Your Weekly guide to keeping busy in the Old Pueblo.

Pick of the Week: The Gem Show

International Gem and Jewelry Show Tucson: It's that time of the year again: White tents are popping up all over town and Tucson's tourism season is in full swing. The best treasure hunt ever takes place right here in Tucson with more than 40 gem and mineral shows across the city. Pick one (or 20) shows to stop in at, admire the jewelry, beads and foils and shop for some of the most beautiful rocks you'll ever see! Visit Tucson has the details on the locations, times and any entrance fees for the various shows.

Cinema

Lesbian Looks presents Southwest of Salem: Relive the tumultuous times when four young Latina lesbians became entangled in a modern-day witch-hunt in San Antonia, Texas through this eye-opening documentary. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Free.

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies: Enjoy this monstrously entertaining musical of this 1960s cult classic, complete with all the catchy song-and-dance numbers you could ever want. The Loft Cinema will be showing this as part of Mondo Musicals Month. 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 6. 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $3 general admission or $2 for members.

Seed: The Untold Story: Watch the Tucson premiere of the breakthrough documentary depicting the people behind the political and agricultural aspects of the food industry throughout the world. Stay after the movie too for a Q & A with Belle Starr and Bill McDorman of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance. 2-5:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $8 or $6 for Loft members.

1 Year Anniversary at Casa Film Bar: Knock back one or two limited, aged bottled beers while watching classics like Edge of Tomorrow and Groundhog Day. If the munchies hit you, you can grab a hot dog from a You Sly Dog's food truck from 5-9 p.m. too. 5-11 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2. 2905 E. Speedway Blvd. Beer, wine and coffee prices vary.

First Friday Shorts: If you haven't been yet, it's time. On the first Friday of each month at Red Meat’s Max Cannon (yes, that cartoonist you love to send us letters about) hosts the biggest, baddest short film contest in town. Bring your short film (before the show starts, plz) and they’ll play the first 15. Every film plays for at least 3 minutes, but after that the audience can call for respite. Or just don't bring your own art and just come to judge other people's. Whatever suits your fancy. Just remember: The monthly grand prize is $200, and the yearly grand prize is $1,000—that's a lot cash you could be spending at the Gem Show. 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $6.

Community

Civil Rights and Immigration Law Under the Trump Administration: The tides are changing with our new president – and fast. Have concerns about new policies? Want to be more educated on Trump's decisions so far? Come listen and participate in this open forum with four lawyers who are experts in these topics at the Muslim Community Center of Tucson. 10 a.m.-noon. Saturday, Feb. 4. 5100 N. Kevy Pl. Free.

Savor Food and Wine Festival: Are you a foodie? Just want an excuse to eat amazing food and get a casual buzz? Go to this event; the ticket price includes drinks and menu samplings from over 75 local wineries, breweries and restaurants. The menu offerings are catered to highlight the diversity of Southwest food. Bonus: you'll be surrounded by the grounds of a beautiful garden. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4. Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N. Alvernon Way. $65 per person.

Wine and Garden: Succulent Terrarium Garden: Be surrounded by beauties of the desert while learning how to plant and grow succulents and other garden varieties. With a glass of wine in your hand too, how much more relaxation could you ask for? 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8. Green Things, 3384 E. River Rd. $5.

Arts and Culture

The Gift Of The Infinite: Workshop & Meditation with don Jose Ruiz: We could all use a little more self-love, which is exactly what don Jose Ruiz and don Miguel Ruiz, co-author and author of New York Times bestselling books, want to teach you in a workshop and meditation. Kiss those toxic relationships and bad habits goodbye! 7-9 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4. 35 E. Toole Ave. $35 with early registration or $45 at the door.

Ballet Tucson Winter Concert 'Love Songs and Other Dances': Treat your valentine to this concert featuring big band swing tunes, romantic duets, and famous opera numbers. 2/3: 7:30 p.m., 2/4: 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., 2/5: 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3- Sunday, Feb. 5. Stevie Eller Dance Studio, 1737 E. University Blvd. General Admission: $45, Seniors/Military/Students: $40.

Frida's Roots: Frida Kahlo as Subject and Object in Contemporary Art: Edward J. Sullivan, an art history professor from New York University, will be giving a lecture at the Pima Community College district office on the influences of popular culture in the iconic Frida Kahlo's work. 6-7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3. 4905 E. Broadway Blvd. Free.

2017 Arizona Chinese New Year Festival: Ring in the Year of the Rooster while watching performances from over 200 Chinese folk singers, dancers, instrumentalists and martial artists. 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4. Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd. Price TBD.

Flame Off: Come watch 18 of the world’s hottest glass artists battle it out in this 16th annual glassblowing contest. Glass makers will participate in one of two 90-minute competitions to create glass art that sticks to this year’s theme: “The Textures and Sparkle of Tucson’s Gem Show.” See anything that strikes your fancy? You can bid on pieces during the competition, at the Sonoran Glass Art Show tent or Flame Off’s Facebook page starting Saturday, Feb. 4. Each finished product will be auctioned off with proceeds benefiting the Sonoran Glass School. Also be sure to browse through The Sonoran Glass Art Show showcase during the event. Peruvian fare, bratwursts and burritos among the options for purchase from several food trucks. Those 21+ can also buy wine and local craft beers. VIP tickets include a VIP lanyard, preferred seating, two drink tickets and access to Sonoran Glass School’s VIP lounge. Order tickets at www.sonoranglass.org/flameofftickets or at the door. 7 p.m.- 11 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3. 633 W. 18th St. General admission: $20, VIP: $50.

Reed Karaim Book Reading: Listen to Reed Karaim read his book, The Winter in Anna, at Antigone Books. The book has been described as “haunting” and “emotionally-generous” as it follows the narrative of a young journalist as he begins to learn a coworker’s dark secrets. It sounds like one of those books that can bring goose bumps to your skin. You don’t want to miss it! 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3. 411 N. 4th Ave. Free.

Music

Ynot: What a bill! A roundup of some of the 520’s best, brightest rappers, and more, headed by battle-rap champ and budding clothing mogul Ynot. Known to his mom as Anthony Ardrey, this kid Ynot has that look in his eye when he spits that says there’s nothing else in the world that matters but that very moment—he forever hits from his gut and from his heart. His freestyles are crazily dead-on, especially when he drops in scathing anti-Trump screeds. He masterfully blends old-school underground battlers like Esham with fluid jazzy-speak of somebody like Madlib. But his fresh flow is refashioned for the young and the restless, and the pissed off. He’s toured the country, has pockets of followers on the coasts and flyover states, and he has gone lengths to help place the Old Pueblo on the national rap map, however unlikely that may seem to some folks. Real deal flash, man. With Cash Lansky, Marley B, Tommy Will, Jae Tilt, and EZ Goin. On Friday, Feb. 3 at 8 p.m. Club Congress, 311 E. Congress. $10. 21+.

Cash’d Out: Full discloser: We’ve never seen Cash’d Out. But a few of our trusted (um, non-stoner) pals have, and they tell us that this San Diego-based Johnny Cash tribute is as the close to “the real shit as you can get.” Yeah, that’s saying a lot considering that nearly every musical tribute act we’ve ever seen—from hairball Jovi tributes to straight-to-hell Clash homages—are but gushy sycophants taking idolatry to growth-stunting extremes. Besides, both The Clash and Johnny Cash are sacred, so why on God’s green earth fuck with them? Having said that, and understanding just how the Man in Black single-handedly altered the course of rock ’n’ roll, folk, country and even soul music, we here at TW HQ are looking forward to seeing Cash’d Out. We want to trip through Cash’s scrappy, speed-addled Sun Records run, dig his “Bitter Tears” era of Native America activism, be caressed by his barrel-rumble vocal tones on gospel zingers like “Peace In The Valley,” etc. In short, we want Trump out of our heads and can think of no better way this week than through a worthy replica of the troubled saint Cash. Saturday, Feb. 4 at 191 Toole. 8 p.m. $12-$15. 21+.

Zeppelin USA: Two big tribute acts hit major venues in the Moldy Pueblo this week, so let’s not underestimate the ticket-selling power of mixing musical theater with the backward gaze. And anyone old enough to remember old cocaine rock bars in Tucson back in the late-’70s and early ’80s will recall you couldn’t fling a pair of flared satin hip-huggers without hitting a goofy Zep cover band mangling “D’yer Mak’er.” A couple of us here at TW were in our early teens then so we sorta remember those days and that’s how we know how difficult it is to tackle Zep with any necessary subtly and grace. That’s what makes Zeppelin USA miraculous. They forego the posturing—Plant’s patented poodle shag/Christ pose and Page’s spine curvature/glam boots are nowhere to be seen—but absolutely nail the sonics, managing to capture some of the soul and feel of the real Zep. It’s uncanny (even if they do look more a Free tribute band). Close your eyes and the folky acoustics of “That’s The Way” will send you straight to Bron-Y-Aur, and the sex-riff chords of “Living Loving Maid” will get you right in the skirt. Page, Plant, Bonham and Jones haven’t sounded like this since ’79. Saturday, Feb. 4 at The Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress. 7 p.m. $24-$28. All ages.

Max & Iggor Cavalera Return To Roots: If you never had the top of your head blown off by heavily storied Brazilian metal monsters Sepultura then you’ve never had the top of your properly blown off. (Sepultura were the loudest band on earth, we swear it—laid waste to both Slayer and Metallica back in the day). Now, Sepultura originals, irreplaceable singer/guitarist Max Cavalera and his brother, drummer Iggor (AKA Iggor Skullcrusher!), are out touring the big clubs playing that band’s seminal Roots album, start to finish. That ’96 release was, um, a skullcrushing, shouldn’t-work-but-does mix of heady acoustic world music, sociopolitical scream-outs and gnarly down-tuned deathmetal. To this day there’s never been an album quite like it. Get your cranium crushed on Friday, Feb. 10 at the Rock, 136 N. Park Ave. With Immolation, Full of Hell, Apostles of Ale, Evasion, Guerilla Tactics. 5 p.m. $24-$27.

