, A Perfect Day (2011, Kirtland), apparently inspired by an afternoon boat trip, is one of his more breezy, straightforward affairs.
Bob Schneider performs at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St., on Friday, July 13. The show starts at 9 p.m., and tickets are $15 in advance, or $17 on the day of the show. For more info, go to hotelcongress.com/club, or call 622-8848.
Los Angeles rapper Kid Ink fits squarely into the pop-rap template set up before him by the likes of Drake and Lil Wayne. With a debut album, Up and Away (Tha Alumni), released at the end of June—which shot to No. 1 on the iTunes hip-hop album chart—Kid Ink is the current rapper of the moment, and it's easy to see why. He nicks the best tricks from his peers—Lil Wayne's phrasing, Drake's smoothness, and some sweet lines (even delving into hashtag rap on occasion: "These streets are a monster / Happy Halloween" on "No One Left"). You're as likely to hear these songs blasting from a whip in South Tucson as you are to hear them at bar mitzvahs in a few months (the clean versions, of course).
Kid Ink performs an all-ages show at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., on Friday, July 13. The show starts at 8 p.m. with (an) opening act(s) that hadn't been announced by the time we went to press. Tickets are $20 in advance, or $25 on the day of the show. For more information, check out rialtotheatre.com, or call 740-1000.
Pan Left Productions is a local nonprofit production company that helps aspiring activists and artists make video productions to help spread their messages. According to its Facebook page, "We are a membership-driven collective of progressive artists. Our mission is threefold: to create and distribute videos—nonfiction, documentary, narrative and experimental—that educate and expose viewers to social, political and cultural issues; to promote do-it-yourself media and creative expression through video and other media arts; to provide an outlet for creative, artistic expression and dialogue."
This week, the organization will be hosting Pan Left Productions Blues Night, a celebration of the blues that doubles as a fundraiser for the nonprofit's executive director, Mary Charlotte Thurtle, who is undergoing cancer treatments. (She's also a co-producer of the upcoming documentary Under Arpaio, which will preview at the end of the month.)
The Blues Night event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. at Pan Left Productions, 631 S. Sixth Ave., on Friday, July 13, and will feature music and video by blues greats including Willie Dixon, Lightnin' Hopkins, Memphis Slim, and T-Bone Walker, as well as a live performance by Tucson's Pinche Blues Band. Donations will be accepted at the door. For more information about the organization, head to panleft.net.
Four hard and heavy bands will gather this week to honor Tucsonan Trevor Mendoza, who recently passed away. In Memory of Trevor Mendoza will feature performances by Line of Fire, Hell Follows, Psygoat and Skinkfinger starting at 9 p.m., Friday, July 13, at The District Tavern, 260 E. Congress St. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted. Call 791-0082 for details.
You never know exactly who's going to be playing in Greyhound Soul each time they play a gig, but a show this week brings together the vintage lineup of Joey Pena, Glen Corey, Duane Hollis, Robin Johnson and Alan Anderson. It all goes down at 8 p.m., Friday, July 13, at Dry River Company, 800 N. Kolb Road. Admission is free, and you can call 298-5555, or log on to dryriverco.com for more info.
Local mainstay indie-rockers La Cerca will also play a free show, in two sets—a mellow one followed by a more rockin' one—starting at 7:10 p.m., Friday, July 13, at Jasper Neighborhood Restaurant and Bar, 6370 N. Campbell Ave. Call 577-0326, or head to jaspertucson.com for further details.
Mesa's Authority Zero, which has dabbled in punk, metal, reggae and hard rock, will headline a show at The Rock, 136 N. Park Ave., on Friday, July 13, that will also feature sets by Three White Lies, Contraband and Orange Kids. Doors for the all-ages show open at 7 p.m., and advance tickets are available for $12 at Bookmans and ticketforce.com. For more information, point your browser to rocktucson.com, or call 629-9211.
Meanwhile, Plush, 340 E. Sixth St., will feature a diverse lineup of three local acts—... music video?, Caught on Film and Logan Greene and the Players—starting at 9:30 p.m., Friday, July 13. Admission is $5, and you can head to plushtucson.com, or call 798-1298 for more information.
Finally—and this one's a bit tricky—two beloved local bands will play farewell shows on Friday the 13th. Long-running blues-punk-rock duo Ultramaroon and oddball prog-punks Cadillac Steakhouse will be playing their final shows at a house party that doubles as a CD-release event for both bands. Quiet Please and Acorn Bcorn will be on the bill as well. But here's the rub: Because it's at a private location, I can't disclose where it's happening. Still, the intrepid local music fan will surely be able to sleuth out the details.
Thanks for all the great rock over the years, lady and gentlemen!
SHORT TAKES
Eighties rock goddess Pat Benatar and her husband/guitarist Neil Giraldo will perform an all-ages show jam-packed full of hits at the Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress St., on Wednesday, July 18. The show starts at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are available for $50 and $60 via the Fox box office, online at foxtucsontheatre.com, or by calling 547-3040.
Speaking of hits: Did anyone have more of them in the 1980s than Huey Lewis and the News? It sure as hell didn't seem like it at the time. Catch one of Patrick Bateman's favorite bands on a co-headlining bill with Joe Cocker at 8 p.m., Sunday, July 15, at AVA at Casino del Sol, 5655 W. Valencia Road. Tickets range from $40 to $125, and are available online at casinodelsol.com, or by calling (800) 344-9435.
ON THE BANDWAGON
Hans Hutchison CD-release party at Café Passé on Saturday, July 14; Second Saturdays Downtown featuring performances by the Collin Shook Trio, Roll Acosta and others on the Scott Avenue Stage on Saturday, July 14; Billy Sedlmayr at Plush on Tuesday, July 17; Anakim and Territory at Surly Wench Pub on Friday, July 13; The Far West and the Last Call Girls at Boondocks Lounge on Saturday, July 14; Summer Sweet Love featuring Fortunate Youth, Salacious and Brewfish at The Hut on Friday, July 13; Wayward Saints, The Gunrunners and The Wyatts at Vaudeville on Saturday, July 14; Haley Jane at O'Malley's on Saturday, July 14; Dan Dan Noodles at Plush next Thursday, July 19; The Rebel Set and The Sadie Hawks at RR Nites at La Cocina, tonight, Thursday, July 12.
