Friday, Nov. 29
Always wanted to sing in a group? Come kick the tires at this open participation event—turning the audience into a choir. The science shows the therapeutic benefits (neurotransmitters spark the right temporal lobe to life releasing endorphins that make us healthier and happier) and when we sing together this effect is amplified. Choir! Choir! Choir! At the Rialto Theatre... A descendent of the Tarahumara people, this award-winning artist recognized the connection between hip-hop and indigenous culture. Artson headlines Red Friday: A Traveling Music and Art Festival for Tribal Nations. Featuring Odin Rock, Communal, Dream Team, Tonight's Sunshine, Saint Jamain and Luxy Vinyl. At 191 Toole... Escape materialism and capitalism and dance for Black Friday. Mexican emo/queer synth popper Flor de Nopal joins DJ Mijito at R Bar... Is This Thing On? An emo, post-hardcore, punk night rages forth. This installment sees Signals, Taking Back Harambe, Tucson Is The Reason and Annie Jump Cannon take to the stage in the flesh. At Club Congress... Dreamy, surfy sounds commingle in harmony with Southwestern gothic soul music. Nelene Deguzman (of The Rifle) and Just Najima are at Saint Charles Tavern... Since 2005, these multiple Best of Tucson winners for Best Cover Band channel new wave classics, pop and power ballads from what could be your favorite decade. 80s & Gentlemen rock on the rooftop at Playground... Resident DJs W3$T Friday and Elektra Tek host some of the Old Pueblo's top and up-and-coming turntablists. Funk Yo House Fridays goes off at Irene's Holy Donuts... A night of many rich flavors. Grungy fuzz and indie rockers Feverfew and The Electric Blankets are paired with hip-hoppers Jivin' Scientists and turntablist/beatmaker Halsero. It all goes down at Thunder Canyon Brewstillery...
Saturday, Nov. 30
Not feeling the spirit? Celebrate the anti-Christmas. Festivus—a term coined by Frank Costanza (on TV comedy Seinfeld) stands as a secular backlash to the commercialization of the Yuletide—features Gutter Town, Black Cat Bones, Desert Fish, Nocturnal Theory, Sworn Apart and AJ's Rockabilly Ruckus. At the Rialto Theatre... Street cred? In addition to releasing three full-length albums under his own name, this L.A. alt-rocker has contributed to recordings by Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, King Tuff and others. Mikal Cronin is at 191 Toole... "The King of Strings," celebrated blues/rock guitarist Carvin Jones returns to The Rock... Three generations collide on the dancefloor, The Fineline Revisited: DJ Stubbie keeps the infamy alive. At the Surly Wench Pub... Rock 'n' roll, loud AF, straight up. Reuniting to toast 20 years of noise making. Dirtnap are at EncoreTucson... Performing on tiny keyboards, musical instruments and non-instruments both variegated and amusing—Thøger Lund, Dimitri Manos and Jeff Grubic—SRS (Spontaneous Response Squadron) explore ambient improvisation at Exo Bar... Performing original compositions and adaptations rooted in various pan-African nastyles: African Folk, Afro-pop, Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. The Key Ingredients of African Soul will perform what Doc Twang says, "...will be our last show for a while." At Monterey Court... Natalie Pohanic & The Sunset's honey sweet indie-folk songs shine brightly at the end of the day. In the courtyard at Mercado San Agustin... Let's Get Hyphy finds DJ Jahmar and a mysterious special guest spin Bay Area hip-hop. At Mr. Head's Art Gallery & Bar... Revealing themselves prismatically in a "Daffodil Daydream" Texan alt-rockers Deliah Blue along with Tucson's In Lessons, Heroes Reunion and Manguera lay siege to the Sky Bar... Award-winning indie-folk duo Ryanhood perform in a free event at the Fox Theatre... Giving soul to the universe, wings to the mind, Still Life Telescope and Max Parallax skew the great divide. At Saint Charles Tavern... The intrepid Tucson Symphony Orchestra presents E.T. the Extra-terrestrial In Concert. At Tucson Convention Center...
Sunday, Dec. 1
Celebrate World AIDS Day with a party on the patio. Ras Jahge, Lexi Kay Moncada, Veronica Chase, Tucson High Folklorico and Dust Dance Collective are set to perform in this family-friendly event. Free HIV testing is available. At Hotel Congress... Inspired by ancient Egyptian and near-Eastern mysticism as well as the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, death metallists Nile bring A Vile Caustic Attack Tour to EncoreTucson... "We're here to tell a story, about fame, decadence, triumph and tragedy." Mercury: A Celebration of Freddie Mercury's Life and Music is at the Fox Theatre...