Drab Majesty: This guy called Deb DeMure, who is Drab Majesty, looks fetchingly like what would result if you crossed a young Alice Cooper with a Warhol Factory girl and dressed him/her in Marc Jacobs’ glam-goth line introduced into couture last fall. So, yeah, any observer would expect a certain self-seriousness about Drab’s brand of gray-day, synth-and-programmed-drums pop. But it’s much smarter and hookier and challenging than one might expect. Any fan of Peter Murphy or Cocteau Twins or even Joy Division would love Drab’s latest, the just-released The Demonstration—recorded by somber-sonic guru Josh Eustis (NIN, Telefon Tel Aviv)—it rises and falls on all the reference points used by great downer-poppers of yore, without sounding all retro. Sure, DeMure calls his comely din “tragic wave,” but we’d prefer to call it “cool metro,” to borrow a phrase from old David Jo. With I Am Drugs and Rough Night on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at The Flycatcher, 340 E. 6th St. 9 p.m. 21+. Free.

Authority Zero: Hard to believe this Arizona punk-pop-ska combo has been together for more than two decades, because that’s no mean feat. For one thing, it’s really hard for punk dudes to hang together that long—just having to, for example, smell the bass player’s feet wears on groups. But the band has killed it, almost quietly, both stateside and internationally, beginning in the early aughts. Their relationship with Atlantic Records yielded lots of fruit including our fave, 2004’s massive, diverse (by punk standards) and punchy Andiamo. The suckerpunch anthems and singsong metalist refrains just get under your skin. It’s the sound of angry suburbia, which never seems to tire, and their signature tune, “Revolution,” is perfectly relevant right now with that horrible creep in office. The band’s AZ following has remained steadfast too, because good songs can do that for bands. With Endless Pursuit, Desert Fish, and Mouse Powell on Thursday, Feb. 9 at the Rock, 136 N. Park Ave. $16-$18. 7 p.m. All ages.

UA Presents: Bettye LaVette: Ever heard of Bettye LaVette? Not many have. The Grammy-nominated vocalist was part of the 1960s Detroit music scene but never quite achieved the stardom of her era’s fellow singers. Those actually familiar with LaVette have dubbed her “The Godmother of Soul. LaVette will put her powerful, unique voice on display when she takes the stage at the Fox Theatre. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8. 17 W. Congress St. $15-$50.

Your Weekly guide to saying busy in the Old Pueblo.

Weekly Pick: Rethinking Reality

Rethinking Reality: The UA College of Science’s Spring Lecture Series will explore the strange world of physics this year with the theme of “Rethinking Reality.” The first of five lectures features UA physics prof Keith R. Dienes, who will lay the groundwork for the series with “Rethinking the Rules of Reality.” Get ready to blow your mind with a talk that will take you from the basic building blocks of our world all the way to “weirdness at the extremes” and the latest theories of a new “dark sector” populated by modern ghosts. The talk is 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 30, at UA Centennial Hall. Free, but get there early—Tucsonans like to expand their consciousness, so seats fill up fast for these science lectures. For more info, call 621-4090.

Cinema

The All Nite Scream O' Rama: If you love the goosebumps, cold sweats and yelps of terror scary movies incite, the Loft Cinema is the place to be. The theater will be showing 12 hours of horror, encompassing seven of the most hair-raising films ever made. The movie list includes: The Shining, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Fright Night, Green Room, Trick 'r Treat, Return of the Living Dead and Cat in the Brain. Tasty food and drinks will be ghoulishly themed. Enter ... if you dare. 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Jan. 28- Jan. 29. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $13 for members or in advance online or $15 at the door.

Aladdin and Other Tales: Grab the kids and enjoy some classic fairytales told to the music of Prokofiev, Ravel, Humperdinck and Nielsen played by the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28. Tucson Convention Center. 260 S. Church Ave. $12 for children under 18 and $18 for adults.

Movie Poster Sale: Want Voldemort staring down at you while you sleep, or The Rock watching over your workouts? Basically we're asking what's your favorite movie of all time and do you have a poster of it? There will be more than 1,300 movie posters for sale featuring over 750 different film titles today. The remaining posters left after the sale will be donated to a local arts program. 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 28. The Loft Cinema. 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Posters will be $5 each.

Celebrate the Life of David Bowie: Come witness David Bowie in two of his finest forms, as Jareth the Goblin King and the iconic Ziggy Stardust. Taking place a little over one year after his death, this night celebrates Bowie’s many public personas. First on the lineup is Bowie’s family-favorite film Labyrinth. After that, bar-goers can enjoy a film documenting one of Bowie’s most famous concerts, Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. We’re almost certain you’ll leave with the lyrics to “Magic Dance” or “Suffragette City” stuck in your head. 7 p.m.-11 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27. Casa Video and Casa Film Bar. 2905 E. Speedway Blvd. Free (but bring money for drinks and bar snacks).

Gilmore Girls Trivia: Oy with the poodles already! Put your pre-reboot Stars Hallow binge watching knowledge to good use. Come by and show everyone how well you know the show while munching on Fresco Pizza! There will be prizers, but we don't know what they are. So, go anyways and if the prizes aren't up to snuff, try to take home a wookie as a consolation prize. 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31. Casa Video and Casa Film Bar. 2905 E. Speedway Blvd. Free.

Your Weekly guide to keeping busy in the Old Pueblo.

Pick of the Week: Dillinger Days

Dillinger Days: One of Hotel Congress’ claims to fame is the historic 1934 fire that lead to the capture of bank robber John Dillinger. Dillinger and his men were taking refuge at Congress after a series of robberies when the hotel caught fire. Later, the fireman who had helped the gang rescue their gun-and-cash-carrying luggage recognized the criminals in True Detective Magazine, ultimately leading to his arrest. Commemorate this moment in history with Congress with a speakeasy, vintage firefighting equipment, live music, Public Enemies and, of course, a reenactments of the capture at the Cup Cafe. Jan. 20-21. Check Hotel Congress’ website for event times, prices and other details.

Party Weekend

Borderlands Fifth Anniversary Party: Celebrate five years of craft beer, live music, local business and cool architecture. Borderlands Brewing is turning five this month, and you can wish them well by enjoying a few pints and listening to ever-enjoyable tunes courtesy of AZTRAL FOLK. Noon - 10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21. Borderlands Brewing Co., 119 E. Toole Ave. Bring money for beer.
Tucson Rodeo & Parade Barn Dance: Obviously, the Old Pueblo loves the rodeo—it’s the cause of our favorite February holiday! But the bull riding, lasso dancing fun is in full swing long before the kids get to skip a couple days of class. Grab your drinking-age friends and get your boots on and start the party early with a little live music courtesy of Jack Bishop. 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21. Tucson Rodeo Parade Museum, 4823 S 6th Ave. $5.

4th on 44th Block Party: Live music, food trucks, alcohol and coffee — what more could you ask for in a block party? Three Wells Distilling Company and Ten Fifty-Five Brewing teamed up to bring Tucson the ultimate opportunity to support the Tucson Police Officer’s Association and break out your most embarrassing dance moves while doing so. A portion of the proceeds will go to the TPOA, and donations are also welcome. Noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28. 3790 E. 44th St. Drink tickets are $6.

Cinema

The All Nite Scream O' Rama: If you love the goosebumps, cold sweats and yelps of terror scary movies incite, the Loft Cinema is the place to be. The theater will be showing 12 hours of horror, encompassing seven of the most hair-raising films ever made. The movie list includes: The Shining, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Fright Night, Green Room, Trick 'r Treat, Return of the Living Dead and Cat in the Brain. Tasty food and drinks will be ghoulishly themed. Enter...if you dare. 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Jan. 28- Jan. 29 The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $13 for members or in advance online or $15 at the door.

Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages: Grave robbing, torture, possessed nuns, and a satanic Sabbath—What more do you want? Danish filmmaker Benjamin Christensen’s 1922 silent film is a unique hybrid of documentary and fiction exploring the history of witchcraft, demonology and Satanism. 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $6.

Conversation with Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black: Substance abuse, mental illness and prison cliques are all fair game on deck to be addressed by Piper Kerman, the woman who shared her devastating and sometimes hilarious story of a year in prison. Hear her dive into her personal experiences and commentate on the criminal justice system at the Fox Theatre. Her presentation will be hosted by Mayor Rothschild and you can purchase your tickets online. 4-6 p.m. Feb. 1. The Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St. $25 for her presentation and the Q&A session OR $100 for the presentation, Q&A, private reception with Piper and a copy of the book.
Free Family Movie Night! featuring The Sandlot: A classic film, a night away from the kitchen and evening under the stars. Catch a free screening of the Sandlot, and get the kiddos into the spirit of the movie with the inflatable batting cage, speed pitching contest, t-ball home run competition for ages five and under. 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21. Tucson Event Center, 1861 W. Grant Road. Free, bring money for food.

Community

Rethinking the Rules of Reality: The UA lecture series are always worth attending, and this semester’s “Rethinking Reality” is no exception. In the first lecture of the series learn about the connections between symmetries, forces, and conservation laws, and the fundamental building blocks of the natural world—and what they indicate physics might be heading in the future. Lastly, the lecture promises “weirdness at the extremes,” including discussion about the emergence of a new “dark sector” populated by modern ghosts. Each lecture will be streamed live by Arizona Public Media On Demand, will stream on television the following week, and will later be available digitally. The series begins at 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 30. Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd. Free.

Women’s March on Washington - Tucson March: Have an issue with how women have been treated in recent political dealings? Spend the morning with like other concerned individuals, marching in solidarity of women’s rights, safety and health care. Meet at Armory Park and make your way down to the Joel D. Valdez library plaza. 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 21. Armory Park, 221 S 6th Ave. Free.

