Slideshow

Andrew Bird and Laura Marling, Rialto Theatre, April 20, 2012

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Andrew Bird isn't too proud to bring on folksy covers of saints like Townes Van Zandt (“If I Needed You”) and the Handsome Family (“Too Much Wine”). But his Rialto set built almost entirely upon his new release Break it Yourself, the next new thing in a decade-long musical evolution that continues to lead fans into uncharted waters.

He opened Friday's set with something like a chamber quintet composition built in realtime with layers, loops and whistles, then eased the crowd in to the complexity of “Nyatiti,” named for a traditional Kenyan lyre. By the end, the song was the musical equivalent of a fireworks display; it's possible the band was levitating.

By contrast, the radio-ready “Lusitania” opened like a pop-country song—one of those everyone might feel they could sing. Then came “Eye on Eye,” an unmistakeable nod to Motown-era soul. Songs from Break It... were all standouts, for excitement, certainly, but also, if anyone cared, for technical proficiency.

Bird's mastered the hat trick: Somehow he makes songs that may incorporate several key changes and two or three time-signatures that are rarely heard in Western popular culture as accessible as unperfectable, three-minute pop.

But the breakaway crowd-pleaser was “Bein' Green,” which Bird may have put away for all time. If Kermit every sang it with that much soul, it would surely break your heart in two.

Opener Laura Marling evoked a '90s indie-girl Joan Baez—the same vocal reach but with with the whispers, grunts, cries and spoken word of the Cat Power/PJ Harvey aesthetic. Her guitar work drew cheers all by itself. As a preamble for Bird's complex dynamics, Marling was an inspired choice. Count us first in line for a return engagement as a headliner.

Slideshow

Jesse Kelly Special Election Victory Party, Apr. 18, 2012

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As most predicted, Jesse Kelly rose above his Republican competition to win a spot on the CD 8 Special Election ballot with Ron Barber.

Slideshow

Garbage at the Rialto Theatre, Apr. 16, 2012

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90's alt-rock stars Garbage stopped by the Rialto Theatre last night as part of their reunion tour.

• NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

The UA Lunar and Planetary Lab's HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captures an astonishing snapshot of a dust devil that's 12 miles tall on the Martian surface.

The details:

A dust devil the size of a terrestrial tornado towers above the Martian surface in this late springtime afternoon image of Amazonis Planitia.

Slideshow

fun. at the Rialto Theatre, March 23, 2012

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Relive the memories from Friday night's sold out fun. show at the Rialto Theatre. Unless you weren't there, in which case, you can see a little of what you missed, visually.

• NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

If you think it's been windy in these parts in recent days: The UA's HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured this shot of a half-mile-tall dust devil skirting across the surface of the Red Planet.

HiRISE's Paul Geissler tells us:

A towering dust devil casts a serpentine shadow over the Martian surface in this stunning, late springtime image of Amazonis Planitia.

The length of the shadow indicates that the dust plume reaches more than 800 meters, or half a mile, in height. The tail of the plume does not trace the path of the dust devil, which had been following a steady course towards the southeast and left a bright track behind it.

Slideshow

Willie Nelson at the Desert Diamond Casino, Mar. 6, 2012

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Willie Nelson's show at Desert Diamond Casino on Tuesday night was a family affair, with his son Lukas opening the show.

Slideshow

Night 3 of the 2012 Desert Diamond Cup

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This year's edition of the Desert Diamond Cup wraps-up tomorrow night with the third place match between the New York Red Bulls and Real Salt Lake at 6 p.m. and the final between the LA Galaxy and the New England Revolution at 8 pm. Some tickets were still available at the time of posting and the organizers have released $20 lawn seats for sale as well.

On Wednesday night, the Red Bulls defeated the Galaxy 2-1 as two of this era's most famous players, Thierry Henry and David Beckham both took the field.

Slideshow

Merle Haggard at the Fox, Feb. 28, 2012

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Country legend Merle Haggard performed to a sold-out crowd at the Fox Tucson Theatre on Tuesday night.

• Mike McGowan via Daily Beast

The Daily Beast's Michael Daly tells the story behind this remarkable photo of Gabby Giffords skydiving with a Navy SEAL—and the challenges both faced since:

A friend of Giffords’s happened to mention the photo to The Daily Beast last week—and it becomes only more powerful these three years later, with the knowledge of what would befall the ascendant star of American politics and one of our most elite secret warriors. This image has been part of the skydiving photographer’s portfolio and now reaches public view for the first time as a portrait of the spirit they’d both bring to the ordeals that awaited them in the days ahead. To hear the story that accompanies it is to wonder if it isn’t the exact spirit we need as a nation to get us through these often bleak and fractious times.

Months after the photo was taken, the SEAL was shot and gravely wounded in a gunfight with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Giffords visited the SEAL at the hospital before she herself was shot in the head by a madman outside a suburban Arizona supermarket early last year. The SEAL then visited Giffords at the hospital. He found that Giffords was still Giffords, only more extraordinary given a circumstance that was too familiar.