XOXO

Mark your calendars

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Thursday, May 30

XOXO
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Dead Now: Thursday, May 30 @ Club Congress

Luring listeners in with dark, hard-hitting rhythms and belting vocals, on "Forgive Me, Karma," these Atlanta hard rockers "walk with fire." Royal Thunder are at Club Congress. With fellow Atlanteans, hard rock/metalists Dead Now... Brash and hard hitting, on Annihilator (Evacuate Records, 2018) these Austin punks crank it out bullet fast. Sniper 66 utterly obliterate at Ward6. Flanked by THUGxRIOT and Mad World... The Joe Peña Trio shed magical droplets of sorrow. At Agustin Kitchen... Deeper: DJs Atom Energy and Lunarfox spin house at Passé... El Paso indie rockers If We Were Turtles ponder reptilian thoughts and other things. In Lessons and Noise Field provide needed support... On "Because I Can" this folksy crooner issues a caveat. "And you can take any part of me/Just know you are also leaving with this heart of mine." Leila Lopez stirs the senses at Tap + Bottle-Downtown...

Friday, May 31

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Alejandra Guzman: Friday, May 31 @ AVA Amphitheater

That's just "The Way We Ball." On Life (King LIfe Family Records, 2018) Houston rapper Lil' Flip asserts, "I Live by the Old Rules." At 191 Toole. Bone The Mack and Neb Luv shore up the lineup... This Canadian bluesman has been hailed as a "blues evangelist," He says: "I do feel like I'm a servant of the people. A missionary if you will. Music can heal if they pay attention to the messages in these songs." Harpdog Brown & The Uptown Blues Band play For Love & Money at Monterey Court... Known for her dynamic live performances, La Reina de Rock en Espanol Alejandra Guzman will rock you like a huracán. At the AVA Amphitheater... The Dragon Kite unfurls for one night only to pay homage to the music of The Cure. At the Surly Wench Pub... Spreading hope and Desert Sounds. Travel into the ether with The Jacob Acosta Band and Leigh Lesho & The Great Light. On the plaza at Hotel Congress... On furlough from the "Pima County Jail," bluesman Austin Counts works out his "Jealous Feelings" at Westbound... Cra$h Magic's repertoire covers a lot of ground, except "probably, not country or zydeco." At Saint Charles Tavern... This piano prodigy made his national debut on Star Search at the age of 10. He has gone on to work with luminaries: Sting, Regina Spektor, Josh Groban and Sugarland. Frankie Moreno steps into the spotlight at the Desert Diamond Center... Resonance Monthly: May Edition features Portland DJ Carbin. Non-stop dubstep will pump at Gentle Ben's... Curated by renowned sonic alchemist Steve Roach, Electro Bloom is an electronic, ambient and experimental music performance series with a focus on hardware-based sound sculpting and improvisation. GLOB and Horizons observe the occasion... June 19, 1865, commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans throughout the former Confederate States of America. The 2019 Tucson Juneteenth Gospel Celebration features Angela Blair-Jeffries, Kim Washington and Nathan Myers singing hymns of praise. At the Fox Theatre...

Saturday, June 1

Lux in tenebris. Quietly reflecting on anxiety, "Normal Love" is rife with chilling wails and abysmal grief. California art rock/experimentalists Xiu Xiu place the Girl with Basket of Fruit on exhibit at 191 Toole for all to behold. Caravaggio this is not... On "I Hate U, I U Love," Garrett Charles Nash is wracked with pain andindecision. "I hate that I love U/Feeling used, but I'm/Still missing you and I can't/See the end of this..." Yet, this L.A. singer/rapper is known for being happy/sad. "It's gonna be OK tonight, because tomorrow's just a dream away." Gnash emotes at Club Congress... Fronted by bola de fuego vocalist Maria Fernanda Cepeda Z., Cafe Jaleo performs the music of Buena Vista Social Club at the Rialto Theatre... Bluesman Tom Walbank intermingles with the varying shades of a cobalt night sky. In the courtyard at Mercado San Agustin... They are named after a '91 Honda Civic used to schlep an upright piano precariously piggybacked to the trunk. Two-Door Hatchback is fueled by composers Dante & Marco Rosano and features rogue violinist extraordinaire Samantha Bounkeua. Their sound is at once sophisticated—with elements of jazz and classical—yet whimsical. In the tasting room at Sand-Reckoner... The Arizona Symphonic Winds serenade the night air. At Udall Park ... With a voice that echoes country and Appalachia, along with storytelling that encompasses the lore of the Southwest, Laura and The Killed Men forge something timeless. At Saint Charles Tavern... Locals Only: Female MCs Edition. Sycness, YurLove, Tee Harmon, III V and Trahma perform live. DJ Jahmar International and ZJ FRASS supply the beats. At Mr. Heads... Death metalists Excessive Bleeding exsanguinate at Spark Project Collective. Agnostic Purgatory, Single Finger Theory, Never Reborn and Despair add to the abysmal gloom... Two worlds collide: Beats and aliens. Atlas Invasion finds DJs Jacob Ladder, Lance Fairchild, ZAW, H.R.Guerin and Frank Terry B2B Alaska spinning into the early morning, and beyond. At Solar Culture... Melding sample based electronics in with soulful lyricism, Dominic Rischard is Nocturnal Theory. At Passé...