Frida al Fresco Friday: Experience Frida Kahlo’s Mexico City right here in Tucson at the Tucson Botanical Gardens. Celebrate the Mexican and feminist icon’s art exhibit, Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life, while listening to live music representative of her vibrant culture. You can even get your very own flower crown and binge on food and drinks inspired by Frida’s own family recipes. 5-8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27. Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N Alvernon Way. $13 adults, $12 for students, seniors and military, $7.50 for kids ages 4-17, kids 3 or younger and Garden members are free.

Music

A Community Benefit Starring Howe Gelb, Joey Burns et al: In a true moment of graciousness and generosity, a group of Tucson music stars is coming together to aid a musician suffering from a head injury. (Sadly, he isn’t cognizant enough at press time to agree to have his name released.) This musician is beloved in Tucson and he’s in dire financial need because he has no health insurance, which, as we all know, has long been a devastating problem among artists and musicians and writers and so on. Even with Obamacare. Forget anything improving there with that mook landing in office on Jan. 20. Anyway, this benefit is now a big-named event, with performances by Howe Gelb, Joey Burns (he’ll be live on video), Louise Le Hir, Street Blues Family, Steff and the Articles, Joe Novelli and more. There will be music instruments up for auction. The night finishes on an all-star jam featuring all concerned, a one-off performance called The Affordable Care Act Band. Saturday, Jan. 21 at 191 Toole, 191 Toole. 8 p.m. $15-$20 donation.

La Cerca: To call La Cerca Tucson desert pop sounds so reductive, but really this dreamy combo is all about Tucson desert pop. See, the tunes fizz, hum and lift, like those made by classic melancholy poppers My Bloody Valentine and Big Star, two bands La Cerca adore. But there’s something else going on within their often lovely melodies—it’s a lonely, desolate thing that sounds so much like how the Sonoran desert feels, if that makes any sense. (Listen to the soaring-yet-fragile “Climate Control” from their killer 2014 album Sunrise For Everyone.) Like the desert, their music has an end-of-the-world quality, with so much sparse, stark beauty, and a tremendous sense of open space. And you’ve gotta love any band that makes a reference to “Teenage Kicks” by the Undertones. This show celebrates the 20-year musical relationship between La Cerca's John Matzek and Mario Cordova, and features the three other bands they've played in together: How to Build a Rocketship, Ghost Lodge, and Kicking Leaves. Saturday, Jan. 21 at the Flycatcher, 340 E 6th St. 9 p.m. $5. 21+. The event is also a benefit for Downtown Radio.

Orgy: Kohl-eyed goth-glamsters are back from the dead, or maybe that’s what they’d like you to believe. Or maybe they never died and just sort of faded away, which is worse. You’ll recall Orgy had a fairly sizable hit with New Order’s classic “Blue Monday” (theirs was a truly a wickedly dirty cover), and their ’98 debut album, Candyass, sold huge, going platinum stateside. But after three studio albums, Orgy had left a shallow legacy. Truth is, they are worth so much more than that. The band never got credit for defining a moment in time. For one thing, they captured the milieu of the decadence of the porn-driven decline of late ’90s suburban Los Angeles, that bizarre cultural dead zone, and soundtracked it with the industrial throb of underground Hollywood clubs, putting their own “death-pop” sizzle on it. It’s remarkable how their singular sound had a wonderfully nihilistic tint to it that reflected Southern California underbellies. Their latest, a seven-song EP called Talk Sick, dropped in ’15, and it’s formidable dancefloor thunder-smack, blending infectious melody with EDM. A new EP, Entropy, is just coming out. With Powerman 500, Death Valley High, Knee High Fox, Lethal Injektion, and Swindy on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at The Rock, 136 N. Park Ave. 6 p.m. $18-$20. All ages.

Silver Snakes: We love any group that blends lots of Industrial slam with bits of Latin music. And Silver Snakes adores bands like Nine Inch Nails and Sleep, as well as gifted Mexican singer Lola Beltrán. They also show hints of metal crunch not unlike the Deftones, even walls of Sex Pistols-sounding power chords! Their dancefloor-filling, rafter-rattling racket is as infectious as anything ’90s heroes Ministry or NIN ever put out. Formed in 2011, these Snakes just released their third LP, Saboteur, an absolute sonic suckerpunch. With Aeges, Harlette, and others on Friday, Jan. 20 at Club XS, 5851 E. Speedway. 7 p.m. $12-$15. All ages.

Boytoy: Here’s a rare Tucson appearance from the too-overlooked Brooklyn-based (don’t hold that against them) combo who swimmingly mix shoegaze with surf in distorted harmonic beds. It’s a powerful female universe in their hands, with no shortage of Jesus and Mary Chain guitars, and it’s poppy as shit—sometimes girl-group poppy, sometimes Ramones poppy, sometime Velvets poppy. Their 2015 ditty “Postal,” with its chorus “You got me going postal,” is the best love song of the last half-decade or so. And their latest single, 2017’s “Putty” is exactly that in your heart, a gorgeous little stunner of desire, delivered with a neat-o vocal that transmits sweet indifference perfectly. The tune reminds us of ’60s–era Pretty Things meets Potty Mouth circa ’16. In other words, amazing. Tuesday, Jan. 24 at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress. 8 p.m. 21+. Free.

Finding Novyon: This Minneapolis rapper owns the stage when he moves, has a flow like Jay Z on a mellow trip (no shit), and can bust out the minimal beat bangers with aplomb. Even Lil’ Wayne became fan back in 2011, when Novyon was still a teenager, and wound up helping Novyon’s career. What you should know is Novyon’s 2016 release, Believe in Mpls, is a fairly chill yet powerful collection of potent rhymes and spare hypnotic beats, and it burrow deep beneath your skin like a Loa Loa and stays there. His national following is swelling too. With Prof, Metasota, and Willie Wonka on Sunday, Jan. 22 at 191 Toole, 191 Toole. 7 p.m. $15-$17. All Ages.

Your Weekly guide to keeping busy in the Old Pueblo.

Pick of the Week: Tucson Jazz Festival

All That Jazz: The third annual Tucson Jazz Festival kicks off this week with young phenom Kamasi Washington, whose debut album The Epic was described in these pages last week as “steeped in spiritual jazz traditions of John and Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, the funky fusion of Donald Byrd and Wayne Shorter, and the free jazz explorations of Ornette Coleman,” taking the stage at downtown’s Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12. Tickets are $15 to $60.  The festival continues with more than a dozen performances through Jan. 22, including a Downtown Jazz Fiesta that features a day of free shows on Monday, Jan. 16.

Food & Booze

Food & Booze Girl Scout Cookie + Beer Pairing at Dragoon! These events have been popping up for a couple of years now, and we're definitely happy to see them continue. Head over to Dragoon on the very first day of 2017 Girl Scout Cookie season, pick up your favorite seasonal snack (Thin Mints, obviously) and pair it with a delicious local beer. These are the type of Saturday afternoons people dream of. 1-5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14. Dragoon Brewing Co., 1859 W. Grant Road. Bring cash for cookies and beer.

Bowling & Booze: Whether you're more into wine or craft beer Each week, every team of two will get to enjoy (or, you know, not) with a new bottle of wine or four bottles of beer while bowling three games. Learn about different breweries or wineries every Thursday for six weeks starting Jan. 19 at 6:30 p.m. Lucky Strike Bowl, 4015 E. Speedway Blvd. $12.99 per person, per week.

Arts

Tucson Fringe Festival: If you want to start your theater-going year with a heady dose of the "bigger and badder" variety, you should check out the sixth annual Tucson Fringe Festival. Get ready three days jam-packed with an array of original, unjuried works performed by artists both local, national and international. Read more about the festival in the art section). Jan. 13-15.

Your Weekly guide to keeping busy in the Old Pueblo.

Pick of the Week

Embrace: It’s hard to believe it’s been six years since that tragic January morning when Gabby Giffords and 18 others were shot outside a Safeway in Casas Adobes. This year, Tucson’s January 8 Memorial Foundation is asking the community to come together to support each other and other communities who have suffered while making a human “embrace” symbol—the icon the Foundation has used to communicate togetherness, solidarity, and empathy. Sunday, Jan. 8. Hi Corbett Field, 3400 E. Camino Campestre. 1 p.m.

Cinema

A Tribute to Carrie Fisher: There's no way we could describe Carrie Fisher's impact on better than The Loft Cinema did, so we'll but this in their words: "Fearless princess. Quick-witted scribe. Hollywood icon. Join us as we celebrate the life and legacy of the incredible actress/author/activist Carrie Fisher at a special tribute event featuring a career highlight reel, a lightsaber salute and a screening of her 1989 comedy, The ‘Burbs, co-starring Tom Hanks and Bruce Dern. Come dressed as your favorite Star Wars character and bring as many lightsabers as you own. No lightsaber? No problem. Glow sticks will also be provided. Help us say “thank you” to the woman who inspired generations of fans, on screen and off. The Force will be with you, Carrie Fisher. Always." Celebrate Carrie, watch the 'Burbs, and a portion of proceeds will benefit the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, which is committed to alleviating the suffering caused by mental illness. 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $8.

Mondo Monday presents Ticks: The Loft is continuing Creepy Crawlies month with Ticks: “They Breed. They Hatch. They Kill.” Watch as Seth Green, Alfonso Ribeiro and Clint Howard battle their way through a mutant party of ticks in the woods. It sucks. 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $3.

Tampopo with the Fat Noodle Truck: Enjoy Juzo Itami’s “ramen western” comedy Tampopo on the big screen. Before the comedic film, enjoy some fat noodles from the Fat Noodle Truck that will be stationed outside of the Loft. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. $6-$8.

A Tribute: Carrie Fisher & Debbie Reynolds Movie Day: Casa Video's Film Bar is a great place to have a drink, order a pizza (thanks, Fresco!) and enjoy your cinematic favorites. If you're looking for a little low key fun this Saturday, stop by for $4 mimosas and nine hours of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds best movies. 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7. Casa Video, 2905 E. Speedway Blvd. Bring money for booze.