Monday, Dec. 2
Drawing from traditional jazz, swing and the American songbook, Tucson Jazz Institute hosts JAZZ JAMbalaya. At Sheraton Tucson Hotel...
Tuesday, Dec. 3
"Holler Out Loud!" Raised in a Pentecostal church choir, the soul-shocked, garage-rock rumble—best enjoyed with the volume cranked loud—of this fast-rising, 20-something blues belter Nikki Hill can be heard and felt at 191 Toole... Gryffin brings his latest, Gravity, to the Rialto Theatre. Here's what Dan Griffith (aka Gryffin) has to say about the new album. "Since I began the Gryffin project, I've wanted to create uplifting emotional dance music and this album is my representation of that over the last two years." The Knocks and Bunt kick things off... "Fashion Forward." Hailing from Seattle, Washington, this energetic 5-piece is poised and ready for their Blink 182-influenced punk pop to take the country by storm. The Home Team along with Crooked Teeth (SoCal pop punks), Annie Jump Cannon (alt/indie by "dirty skater emo kids") and "So Sick" teen garage punks Stripes. At Club Congress... Whisky and donuts never tasted better. Mmm. DJ Naekid bangs techno hard. At Batch Cafe & Bar...
Wednesday, Dec. 4
Despite a humble start in Buffalo, NY, in 1986, this scrappy band of outsiders persevered. On the strength of chart-topping power ballad "Iris" their sixth album, Dizzy Up the Girl (Warner Records, 1998), turned them into late-Clinton administration, post-grunge prom kings. Despite numerous distinctions—including "Iris" becoming the "#1 Top 40 song of the last 20 years"—frontman Johnny Rzeznik admits to being snubbed by musical peers at their moment of greatest radio saturation. Ironically, peers whose bands have long since faded into the salvage yard of time. Rzeznik adds, "There were certain musicians, out in L.A... 'Oh no, don't talk to them. They're not fucking cool.'" Rock 'n' roll survivors The Goo Goo Dolls traipse Miracle Pill (Warner Records, 2019), their 12th studio album, into the Desert Diamond Casino-Sahuarita. Soulful pop singer John.k. opens the show... Singer-storyteller Kevin Pakulus makes a Telecaster weep. At Public Brewhouse... Eric Schaffer performs as part of Lookout Tucson's Singer-Songwriter Series. In the Lookout Lounge. At the Westward Look Grand Resort & Spa...Arizona Friends of Chamber Music present Grammy Award winners, Takács Quartet as they commemorate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth. Beethoven's: String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat Major, Beethoven's: String Quartet No. 9 in C Major, Op. 59 No. 3 and piece by Beethoven's teacher, Haydn's: String Quartet in C Major, Op. 33 No. 3, "The Bird" comprise the program. At Leo Rich Theater...
Thursday, Dec. 5
Yo, hip-hoppers, Top Nax, Yung Davon, Kinko Valentino and Raycoalfaxx will prowl the Club Congress stage, spitting rhymes...
Shout Out
As a teenager, after his father instilled in him a love for the guitar, this burgeoning musician made his debut at a high school talent show where he rocked "Eruption," the complex solo passage, by his guitar hero, Eddie Van Halen. Since then coming into his own, he says, "Creating some of the best music of my life." Processing the death of his beloved mother—pouring his heart into soul-stirring lyrics—on his newest release, Here and Back Again, this country-tinged rocker takes the listener on an unforgettable journey of love, heartache and hope. Armando Moreno is at Club Congress on Saturday, Nov. 30. Miss Olivia and the Interlopers light the candles atop the cake... Returning home from a sojourn abroad for a special homecoming, Polish-Amerrican artist Klara Wojtkowska celebrates the release of her afro-violin fusion album, Bangiza. Rogue violinist Samantha Bounkeua joins Wojtkowska for an evening of storytelling, violin duos and the magical Zimbabwean mbira (thumb piano, used by the Shona people in ceremony as a "telephone to the spirits"). On Friday, Nov. 29. In the tasting room at Sand-Reckoner...
Until next week, Happy Thanksgiving, XOXO...