Sunday, June 2

Jimmy Carr & The Awkward Moments celebrate "the end of an era" with a soirée. At the soon-to-relocate The Coronet... Hungry? Like a side of funk with your scrambled eggs? Mik & The Funky Brunch are at La Cocina... One of the hardest working musicians around, songstress Natalie Pohanic captives, with her dreamy folk stylings, at Public Brewhouse... The St. Andrew's Bach Society presents The Mendelssohn Project. The program includes Mendelssohn's String Quartet in A minor, Op.13, String Quartet, Op. 80 and Octet for Strings Op. 20 performed by fine local and national string/chamber musicians. At Grace St. Paul's Episcopal Church...

Monday, June 3

At the epicenter of the Echo Park garage band revival, these psychedelic rockers prismatic palette encompasses the lysergic delirium of the 1960s photoshopped with the pure-pop bliss that sprouted from the Paisley Underground during the '80s. Mystic Braves venture into The Great Unknown at 191 Toole. Tucson's own brujeria-powered girl group/garage rockers Taco Sauce jumpstart the fiesta... *Fangirl/Fanboy alert: The Mystic Braves make a special in-store appearance at Zia Records before the show... Indie-rock legend, Scott Kannberg of Pavement returns with Spiral Stairs to unveil his feelgood third solo album, We Wanna Be Hyp-No-Tized (Nine Mile Records, 2019). At Club Congress...

Tuesday, June 4

From Baltimore, dazed post-punk quartet Natural Velvet share their "Universal Melody" with all at Club Congress. Taco Sauce and Gutter Town add something piquant and something, umm, septic into the mix...

Wednesday, June 5

XOXO
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Dehd: Wednesday, June 5 @ Club Congress

On Water, these Chicago DIY trash-poppers assert that "Love is everyday magic." Dehd spread the Fire Of Love at Club Congress. The delicately bathed in retro-ness indie rock of Weekend Lovers helps to warm the gathering... Arizona Friends of Chamber Music presents violinist Michelle Abraham and pianist Peter Takács performing sonatas in an all-Beethoven program. Violin Sonata A Major, Op. 12 No. 2, Romance No. 2 in F Major, Op. 50 and Violin Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 12 No. 3 figure prominently. At UA Holsclaw Hall...

Thursday, June 6

"Enough corporate noise in the ears of the youth." Reggae-influenced world beat artist Nattali Rize adds, "Time to spread the Truth." In line with her philosophy, she uses her unwavering voice in the global struggle toward the realization of full freedom, truth and justice over the systemic exploitation of the people and our planet. "Generations Will Rize." At 191 Toole...

Shout Out

Songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Belinda Esquer celebrates her fourth solo album, Elevator Music—a collection of capricious Latin pop—with a fete at Tucson Hop Shop on Saturday, June 1...

On The Horizon

In early 2006, when their self-titled debut hit the bins, it quickly became evident that these Goth-tinged/post-punk revivalists succeeded in creating a dark and debaucherous soundtrack for the scorned, marginalized and nihilistic to all seductively sway their hips and sullenly pout on the dancefloor to. On Wednesday, June 12, She Wants Revenge stalk the Rialto Theatre. Partnered in crime by MXMS and The Guidance... Battling breast cancer and reflecting upon the degradation of political and social affairs—this acclaimed singer-songwriter's latest self-titled release, her 10th studio album, is filled with an earthy open-heartedness and dreamy poetic imagery. On Friday, June 7, Patty Griffin explores universal themes that bind us inextricably together. At the Rialto Theatre. With English folk singer/guitarist John Smith... And finally, after bidding "Farewell to the Good Times," on Burn Something Beautiful (Concord, 2016)—a rumination on mortality, the healing power of love and a paean to the rock 'n' roll life—renowned singer-songwriter, true believer Alejandro Escovedo chronicles the immigrant experience on his latest: The Crossing. On Sunday, June 9 at 191 Toole...

Until next week, XOXO...