Victoria: Excited about Victoria, the new Masterpiece series coming to PBS? Arizona Public Media is treating you to a sneak preview, featuring opening commentary by Jerrold E. Hogle, University Distinguished Professor and director of Undergraduate Studies and Honors in the Department of English at the University of Arizona. Into it? Make sure you get to attend: Tickets are free, but seating is limited. Reserve a seat here: azpm.org/victorialoft. 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Free.

Fun in General

TRD Recruting '80s Night: Admit it—you've thought about becoming a roller girl. Join Tucson Roller Derby at Adult Skate Night to learn about roller derby while cruising around the rink. 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12. Skate Country, 7980 E. 22nd Street. Tickets: $3. Skate rental: $3. 18+.

Odyssey Storytelling Presents “Labor”: Odyssey Storytelling’s monthly presentations are something to mark on your calendar in advance. Six people are invited to tell 10-minute personal stories on a theme in front of an audience. The stories are not read or memorized, just told from the life experiences and creativity of the teller. This month’s topic, labor, is sure to inspire. 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 5. 127 E. Congress Street. $8.

Being Feminist: What Feminism Means to Me Opening Reception: The YWCA is hosting a new exhibition based on pieces made by local artists create in response to the question, “What does Feminism mean to me?” In addition to the traditional opening night fun, the reception will feature The Clothesline Project courtesy of Emerge! T-shirts designed by survivors of domestic abuse. Busy that night? The exhibition itself is on display until March 13, so you’ve got plenty of time to stop in. 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6. The Galleria at the YWCA, 525 N. Bonita Ave.

Brewery Bootcamp: It is a truth universally acknowledged that you should always have a beer after a workout. Dragoon is offering a full-body regimen followed by post-exercise brews. All fitness levels can participate. Bring your own mat, water, and sweat towel. (21+) 11 a.m. to noon. Every Sunday. $10 per person, which includes one beer. Dragoon Brewing Co., 1859 W. Grant Road #111.

Mineral Madness: The Desert Museum is beautiful and educational, and you’re probably overdue for a visit. Consider going during year’s Mineral Madness, which offers mineral lovers (novice and expert alike) a chance to to learn something new about minerals and rocks and shop the mineral sale. Plus, walk around the grounds and stop in at stations to enjoy viewing micro-minerals, and mineral arts and crafts and learning about how animals and people use minerals. Kids, bring an egg carton in order to collect a free rock or mineral at each station. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 14-16. Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, 2021 N. Kinney Road. Included with museum admission.

Musical Mayhem celebrates 6 years of Mayhem! Musical Mayhem Cabaret is celebrating its sixth anniversary with songs from the shows like Little Shop of Horrors, Hamilton, and The Little Mermaid. Don't miss out. 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8. Unscrewed Theater, 3244 E. Speedway Blvd. $10.

Cuban Salsa Dance Classes: Grab your dancing shoes and spice up your Tuesday nights with five weeks of Cuban Salsa Dance Lessons. The sessions are suited for people of all levels—but the course is progressive, so new dancers should join within the firs two meetings. The first class is Tuesday, Jan. 10. Tucson Creative Dance Center, 3131 N. Cherry Ave. Individual classes: $7. Five class package: $30.

Changemaker Book Club: National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward takes James Baldwin’s 1963 examination of race in America, The Fire Next Time, as a jumping off point for The Fire This Time, a collection of essays and poems about race. The next titles the group will be reading include Audre Lorde's Zami, a New Spelling Of My Name and  7:30-9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11. YWCA of Southern Arizona- Frances McClelland Community Center, 525 N. Bonita Ave. Free.

Grant Writing De-Mystified: Every once and a while the Weekly gets a phone call asking for tips on grant writing. We don't really have the time or expertise to help you out with that, but Southern Arizona Work Space can. At the end of the workshop, you'll leave with a rough draft of your grant proposal and a plan for editing a final version. 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14. City High School, 47 E. Pennington Street. $75.

Music

Caskey: This Florida-born rapper’s sound rises from hypnotic trap that bestows the beats with a strangely calming sparkle and ambience, and he rap-croons (!) over it and it works really stinking well—dude can swoon (almost bedroom raps)like no other emcee. No shit. (Listen to “Cadillac,” off his ’16 mixtape Black Sheep 3.) Sure, he fills verses about smoking broccoli and schtupping two at the same time “and feeling like Nas,” but such clichés are quickly (and often) overshadowed with subtle, thought-provoking street intelligence, rhymes and pop-culture smarts. This blunt-head white kid with gnarly neck tats can reference Yoko Ono in a flow that compares pockets full of cash to Kim Kardashian’s ass, while subtly working in some anti-domestic violence rhymes. Killer! Word is his live shows smoke. Friday, Jan. 6, at the Loudhouse, 915 W. Prince. 8 p.m. All ages.

Tom Walbank: Yeah, we’ve seen Tom Walbank all right. One time entertaining an early evening crowd under a small tent in the Hotel Congress plaza, and he totally brought it, man. Even in that low-key atmo, armed only with a Danelectro guitar, a slide, a baby Marshall amp and a harmonica, Walbank played like he had a gun pointed at the back of his head. You know these types because you can never forget them once you see them, and you walk away thinking you just lucked out and saw someone who was born to play. This Tucsonan is also a veritable machine of blues and R&B, an encyclopedia of that stuff, and has a passion that shows a total devotion to the form, even though he wasn’t even born on the Delta, or anywhere in the American south, or Chicago. He was born in England, in fact—wrong time, wrong place. No matter. This might be the only time you’ll ever find us recommending any white guy playing straight blues. This dude can handle the greats with stunning command; Muddy Waters, Hambone Willie Newbern, Tampa Red … His own albums are all worth owning. Every damn one of ’em. And he’s got a new album out. It’s called Dust+Stone (Lonesome Desert), and it features local stars like XIXA’s Winston Watson and Gabriel Sullivan. This show is that album’s launch party, and it’s free on Thursday, Jan. 5, at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress. Show starts at 7 p.m. 21+.

Gaza Strip: They play like dudes whose lives were changed by Nirvana, and a few historic Tucson punk bands too—so there’s that rare regionalism to their shambolic din. The sound heaves with crunchy guitars, hard-smacking rhythms, tree-shredder vocals, and melodies persuasive enough that you hum them next day when your ears are still ringing and your liver’s hiccupping. So, yeah, Gaza Strip, who’ve been together since 2005, are gloriously under-rehearsed, and play like super-hungry dudes who just unloaded their shitty gear from a shitty van, and are riffing their hearts out for dinner and beer money. Such bands are often the best rock ’n’ roll bands around, as Gaza shows us. And beyond their stinging raw power, it’s their self-deprecating lyrical turns that win listeners too. Lines like “Well you probably never heard of us/We’re easy to forget” make you want to buy all their albums and send each a shot of cheap whiskey when they’re on stage. With The Earps, and Doctors of Modern Medicine. Saturday, Jan. 7, at the Loudhouse, 915 W. Prince. 8 p.m. $3. 21+.

Antwon: For good reason San Jose’s Antwon was one of the 10 buzziest acts at South By Southwest back in 2013. He’s got his finger on the pulse of culture, and hits at it hard with gnarly, bass-heavy beats and lots of social commentary, often pointing out the jackassery of modern life from a tough muthafucker’s POV. But listen, we’re rare to recommend anything that wallows in cliché and Antwon is a straight up brilliant emcee with all the flow and guts to back up so much hype. Stands to reason his profile continues to sharply rise stateside, and he’s already huge in places like Brazil. We adore this whole bill too—while Antwon is headlining this Old Peublo show, his support artists are area punk bands, which shows Antwon’s roots—he came up playing punk before switching to rap. With Sex Prisoner and Get a Grip on Friday, Jan. 6 at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress. 7 p.m. $10-$12. 16+.

Whitney Peyton: This solo female rapper doesn’t pull punches. And she’s all DIY and proud of it. She even had a hand in an anti-bullying album geared toward children that nabbed a 2012 Grammy. She’s beloved in her Philly hometown, especially among teens, and her songs swing effortlessly between rap and poppy hip-hip, and even some rock, and she’s been compared (favorably) to Paramore’s Hayley Williams and a young Eminen. Her “I Hate My Roommate,” with it’s no-bullshit roomie takedown, should, if this were a just world, be a college hip-hop anthem in the way the Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)” was all those years ago. With Stands With Fists,Stacc Styles, and Evasion on Saturday, Jan. 7, at The Rock, 136 N. Park Avenue. 6:30 p.m. $13-$15. All ages.

Dave Alvin: Ain’t much more anyone can say about Dave Alvin that hasn’t already been said. His dozen or so solo records—after his stint in the wondrous roots-rockers Blasters—reveal him to be a giant at crafting honky-tonk weepers and countrified rockers and bluesy sides that document characters living in the margins, in worlds of alcoholic hearts, shattered dreams and regrets (and redemptions). That he can wind such clear narratives worthy of a good southern novelist into a song is one thing, but the fact the tunes themselves are so steadfastly great, that they mine much of American history in song, makes Alvin, unarguably, one of the best storytelling songsmiths alive. More, he’s hitting town with Austin’s folk/country/rock hero Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 191 Toole, 191 Toole. $18-$20. 7 p.m. All Ages.

Your Weekly guide to keeping busy in the Old Pueblo.

New Year’s Eve

Mantra: Glow in the Dark New Year’s Eve Party with XIXA: XIXA, the Gabriel Sullivan and Brian Lopez led combo, who not so long ago called themselves the less wieldy Chicha Dust, are just now beginning to headline theater-sized venues all over Europe, so loving is their overseas following—this after an Euro introduction by Howe Gelb and Giant Sand. Gelb aside, Bloodline, XIXA’s 2016 LP, can (lazily) be described as a cumbia-inflected psych, a sort of guitar-and-melody driven “Desert noir” that marries explosive rhythms (Latin and otherwise) with soaring refrains. The album has so far been criminally overlooked stateside, but not in Tucson. XIXA is bringing their show—in what could become a New Year’s Eve tradition—to the Rialto. Get yer tix, the show, which is billed as an all night, glow-in-the-dark cumbia party, will likely sell out. With DJ Dirty Verbs. Saturday, Dec. 31 at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress. 9 p.m. $10-$50.

