Wednesday, December 17, 2014
I'll admit that I was pretty excited to see Sub-Pop/Burger Records artist King Tuff booked to play The Flycatcher on Thursday, Jan. 8, especially since the artist's recently released record Black Moon Spell has been making its way on to best album of the year lists.
Well, yesterday Rialto Theatre announced another big reason to hit up The Flycatcher in the coming months: Surfer Blood is headlining the Fourth Avenue venue on Thursday, Feb. 19. Joining Surfer Blood is Talk in Tongues, who you may recognize as the band that opened for Alt-J a week ago at Rialto Theatre.
Tickets for Surfer Blood's Flycatcher performance go on sale Friday, Dec. 19, and it's safe to assume those tickets will be snatched up fast. You can buy your $12 ticket in advance via Rialto Theatre. The show is 21 and over.
Tags: surfer blood , tucson , flycatcher , king tuff , music , live , rialto theatre , talk in tongues , Video
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
One of Tucson's best charity events rocks the stages of Club Congress and the Rialto Theatre this weekend.
The Great Cover-Up features local bands taking on the identity of other bands for quick sets. The show always offers great performances and wonderful surprises—seeing Sergio Mendoza and friends knocking it out of the park with an Earth, Wind & Fire homage was a highlight a few years back—and it's for a good cause. This year, the event will raise money for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona and the Southern Arizona Artists and Musicians Healthcare Alliance.
We'll have more in the dead-tree edition of this week's edition, but Friday night's show begins at 7 p.m. at Club Congress and Saturday's show starts at 7 p.m. at the Rialto Theatre. Get more details here.
If you've ever wondered just how Joe Pagac paints those murals outside of Rialto Theatre, wonder no longer. The muralist just posted his most recent wall transformation in a time lapse video on YouTube. Be warned, though— once you start watching, you may not be able to stop.
The mural itself is promoting Chicha Dust's glow-in-the dark Tropidelica cumbia party on New Year's Eve and The English Beat's show on Friday, Jan. 9. As far as promoting shows go and just advertising in general, this is probably the least obtrusive way to do it.
Anyways, without further ado, here's the video:
Tags: joe pagac , mural , rialto theatre , tucson , chicha dust , new years eve , tropidelica , english beat , live , music , Video
Friday, December 12, 2014
Take a very deep breath and try to remain calm, vinyl aficionados. It’s been four years since you’ve been inside PDQ Records off of Grant Road and Dodge Boulevard and it’s been nearly ten years since you’ve been in PDQ a la original owner Jack Grossi.
Well, PDQ is back under Grossi’s care and that means you have approximately one bazillion records to sift through this weekend. Seriously, I went in there and felt like Indiana Jones finding the Grail or the Arc or whatever else (not a crystal skull). No one’s seen these records for four years and they’ve been sitting there all sealed off in the closed down store just waiting to be bought.
That’s why manager Duane Miller is so excited to see PDQ, a store he worked at from 1994 until 2005 when it was sold to new owners, back in action.
“I really am just looking forward to getting this stuff back in circulation,” Miller says. “We’re here for the music enthusiast who wants vinyl.”
Although the shop has tapes and CDs, the vinyl selection really is staggering. Miller says it’s mostly full of great basics for any vinyl catalog with rock, soul, R&B, jazz, and country featured predominantly.
He says that in the future they may start buying newly released vinyl, but right now they’re focused on building up their rarities selection—the kind of stuff that makes real record store junkies go crazy.
PDQ Records is now open for all your buying and selling vinyl needs Wednesday through Sunday from 12 p.m. until 6 p.m. at 2432 N. Dodge Boulevard.
Tags: pdq , records , vinyl , open , jack grossi , buy , sell , trade , Image
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Alt-J fans likely fall into two camps: there are the ones that nearly destroyed their vocal cords when the band started playing “Breezeblocks” and there are the ones that jumped on the Alt-J train after “Left Hand Free” was released as a single.
There’s no reason to disparage the latter group and it has nothing to do with the single peaking in the top 10 for the U.S. rock charts. The song is intentionally insulting and once you know the reason behind it, it’s hard to even listen to the song.
In an interview with The Guardian earlier this year, the band explains that the song was written in about 20 minutes after their label told them the song that they wanted to be the new single wasn't going to cut it... Labels, am I right? What resulted was a song built on a “joke riff” that was the “least Alt-J song ever” and pretty much means nothing, as they insist in other interviews. What resulted was "Left Hand Free."
“I can imagine it appealing to American truckers with Good Riddance To Bin Laden stickers!,” singer Joe Newman said in the Guardian’s interview… Yikes.
So, you know, if you like the song, please continue to. I just thought you should know that they’re kind of making fun of us. If you can move past that, the number one thing you’ll notice about seeing the band live is that they’re one of the rare examples of live performances that sound studio quality every time.
Blending songs from An Awesome Wave and their newest release This Is All Yours, the crowd at Rialto Theatre last night seemed equally responsive to new and old tracks, even throwing up the requisite triangle during “Tesselate.” With heavy bass and lighter, more agile melodic elements, the band’s performance was funky enough to keep the crowd dancing throughout the set, but transitioned easily into the more delicate moments.
While starting with a one-two punch of the haunting “Hunger of the Pine” followed by the groovy, kind of creepy “Fitzpleasure” set the tone for the night, it seemed like the intense, cascading lighting was about as fun to watch as the band themselves, creating a strong visual component to accompany the sound. If you want to see a light show, they're the band to oblige.
Overall, the live set was pretty near flawless, but that doesn’t mean they even needed to play “Left Hand Free,” which they did do about fourth. At least they got it over with and we all got to see Alt-J headline a relatively intimate venue compared to their booked gig headlining Madison Square Garden next year.