New Year’s Eve at R Bar: Reymon Murphy’s wholly hypnotic soul, blues and hip-hop outfit is a multi-ethnic, seven-piece collective Street Blues Family has mastered the nearly impossible task of being hypnotic, punchy and graceful all at once, and on stage. In fact, they groove like a cross of Sly Stone and Erykah Badu, and they’re quietly amassing a following of urban music fans in sleepy old Tucson, which is really saying something. The band will be performing two sets at 10 p.m. and 12:15 a.m. Meanwhile, DJ Roch’s killer curated soul will entertain between sets while the comely and doomy DJ Plastic Disease will host. Kiss off ugly 2016 in good old-fashioned escapist style, with a combo of chill tuneage and sweet cocktails. Saturday, Dec. 31 at the R Bar. $10 at the door (free if you have a ticket to MANTRA: Glow in the dark NYE party with XIXA). At The Rialto Theatre across the alleyway. 9 p.m. 21+.

Labyrinth and a Holiday Ball: Say goodbye to 2016 and celebrate the New Year and the late David Bowie with a special screening of Jim Henson's 1987 film Labyrinth in its anniversary digital restoration. Wear your best Labyrinth-themed costumes to be entered in a pre-show costume contest, get groovy with pre-show Bowie music videos and a masquerade ball with champagne. Don't have a mask? The Loft will have supplies to make one on the spot. Costume Contest: 11:15, Film: 11:45. Saturday, Dec. Dec. 31. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. General Admission: $10, Members: $8.

The Maverick: In the mood for a country New Year's Eve? Head to the Maverick for music, dinner by Flipside party favors, and champagne for a midnight toast. Bring canned food to donate, ’cause they are stuffing the Maverick Monster truck with food for the Community Food Bank and dropping a monster boot at midnight. 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 31. The Maverick, 6622 E. Tanque Verde Road. $15.

The Mystery and Magic Dinner Theater: Ken Kesey won't be there with a magical bus, but this crew is gaining a reputation of creating a lot of fun. The Mystery and Magic Dinner Theater presents a full night of New Year's Eve fun. The evening starts with an interactive murder mystery comedy show that includes a three-course dinner prepared by La Paloma's executive chef, followed by a variety of performers featuring the reigning Arizona Stage Magician of the Year. The traditional countdown to the New Year includes hats, noisemakers, champagne toast, balloon drop and dancing. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 31. Westin La Paloma, 3500 E. Sunrise Ave. $199, price includes a room. Call for tickets: 1-800-266-4800.

New Year’s Eve with Tap and Bottle: Ring in the New Year with your friends at Tap and Bottle. Dj Carl Hanni will spin up some tunes for some New Year's grooves as you sip on some champagne at midnight. 9 p.m. to midnight-ish. Saturday, Dec. 31. Tap and Bottle, 403 N. Sixth Ave. Free, bring money for alcohol.

Rick Braun’s New Year’s Eve Getaway: You can't be in Paris on Midnight, but you can be at a jazzy New Year's Eve Paris-themed event that starts with a reception, entertainment and appetizers, music by guitarist Marc Antoine and a delicious gourmet meal. Rick Braun, host and trumpeter extraordinaire, will be joined by singer-songwriter Jeffrey Osborne and saxophonist Richard Elliot. Over two days, enjoy seven hours of live music, dancing, champagne and all the fun of a golf tournament and silent auction. The event sold out last year, so head to tucsonnewyearseve.com to snag your ticket now. Friday Dec. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 31. $209+. JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort, 3800 W. Starr Pass Blvd.

Old Vegas: Hotel Congress is turning into Old Vegas on New Year's Eve with casino games, swanky cocktails, live music, Elvis and Frank, and a champagne toast. MC Tempest Du Jour will be there with a gaggle of showgirls. Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St. $25-$125.

Ring in the New Year at the Ritz: The Ritz-Carlton at Dove Mountain is hosting an elegant five-course New Year's Eve dinner with live entertainment. Stick around for the Fireworks Hike, which takes place at 11 p.m. $65 plus tax and gratuity. Call 572-3050 for reservations and more details. 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 31. Ritz-Carlton at Dove Mountain, 5000 N. Secret Springs Drive.

Retro Rockets: Dance the night away as the Retro Rockets blast you into the New Year. The family friendly show includes a three-course dinner, party favors and a champagne toast at midnight. Call Robin for reservations and info 884-5530. 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 31. Westward Look Resort, 245 E. Ina Road.

A night at the Carriage House: The Carriage House is celebrating the New Year with light hors d'oeuvres, followed by a five-course, wine-paired dinner featuring Chef Janos' greatest hits, and dessert with a sparkling wine and live music. A percentage (20 percent) of the proceeds will benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Arizona, an organization that provides a home away from home for families who have traveled far to bring their children to Tucson for medical treatment. 7-10:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 31. The Carriage House, 125 S. Arizona Ave. $150 per person, reservation required.

1912 Brewing: Not a night owl? Bring the kids to celebrate the New Year as it hits the East Coast. 1912 Brewing will have crafts, movies snacks plus party punch and horchata to keep the kids happy while you “ring in” 2017 at 10 p.m. with some complimentary champagne. 7 p.m. Saturday. Dec. 31. 1912 Brewing, 2045 N. Forbes Blvd.
Fun in General

Cocoa 5k run/walk: Resolutions or a detox on your list at the beginning of 2017? Consider a run/walk. On New Year’s Day, kick off 2017 with the third annual Cocoa 5k run/walk in Oro Valley. The race will take place along the multi-use path, beginning at Steam Pump Ranch, and will include snacks, water and of course, hot cocoa. This is a professionally-timed race, and prizes will be awarded to the overall male and female winners and five-year age group categories. T-shirts will be available for sale. Children 12 and under race for free with paying adult. Proceeds will benefit Oro Valley’s Round Up for Youth Recreation Scholarship Program. 11 a.m. (registration starts at 9:45 a.m.) Sunday, Jan. 1. Steam Pump Ranch, 10901 N. Oracle Road. $25.

Treecycle: Already thinking about the logistics of ditching your Christmas tree? The city has your back. Starting the day after Christmas and continuing through mid January, you can drop your naked, dying tree off at one of nine Treecycle locations throughout Tucson and Oro Valley. The city is mulching the trees, and will have free wood chips available at a few of their locations after Jan. 4.

Being Feminist: What Feminism Means to Me Opening Reception: Yes, feminism counts as fun. Really. The YWCA is hosting a new exhibition based on pieces made by local artists create in response to the question, “What does Feminism mean to me?” In addition to the traditional opening night fun, the reception will feature The Clothesline Project courtesy of Emerge! T-shirts designed by survivors of domestic abuse. Busy that night? The exhibition itself is on display until March 13, so you’ve got plenty of time to stop in. 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6. The Galleria at the YWCA, 525 N. Bonita Ave.

Terry Trash and the Trainwrecks: By far the best flat-out rock ’n’ roll band in Tucson, and maybe the region, or even the country. In-yer-face bands like this just don’t exist anymore. The Trainwrecks bust out a pro-booze, pro-drug, pro-fuck-shit-up racket, a beastly rockabilly tinged punk-out crammed with hilarious self-deprecating asides and fat, shout-out choruses. And every live show’s like a proper rock ’n’ roll blowout—the band is either brilliant or utter shit, and even when they’re utter shit it’s still a blast because the beer flies, things topple over, ears ring and someone’s insulted in one way or another. Gifted frontman Terry Trash was born to do this, and you sense there’s nothing else in life for him. He’s a strangely beautiful and a hugely storied Tucsonan who has lived hard and homeless, and he’s literally broken—down a few limbs after mishap with roaring train. Just in terms of frolic and fright—the very ideas upon which the devil’s music was created—Terry Trash and the Trainwrecks jam it home. This “F@#K 2016” show also features Border Town Devils, Junkie Vomit, Stubborn Old Bastard, Sindicate, and Blue Collar Criminals. Friday, Dec. 30, at Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress. 6:30 p.m. $5-$7. All ages.

Whispering Wires: There’s a frightening little musical subtext beneath the surface of Whispering Wires’ hooky, guitar-based pop-dirge. Sonically the songs suggest one thing—they’re almost downright joyful sounding, and the members obviously have fun playing them—yet there’s something else going on … a sinister something. It’s like suburbia, where you can move through miles of repetitive landscape and scenes yet sense something is truly off. The band’s 2014 song “Breathe In,” for example, tweaks a guitar hook just so, and lyrics tell of hiding from the world and finally being able to breath in, and it works as a fun little existential parable, yet the vocal harmony throughout makes it a totally rewarding listen. The tune was on heavy rotation down here at the Weekly HQ for weeks. With Heebee Jeebies at The Flycatcher, 340 E. Sixth St. 9 p.m. 21+. Free.

Cinema

Mondo Monday: It’s as cold as it gets in our little corner of the desert, and no one is going to blame you for spending a little extra time indoors, watching movies—especially if you do so with others! The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd., has a few events coming up to keep you cozy and entertained. January is creepy crawlies month for Mondo Mondays and kick off with Frogs, the tale of cold green skin against soft, warm flesh. Things go totally “environ-mental” when a crotchety, nature-hating millionaire hosts a party on his private island and discovers that it’s payback time when thousands of vindictive frogs get hopping mad and whip every bug and slimy creature into a toxic frenzy. 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 2. $3.

Mad Max Fury Road Black & Chrome: Director George Miller has secured a place in many hearts with the majesty of Mad Max Fury Road. But, if Miller had his way, our whole Fury Road experience would have been different. Less colorful. Revisit the apocalyptic feminist hell dream in black and white, as it was meant to be seen at the Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Dec. 30-Jan. 1. Times for vary by day.

Li'l Quinquin: A pair of bumbling small town detectives investigate a hilariously strange mystery involving murder, madness and farm animals in director Bruno Dumont’s one-of-a-kind comedy/thriller Li’l Quinquin. Catch a free screening of this French comedy/thriller next Friday, courtesy of the Loft, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 29. Free.

Your Weekly guide to keeping busy in the Old Pueblo.

Holiday

Star Wars - A Holiday Special: Come the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special on the big screen at The Loft Cinema and celebrate the season with the best space series ever. But what's better than space-themed holiday bash? The fact that said holiday bash is free. The Loft wants the Tucson community to enjoy a free evening of Star Wars. If you dress up as your favorite Star Wars character, you could win a super cool prize from The Loft. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Free, bring money for candy and popcorn.

Ballet Tucson's 'The Nutcracker': See the holiday classic that will enchant lovers of dance and laymen alike. Tucson's own professional ballet company will perform its annual production of "The Nutcracker" for three days only. With the spectacular scenes and dance ability, you don't have be a ballet enthusiast to appreciate this dance classic. Thursday, Dec. 22 - 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Dec. 23 - 3 p.m., 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 24 - 1 p.m. Tucson Music Hall, 260 S. Church Ave. $28 - 56.

St. Andrew's Episcopal Choir: Tap and Bottle is hosting a song-a-long with the choir from St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. Come celebrate the holiday season with this boozy, and yet, family-friendly musical event. 6 - 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 23. Tap and Bottle, 403 N. Sixth Ave. Free, bring money for drinks.

‘90s Christmas Eve Dance Party: Dance your little heart out at The Flycatcher for its Christmas Eve dance party with the hits from the 90s spun up by DJ Plastic Disease and E_Rupt. Don't forget to dress up in your favorite 90s fashion. 10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 24. The Flycatcher, 340 E. Sixth St. Free, bring money for drinks.

Nightmare Before X-Mas Party: Casa Video's film bar has made a name for itself as a great place to drink good beer while watching classically favorite films. For those last few hours of pre-Christmas and Hunannakh cheer, head on over to Casa for a family-friendly night of singing, boozing and Jack Skellington antics. 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 23. Casa Video Film Bar, 2905 E. Speedway Blvd. Free, but you should buy a few drinks.

Winterhaven Festival of Lights: Tucson’s best-known holiday tradition wraps up its annual illumination of the season this week, so if you haven’t been out to experience what happens in a neighborhood full of Clark Griswolds, now’s the time. Take the stroll every night between 6 and 10 p.m. or brave the traffic on drive-through night on Monday, Dec. 26. Free, but bring a donation for the Community Food Bank in the form of cash or non-perishable food items. Winterhaven is north of Fort Lowell Road between Tucson Boulevard and Country Club Road.

Treecycle: Already thinking about the logistics of ditching your Christmas tree? The city has your back. Starting the day after Christmas and continuing through mid January, you can drop your naked, dying tree off at one of nine Treecycle locations throughout Tucson and Oro Valley. The city is mulching the trees, and will have free wood chips available at a few of their locations after Jan. 4.

Food & Booze

Prix Fixe with Roman Barten-Sherman: The tent and heaters are up, making the Coronet evenings nice and cozy. Think about doing a post-Christmas night out on Tuesday, Dec. 27 to listen to 13-year-old Roman Barten-Sherman give us some Delta Blues. Food for the night is a three-course dinner with wine, $48 for two people. Barten-Sherman has opened for the David Bromberg Quintet, Bobby Rush and John Mayall at the Rialto Theater and The Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi, The Tucson Folk Festival, and Hotel Congress. His debut CD, Interstellar Blues was a 2014 KXCI top 40 pick of the year. 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 27. The Coronet, 402 E. Ninth St. $48 for two.

New Year's Eve at King Fisher: Need another idea for New Year’s Eve on the cozy side? Head over to a Weekly favorite. Kingfisher will be open for dinner from 5 to 11 p.m. (they are also open Christmas Eve until 8 p.m.) serving a special menu of favorite and specials. The Cochise County All-Stars featuring Amy Langely will perform from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 31. Kingfisher, 2564 E. Grant Road.

Spend the Holidays at the Cup: Another cozy idea is a place that always seems to be there when you need a restaurant friend. For us that’s the Cup Café at the .). Get in the spirit for Christmas Eve Dinner from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuna tartare, roasted NY strip with twice baked potatoes and Brussels sprouts with house-cured bacon and whole grilled branzino fish. Great choices. There’s also a Christmas Day brunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. There’s also a New Year’s Day Vegas Buffet brunch at the Copper Hall from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. $45 adults, $18 for kids and those 2 and under eat free. Chilequiles verde, fried chicken and waffles and crepes are a few of the things on the menu. Yum. Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St.

Cinema

Li'l Quinquin: A pair of bumbling small town detectives investigate a hilariously strange mystery involving murder, madness and farm animals in director Bruno Dumont’s one-of-a-kind comedy/thriller Li’l Quinquin. Catch a free screening of this French comedy/thriller next Friday, courtesy of the Loft. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 29. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Free.

Mad Max Fury Road Black & Chrome: Director George Miller has secured a place in many hearts with the majesty of Mad Max Fury Road. But, if Miller had his way, our whole Fury Road experience would have been different. Less colorful. Revisit the apocalyptic feminist hell dream in black and white, as it was meant to be seen at the Loft Dec. 30-Jan. 1. Times vary by day. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd.

Lord of The Rings Movie Trivia: Look, it’s been a rough year. At least one actor or musician you appreciated died. There was the election from hell. Race relations took a turn for the worse. The Syrian civil war has led to the loss of so many lives. It’s not an easy time. Basically, we all need to channel Frodo and the other members of the Fellowship of the Ring: Do what we can to help those in need, stick together and endure. Spend your holiday weekend studying up by marathoning LOTR, then prove your knowledge via trivia night. 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 27. Casa Video Film Bar, 2905 E. Speedway Blvd. Bring money for beer.

Music

Foxx Bodies: Foxx Bodies have all the ants-in-socks unrest of the best Riot Grrrl combos, the visceral rock 'n' roll spittle of vintage punk, and the feminist (humanist) punch of, say, author Naomi Wolf on a speed jive. Go ahead and try to escape the tragic lyrical hum in “Mercy Fuck” or the face-slap irony of “Rock Baby” or the familial terror of “The Trip.” More, their guitar-bass-drums-singer wallop is beautifully gnarly, yet melodic and concise, as if they’re banging it out in an empty garage—guitars reverberate, edges skate, vocals pierce. In fact, Tucson Weekly music columnist Josh Levine wrote recently that if Tucson has a 2016 “‘Band of the Year’ or ‘New Band of the Year,’ there's no contest: The four-piece punk band Foxx Bodies is easily one of the most exciting musical prospects to come out of this city in years.” Levine nailed it. With Pinion, Arizona’s father/daughter duo The Exbats, and local risers The Jagg. Thursday, Dec. 22 at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St. 8 p.m., 21+. Free.

Blind Boys of Alabama: One can’t even imagine the racism a black singing group must’ve endured in the Jim Crow south in the 1940 and ’50s, particularly one armed with the gospel, and with some members handicapped with blindness. Well, that same combo scored their first bona fide hit in 1949, and eventually appeared on Broadway, earned Grammys, recorded for Peter Gabriel’s record label, and finally—after decades of hard nights and hard road, and holding steadfast to their timeless soul and gospel through myriad ugly trends in music—they became an American household name. Finally. All hail The Blind Boys of Alabama. See these spiritual uplifters while you still can. Thursday, Dec. 22 at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. 8 p.m. All ages. $29-$39.

Connor “Catfish” Gallaher: As a sideman musician it’s really not odd to mention Connor Gallaher’s name in the same breath as pedal steel guitar greats like Buddy Cage, Ben Keith and Speedy West. He’s that good. In fact, his mournful lines buzz, hum and sting, and summon the kind of melancholy that makes goose flesh rise. This spindly kid with impeccable Byrds-era Gene Clark sense of style is an in-demand session man who has played on the most beautiful songs recorded in Tucson in recent years, including a few by Alpha Mule, Billy Sedlmayr, Gabriel Sullivan and Louise Le Hir. You can still maybe find him playing standard six-string in the too-ignored Myrrors, and The Night Collectors. Gallaher’s also a bit of a musicologist too, especially when it comes to country and psych and all things sonically glorious under wide southwestern skies. Hear him spin records, with an ear toward the holiday, at Maynard’s Late Night Happy Hour. Friday, Dec. 23 at Maynard’s Market and Kitchen, 400 N. Toole. 10 p.m. All ages. Free.

The Electric Blankets: Rising from shitkicker dust of the Provocative Whites and the Ghost of 505, The Electric Blankets kill it with a kind of mad Brit Invasion beatpound, dusty hypnotics, and good old alt-nation rock amped up on youthful urgency. Their “Dirty Prayers” is one of those songs anchored by a guitar hook and big chorus so persuasive it’ll invade your dreams against your will, and likely make them dirty. Band frontman Raul Michel has one of those rock ’n’ roll voices that pleads and commands with equal aplomb. They’re a force to be reckoned with on stage too. There’s that. With Rabbit Snare and the reunion of Tucson expats Faster Than Light. Wednesday, Dec. 28 at The Flycatcher, 340 E. 6th St. 9 p.m. 21+. Free.

Run-On: Sometimes something so minimalist is still difficult to unravel; such is the deceptively complex idea of less is more. But what we do know is Run-On Sunshine, the self-confessing lover(s) of “cats and sunshine,” plays a playful racket that’s been called guitar-free punk rock, which is really kind of an oversimplification. We mean, sometimes it might be instrument-free punk sung by a digit called Mullarkey, but overall it really isn’t punk rock at all, more like pure singsong pop distilled to its barest essentials, like a colorful, mad art project. Sometimes its propelled by sweetly toned voice and a perky toy keyboard and a punchy kickdrum, like on the deviously slinky ditty “You Probably Think This Song is About Your Cat,” which is way cooler than some boring ironic wink to Carly Simon. Then “The Call of Tempe,” with its cheap keyboard drone and girlish vocal, might make one actually yearn for the University town- turned open strip-mall, as well as all the lonely suburban burgs that surround it. Yep. With Ainsworth and Bigger Than Mountains. Wednesday, Dec. 28 at Tiny Town Gallery, 174 E. Toole. All Ages. 7:30 p.m. Free.