Tags: alt-j , rialto theatre , tucson , live , review , left hand free , this is all yours , Image
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Indian Lakes is the only band that isn't local - having originated out of California, but is worth seeing. The band recently released its third album Absent Sounds on Triple Crown Records, which has gained much traction. The band will make its appearance at Club Congress at 5:30 p.m. Signals, The New Classic and Spider Cider will follow at 7 p.m. Tickets are available now for $15 at http://www.ticketfly.com/event/710869-from-indian-lakes-tucson/. Take a listen. You won't be disappointed.
A little taste of Signals.
The New Classic with "Keep That in Mind"
Timothy Brecht of Spider Cider gives us a little taste of "Where Your Feet Should Fall"
Tags: Indian Lakes , Signals , Spider Cider , The New Classic , Video
Monday, December 8, 2014
It's that time again where Tucson Weekly and the Rialto Theatre are joining forces to offer you free concert tickets. This time, bossa nova singer Bebel Gilberto is coming to town on Saturday, Dec. 13 and we have two pairs of tickets to give away.
Gilberto, who is the daughter of Brazilian musician João Gilberto and singer Miúcha, grew up around música popular brasileira back in the day, so she knows her stuff. Recently, the airy samba-influenced singer released her seventh studio album, Tudo, and has been on the road promoting the album.
If you're looking to catch the singer's rare live performance, enter the giveaway by texting TUCSON to 77948 to download our Best of Tucson app for Apple and Android phones. Once you're signed into the app, just tap the "Our New Giveaway" banner and follow the prompts to enter. The winners will be chosen and notified via e-mail on Thursday, Dec. 11, meaning you have a couple days to get the app and enter.
If you don't win, no worries. You can get tickets for Bebel Gilberto's performance at the Rialto Theatre for $32 through Ticketfly. Winning a pair would save you $64, though, so good luck!
Tags: bebel gilberto , rialto theatre , bossa nova , tickets , free , tucson , concert , live , Video
Friday, December 5, 2014
Before you head out to the Sunday Funday Vinyl Swap Meet at La Cocina to drink and thumb through stacks of vinyl, grab a cuppa over at EXO Roast Co. and watch Jess Matsen play a solo acoustic set.
Matsen's delicate, melodic music is perfectly set in an intimate venue where you can see every finger pluck, though the local singer-songwriter recently created quite a buzz at Club Congress during his Tall Tale Told record release Thanksgiving weekend. If you missed that or simply just didn't get enough at that performance, this free coffee shop show is the way to go this Sunday.
You can catch Jess Matsen performing live at EXO Roast Co. located at 403 N. 6th Avenue on Sunday, December 7 at 12 p.m.
Tags: jess matsen , music , tucson , live , exo roast co , tall tale told , Video
Thursday, December 4, 2014
You might have made it out to the inaugural Sunday Funday Vinyl Swap Meet at Che's in September, seeing as how 4th Avenue Delicatessen's Austin Counts says the event had a pretty good turn out. However, if you missed out that month, the event is returning on Sunday, Dec. 7— this time at La Cocina at 201 N. Court Avenue— to bring independent vinyl sellers and local record enthusiasts together.
Counts says to expect a resurrection of the now defunct Toxic Ranch Records, along with all of the "punk vinyls and other oddities" that shop was well-loved for. Thirteen other sellers, including Old Paint Records, will set up shop at the event, which runs from 2 to 6 p.m.
The swap meet, which is sponsored by the 4th Avenue Delicatessen, will feature LPs, 45s, cassettes, and possibly some reel-to-reel audio, along with live music from Mik and Scott as well as drink specials and hot dogs if you need to refuel while flipping through records. If you buy two hot dogs, you'll get a copy of Cold CUTZ Volume 2, a food-themed mixtape.
Counts explains that the event is mostly trying to unite the vinyl community in town.
"It's a good thing to do to help the analog format in Tucson," Counts says. "There aren't a lot of record stores in town and we're just trying to help fill that void."
The Sunday Funday Vinyl Swap Meet will continue monthly, Counts says, at different locations with different drink specials and other offerings each time. If you're interested in selling records at a future event, you can contact Counts via e-mail at [email protected]. There's no fee to sell, but you do have to bring your own table and be prepared to haggle with the crowd.
Tags: vinyl , record , swap meet , tucson , la cocina , sunday funday , austin counts , cassettes , toxic ranch records , old paint records
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
In this week's deadtree issue of the Tucson Weekly, we did an an interview with Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl friends Bryan Sanders, Jimi Giannatti and Keli Carpenter. The interview was from a Day Drinking video we did with this NMWG crew about the ongoing online auction and the benefit concerts happening this weekend to honor Amy and Derrick Ross' work and raise funds for the Lupus Foundation.
In the Day Drinking video, Sanders and Giannatti (and thankfully a little later, Carpenter) share some NMWG memories and I left wishing I hung out with these guys more often.
Don't forget, the 2nd Annual Benefit for Amy and Derrick Ross: A Celebration of the Lives, Love and Music of Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl, is Saturday, Dec. 6 at Café Passe, 415 N. 4th Ave., 6 to 9 p.m. and The Flycatcher, 340 E. 6th St., 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Online auction continues through midnight, Saturday, Dec. 13 at www.nmwg.org.
In the video, Giannatti mentions a KXCI Locals Only interview Amy and Derrick did a bit ago, and how it captured the couple's love, relationship and of course, their music. So we reached into KXCI's archives and found it for you to have a listen, too, right here.
Tags: Lupus Foundation , Amy and Derrick Ross , Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl , NMWG , Jimi Giannatti , Bryan Sanders , Keli Carpenter , Cafe Passe , The Flycatcher , a friendship that never ends , Video