Mantra: Glow in the Dark New Year’s Eve Party with XIXA: XIXA, the Gabriel Sullivan and Brian Lopez led combo, who not so long ago called themselves the less wieldy Chicha Dust, are just now beginning to headline theater-sized venues all over Europe, so loving is their overseas following—this after an Euro introduction by Howe Gelb and Giant Sand. Gelb aside, Bloodline, XIXA’s 2016 LP, can (lazily) be described as a cumbia-inflected psych, a sort of guitar-and-melody driven “Desert noir” that marries explosive rhythms (Latin and otherwise) with soaring refrains. The album has so far been criminally overlooked stateside, but not in Tucson. XIXA is bringing their show—in what could become a New Year’s Eve tradition—to the Rialto. Get yer tix, the show, which is billed as an all night, glow-in-the-dark cumbia party, will likely sell out. With DJ Dirty Verbs. Saturday, Dec. 31 at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress. 9 p.m. $10-$50.

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Holidays

It's mid December, which means holiday themed events abound. Here's everything you need to know to get your festive cheer on this year.


Meet the Clauses

Holiday Express with Santa at Historic Train Depot: For all the Christmas lovers out there, what is the holiday season without a picture with Santa? Join the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum as the put on an afternoon full of Christmas cheer. With holiday music, a showing of the Polar Express, and Santa himself, what could be better? Don't miss out on this event that is perfect for the whole family. Noon - 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17. 414 N. Toole. Free.

Storytime with Mrs. Claus at The Carriage House: As everyone knows, Santa Claus is nothing without the Mrs. The Carriage House has taken note of that and is hosting an afternoon full of Mrs. Claus herself. Enjoy hot cocoa and cookies as Mrs. Claus shares her favorite holiday stories. 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17. Carriage House, 125 S. Arizona Ave. $20.

Take in a show

Elf: If you're dying to see the holiday movie that somehow managed to make Will Ferrell likeable, you’re in luck. Elf is the story of a baby named Buddy who crawled into Santa's sack and was taken back to the North Pole where he is raised as an elf. Once he is an adult, he decides to make the adventure back to his hometown of New York City to find his father, sing with Zooey Deschanel in the shower and discover the wonder of the mailroom. 2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 20. The Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St. Adults: $7, Students/Military/Seniors: $5, Children 12 and under get in free.

Holiday Sing-along: Get ready for a holiday music party with The Loft Cinema. The theater will host its annual party with the best holiday music moments from classic movies, T.V. shows and music videos. Admission comes with one goodie bag filled with props to use during the show. If you bring an unwrapped toy for donation to Casa De Los Ninos, admission price is half-off. 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. General Admission: $10. Members and kids under 12: $8.

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Pick of the Week

Fifth Annual Rock Lottery: In one of the most unique events of the year, the fifth annual rock lottery will feature 25 local musicians in an impromptu concert in makeshift bands. The concept is this: take 25 musicians, throw them together in five five-piece bands, give them 12 hours to write and practice four original songs and perform in front of an audience. The point of the rock lottery is to highlight the diverse musical culture the city has and to show how differing genres can, in fact, collaborate. All of the proceeds from the concert will go toward the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. show 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10. The Flycatcher, 340 E. Sixth St. Tickets - $5 and/or bring two non-perishable food items for donation music, community, charity

Holiday & Shopping

4th Avenue Winter Street Fair: It is that time of year again! Fourth Avenue is donning it's tell tale white tents and stocking up on art, jewelry and food for the winter version of the Fourth Avenue Street Fair. Join more than 400 arts and crafts booths and 35 food booths for a weekend of one stop shopping. 10 a.m. to dusk Friday, Dec. 9- Sunday, Dec. 11.

Holiday Burlesque at The Rialto: The local burlesque crew Black Cherry Burlesque will put on a holiday themed show at the Rialto for one night only. General admission and VIP seating is available. doors 8 p.m.; show 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10. The Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. General admission:  $10; VIP with front row seating: $20.

CandyStrike & Anna Bronwyn Murphy Holiday Pop Up: Throw the entirety of your wardrobe in the garbage, you’re not going to need it anyone. Skip the Street Fair and head over to CandyStrike (which offers killer clothes, sizes small to 4XL) and Anna Bronwyn Murphy (a local lowbrow artist who deals in giclee prints and PULPtart jewelry) pop up shop of your dreams. Pick up a few pieces for yourself, obviously finish holiday shopping for your most fashionable of friends. Stop in sometime between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 11. Studio ONE, 197 E Toole Ave.

Harry Potter Ball: Muggles now have a chance to live a night in the Harry Potter world at Barnes & Noble. The company will host a Potter party at all location across the country to celebrate the holidays in Yule-ball inspired style. Come in your best dressed or in your Hogwarts uniform for a night of dancing and Potter crafts. Make sure to check with your local store before the event for special instructions. 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9. Free.

Food & Booze

Candy and Beer Pairing: Casa Film Bar has the perfect event for your favorite booze hound with a sweet tooth. The name says it all: this event meant to pick the perfect pairing between sweets and drinks. This event will also be wintered themed, so get those holiday sweaters out! 7 - 10 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9. Casa Film Bar, 2905 E. Speedway Blvd. Bring money for candy and drinks.

Ugly Sweater Bar Crawl: Celebrate the holidays with alcohol at this community bar crawl. Come dressed in the ugliest holiday sweater you can find to be entered into the night's ugly sweater contest. Registration includes a wristband that gets you drink specials at the participating bars and admission into the crawl's after party. You can register online, wristband pick up is at The Hut from 6 - 8 p.m. 6 - 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10. The Hut, 305 N. Fourth Ave. $10-$15.

UA Science Cafe at Boarderlands Brewery: This local brewery will host a lecture from Valerie Rountree, a Ph.D. candidate from the UA, who will share how staekholder participation in renewable energy shapes the policies the U.S. has involving the environment, sepcifically in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. This lecture is part of the brewery's UA Science Cafe series. 6 - 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8 Boarderlands Brewery, 119 E. Toole Ave. bring money for drinks science, community, booze

Sentinel Peak Beer Dinner: In the mood for a really incredible dinner with the best beer matches possible? Chef (and former TW writer) CJ Hamm is putting together a four course meal featuring fried oyster and beet chips, pan seared halibut, cumin crusted lamb and fig tartlet paired with great beers from Sentinel Peak. Look up the Facebook event page for the rest of the mouthwatering menu. 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12. Saguaro Corners, 3750 S Old Spanish Trail.

Tap & Bottle Spelling Bee[r]: Never won that spelling bee trophy in elementary school? Tap and Bottle's got you covered. The local beer house is planning an adult spelling bee—yes, you're encouraged to drink, why wouldn't you? Get the chance to earn your tipsy self some prizes and, of course, a trophy for the winner. Sign up: 6:45 p.m. Spelling Bee: 7-8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 13. Tap & Bottle, 403 N. Sixth Ave. Free, bring money for booze.

Cinema

The Wizard of Oz Free Screening with Loft Jr.: The Loft will open its doors early for games with local toy store super heroes Mildred and Dildred, and a free screening of The Wizard of Oz. This event is family friendly and is a part of the theater's Loft Jr. series presented by Trail Dust Town. doors 9:15 a.m., film 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 10 The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. bring money for popcorn and snacks.

Elf at the Fox: If you're dying to see the holiday movie of the generation on the big screen once again, you can catch it at the Fox Theatre. It's the story of a young baby named Buddy who crawled into Santa's sack and was taken back to the North Pole where he is raised as an elf. Once he is an adult, he decides to make the adventure back to his home town of New York City to find his father. 2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 20 The Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St. Adults: $7, Students/Military/Seniors: $5. Children 12 and under are free.

Holiday sing along: Get ready for a holiday music party with The Loft Cinema. The theater will host its annual party with the best holiday music moments from classic movies, T.V. shows and music videos. Admission comes with one goodie bag filled with props to use during the show. If you bring an unwrapped toy for donation to Casa De Los Ninos, admission price is half-off. 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15. The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. General Admission: $10; Members and kids under 12: $8.

Music

Sarah Watkins: This fiddler, guitarist, ukulele player and singer in Nickel Creek has recorded with everyone from Hank Williams Jr. to Fiona Apple to John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin). But ever since releasing her first solo album in 2009 she’s proven herself to be a singing and songwriting force. Her songs and voice swing painlessly between country weepers, honky-tonk stompers, bluegrass-y testifiers and rock ’n’ roll rousers, and there’s a sense of optimism that streams through everything— even the sadnesses—and in that way she’s like Emmylou Harris. She has a way of seeing clear water beyond the mud. Get tickets soon, this show will sell out. With River Whyless on Thursday, Dec. 8. 191 Toole, 191 Toole Ave. 7 p.m. $20-$22. 21+.

Lil Durk: This melodic rapper from south Chi-town mellows down easy on smooth soulful flows. Even when he kicks it up he’s still chill. It’s compelling too ’cause he’s offering up monologues from the streets, without all the tired suckerpunch braggadocio. Dude’s got a super-sensitive side, kinda like a modern day Marvin Gaye, and women swoon at his shows. Durk’s only been around since 2011, but after rising out of the OTF collective, and releasing a series of monster mixtapes and signing with Def Jam, he’s getting close to a million monthly spins on Spotify, and his latest album (Lil Durk 2X) boasts stars like Yo Gotti and Ty Dolla $ign. Friday, Dec. 9 With Club XS, 5851 E. Speedway. $25-$28. 7 p.m. All ages.

Fat Nick: This 22-year-old rotund wonder rose to fame on YouTube (watch the perfectly preposterous and shoestring-budgeted Nick and Pouya Show), and cleverly titled group The Buffet Boys. Fat Nick came up a bored teen—skater, high school dropout, dealer etc.—who found his calling (with running bud Pouya) slinging with unbridled aplomb truthful yet filthy phrases, as if he was born to do it. So it’s little wonder the kids are diggin’ ole Fat Nick. That street sizzle is taking this underground rap superstar straight to the mainstream. With Lil Peep, Smokepurpp and Dom Krez on Saturday, Dec. 10. 191 Toole, 191 Toole Ave. 9 p.m. All Ages. $15-$40.

Elisabeth Geel: Tucson resident Elisabeth Geel has simply mastered smooth acoustic-driven jazz and folk with Judee Sill-like vocals that lift and soothe. She could lull even a screaming baby to quiet. This singer/songwriter, a Dutch-born daughter of a musician father and painter mother, spent many years living in Italy, and all parts Europe, is celebrating the release of her third expansive jazz, folk-tinged album, Lookin’ In from the Outside. This show will see Geel backed by renowned area instrumentalists including violinist/composer Nick Coventry, bassist/composer Mike Levy and keyboardist Doug Martin. It’ll be a rewarding show for fans of late-night jazz and early ’70s-styled West Coast folk, and gentle epistles to memories and melancholies fading in the rearview. Added bonus: all of her music is set to goosebump vocal melodies. Really engaging stuff by a tremendously skilled songwriting chanteuse. Saturday, Dec. 17 at Galactic Center, 35 E Toole Ave/ 8 p.m. 21+. Free.

Retch: This high-cheekboned New Jersey jailbird, whose infamy partially rose on storied Instagram pics (see him double-fisting blunts etc) is remarkable for many things including his wonderfully somnolent raps. In fact, it sometimes sounds as if he downed codeine or imbibed in heavy lean sippin’ before stepping up to the mic (listen to the expertly hypnotic “Codeine Gangsta Party”). No, Retch (or Retchy P) ain’t your old man’s crack-era gansta shit. But there’s more: Retch really is an up-to-the-moment authentic spitter; his raps are filled with savage non-fiction sketches of street hassles and gnarly druggies and associated addictions. If that sounds all played out in rap, hold on; what Retch offers is straight-up street reportage with no filters, and so far it’s not coming from an elevated perch of money and associated Trump-like goofiness. He even penned a track that sort of honors the Special Olympics. Who knows what perch he’ll be rapping from in five years time, but right now he’s about to hit it in Tucson. With Positive Satan at The Rock, 136 N. Park Ave. Sunday, Dec. 10. 7 p.m. $17-$20. All ages.

Grite-Leon: This Tucson quintet blends heavy funk and a kind of modern prog with moments of hardcore, light ska and good old-fashioned Grant Road and Alvernon street grit. Just add some guitar-pedal madness, mosh-pit funkin’ and gutsy sing-to-scream vocals and you’ll get the idea. Some of their songs are even catchy as hell. What’s not to love about a demented pop song with a Spanish-sung bridge and a refrain that extols the virtues of “living on the floor”? Exactly. It’s hard to believe this rock quintet has been lurking around these parts for a decade. It’s like their loud existence is kept quiet in Tucson, which, if you think about it, makes them even more of an Old Pueblo band. This show doubles as a great cause too; it’s a toy drive for Casa De Los Niños, the local, doing-God’s-work shelter for children. So this whole deal really is all about giving some holiday cheer for Tucson’s less fortunate youth. Come out and give it up! With Bordertown Devil’s on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at Club Congress. 6 p.m. $5 or free with toy donation. 21+

Billy Sedlmayr & The Mother Higgins Children’s Band: Billy Sedlmayr pens frighteningly lovely glimpses into the lives of the horribly addicted, and the stalled existences of flawed dreamers. His are folk-rock-country tunes that most often brim with truth and tender regrets. There’s a heady sense of locale in his work too, to the point of mythology. In fact, his debut album, 2014’s Charmed Life—produced by golden-eared Gabe Sullivan—features “Tucson Kills,” an Old Pueblo anthem for the ages. The song’s replete with mournful Mexican brass and haunting wordplay that takes us from fading 6th Avenue whores and local drug barrios to the fire at the Pioneer Hotel that killed 29 people and “going crazy” in Florence prison yards. Billy’s a genuine Tucson lucky charm (and now a regular Tucson Weekly contributor) who starred in the area’s first punk band, The Pedestrians, and later co-founded Giant Sandworms. We here at the Weekly say that old Travis Edmonson—or Townes Van Zandt for that matter—ain’t got nothin’ on Sedlmayr. This show promises to be great: Sedlmayr’s performing with his complete backup combo The Mother Higgins Children’s Band (dedicated Tucsonans can’t miss the killer local reference in the band name). He’ll also be doing some songs from his forthcoming, Gabe Sullivan-helmed album Sophomore Slump. With Louise Le Hir, Friday, Dec. 16 at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress. 8 p.m. $10-$12. 21+.

Comedy

Jason Russell and Carlos Valencia: Jason Russell, the son of a white father and black mother, used comedy as a defensive strategy practically from kindergarten. Luckily, he was well armed. He says that every Saturday was a family party to Watch SCTV and Saturday Night Live. He learned character bits by heart, including those by Jim Carey, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy. Soon he began creating his own memorable characters; many turn up in the facial expressions and other silliness that became his trademark. Russell is featured with opener Carlos Valencia. See one of the four shows happening Dec. 9-10. Laffs Comedy Caffé, 2900 E. Broadway Blvd. $10-$15, plus a two item minimum. 

Tucson Improv Movement offers a laugh break from the Fourth Avenue Street Fair this weekend. Free family-friendly improv shows are every hour, on the hour, from noon to 3 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 11 and 12, at the TIM theater, 329 W. Seventh St., just off Fourth Ave.

Musical Mayhem Cabaret: Billing themselves as “Under-rehearsed and Over-dramatic,” the Musical Mayhem Cabaret delivers on that promise will all the commitment of the cast of Hamilton. Whether you love Broadway musicals or hate them, you are likely to find satisfaction in this evening of send-ups, loony sketches and inventive remakes. 6 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 11. Unscrewed Theater, 3244 E. Speedway Blvd. $10.

Your Weekly guide to keeping busy in the Old Pueblo.

Food & Booze

Pivot Produce Campaign Closing Party: Pivot Produce is on a mission to make local produce available in local restaurants. According to a fundraising campaign they're running right now, they've got that down: During their first two months in business they put $8K the pockets of local farmers and are currently working with 12 farms and 8 restaurants. Pivot is trying to raise $20,000 by Sunday to expand their operation, and they're throwing a party to mark the end of their campaign. Welcome Diner, 5 Points Market & Restaurant, Carriage House and Exo Roast Co.
will be providing hors d'oeuvres using Pivot-sourced regional, seasonal produce. Pueblo Vida Brewing Company will be serving an exclusive beet infused PV Pale Ale. Brittany Katter of Tucson's Katterwaul will be performing a solo set. There will be a donation center (and proceeds from the beer sales go to Pivot as well).  Or, of course, you could just show them some love online. Sunday, Dec. 4. 5-8 p.m.

Candy and Beer Pairing: Casa Film Bar has the perfect event for a the sweet tooth. If you're into alcohol and candy then you should probably check out this event meant to pick the perfect pairing between sweets and drinks. This event will also be wintered themed, so make sure to dress warm! 7 - 10 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9. Casa Film Bar, 2905 E. Speedway Blvd. Bring money for candy and drinks.

Ugly Sweater Bar Crawl: Celebrate the holidays with alcohol at this community bar crawl. Come dressed in the ugliest holiday sweater you can find to be entered into the night's ugly sweater contest. Registration includes a wristband that gets you drink specials at the participating bars and admission into the crawl's after party. You can register online, wristband pick up is at The Hut from 6 - 8 p.m. 6 - 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10 The Hut, 305 N. Fourth Ave Early registration - $10; Reg. registration - $15.

UA Science Cafe at Boarderlands Brewery: This local brewery will host a lecture from Valerie Rountree, a Ph.D. candidate from the UA, who will share how staekholder participation in renewable energy shapes the policies the U.S. has involving the environment, sepcifically in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. This lecture is part of the brewery's UA Science Cafe series. 6 - 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8 Boarderlands Brewery, 119 E. Toole Ave.

Festive Family Fun

Thanksgiving has passed, which means the holiday season is on full blast. Good luck braving the stores to get any shopping done. Instead, we recommend wrapping yourself in a cozy blanket, enjoying some lights and stuffing yourself with tamales.

Luminaria Nights: For the first two weekends of December, Luminaria Nights returns to Tucson Botanical Gardens (2150 N. Alvernon Way), on Friday, Dec. 4 continuing through Dec. 13. Bring your family and come enjoy the magic of the winter season. There is an exhibit Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life, which adds another level of beauty to explore. You can also take a walk down a path lit with traditional luminarias and delight in the trees and decorations lit with thousands of twinkling lights. Adults $18, Children (4-12) $9, members $5 and children $2.50.

Zoo Lights: Get into the holiday spirit at Zoo Lights at Reid Park Zoo (3400 E. Zoo Court) for almost the entire month of December, starting on Wednesday Dec. 7, the zoo will transform into a winter wonderland with jingle bells, twinkling lights, lighted animal sculptures, Santa visits and live entertainment. Cinnamon rolls, s’mores and hot cocoa will be available for purchase and most animals will be off exhibit for this event. “Encore” nights will be held Dec. 26, 27, 28, 29. Admission is $9.50 adults; $5.50 children (2-14); and children under 2 free; members $2 off.

Tucson Tamale & Heritage Festival: Celebrate the rich tastes, smells and variations of tamales from the Southwest & Mexico and discover the culinary tradition of making tamales for Christmas and enjoy a full day of live entertainment, art and culture hosted in cooperation with Food City.
Saturday, Dec. 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the AVA Amphitheater at Casino Del Sol Resort (5655 W. Valencia Road).